treasure discovered during this week’s adventures in the parks.
—
“you can either be a victim of the world
or an adventurer in search of treasure.
it all depends on how you view your life.”
― paulo coelho
as i’ve been walking and exploring
the parks and outdoor recreation areas around town
i realize how many i have yet to visit
so i’ve decided to walk in each of the parks
in ann arbor
all 159+ of them
to see what is unique about each
with more than
2,000 acres of parkland
50,000 trees
a river, dams, falls, hills, ponds, gardens,
woods, meadows, prairies, and rec areas
found in spaces ranging from
tiny neighborhood green spots to wide open expanses
i see an adventure ahead
with no planned deadline or timeline
so i began the list alphabetically yesterday
and have walked 2 of them so far
only 157+ to go.
—
“parks are works of art just as a painting or sculpture is.”
-thomas hoving
—
credits: ann arbor parks and recreation
as we made our way through the jungle of giant leaves,
only one of us spotted a tiger and we looked out for each other.
—
“on a hard jungle journey nothing is so important as having a team you can trust.”
― tahir shah, House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City
when we set out on our hike
to see what spring animals
were out there
we thought maybe
we’d see a bear
awakening from a long winter’s nap
though we most likely
scared any creature
who happened to be in our oncoming path
or most anywhere in the vicinity
with our marching and laughing and yelling and jumping
and then
we looked closer
and at last
found an animal
passed over by many
who was not afraid of us
just waiting to to be discovered
a single ant.
—
“life is denied by lack of attention, whether it be to cleaning windows or trying to write a masterpiece.”
-nadia boulanger
what a lovely day for a walk in ann arbor
with some of my friends and neighbors
“today is one of those excellent January partly cloudies in which light
chooses an unexpected part of the landscape to trick out in gilt,
and then the shadow sweeps it away. you know you’re alive. you take huge steps,
trying to feel the planet’s roundness arc between your feet.”
― annie dillard
—
image 1 credit: ann arbor townies
what a beautiful morning to help
at the annual
juvenile diabetes research foundation event
and
to take a great walk after
right in the mix with
dogs, babies, strollers, scooters, families,
friends, teams, singles, wagons and trees
and then come to the end
very happy to have been a part of it all.
“we are all here on earth to help others;
what on earth the others are here for I don’t know.”
-w.h. auden
—
—
photo credit: steve townsend