All thanks to a Phone Game - LJ Idol, Season 10, Week 10
Our family isn't the most... athletic... family in the world. We have a tendency to spend more time indoors, playing games (board, role-playing or computer - we're equal opportunity) or reading a book. But last summer, something happened that got us outside a lot more, got us walking and exploring more of Nashville. Last July, we downloaded Pokemon Go to our phones.
It really is no surpise that this game appealed to us so much. We've been a Pokemon family for about 6 years. It started with Rich and Teddy playing computer mods of the original Game Boy games, then quickly went to the cartoons, then the card games. We now own several copies of every game that's come out since Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver, and we own more cards than I we know what to do with (in part because my husband runs one of the local Pokemon Leagues). Both my boys own more stuffed Pokemon than I thought would fit in our home. Pokemon is a big deal around here.
We were among the first people to pick up the game. And we kept trying to get into the system during the first crazy days when the company realized they had far more demand than expected. We watched the game time out as we tried to see which generation one Pokemon we could get. Because we knew, we just we knew, that things would smooth out sooner or later.
And as they did, we found ourselves outside more and more. Sometimes it would just be walking around our apartment complex, seeing whether we could find a bulbasaur or a pikachu rather than another stupid pidgey. We got to know a few of our neighbors this way, people who would ask if we caught anything new lately. It was a nice way to get outside after school and work, watching the boys run ahead with Teddy's phone to see what they could find before they hit the corner. On the weekends, we would often go to places we were already familiar with, places that had a lot of Pokestops where we could get more pokeballs and berries that would allow us to catch more Pokemon. Walking through Centennial Park, we would cross Pokestop after Pokestop, watching Pokemon gather on our screens like my cats around an empty food bowl. Or we head to Fort Negley, walking the path around the old fort, reading the plaques of information about the historic site between looking for new Pokemon to catch.
But my favorite places to go have been Nashville's Greenways. The paths wander throughout various parts of Nashville, always in undeveloped areas where we can enjoy the foliage around us, seeing the occasional animals that some of the Pokemon have been modeled after, listening to rivers and streams burbling beside us. The kids are out there for the Pokemon, but I'm there because it connects me to my childhood in the woods of Upstate New York. During these times, I happily passed my phone along to Peter so I could enjoy walking beside Rich while my son could run forward with his brother trying to catch everything in sight. We've managed to walk part of three of the greenways so far. Eventually, I'm hoping to walk all of them.
We haven't been out as much this winter, but the weather is starting to warm even more here in Tennessee. In just a few weeks, the boys and I will be out for spring break. And Rich is taking the week off for a little stay-cation. I suspect we'll be taking quite a few hikes then, exploring more of the greenways and catching new Pokemon along the way.
It really is no surpise that this game appealed to us so much. We've been a Pokemon family for about 6 years. It started with Rich and Teddy playing computer mods of the original Game Boy games, then quickly went to the cartoons, then the card games. We now own several copies of every game that's come out since Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver, and we own more cards than I we know what to do with (in part because my husband runs one of the local Pokemon Leagues). Both my boys own more stuffed Pokemon than I thought would fit in our home. Pokemon is a big deal around here.
We were among the first people to pick up the game. And we kept trying to get into the system during the first crazy days when the company realized they had far more demand than expected. We watched the game time out as we tried to see which generation one Pokemon we could get. Because we knew, we just we knew, that things would smooth out sooner or later.
And as they did, we found ourselves outside more and more. Sometimes it would just be walking around our apartment complex, seeing whether we could find a bulbasaur or a pikachu rather than another stupid pidgey. We got to know a few of our neighbors this way, people who would ask if we caught anything new lately. It was a nice way to get outside after school and work, watching the boys run ahead with Teddy's phone to see what they could find before they hit the corner. On the weekends, we would often go to places we were already familiar with, places that had a lot of Pokestops where we could get more pokeballs and berries that would allow us to catch more Pokemon. Walking through Centennial Park, we would cross Pokestop after Pokestop, watching Pokemon gather on our screens like my cats around an empty food bowl. Or we head to Fort Negley, walking the path around the old fort, reading the plaques of information about the historic site between looking for new Pokemon to catch.
But my favorite places to go have been Nashville's Greenways. The paths wander throughout various parts of Nashville, always in undeveloped areas where we can enjoy the foliage around us, seeing the occasional animals that some of the Pokemon have been modeled after, listening to rivers and streams burbling beside us. The kids are out there for the Pokemon, but I'm there because it connects me to my childhood in the woods of Upstate New York. During these times, I happily passed my phone along to Peter so I could enjoy walking beside Rich while my son could run forward with his brother trying to catch everything in sight. We've managed to walk part of three of the greenways so far. Eventually, I'm hoping to walk all of them.
We haven't been out as much this winter, but the weather is starting to warm even more here in Tennessee. In just a few weeks, the boys and I will be out for spring break. And Rich is taking the week off for a little stay-cation. I suspect we'll be taking quite a few hikes then, exploring more of the greenways and catching new Pokemon along the way.