Hurrah for Real Springtime!

I heard it snowed in NYC yesterday. Sucks to be you! :) It was GORGEOUS and WARM and SUNNY here, in the 70s. Love it! The mountain is out, and green is everywhere you look, whether it's the new spring green or the constant evergreen. Again, I LOVE IT.

I went on a couple walks, and they were all blasts from the past. First, I went on one of the trails I used to walk, back in...2003? when I worked in that office. It was just the same, but sadly the blackberries aren't ripe yet; that was one of my favorite parts. The little stream still had the reeds and weeds and marshyness around it, and the smell was the same. I don't know if it's only around here that water smells like this, or if all lakes and rivers have this scent. But it's very earthy and damp, like mud, but also sweet, and all-round it's quite pleasant and refreshing.

I took tons of pictures of flowers and reflections, and I will put some on Flickr later.

My next jaunt was around two schools I used to attend. Creepy! Both were remodeled after I left, so it wasn't the same. But then, the mix of familiar and new were rather unnerving. Both schools have the same shape and structure, just pretty new things built in and around. The high school was still all shiny and modern, with funny posters and fancy media labs. I saw only one name I knew; my 9th grade English teacher is still there. The other names were unfamiliar, because most of my teachers throughout school were on the older side, the same or older than my parents, so just about all of them have retired by now.

The middle school was next. Even with the remodel, things look very much the same. I walked past an old locker, the 'student center' where kids still play ping pong and foosball (and I'm sure they still have a game system there too, like we did, over 15 years ago), by the portables, which are still necessary, but nicer now. I spent A LOT of time at that school, long before I attended, because my mom and stepdad were teachers there. So in the summers we were there, when I was sick I had to go to school with them. I grew up in the faculty lounge and locker rooms of that school. That's why I always figured that one thing I would never be was a teacher. Maybe I just couldn't escape after all.

Anyway, occasionally locations from those schools still pop up in anxiety dreams, usually where I'm in school but have forgotten something vitally important, like my backpack, shoes, or pants, and I have to run around like a crazy person trying to find it, getting later and later by the second. Hallways and doorways and corners from my memories are in the dreams, and they're still there in real life, only slightly modified. Like I said, creepy.

Today is another beautiful day, and I'm headed downtown to explore. Have a lovely spring day, wherever you are!