About a half-hour south of Chestertown in the town of Queen Anne, Maryland, is Tuckahoe State Park, a place with forests and camping and fishing and boating and even an arboretum. The true jewel of Tuckahoe, according to my brood, at least, is the tire park, a playground made out of recycled tires.
My favorite part of a trip to the tire park is the walk from the parking lot to the park itself. How I’d love to live in a stand of tall trees.
And have a ceiling that looked like this.
But for the kids, the thrill is in the climbing.
And exploring.
And driving.
And music making.
And swinging.
And swinging some more.
And crawling through.
And sitting on top of.
And swinging.
And hiding.
And popping out.
And synchronized popping out.
And synchronized, two-tiered tire escapades.
And sometimes, just for a minute, sitting still for a second.
But just for a second.
Before moving on to more fun.
And a little bit of fishing.
Until the sun starts to drop and your killjoy of a father says it’s time to go home.
But lucky for you, he walks slowly back through the trees he loves so much, and you have a bit of time to gather pine needles and throw them high in the air as the sun casts impossible colors.
Soon enough, you’ll be back in your car seat driving north as the sun sets, but for this moment, you’re still at the tire park, running and smiling with your brother and sister (or your brother and brother, as the case may be).