I 've been having fun watching Carter learn about God and his creation. He is really interested in the Bible and our Father, it just confirms that we were made with the knowledge of a Creator and with the inherent conscience of right and wrong (which is very apparent in the testiness of a two-year-old!). On our jogs, nature walks and other outdoor adventures, I am sure to point out to Carter what God has created as well as encourage any questions or conversations resulting. It makes me so happy to hear, "Oh, Mommy, God created this flower!"

I am blessed to live in an older part of Morgan Hill, a little bit separated from the track homes and with enough space to breathe without viewing stucco in each direction. We have a giant 100+ year old redwood in our back yard. It's gorgeous, it reminds me of home.

If interested, there's an especially beautiful piece on trees in Whitman's journal entries here.

A few homes down on our right as well as a few homes behind us is an old, historic walnut orchard. I've been able to witness each season passing as we walk to and from the park. I'm enamored over it's perfectly-spaced-apart trunks and the gnarled branches of the trees. Right now, the branches stand stripped from the winter, baring their nakedness. Yet in a scene so cold and raw, below lives bright yellow wildflowers reaching for the sun's touch. It's beautiful. It's breathtaking, and Carter, baby and I have all been caught dancing, racing, and chasing in their glory.

And then a car speeds by reminding us that we do, in fact, live in a neighborhood, and this is not, in fact, our orchard.