Just Lauren

I went on a walk today. This time Elisabeth and Shari accompanied me. This time the sun was out and the grass was even greener thanks to the rain we actually received. We walked at the park and I made them stop multiple times to smell the air. I couldn’t help it, it smelled like a pine forest and like summer and I wanted to breathe in that heady scent. And then Shari pointed out these trees with white blooms and I had to go over to get a closer look (they didn’t smell great but they were pretty) because blooms only last for so long. As we made our way back to the apartments, we stopped under some pines one final time. I kicked up the dropped needles as I finally realized their decomposing was likely the cause of that warm aroma I was catching. Elisabeth told us about trees whose sap is red – dragon blood tree – so that when their sap drips down it looks like blood. That was a bit frightening so I was happy that the sap from the trimmed pine tree we were near was nice and clear. I so wanted to touch the sap because it looked so inviting but I knew that if I did, my fingers would be sticky for some time so I took a picture instead. The walk was incredibly pleasant.

A bit later in the afternoon, I spotted a bird of prey (I’m assuming a hawk) in the pine tree directly across from one of my balconies. For a minute, Pippin, Elisabeth, and I watched the bird until she flew to the other side of the tree. Guess she wasn’t finding as many mice on our side as she wanted. 😉 I enjoyed getting to see her and I hope she’s a sign that I’ll be seeing hummingbirds soon not because hawks and hummingbirds are connected in any way but because spring might finally be here and the weather is warm enough for birds to be out and about.

Speaking of spring, I got a lovely surprise from my friend, Katie, yesterday. She had mailed me TWO letters two weeks in a row and most likely because I don’t check the mail that often, I got both of them yesterday. In one of them were these beautiful flower stickers. I think I’ll use them in my journal. What a fun and thoughtful thing! They are a great reminder that colorful blooms and warm, sunny days, are ahead.