to the river

Tommy's always on the lookout for Bigfoot.

When I moved to Blacksburg waaaaaaay back in 2000 to start my college career as a Hokie, I was surprised at how wishy-washy the Virginia weather was. On any given day I would leave my dorm at 7:40am freezing my tail off in pants and a sweatshirt or jacket only to be sweating as I walked back later that day. When I asked one of my Virginia-born classmates if the weather was always like that, she said, "Welcome to Virginia. If you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes." 

I've found that to be true over and over again during the course of not only the four years of my college career, but the ten (!!) years I've spent here since then. The last two weekends we've had are a perfect example. This past weekend we pretty much stayed inside as much as possible as the wind whipped and the temperatures plummeted to a frosty 12 degrees. But the weekend before that? Sunny and 65. And while on one hand it can sometimes be enough to make you think you'll lose your mind deciding what to wear and whether or not to pack up the summer clothes or leave them out all year long (I just leave them out now), on the other hand, sometimes it's just the right amount of warm weather to combat the winter blahs and help you remember that spring really is right around the corner.

When we saw the forecast two weeks ago, we immediately decided to head to our local State Park for a leisurely walk to the river. We took snacks and drinks and walking sticks and slowly made our way down the trail. I listened for birds and looked at the trees and admired the blue sky while the rest of my family......looked for signs of Bigfoot. Whatever keeps them happy!

While I'm not quite ready for winter to be over and still hoping for at least one good snow storm, I'll be sure to take advantage of every nice spring-y day that comes our way with a walk through the trees.