Spring!

It was a beautiful day here in Houston today. Nat picked me up for church, but came early so that we had a few extra minutes to stop at Hermann park. It was perfect today. Warm but not yet hot. Clear skies. Birds singing. A gentle breeze. I've lived from California to Japan, and I've discovered that some places feel... Stagnant. Like the small, mosquito ponds, that develop when a creek dries up. But others have a feeling of life. It isn't one thing in particular. The sound of kids. The colors. The smell of street vendors food. The different languages you hear as you walk through an area. That's how today was, and I loved getting to stop and enjoy it, while sitting by the reflecting pond and holding my Natalie's hand. I'm grateful to live in a country where we have such freedom of personality. Whether it was watching the bride getting her picture taken, or the oriental couple wearing an interesting mix of eastern and western styled clothing, it was nice to see such a broad mixture of cultures.

The other thing that was prevalent in the park was families out for picnics. In fact, the park was so filled with them that we spent half of our few minutes there trying to find somewhere to park. It was nice to see so many families. It made me miss my own. Especially with my siblings headed to Chile, it would have been nice to have seen and spent some time with them and my parents today for a picnic. Ah well. Such is life.

We went to church, which was great, but then headed to Memorial park since we only got a few minutes at Hermann. Everyone was there. I was surprised that we did not come across more bikers - though there were still quite a few. Everyone seemed to be walking though. And they all seemed to bring their baby, their dogs, and their two best friends. We didn't do too much. My side was hurting by the time we got there. It's slowly getting better. But it's not there quite yet. Not only that but I'm still sore from PK yesterday. This actually makes me quite frustrated. Why? Because I should be in good enough shape to not really notice much from yesterday. We didn't work our legs much, but my legs are quite sore. This makes me mad because I've been dancing for the past two months. With as much dancing as I'm doing, my legs should have no problem... But I guess I'm just used to more physically challenging dance classes. I fell in love with dance because with it I could throw my body around and test and push my physical limits. I don't like prancing around dance. I want something with some meat to it... So I feel a little jipped to be honest. But such is life. It's PK season again, and I'm sure I'll be back to my normal level of physical fitness in no time.

With all the walking and exploring we did, we did manage to get at least some extra fun stuff in though...