Cafe Society

Took the kid down to Happy Hollow in San Jose last saturday. I hadn't been there in 30 years. It was such a blast!

We got there when it opened (10 A.M.), and I took the kid straight to Danny the Dragon. He loved it, but the big attraction was The Maze, which is just, well, a maze. You just go in and pretend to be lost, or play tag, or pretend to be an archaeologist, whatever floats your boat.

This is a great age for kids. They are so easy to please. Turn 'em loose in the petting zoo, let 'em go up and down the slide 800 times, take 'em to the puppet show, and they're happy.

And, of course, having grown up here, I can take the kid to places that I remember and let him relive all those same great experiences that I had. Well, except for maybe playing on the railroad tracks and drinking Ripple.

And, sadly, we won't be going to Frontier Village, which shut down some 20 years ago. What a world. What a cruel, cruel world!

Perhaps I should take this moment to swear by All That Is Holy that one day Frontier Village will Return!

I left the camera in the car, so I didn't manage to get pictures from Happy Hollow, but we'll be back.

I did get some pictures of our visit on Thursday to this little coffee shop in Berkeley. There was a birthday party at preschool that day, and David decided to show me his party favors. Jump rope, a noisemaker, a candy bar. The kid really scored.

Kurt "big daddy" True
22 may 2004