I grew up in a city, not the country.I didn’t have open spaces and horses and cows. BUT I did have the 155 acres of green grass, gardens, lakes and playgrounds of Washington Park. The park was one block east of my home and by 5 th or 6 th grade my friends and I could go there without adult supervision. There was the ditch—water brought in from the South Platte River to fill the three lakes—and those lakes and two large tennis courts and a playground and the boat house on the north lake—and the island in the south lake. I walked through the park to go to youth group at Washington Park Community Methodist Church. I learned to jump across the ditch, I took tennis lessons, I climbed trees. It was a real freedom and so much fun. Much has changed since I moved out of that house one block west of the park to at...