Archive for November, 2008

Dan Nicholas Park


Dan Nicholas Park just outside of Salisbury is a kid paradise. It has a miniature train, a merry-go-round, a petting zoo, miniature golf, a lake with paddle boats, assorted playgrounds, a gem mine and a zoo with red foxes, bears and white-tailed deer.

It had been a while since we last went, and Sparkle Girl had been lobbying heavily for a return trip. Garnet’s mother was going to join us for this excursion so we drove via Mocksville to pick her up.

I knew how to get there from Winston-Salem but not the best way from Mocksville, so I got directions online. In Salisbury, I couldn’t find the indicated turn. When I turned around to see if I had missed it, Sparkle Girl said she sure hoped we weren’t going back home without going to Dan Nicholas.

As she elaborated on her point, Doobins announced that he had had enough driving around and wanted to be back home right now. A stop by the visitors’ center got us back on track, and the kids were soon trying to decide what to do first.

Both Sparkle Girl and Doobins had brought money, or tickets as Doobins calls paper money, in case they found something they wanted to buy. Both ended up with mood rings that change color.

For the rest of the time at Dan Nicholas, for the ride home, that night and in the days that have followed, Sparkle Girl has given us regular updates on the state of her mood ring.

One report led to a scientific discussion of what, in fact, the mood ring was measuring. For her experiment to discover the role of heat, Sparkle Girl ran around inside the house until she was winded.

This experiment resulted in a “look” from Garnet. What exactly that look meant, though, neither Sparkle Girl nor I could say for sure.

Both Sparkle Girl and I find ourselves in this position from time to time. The meaning of some looks from Garnet is clear. Other times, it’s hard to say. More than once I have spent considerable effort trying to figure out what I did to tick her off only to discover later that she had a headache.

Wouldn’t it be great, Sparkle Girl and I thought, if somebody came out with a mood ring that really did tell you the mood of the wearer? When in doubt, you could look at it.

If it was red, you would know that you were, in fact, in the soup. If it was green-black, you would know that the wearer just wasn’t feeling up to snuff.

In the meantime, Sparkle Girl and I are making do with an imaginary mood ring.

When some of our recent antics elicited a look, Sparkle Girl said, “I bet that ring would be red right now.”