my tiny new friend

When I arrived at home after work yesterday evening, I saw an open amazon box on the front porch. I walked up the steps to peer into the box and found it full of grass and other plant matter. Thinking that my mom had been weeding, I thought nothing more of the cardboard and went inside. After talking to my parents for about five minutes, my mom suddenly said, "Oh! We have a present for you...but you can't keep it." Quite confused, I followed her out front. My mom pointed at the box, so I looked inside more closely. There, huddled in the corner, was the tiniest turtle I have ever seen.

My parents told me that the men working on our house found the little guy in our backyard, having just worked his way out of his egg. I don't usually go googly-eyed over reptiles, but I'm a sucker for just about every baby animal. He's just so small and incredibly adorable!

Barely bigger than a quarter, how could I leave him to fend for himself in the wilds of our backyard? I fully intend to release him soon, but I want to see him grow a little bit bigger before relinquishing him to Mother Nature.

I'm so happy that I was able to see a day-old turtle in person. You see sweet photos of baby animals online, and sometimes you see them at the zoo, but it's far less common to stumble across a young creature in the wild.

respite from my mind

It seems a bit odd that I should love nature so much, considering how obsessive I am about germs and cleanliness, and how frightened I am of deer ticks. But spending time in a forest infuses me with awe, with euphoria, and with the delightful sense that there is something so much bigger than myself. I willingly trek through tall grasses and plants where insects are lurking, and I'm happy to touch the rough bark of a trunk or the spongy moss patches on the side of the trail. The woods are where I feel most relaxed, where I feel most connected with the world. Each whisper of wind through the leaves is a song that uplifts my heart and every sunbeam filtering through the trees is a tonic against the stress of my anxious life.

"It does not do well to dwell on dreams and forget to live."

Life has been uneventful lately and I'm not doing well in regards to making it more interesting. I'm reminiscing about the beautiful Spring we had (during which I took the above photo) and wishing Autumn would hurry up and get here already! Most people feel more depressed as the weather turns cooler and the days grow shorter, but I come alive as all of the trees turn from monochromatic to red, purple, orange, yellow and every shade and hue in between.

In the meantime, I've decided to re-read the Harry Potter series, as it's been approximately eleven years since I first began the series. It's like reuniting with an old best friend after a long, long while and rediscovering all of the reasons why we became close, sharing in our old memories. Reading the series again gives me the ability to see events in a new light and I notice foreshadowing and hints I didn't pick up on before. The only problem with picking up the series again is that I'll miss it all the more when I've finished book seven!

Wishing I was in Disney World

Despite our power never going out, our internet had been down for three days due to a storm. Since I didn't feel up to braving the hoards of people swarming Starbucks, I spent my weekend going through all of the photos of my laptop. I have six and a half years worth of pictures on here! I felt quite a lot of nostalgia as I went from folder to folder, but I enjoyed looking through my shots from Walt Disney World the most. The Wilderness Lodge, pictured above, is my favorite WDW resort. It's the hotel my parents and I stayed in the first time I ever visited Disney World and we make sure to visit every time we make the trek to Kissime, Florida. I love nature of all kinds, but the environment embodied at the Wilderness Lodge is my favorite. The scenery calls to mind Yellowstone National Park with its tall evergreens, rivers rushing over rocky falls and even a small replica of Old Faithful. Nowhere else in Florida can you be transported so perfectly to the Rockies.  

do you speak Japanese?

日本語がわかりますか？　日本はとてもすごいです！

It may not be Japan, but EPCOT in Walt Disney World is the closest I've been to, "the land of the rising sun." Anime is what originally kindled my interest in Japan but I've found so many other aspects of the culture that I like. Though sushi may not suit my palate, I'm confident that the country has plenty of other culinary specialties with which to delight me. The indigenous religion of Japan, Shinto, is a fascinating theology and its influence can even be found in pop culture. Traditional clothing is wonderfully intricate and I've endeavored to collect every piece (of which there are many) needed to wear a proper kimono.

Japanese is a unique language, having no known relation to any other language families. Despite dedicating two years to the study of Japanese, I can only read and write at a kindergarten level. Learning three entirely new alphabets, one of which consists of thousands of characters, is a challenge I will continue to happily face until I become fluent in my most cherished of languages.

gift of green

Just a five-minute walk from my house is a small park where people go to jog, bike or take a stroll with friends and loved ones. Most are happy to stay on the paved path, but I endeavor to make each of my visits a true walk in the woods. Upon an incline, a beaten down dirt trail slopes downward into the trees before rising up above the rest of the forest. Here, tufts of green grass grow amid the rock-strewn earth. Tiny dewdrops grace the tip of each bright blade of grass and the rising sun casts its rays at just the right angle. Off the beaten path, I stumble upon the most beautiful sights and it feels like every small wonder is just for me.