Rockville, Maryland – Early April

Not all trips require travel:  there are acid trips (I’ve never flown that particular airline; their safety record concerns me), guilt trips (been there, done that in a few of my less proud parenting moments), ego trips (recognizing how much of my good fortune is, well, fortuitous, keeps me from embarking on these very often, if I can boast about that), and just plain trips (my klutz credentials are in good order).

Then there are my favorite kind of stay-in-town trips:  walks with my dog, Max.  (My other dog, Mia, walks only from couch to couch, though she does run to the kitchen.)  

I get lots of steps in with Max – a few hundred trying to corner my excitable boy while he’s running around in anticipation, and then a few thousand more watching him sniff, nibble, roll, and wag his way around the neighborhood.

All of which is an introduction/excuse for sharing some pictures of a glorious early spring in my home town of Rockville, Maryland.  This time of year is a weather sweet spot in the DC area, lasting anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks in between winter’s freezing rain and summer’s triple Hs (haze, heat, and humidity).   The sky is still pristine blue rather than white-grey whey, the power mowers and grass blowers aren’t yet out in force, and the clouds of gnats remain over the horizon.  

Most of all, there is bright color everywhere: yellow forsythia; yellow, orange, and white daffodils; lilac lilacs (duh); pink cherry blossoms; achingly green young leaves …. 

Given how much more time Max spends savoring the aromascape than he did a few weeks ago, I have to believe he appreciates the changing season as much as I do.

When I take Max out, I usually let him lead the way.  The other day, he headed toward a creek that bisects the neighborhood, winding through the woods and paralleled by a dirt trail. 

This morning, he took me to the local elementary school, where he likes racing around the baseball field then throwing himself on the ground and wriggling.  Sheer joy, for him and for me. Elsewhere on the walk, we passed many more blossoms dancing gently in the breeze.

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse of a Rockville spring.  I’ll be back with more posts and lots more photos in a couple of weeks, when I take a travel-kind-of-trip to central Europe.