Canal View

With the arrival of Spring (finally), Sam and I made it on a walk to the far side of the iron bridge. First time this year. 

One of our many "favorite" views...

Welcome Back

 It's nice to see the springtime return of an old friend...

Planting Flowers

I think a lot about how far Sam has come over the years. 

In what seems like not too many years ago, it was tough to get Sam to leave the house. Language was difficult - it was hard for him to understand and it was hard for him to find words; it was hard to keep up. 

The world moved too fast. 

There were uncomfortable smells. Textures were difficult. Few things in the outside world were (and are) predictable. The world felt unsafe and hard to deal with.

All of these challenges still exist to different degrees (and likely always will), but he's come a long way.

I think about this often. I especially think about this when he's doing something like participating in a planting activity with one of his support groups, surrounded by people he's not super familiar with, with his hands in the dirt, planting flowers - and being proud of it. 

This would have been unthinkable not too many years ago.

Tonight's View

 

Up to the tower (but not up the tower) for the first time this year.

Tax Season Must Be Over

Spotted on the side of the road while on tonight's walk...

It's Been a Long Winter

 What are these strange flower-like objects growing on the branches?

Approaching the Bridge

Here's a few photos of the bridge (of death), taken as Sam and I are approaching it on the return trip from one of our longer routes (just over five miles). 

Not that you haven't seen this view a million times before but I took these photos because I really like the shadows (which we've also seen a million times before)...