A wee kiddo arrives at Delicate Arch to squeal in earnest: “How tall is that? One hundred pounds?!”

An older young one, this time on a cliff trail, and quite philosophically: “What can happen? Could I fall down? Would I die? Who knows!”

A dad and his three boys were politely scooting and climbing all over the park. One of the younger ones had stopped to catch his breath with his elder brother before i passed. He asked if i liked the view, and then told me to have a great day. i met the dad and another boy a few rocks down and chatted with them about the two i’d just met. Later the whole family were walking behind me talking, positively, about Kanye West. The eldest dropped an N-bomb and was immediately told off by the dad: “That’s not a word we use. It’s not our word and you know that.” The teen—pre-teen?—maintained that he hadn’t used the word, while both of his little brothers backed up their dad.

“Daddy I found a cairn!” Pronounced “karen” and with utter delight.

“I prefer forty degrees to one hundred degrees.” Everyone around this person agreed wholeheartedly, including me and some other strangers.

Two seven-year olds run by on the trail, shouting: “I see Logan!” “I’m in charge of you.” “Well I see Logan I want to go meet Logan!” “Logan, what are you doing down there?!”

Two adults talking about their jobs are interrupted by an assertive child: “Shh! We cannot have that conversation here.”

As i typed some of this, a white-haired crew came by, loudly grateful for the lack of a crowd. The last of them said to me, as if i was his own granddaughter, “Come on, this is a no-phone zone.” i replied, “i’m writing, does that make a difference?” He paused. “Why yes it does,” followed by an admiring grin, and from the rest of the group came a murmur of agreement as they continued walking along.

“Well I’m just gonna say it again: this is way better than workin’.”