Birthday Walk

Well, today I turned 48! And it was a good day all in all. I had lunch with a dear friend, and then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening visiting my mom, who is one of my favorite people of all time. And before all that, I managed to squeeze in a short walk along my beloved C&O Canal, taking in the very dramatic, early spring day. Breezy and chilly, roiling clouds, broken now and then by brilliant sunshine, and even a few snow flurries! Not often an April birthday is graced with any sort of snow in the places I've lived, so this was kind of a treat.

Despite the flurries, it's clear that spring is coming on the Canal. Many trees are showing tips of green, while some show red... vines creeping up bare grey trunks are coming alive as well. And here and there the first buds and blossoms on trees are showing. Ducks were out and about in pairs, and there were quite a few vultures soaring above the river gorge. And everything is beginning to take on that fresh, pale shade of spring.