Walking with Quinn, By Mike

One of the best things about having Quinn is how he has bound us even more tightly to our neighborhood than we ever were before. Since Quinn was about two months old, we have jogged or walked together through, around, in and over Washington Park every day. Sometimes three times a day. When I run, he rides in the stroller in front of me; when we walk, I hang him in the baby carrier and he looks out at the world coming toward him. We are regulars at three different coffee shops, depending on whether that morning we feel like hiking northwest toward downtown, west toward the snowy mountains, or east through the constantly changing neighborhood streets. None of us should need an excuse to slow down and look around, and to step off the paved path and wander across the meadows, but sometimes we require that extra push. Quinn has been that little respite for me for eight months now, and the peace of mind I get from these wandering walks is nearly equal to the chaos of mind his birth created for all of us. We feed the geese, we watch the fat squirrels, we cut through the pine trees and smell the needles, we check out all the new house construction on the blocks surrounding us. I have no idea if he'll remember any of this, but I know I will. Written by Mike.

On our way to Starbucks....