<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tZVufRlMtzM/SfHVrL9U6gI/AAAAAAAABAg/JbqoV6Xau-c/s1600-h/DSC04526.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_tZVufRlMtzM/SfHVrL9U6gI/AAAAAAAABAg/JbqoV6Xau-c/s320/DSC04526.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">When we don't have much time to get out and about as a family before one of my husband's classes at <a href="http://www.osu-tulsa.okstate.edu/">OSU-Tulsa</a> or before I need to get to work on a blog post or freelance piece or counting the little brown moles on my arms (48 - much more on the right arm than the left, for some reason - and now if I'm ever a fugitive from the law, that will be in the description <a href="http://twitter.com/CindyWMorrison">Cindy</a> will have to give on the news), we head to a nearby park.</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">There are nearly a dozen city parks within a few miles' drive of our house, and that's the case for most Tulsans I know. We T-Towners are wealthy in beautiful parks - <a href="http://www.cityoftulsa.org/Recreation/Parks/">the City of Tulsa manages 125 of them</a>, totaling about 6,000 acres, including <a href="http://www.oxleynaturecenter.org/">nature centers</a>, golf courses, <a href="http://www.tulsazoo.org/">Tulsa Zoo</a>, <a href="http://www.tulsagardencenter.com/">Tulsa Garden Center</a>, 21 swimming pools, 197 sports centers, 83 playgrounds, 109 tennis courts, 28 water playgrounds, <a href="http://www.cityoftulsa.org/Recreation/Parks/SkatePark.asp">The River Skatepark</a>, 69 picnic shelters, <a href="http://www.cityoftulsa.org/Recreation/Parks/CommCenter.asp">11 community centers</a>, trails and more. </div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">And boy, are we thankful. Because sometimes, there's nothing better for the soul than a good, long sit in the grass, a short walk on a wooded trail, a half-hour in the sun...</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tZVufRlMtzM/SfHVYM-6NwI/AAAAAAAABAY/4ou0NhDEoGc/s1600-h/DSC04566.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_tZVufRlMtzM/SfHVYM-6NwI/AAAAAAAABAY/4ou0NhDEoGc/s320/DSC04566.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">...or a baby kiss that, thanks to the wide-open spaces of a park near our humble abode, I get to look forward to for several yards of toddling.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tZVufRlMtzM/SfHVPasCCuI/AAAAAAAABAQ/J5-sPP-GJCw/s1600-h/DSC04569.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_tZVufRlMtzM/SfHVPasCCuI/AAAAAAAABAQ/J5-sPP-GJCw/s320/DSC04569.JPG" /></a>&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tZVufRlMtzM/SfHU1rg7VpI/AAAAAAAABAA/1ko4VoF_dJs/s1600-h/DSC04573.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tZVufRlMtzM/SfHU1rg7VpI/AAAAAAAABAA/1ko4VoF_dJs/s320/DSC04573.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tZVufRlMtzM/SfHUur-DemI/AAAAAAAAA_4/uWh-J_X4KAM/s1600-h/DSC04576.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tZVufRlMtzM/SfHUur-DemI/AAAAAAAAA_4/uWh-J_X4KAM/s320/DSC04576.JPG" /></a>&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">&nbsp;<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tZVufRlMtzM/SfHUn3mKJxI/AAAAAAAAA_w/Tlb-H0lHPLc/s1600-h/DSC04579.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tZVufRlMtzM/SfHUn3mKJxI/AAAAAAAAA_w/Tlb-H0lHPLc/s320/DSC04579.JPG" /></a>&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">See that look of determination and focus? That means: Get ready, baby, because here I come!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tZVufRlMtzM/SfHUd2OWNmI/AAAAAAAAA_o/QAf4HhtbrwQ/s1600-h/DSC04580.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tZVufRlMtzM/SfHUd2OWNmI/AAAAAAAAA_o/QAf4HhtbrwQ/s320/DSC04580.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">Just imagine the sound we all instinctively make at the doctor's office when s/he asks us to open wide. That's what my little boy's kisses sound like. Sort of a combination of the motor of an old duster plane and the sound my husband makes in the back of his throat when the alarm goes off in the morning.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tZVufRlMtzM/SfHUQbRMteI/AAAAAAAAA_g/97Vt585DX5w/s1600-h/DSC04581.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_tZVufRlMtzM/SfHUQbRMteI/AAAAAAAAA_g/97Vt585DX5w/s320/DSC04581.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">There. Mission accomplished.&nbsp;</div>