eyes wide open

It's only a half mile from here to Aidan's school, and I'm ashamed to admit, I drive it 95% of the time. Yesterday, though, I walked it. It always feels so good to get out and breathe the fresh air. I spend as much time sitting in the carpool line on most days as it takes me to walk the half mile. It doesn't make sense that I don't just walk every day. I always arrive back home energized and renewed.

Yesterday, the air was cool and dry, so Ian and I laced our shoes and headed out. Besides the obvious health and environmental benefits, walking is just fun. We always see things that we miss when we're zooming by in the car:


I had no idea that we had a mulberry tree in our neighborhood, but as we rounded a corner yesterday, we noticed that the ground beneath the tree was littered with berries! We stopped on the way back home and inspected closer. The tree was laden with ripe black mulberries and almost-ripe red ones. I picked a few, knocked off the lady bugs, and let the boys savor the tart sweet goodness.


There's a tree along the way that I've passed a dozen times on foot, but not until yesterday did I notice the fence that's trapped inside it. Somewhere along the way, there was a chain-link fence here. The tree must've grown around it. The boys thought this was the coolest thing EVER. "Wow!" exclaimed Aidan. Maybe a tornado came one time and shot the fence right into the tree!" Can you tell he's seen a lot of tornado coverage already this spring?

It's another beautiful day today. Maybe I should walk again. Ya think?