Long Walks On Leafy Streets

4/29/2014 Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge, Wells, ME (Thanks to Nicole)
It is a quiet night. Everyone has gone to bed and I am sitting in the silence listening to the rain clattering on the roof while writing this. The semester is almost coming to a close. There is one exam left tomorrow but I already feel the weight lifting off my shoulders. I can feel the more relaxed summer state of mind slowly creeping in.
During the hectic activity of the past week I took time now and then to pause and take a breath. I was rushing to finish work on a research project before the semester ended while also typing up exams and preparing students for the final exam. I could feel the stress building up. The fact that I was still recovering from the cold / allergic reaction made it more difficult. To add to the misery on friday morning I woke up and opened up my computer only to find that it had totally crashed. Past few days I am using either my office computer or the one my parents use to watch Indian TV shows.
So now and then I would just sit in a chair doing nothing, just staring at empty space. Sometimes I would go for a walk or watch a show on TV for a little while.
In the mornings I have been picking weeds from among the grass. These little purple flowers have been popping up everywhere along with the usual dandelions and buckhorn plantain. Being in the grass and working on the plants is always relaxing and takes the mind to a calmer place, away from the stresses of daily life.
Luckily the brief sickness did not prevent me from my walks and runs, which provided me with the most joy and relaxation. It is particularly pleasant to walk in the early spring, when daffodils and tulips greet you from people's frontyards and the streets are lined with blooming redbuds, pink magnolias, yamazakura cherries and pink dogwoods. The Yoshino cherries are finished blooming.
On our own street there is a Yamazakura cherry in full bloom. These trees with their flowers with bunches of petals seem to almost fill up the air with vernal chromatic exuberance. The Juneberries are finished blooming and pretty soon the berries will appear. There is one tree on our street, though, that is still completely bare just like the Hibiscus in our backyard. But it doesn't look dead. Perhaps they need a bit warmer weather. It is still only in the sixties. I continue to be amazed with this whole phenomenon of trees coming back to life after the winter. Coming from India where it is always warm and most trees never lose their leaves this is a new phenomenon to me. I have been in the East coast now for almost twenty years and it never ceases to amaze me.
One morning last week as I walked to work on a very clear, bright and beautiful day with a light breeze caressing me my mind slowed down and memories of past walks came flooding in. I used to walk for hours on the C&O canal towpath every sunday when I was younger, during my early days in Washington. In those days I had a car and I would drive an hour or more to Edward's Ferry near mile 31 and walk five miles to Whites Ferry and back. After an hour or so of walking the mind would clear up, all the noise from the week die down and I would simply enjoy walking amidst the trees and enjoying the views of the placid Potomac. I feel very fortunate that I can walk an hour several days a week now, in similarly quiet environment. I look forward to walking even longer and spending even more time with nature during the coming days.

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