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Kids bounce

Joshua Hatch's avatar
Joshua Hatch
Nov 19, 2006

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Cynthia and I took Sammy to this park this evening. It was chilly and we (that is, Sammy and us) had the requisite standoff about wearing a coat. We finally settled on a fleece with a yellow slicker overcoat. I swear, we should use three-year-olds for work stoppage negotiations. They are intractable. Although I would guess they might crack under the offering of chocolate milk and cookies.

Anyway, we went to the park and had some fun. Sammy, much like me, isn't exactly the social type. She'd rather play with people she already knows. Since her mummy and daddy were the only ones she knew, we became her default playthings.

So, we played hide and seek, tag, etc. As we were leaving, I was racing Sammy down the park. We were supposed to touch four trees in a row.

I gave her a two-tree head start and then took off. I touched the first tree, then the second. As a bore down on the diminutive three-year-old, she looked back to see where I was. As she did, she veered into my running lane. I tried to jump over her, but as she teetetered back and forth, she pinballed off my thigh. She started to go down, so I contorted my body backwards and tried to pick her up as I fell. But I couldn't maintain my balance. She landed on her face and skidded forward. I bounced off her and fell on my shoulder.

Cynthia started shouting at me. I bounced up and picked up a dirty and stunned Sammy. Three, two, one... wahhhhhh!

As Sammy screamed into my ear and tears streamed down her cheeks, I reassurred her that everything was okay. Cynthia calmed down once she realized Sammy wasn't broken.

By the time we walked the block and a half home, Sammy was ready to go back to the park. That's my girl!


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By Joshua Hatch
Musings on life, travel, pets, woodworking... whatever.

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Building the Anarchist's Workbench
I'm following Christopher Schwarz's plans for a workbench that should long outlive me. Let's see how I do.
Jan 9, 2024 â€¢ 
Joshua Hatch
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Building the Anarchist's Workbench
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A Pair of Desks
When a friend asked me to build her a writing desk, I was deleted to do so. But I was much less delighted with how it turned out. So I took another stab…
Mar 29 â€¢ 
Joshua Hatch
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A Pair of Desks
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Putting It All Together
With the arrival of the bench hardware, assembly could commence and the workbench finished.
Jan 27, 2024 â€¢ 
Joshua Hatch
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