"Look at that house, I said, it looks like Mexico.
Rachel and Lucy look at me like I'm crazy, but before they can let out a laugh, Nenny says: Yes, that's Mexico all right. That's what I was thinking exactly."  – Cisneros, House on Mango Street







Volleyball


There's only two sand volleyball courts in the city, as far as I know. One of them happens to be at the park right across the street. It took Cory and I awhile to get used to walking over all by ourselves, especially at night, all the shadows and new people. All that water that comes down the river and hits up against the waves coming into the shore make huge waves and they splash up against the rocks that sit there at the edge. At night they feel and look a little like boats crashing into the shoreline and can take your breath away. During the bright hours of the day, we walk along that same edge, where trees are dipping down into the water, and beavers live there under the rocks, and it is far more fun to watch as we walk toward the volleyball court at the far end of the park. Corey could care less about volleyball, but it's a good way to get out of the house she says. "You run down to the canoe rocks as fast as you can, and I will roll you the volleyball." There were always ducks along this stretch of the park, flying into the shallow shoreline or walking up across the grass looking for whatever it is there to eat. "Bowling for ducks," she would say, and I took it serious. "Don't even think about it," I would yell, and Corey would, sure enough, roll the ball in the direction of the duck crossing, never quite touching. The jungle gym here was always full of kids. The houses across the street stood facing us, and the lake, like a large and colorful fence by its own right. Even though we were new to the yellow house, we knew it was right along the edge of these and felt comfortable that if we had to we could make a mad dash back. Sometimes we would stand at the volleyball net and hit a few balls back and forth, but sometimes not. Instead, we walked the lake and looked out over the blue edge thinking it was a sea right here in the middle of Wisconsin.