"the rose street"

I think I've been pretty brutally honest about my thoughts in the last year on leaving Minnesota and moving to Redding... but to sum it up - I haven't been too content with it all, until recently. I made my own decision to leave and come here but it was still incredibly hard to say goodbye to Minnesota and the wonderful life I had there. But that's not what this post is about. This post is about "the rose street".


There is this little side-street across from my apartment where I go to take walks and ride my bike around. It's so quiet, except for the birds and the scurrying squirrels. And everything smells like nature. Every yard has flowers and grass and trees. I can stand perfectly still there and stare at the sky and not feel passersby staring and wondering what I am doing in the street. It's just a street, I didn't grow up there and really it's quite ordinary but it has become one of my favorite places in Redding.


I like this street because it's not my apartment, it's not my campus, it's not a coffee shop where everyone sits and doesn't talk to other people. When I go for walks, or bike rides, it instantly clears my mind. I calm down. Meditate. Dream. Pray. It's more inspiring than Pinterest and more relaxing than re-runs of some TV show. It somehow reminds me of things I long for that are easily forgotten in the drudgery of every day living. Maybe I'm romanticizing but in this season walks are just that good for me.



Anyway my favorite time to walk is in the evening, especially after it's been raining. Everything is so green right now and covered in flowers. Spring is already in full swing here (just ask my itching eyes and throat) so it's lovely outside in the dusky light. It has been dubbed "the rose street" because there always seem to be roses blooming somewhere along the street and it smells so sweet all the time.
It was raining pretty much all day today but this evening the sun came out so I got to go out and walk around the rose street. I realized for the first time, during my walk, that there are things about Redding I am going to miss. This street is definitely one of them. I am moving in about two months and it's making me think a lot about what I'm thankful for in this season that is ending so soon. Really there is nothing I do not have to be thankful for. I feel blessed beyond measure. In the quiet lonely times, the times without the freedom to spend money on something I want, the times without a church family - I still think I can look back at this season and not be able to count the number of ways God has loved me. When I leave my apartment and breathe the fresh air I find it so natural to thank God for my life here.


I think I could go on for so much longer about this season and the clarity I've been seeking away from my computer and text books but that would be an awfully long post. I usually make a point to leave my phone at home when I take a walk but today I brought it so I could snap a few photos to remember and share this simple pleasure.

The Rose Street

(cell phone pics)