Evolution

In the sandbox, the dinosaurs are going extinct. In a swath of desert that was once an imaginary Egypt, a grassland is now taking hold. The mighty Tonka dumptruck that used to haul muck, dinosaurs and even siblings across Egypt sits abandoned, weathering.

The sandbox was a magnet for my children for many years. Hours were spent there, long past the age that one might expect, especially for the older two who played happily alongside their younger siblings through many summers. Sandbox play was happy and comfortable and free of complications.

But for at least two years the winds of time have blown over the carcasses of dinosaurs and the grasslands have grown up undisturbed. The play structure above became rickety and lost its allure. The toddler swing hadn't been used for years, the plastic slide buckled, the tire horse swing was lame and the trapeze, a mere four and a half feet off the ground, held no thrill.

And so today, the kids and I began disassembling it. With a certain wistfulness on everyone's part, I confess. But we hope to reclaim some of the lumber to build a pergola-like structure over part of the deck, and wrecking stuff is always fun, so we overcame our nostalgia as we worked.