Oof, the semester is nearly over, and just about everyone is running out of steam, myself included. The other day a colleague and friend stopped by just to see how I was doing; that was so sweet of her. She said that just from my shoulders she could tell that I had a lot on my mind and was carrying a lot alone, and I suppose that's true.
Today, I couldn't really afford the time, but I really really needed at least to take a walk outside for a bit, so I strolled for five minutes through our new native plant garden out back behind our building's parking lot. The springy feel of the soil-and-bark walkway was so soft on my feet. Here is a lovelyTrillium ovatum blossom: apparently, they depend on ants attracted to their oil to spread seeds for them.