Walk in the Woods

On Sundays mornings, I often meet my mom to go for a walk. I usually want to go to the woods.

We live in a city, so it's sometimes easy to forget that there is nature so close by. Whenever I make it there, I am always so glad that I did.

Happy Monday!

The weekend was intense.



It may have gotten to the point where I renamed the to-do list I write in chalk on the back of my bedroom door the "freak out list" because on it I prioritized tasks by the level at which they were freaking me out.



But there was also a cookie exchange, organized by Dewey, where I got to meet all her cool friends and eat soup and have an excuse to make these. (Our family makes them every year; if we have a traditional Christmas dish, these weird but delicious toffee things are it.)



On Sunday, there was a walk with Mom. The woods are really beautiful this time of year, and you can see so much further than you can when all the trees are covered in leaves. We happened upon this spot, and it didn't really feel like we were only twenty minutes outside of Boston anymore. It was magical.

It's supposed to snow today, I'm having a telephone chat with an old friend this evening to talk about Graduate School, I have a new granny cart, and Christmas is on Saturday. Freak out lists aside, I think this week is going to be magical.

Happy Monday, friends!

The High Line

One of the funniest things about visiting the High Line is that there are so many people taking pictures of it.

Not touristy "look at me in New York City on the High Line" pictures, but the kind I like to take, the ones where you pretend you know anything at all about photography. I have a sneaking suspicion everyone is taking the pictures to put on the internet, when they write on their blog about their trip to New York, a highlight of which was the High Line.

The thing about it, though, is that the High Line was a highlight of my trip to New York. Lisel pointed out that the gardens were natural without trying to deny that they were urban; it really was the perfect combination.

(Also, the homemade chocolate-dipped mint ice cream bar that I bought from the Lily Lolly, who has a cart right on the path, was delicious.)

(Seriously- is there any chance that any highlight of any trip I take wouldn't involve food?)

I went for a walk in the woods yesterday. It was perfect.

I'd been in a funk, the kind where I wanted to scream every time the people around me had the audacity to do something crazy, like breathe. I needed some alone time.

Even though it was raining, I needed to get out in nature, by myself, away from anyone who might breathe too loud.

I rode my bike to some conservation land on the bike path, and I walked in the rain, and I sat under a tree, and I got soaking wet.

I felt better immediately, and all was well again. I highly recommend it.