Joe: It is extraordinarily heartening to see the renaissance the local playgrounds of the San Lorenzo Valley have experienced in the past decade or so.
In the past year alone, efforts of the dedicated community members of the San Lorenzo Valley have given children two terrific and innovative playgrounds — the new Garrahan Park in Boulder Creek and Ben Lomond’s newly revamped playground, two feathers in the community’s proverbial cap.
On a soggy Tuesday morning, two reporters and a photographer set out for Ben Lomond to see how the Ben Lomond kids were enjoying their new play structures.
As we headed down the brand-new concrete sidewalk, we quickly realized that we had the place to ourselves, and no children were foolhardy enough to be outdoors.
Rain — who knew?
Fortunately for us — and, I like to think, you, the reader — a little rain was not about to stop us from our mission.
Nathan: Somewhere along the line, I had forgotten that there was fun to be had in the rain. I dreaded the assignment of another park review handed down from our honeymooning editor in Hawaii, while here in the valleys it was dumping rain.
Even still, my partner-in-crime and I drearily made our way to the newly rebuilt park in downtown Ben Lomond to check out our assignment.
As I got out of the car, I was abruptly flooded with childhood memories of playing in the gutters in a pair of Flo-Jo sandals during countless rainy afternoons in Mount Hermon. The light clouds were lifting off Ben Lomond Mountain as the rain swelled the San Lorenzo River, hastened in its course by the added downpour.
A park in the rain? Hmm. This could be fun. I remembered that committing to being wet in the rain was the only way to enjoy it. Hurrying to the playground, I found the slide and headed down face-first. I was soaked on the initial straightaway and thrown by the final turn, landing softly in the fresh wood chips. It was on.
Joe: We quickly dove, quite literally, into our research.
The park features play structures I had never experienced before, even before the advent of the generic plastic green spiral slide era, most notable of which was the rail-less slide. The rail-less slide is exactly what it sounds like — a childhood game of chicken against the laws of physics to see which side you’ll fall off first. Naturally, this whole effect is amplified by at least twice when the slide is wet. Speaking as an aficionado of adventure, I’m for it.
A slider starts out sliding down normally in a straight line, but the slightest of turns toward the bottom of the slide induces one into a spin, then a gravity-fueled jumble of arms and legs, followed with a sideways and utterly graceless impact on the wood chips below as the exclamation point at the end of the ride.
Like frogs in an idyllic pond, we nimbly hopped across the wobbly lily pad platforms, pausing only to re-enact a scene from “American Gladiators” before we reached the other main attraction of the park — which I have decided will be forevermore named “Ringy, Destroyer of Phones.”
Ringy consists of five suspended plastic rings, anchored in place about 2 feet apart, 3 to 4 feet off the ground in an arch shape. The idea of Ringy is to climb through on your stomach without touching the ground. Though it is not especially difficult (at least for someone 6 feet tall), once you reach the top of the arch, the way down is surprisingly fast. A cavalier approach to Ringy is not advisable.
Seriously, though, before using Ringy, have your buddy safeguard anything you have in your pockets — keys, cell phones, loose change, et cetera. You’ll thank me later.
For the less adventurous or reckless, Ben Lomond Park also boasts swings, climbing nets, a mist sprayer (say, what does this button do?), picnic areas and a particularly fine basketball court.
We congratulate the community of Ben Lomond and the San Lorenzo Valley for continuing the trend of providing novel and unique playgrounds for children and reporters alike.
