18 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM {sloane citron} larger, with a paved path encircling it. There are rarely ducks there, but we can usually spot a huge carp (probably a goldfish someone let loose 15 years ago), an occasional turtle and schools of tiny fish. There is also a good playground that is usually empty. The kids bring their scooters or bikes and love to zip around the pond at speeds that startle and amaze. I have to yell at them to slow down so that they avoid hitting the slowly walking seniors in their way. So far, so good, but be warned. The wide-open spaces of the park inspire me—the lush greenery, the big expanse of water and, most of all, the vast open skies. Media extols the virtue of being outside in nature and when I am there, I understand. I breathe better in this space, feel that my troubles are less and that the future is more positive. There are some areas that are a bit wilder, and I especially enjoy going into them and feeling the bliss of nature. Mostly, of course, I relish the opportunity to be with my daughter (and sometimes my son-inlaw Sam) and their children, and the spirit of freedom and togetherness that permeates the scene. In the beautiful outdoors, the kids are happy and in their element, everyone’s troubles temporarily forgotten, there is more room to feel the innate connection between us. They scream to me, “Watch, Saba!” And I yell back, “Go, go, go!” The best part, though, is when one of them reaches up and takes my hand. Feeling that small hand within my own, the connection between us satisfying and unsaid, there is simply nothing better, and my Sunday is complete. Most Sunday mornings, my daughter Tali brings her kids, Liav, Levi and Noah, over to our home for a playdate. Since they get up at 6AM and head over soon after, I’m still sleeping when they arrive. Sometimes they let me sleep a bit, it being Sunday and all, but sometimes they come flooding into our bedroom like an unexpected hurricane. From deep sleep to kids pounding on you is an otherworldly experience. Downstairs, while I’m getting ready for the day, there is a whirlwind of activity in the kitchen, with everything from pancakes (with whipped cream and sprinkles, of course) to scrambled eggs to store-bought doughnuts or other pastries being made ready for breakfast. The smell is always enticing. Tali is my child with boundless energy and a vibrant personality. While a young girl she was famous for singing “opera” (as we called it) while sitting underneath our large dining table on Friday nights during our weekly Shabbat dinners, hitting high notes that made everyone laugh. Her children have even more energy than their mother. While breakfast is prepared, the kids are usually engaged in their favorite activity, jumping from one couch to another, each time pulling the furniture a bit farther apart until you’d swear there’d be no way for them to make it. Though they always seem to land safely, I anticipate the day that I’m rushing one of them to the emergency room for some stitches. We have cabinets full of toys, dress-up clothes and books, and most get used during their visits. It’s hard to get any of them to read a book with me, though Noah, who’s about 20 months old, will sometimes sit and let me look at a picture book with him, as balls and toys are being hurled across the room. I love the bedlam, as it reminds me of the frenzy and chaos of raising my own four children, who all were born within seven years of each other. We are able to get them seated, for a moment or so, at the breakfast room table to eat. Inevitably, there is someone crawling across the table to get someone else’s whipped cream, sprinkles or milk. You know they’re done eating by the smears of maple syrup on the table, with paper napkins stuck to the wood. These are outside children and so after breakfast and a roomful of displaced furniture, toys, balls and dolls, we plan our escape. Depending on our mood, we go to Burgess Park or to Sharon Park, both in Menlo Park. Burgess Park has many activities, with baseball fields, a skate park, a busy playground, tennis courts and a small pond with a plethora of ducks and usually a turtle or two. The kids enjoy watching the quacking birds, especially the ducklings that chase after their mothers. More often, we go to Sharon Park, where the pond is much sunday mornings
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