On my way home from signing a petition to repeal the unconstitutional income tax, I dropped by a park near the Sammamish River Trail in Woodinvlle. The trail is paved, and divided like a normal road would be. It was a gorgeous day today, and there were cyclists and walkers on the trail, and moms and kids using the nice new playground.

Here are a couple of photos of the playground.

I wish we had had such nice play equipment when I was a kid!

Something I noticed at the playground was that many of the moms there accompanied their kids onto the playground, and stood near them while they played. Most of the kids had moms at the edge of the play area, and there were a bunch of blankets where the families had their picnic lunches and equipment.

Mom and daughter

To me, these photos show how the parents don’t trust their kids to play by themselves on the playground, even with them less that 200 feet away. It’s a week day in the middle of the day, and these parents were clustered in one area right next to the playground. Even so, the mothers walked right up to where the kids were playing. I guess there’s no such thing as “free play” anymore. my friends and I played together all day long, going to each other’s houses and ranging all over the neighborhood alone. That doesn’t happen anymore.

And here’s one of the reasons why.

This adult male was sleeping just a few yards from the kids’ playground. I’m an old lady, and he even made me nervous. My guess is that parents today can’t leave their kids alone for even a short time, given that many parks (in all social strata of neighborhoods) are bordered by tents with homeless vagrants inside. Their kids are in a certain amount of danger wherever they are, at all times of the day.

This just happened today.

#BREAKING 11-year-old child shot in abdomen at a West Baltimore playground near Pennsylvania Avenue and Dolphin Street tonight.

•Police say two suspects fired indiscriminately as children were playing nearby

•One of the suspects used a rifle

•The commissioner declined to… pic.twitter.com/ZwmE1K44fk

— Mike Hellgren (@HellgrenWJZ) May 28, 2026

Is it any wonder we are becoming a low-trust society? No kid is safe outside, even at his neighborhood playground.

And I almost forgot! Happening in Seattle this week. I am unable to embed due to adult content at a city park in Seattle. Please do follow the link.

https://twitter.com/choeshow/status/2059704127656194313?s=46&t=AkJV8dX_RyhUKPG8uj0KNQ