Animals in Leona Park

With our coffees and muffins we sit on the banks of the Mississippi watching the barges swim by. This is a new park along the Mississippi that we have yet to explore and within steps you can see that it is beautiful. The trees are mostly bare except for some lingering color not ready to give way to defeat in the war against the impending winter. As we finish our breakfast and walk along the paved trail you can feel old man winter creeping up behind you, sending a small fury under your skin and wrapping around your bones. There are children climbing trees and other couples huddled together taking a stroll along the same path as us. There are bikers and other people out for their morning run. It makes you think of all the different fates people have at parks, like this park. There are people who live here, under the bridge and in cracks. There are people who probably make love here, who get raped here, who get married here. Some might have died here while walking, while others might have been killed here and slowly dissolved into the Mississippi. Some might do drugs here, while others play games. Some come to have a picnic, some to come to find themselves. While maybe others explore after a long week and find an opportunity to let go, breath exhale and forget their troubles. Its so interesting to think about, what the trees take in, what the men in the barges see, what the ground absorbs and what the dark murky waves take out, the different energies that build and explode into the gulf of Mexico.

On Monday, Dave's 30th birthday he found out that he might have lymphoma. Now after a week of testing they think it might just be pneumonia in which they will treat him for that and then see if he gets better, do additional testing. All and all, it sounds very positive. At first it was very scary. It made me realize a lot of things in life. Please, for me, after you read this hug and cuddle with your special person or animal. They really are what you wake up for everyday of your life. Not your job, not coffee, not to just exist, it really is that special being that keeps you existing.

I'll end with these quotes from the new Murakami book that is in the intro that make me feel wonderful and happy and think :)
"Its a Barnum and Bailey world,
just as phony as it can be,
But it wouldn't be make-believe
if you believed in me"
"Its Only a Paper Moon"
-Billy Rose and E.Y "Yip" Harburg