bends in the road

An old Joni Mitchell song runs circles in my brain as I take my daily walk.

"Don't it always seem to go
that you don't know what you've got till it's gone.
They paved paradise
and put up an parking lot."

Not a parking lot exactly, but my neighborhood is changing as they have cut down trees and shredded a variety of wildflowers in order to put in a large thoroughfare smack dab in our secluded residential area.

I've heard it is called progress. Convenience to shopping malls is not what I would necessarily call progress. I will have to go further afield to gather my natural dye materials and take my children on spur of the moment nature journeys. But I will be able get to some places in a lesser amount of time. Still, some days I weep inside.


Yet there are wonderful bends in the road too. We celebrated a good friend's fortieth birthday in the park with a picnic lunch and cupcakes.

Since Charlotte has learned to count in tens, the one candle for every ten years made perfect sense!