okay, so I was walking half the time

The other day I went for a run. I am ridiculously out of shape, but every so often I get the urge to go running. Usually, this is at 11:00 at night or something, and no one wants to go with me, so I end up not going.

However, the other day I felt like running. It was early evening, when the summer sun is just starting to go down, so everything was falling perfectly into place. I've never actually run to Artemesia from my house, so I just assumed which way I should go, and my 8th sense took over, dropping me off right in front of the lake. Now Artemesia is no Stiles, Champion, Centennial, Elkhorn, or Kittamaqundi, but when you've been trapped inside a basement all year long, even a College Park lake can become a beautiful place.

I rarely choose to be alone, but when I'm out in nature, I actually enjoy it. As I walked past a little birdhouse by the path around the lake, I saw a royal blue bird sitting on top of the house. I thought it was strange that it didn't move, since I was pretty close, so I just stood there to watch it. After a little while, it chirped, then got up and started to fly away. I watched it as it circled in the air, then realized it was coming right back. I thought that was pretty weird, so I kept watching it. Then it started flipping out and making this loud call. Soon, another bird joined it, and I figured there were babies in the house, and the birds were trying to scare me away. I just stood there, and the birds kept going nuts until they started swooping at my head! They got closer and closer until they were diving at me within a few inches of my head. I just started laughing, and wondering if they would actually dare to touch me. They didn't.

So there I was, standing by a lake all alone, cracking up as two blue birds repeatedly dove at my face. Nature is amusing. I miss it.