The Tallahassee Sisters I

Noah-David’s eyes are bright. He’s introducing me to a playground for the first time. “Papa, I have a new playground where you’ve never gone,” he tells me. He is very proud of this news. Usually it’s the other way around – me taking Noah and Nellie-Rose on a mission far, far away to swings, slides and climbing bars not yet discovered.

This day we are close to home, just a few blocks down the street at the Tallahassee Community School in Eastern Passage (map). We’re at the playground just along the hall and outside the doors of Noah’s pre-school class (photos). This is where he hangs out and plays with his new buddies three mornings a week.

As he gets out of the car and looks both ways before venturing across the empty parking a lot, he sweeps his arm with a flourish as if to say, ‘not bad, eh!’. He calls out, “Papa, do you like the playground?” as he clambers up on a piece of equipment. Bringing up the rear with Nellie in tow, I reply enthusiastically in the affirmative.

Nestled in the ‘L’ of two wings of the school, the playground finds some shelter from the winds that on this afternoon are scuffing clouds across an overcast sky. My guide is eager to show me around and the first stop is the rare, blue twin whales joined at the tongue and plonked close to borderlands where playground meets asphalt. These are the first head banging springy animals that we’ve come across. Nellie and Noah are on the whales in a flash riding them like this is a Bay of Fundy rodeo.

There’s a lot more to see at this very compact activity centre. Green stepping stairs with circular tops, a ‘pont, un pont, papa‘ Nellie calls out running across a bridge, a bending blue banana slide and a tunnel from which to rest and look out on the world round about. Up top, an effort for Nellie to reach, is the tall, high slide – a swooshing, whooshing rocket ride.

Two tamagotchi girls are under the blue roof on the high slide platform talking about the state of the world from their seven-year-old eyes. There’s a lot of, “Make me, you can’t make me” talk between the two of them. One is a French immersion student, the other is not. The immersion student indicates Nellie with a nod of her head and says, “She’s the smallest person I ever saw speaking French.” Her friend, unasked, lets me know that English is her favourite language. The two have a spat on the relative merits of French and English. Non-immersion girl stalks off. The other, who I now think of as the friendly, sensible one, jumps on the pole, does a controlled spin to the bottom and chases after her friend.

We’re alone again. The guys look for a change of pace and make their way over the playground borders onto the asphalt. It’s time for racing and chasing and a little hopscotch. Noah shows me his technique. I had no idea he knew what to do. He has become quite adept in a short period of time. He’s having a ball throwing his stone as a marker and hopping off to pick it up.

There are no swings at Tallahassee I. Just a quick scoot around the back of the school and there’s Tallahassee II in all its glory. Read more in the next post – The Tallahassee Sisters II.

There is loads of parking in the school lot. If you’re considering public transit, the closet stop for the 60 is at the corner of Ocean Lea and and Cow Bay Road. The walk from the stop is just under ten minutes.

There are a number of attractions here in Eastern Passage and the surrounding area. Right next to the playground is the Community Garden with its chess board. This is the venue for the Annual Teddy Bear’s Picnic held during the Eastern Passage Cow Bay Summer Carnival. Down the road toward the city, is MacCormack’s Beach and Fisherman’s Cove. About five kilometres in the opposite direction is Rainbow Haven Beach.

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