Saturday was the North Beach Festival. A fun time for all to enjoy sunshine, beer, and each others' company.

Towards the end of the day, we just relaxed in the park. As I sipped on good brew*, it occured to me that the park is an allegory for life and growing older. That we will continue to return to the park (some more often than others), and what we do there really reflects a lot on our life path.

For instance, as a kid, you start out on the playground and graduate on the hierarchy of playground fixtures. The monkey bars, the jungle gym, etc -- all the focus of your park visit.

When you slightly outgrow that, the focus is on the grass, the family picnics. Perhaps as part of the rebellious teenage phase, you may not even enjoy this too much.

When you're in your twenties, it's a little different now. You still enjoy the park, but the focus is more on socializing and "sprawling" on the lawn. Bonding, drinking, etc. If you're me and a little nostalgic for childhood, sometimes you go back to those playground fixtures -- the jungle gym, the slide, etc and play there for a while.

You start to get a little more serious in your life. Now instead of going with a group of friends, you're there in the park with that "special someone". Sharing a homemade meal and a bottle of wine and, I dunno, wha the hell is it that couples do on these boring picnic dates anyway?

I suppose then the next step is bringing your kids to play on the playground. And then having family picnics and continuing that cycle. I have a feeling I'm trying to go somewhere with this, but it's not quite complete. Anyway, onto the links! (and I don't mean the US Open)