A walk in the park

Life isn't always a walk in the park, but then again, sometimes it is.

Kylie and I have only walked on campus a few times this semester. Since we are in the midst of COVID, all of our classes are online. One day Kylie asked if I wanted to go on a walk and I readily agreed. I'm an outdoorsy girl but I've had to become more intentional about going outside when there isn't a reason to. Some days I wake up, study, and before I know it, it's dark outside.

As we started off, we decided to explore campus a bit. Construction had ended in a few spots so we could see the new buildings and walkways. As we walked, we ended up crossing a bridge into a different college campus. It was a small, Presbyterian college, hidden by a road and some trees. As we explored, we walked down a little path, only to stop in amazement.

We entered a park that was perfectly enclosed by the trees. In the moment that we entered the park, I felt like I was discovering The Secret Garden. The feeling came from the joy of discovering something new and private. Something untouched by chaos. I live in Austin, Texas, and it can be hard to feel the unadulterated presence of nature. However, at this moment, I felt the peace of being truly outside. The wind brushed through my hair and grass stretched out around me. To one side, a person was stretched on their back as he read a book. Further ahead of us, a man threw a frisbee for his dog to chase as his girlfriend smiled on lovingly. A girl rollerbladed on an old, concrete court and a group of friends laughed together under the shade of some trees.

When we were leaving, we came across hopscotch drawn on the concrete in colorful chalk. We both skipped along the squares, and for the first time in a while, my mind was not clouded by distracting thoughts. For the moment, I felt perfectly free.

place I'd never been before:

view from a bridge:

girl in a tree: