this weekend i got to spend two and a half days in new york city.  taxi tires hammering cobblestone streets, suvs honking the minute the light turns green, the smell of fish sauce, pizza crust, espresso, and masa harina, police sirens, boom boom cars, foreign languages, foreign accents, american accents, shouts, laughter, sales pitches, and sore feet. i am energized and exhausted both. this morning i was back on my familiar walk, on the rice creek regional trail, with my dog.  i heard an oriole, saw bluebirds, goldfinches, and ospreys, listened to the clickety clickety of Jack’s toenails, and smelled wet soil.  i love both these places.  but if i had to choose only one, forever, i would choose the latter.  and it is only in the last few years that i have come to understand this about myself. i turned 49 a week ago today.

a bouquet of may greenery

rice creek regional trail, saint paul, minnesota