Solvang, CA

Red brick pavement, white houses with wooden frames. Denmark in California: windmills, small shops.

My family walked slowly down the street. Quaint, quiet corners. We stopped for ice cream in a parlor where the interior's just the line. It didn't matter: we'd have eaten outside anyway.

Mom stopped in a glass shop while we waited under a veranda in a park. I was almost done with my cookie dough.

We looked around and took in the illusion. These picturesque buildings did not end shortly up the road, at least in our imaginations.

I felt small in the world that day. But I resolved to enjoy my narrow slice of the universe. The ice cream helped that. The windmills, the brick, and the parks helped it, too.