Oh, ho, ho it's magic, you know...

Never believe it's not so...

I am aware that I sound like I am on a course of really strong anti-depressants, or that I’ve taken to spiking my orange juice. But I can’t help wanting to share all the fun we are having on our walks to school. Today we had a whole new appreciation for our route. It rained, poured, all night and the creeks and streams that are on every block were running strong. Not only was there a treasure to see, we enjoyed the energizing, percolating sound as well.

As I was thinking about how totally cool it is that every time I head home from dropping the kids off, I notice something interesting…first it was fallen walnuts…the likes I had never seen before. In their natural state, right off the tree, they look like small tennis balls in the summer and like little piles of something you don’t want to step in during the fall. If you peel the fruit casing off…there inside is the familiar looking walnut shell…break it down further and you find the nut meat we are used to seeing in bags at the market for baking.

This morning it was the sudden, slightest little cracking sound that caught my attention. I look over and there within 10 feet is a massive buck with a full grown set of antlers. Only in our neighborhood do you catch sight of one of these guys, because there is no hunting. A buck has to make it through 5 or 6 years to get a rack like that. He was beautiful and slightly alarmed…he flicked his white tail straight up—a distress signal…so I did what any normal Californian high on coffee and fresh air would do…I blew him a kiss and took off.