Dogs, Snakes and Horses

Got a freebie pass to see Must Love Dogs last night; saw it, loved it, and sent in a review to ApolloGuide this morning. John Cusack is, as always, soooo lovable, but the movie was refreshingly original and now I must get my hands on a copy of the book by Claire Cook on which it was based.

Today I took the kid to the library and gathered two bagsful of books and videos. She had the most fun playing with a big stuffed snake, so I got a couple of books about snakes for her to read. My haul of books was entirely food-related; an armful of cookbooks plus a book about Teany, the tea salon in New York co-owned by Moby. That man is a freak.

After the library, we went to a little park in Oak Bay. It's quiet but clean and even includes public washrooms but the reason I really love it is that it's home to possibly the last remaining gliding horses in Greater Victoria. I used to get such a huge kick out of the giant gliding horse in Beacon Hill park -- it could seat 20 kids. These are slightly smaller but there are two, so you can race! In addition, there is a modern climbing frame/slide combo plus plenty of greenspace to run around, a picnic table, and asphalt on which you can still see faint outlinesof foursquare and hopscotch grids. Kiddo had a blast and pronounced, "Daddy has to see this park!" We'll go back.