For my ethnography post I decided to visit my most favorite park hidden up in the hills of Porter Ranch, Moonshine Canyon Park. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy Sunday morning but surprisingly the park was packed with families. My father and I pulled into the small parking lot that accommodates only twenty or so cars.
As I stepped out of the car to enter the park I immediately felt a slight breeze of wind hit my face. The breeze hit the leafy trees and bushes softly making them swing back and forth. You could hear the children’s laughter and their small shoes scraping the dirty and worn out cement as they ran from one jungle gym to the other. Next to the jungle gym is a children’s playground, which includes a sandpit, swings, and roundabouts. Parents are visibly enjoying their day off talking to other parents all while watching their children play on the jungle gym. The children are dressed in thick jackets, making it hard to play and run freely but I still hear my mom’s sound in my ear, "Don’t take off your jacket you’ll get sick."
As I walk towards the north side of the park I see a group of tall, hairy, sweaty men playing a game of basketball. They’re huffing and puffing, running up and down the court to make sure they get a good workout and play a good game. Over at a far distance, I see dogs running after yellow tennis balls and colorful frisbees with such speed and ease. However, one golden retriever is misbehaving by running curiously in circles around his owner. Some children are excited to see dogs but others are scared as they see the dogs walk across their path.
Nearby a family is enjoying a small picnic. It looks like they’re eating turkey sandwiches with crunchy Doritos and Lays chips. The wooden benches are busy by some couples in deep conversations, not sure if there’s a crowd at home and they needed to get away or they just came to enjoy the outdoors. Some benches are taken over by families with little carefree and trouble free children. The benches look very tired from all the different ways that kids climb up and down on them.
As I walk across the park I finally get to my favorite part of the park that’s quiet and peaceful. My father and I find an empty wooden bench, we sit and glance around to the park whispers, grasshoppers chirping at a distance. My dad starts asking me questions about my school and I give him the play by play of what has been happening the last week. We both feel the icy bench touch our bodies and think we should walk around to get warm. As my father and I leave the bench and move onto the running path we see men and women running around the park in circles. After walking around for about 30 minutes we decide to go home because the frigid weather was going to make us sick.
As I walk towards the north side of the park I see a group of tall, hairy, sweaty men playing a game of basketball. They’re huffing and puffing, running up and down the court to make sure they get a good workout and play a good game. Over at a far distance, I see dogs running after yellow tennis balls and colorful frisbees with such speed and ease. However, one golden retriever is misbehaving by running curiously in circles around his owner. Some children are excited to see dogs but others are scared as they see the dogs walk across their path.
Nearby a family is enjoying a small picnic. It looks like they’re eating turkey sandwiches with crunchy Doritos and Lays chips. The wooden benches are busy by some couples in deep conversations, not sure if there’s a crowd at home and they needed to get away or they just came to enjoy the outdoors. Some benches are taken over by families with little carefree and trouble free children. The benches look very tired from all the different ways that kids climb up and down on them.
As I walk across the park I finally get to my favorite part of the park that’s quiet and peaceful. My father and I find an empty wooden bench, we sit and glance around to the park whispers, grasshoppers chirping at a distance. My dad starts asking me questions about my school and I give him the play by play of what has been happening the last week. We both feel the icy bench touch our bodies and think we should walk around to get warm. As my father and I leave the bench and move onto the running path we see men and women running around the park in circles. After walking around for about 30 minutes we decide to go home because the frigid weather was going to make us sick.
Vartan Deranteriassian is a freshman at California State University Northridge who plans on graduating with a degree in Computer Information Technology. He loves to play sports and spend time with his family and friends.