Mile Square

A couple of my friends and I attempted to jog around Mile Square Park this morning. This activity has recently become a favorite of mine. Mile Square in Fountain Valley is a huge regional park that extends one mile on each side. Within it is a beautiful park with a lake, riverbends, waterfalls, and plenty of shade. There’s also a driving range, golf course, banquet halls, tennis courts, baseball field, and so much more!

There are many pros to running this park. First and foremost, as one friend pointed out, once you start, you have to keep going. If you feel tired halfway through, you have no choice but to complete the round to get back to your vehicle. Amen to that!

The second reason is people watching. Sometimes when I feel alone (a lot during the day when everyone I know is at work), I go just to be near people. I used to do this at South Coast too, haha. But there is something more intimate about the park. I like watching fathers coach their sons in sports. I like hearing them patiently giving advice on how to better kick the ball, throw a frisbee, or ride a bike. I also see a lot of older couples stare lovingly at each other as though falling in love for the first time. Every once in awhile, I also see young couples, probably in the initial stage of the relationship, awkwardly walking around… the girl usually a bit overdressed for a day at the park, and the guy staring down and glancing up to her ever so shyly. I see good looking men running with their shirts off. I see girls running in their street clothes. I see tons of people running with a portable cd player, and myself thinking why? Sometimes I run into people twice, and wonder how they could have already ran 4 miles when I was still barely reaching side 2.

Earlier this week, I sat by the tennis courts watching the men’s lessons. I love tennis! I love the etiquette and the clothes. I was also curious about the atmosphere at this specific site. I grew up taking tennis lessons at a country club back home, where most people were of similar socio-economic background. Fountain Valley is a new site for me. I have heard various things about this area of town, but I wanted to see for myself. I found out that this particular tennis center is a hub for many groups. No particular group dominated, but I did notice that people stuck to “their own kind.” The men’s advanced level was starting, and as men introduced themselves, they started to form their cliques. Older white men in their polo shirts formed one group. Older Asian men in white shirts formed another. Then the younger men (mostly Asian and Latino) in wife beater shirts got into a group by default, after the older men got together. This was an exciting social dynamic to witness. Though we say we’ve advanced socially, and we love that our nation is a melting pot, sometimes it hardly shows.

I have been trying to run everyday and yesterday was no exception. The keyword here is “trying”. I was looking for a place to park when I noticed that it was getting extremely hot and I was worried about getting even darker. Note that in the Filipino culture, lighter skin is considered more attractive. So instead of parking, I kept driving up to my favorite Mexican place a couple blocks down. There I bought a half order of carne asada fries, then drove back to the park, spread my beach towel under a tree and watched the runners sweat it out as I listened to my ipod and enjoyed my carne asada fries. Good times!