Moving Home

Having moved recently, I can safely say that it is not the most fun of human endeavors. It's mentally stressful, physically exhausting, and emotionally disorienting. However, once the majority of the boxes are unpacked and one's hands have memorized the location of the coffee mugs, living in a new place has some great advantages. It allows you to see different parts of the city, or the same places from a new perspective.

At my last place, I was lucky to live within walking distance of an excellent city park. For my new place, I targeted another fantastic city park with a vastly different character to live close to. I've been exploring this park lately, sometimes in the broiling heat of day, sometimes in the shadows of twilight. So far, the best feature of this park is a single tree. It reminds me in every way of Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree, but at the early part of the book when the tree still has all its branches. Well, it doesn't give me apples, and I'm certainly not about to chop down this beauty to canoe down the river. However, having this tree, my tree, in the neighborhood park, my park, has made all the stress of moving worthwhile. When I have just a few more boxes unpacked, I'll be sure to bring an apple and The Giving Tree to the park, and spend an afternoon under my tree's shade.

Also, an extra special thanks to the Parks Division for providing such welcoming outdoor spaces in our neighborhoods!