I was copying my class notes when my mind started to wander to the times my brother and I would go to City Centre Park. This was not a place we had spent much time at in the 12 years since we moved to the area. The park was nice and my brother told me he had played a lot of his soccer matches on the turf fields but we hadn’t spent much time there for leisurely strolls. To be fair we had only started going there because we had grown bored of the scenery of our usual weed smoking spots. We smoked weed everyday for 8 months because COVID lockdowns had begun so both my brother and I left our Universities and moved back home. And the big issue was that our parents could not know that we used marijuana. I say “used” and not “smoked” because we did edibles, liquid gels, and oils, but smoking joints was our go-to because it kicked in faster. Anyway, since this park was near the dispensary and our favourite bubble tea place we decided to go there for a change. It quickly became our new favourite spot, there was plenty parking space, public washrooms, newly paved paths to walk on, a skate park, basketball courts, playgrounds, more than four turf fields all in great condition, tennis courts, table tennis stations, and even a beach volleyball field! And if you followed the newly paved path down you would reach a big lake. This lake had its own dirt trail that narrowed and widened in parts. Walking on the trail you could see a small fountain in the centre of the lake. Oh I forgot about the track field! There was a track field as well! This park had everything!
We would go to the dispensary then grab bubble tea and drive about five minutes to get to the park. We would usually park in the same lot and with our bubble tea in one hand and a joint in the other we’d stroll through different paths. We were at that park smoking our weed and enjoying our bubble everyday, well not everyday, sometimes it was at night time. Somethings we did somewhat religiously, like getting same bubble tea drink every time and going to the same parks. But somethings we would change up like we rarely would smoke the same strain thrice and we’d always alter the paths we walked in the parks. I’m a creature of habit and like to stick to the same routine and do the same thing. If something works for me than it works. But my brother is always looking for different ways to do things and new things to try. He gets bored of doing the same things in the same ways. I think that’s one of the reasons why we get along so well. We’re like yin and yang, he’s born in the year of the rat and I was born in the year of the dragon. We make a good team, well balanced. I have a good sense of direction but I can’t follow a map to save my life and Bro is great at using maps to get places but doesn’t have a good sense of direction.
Anyway, I think I just miss those times right at the end of summer, stoned and strolling in a luscious park drinking delicious bubble tea and talking about weird random shit. Nostalgic. Wish I could relive that just once. I kind of hate that a little. I kind of don’t like that Bro is my bestie and that he lives halfway across the country. I don’t like that so many of my good memories with him involve weed. My views on weed have changed drastically since then but I have my doubts when I remember those “good old days”. Is smoking weed as good as it seems in my memory or has my brain chosen to selectively keep the good parts and forget the bad? If Bro and I get high again will it be fun like before or will my realizations about marijuana’s effects on me make it impossible for me to enjoy it like before? The more I think about it the more I want to smoke weed. But I have finals so no…no.
