Another glorious day. We relish these. I decided to transfer Abel's nap out of doors today. He snoozed in the stroller as I rolled through Highland Park. As I pushed the stroller up the hill entrance I noticed the cars starting to stack along the road going into the main park area. A packed park atmosphere does not bode well for a napping Abel. I thought about turning around. Then I just trudged on up the hill convinced this glorious day must be spent in a park.

Once I hit the paved trails I was so glad that I chose to stay. Abel was already dozing as I worked my way down the first tulip and daffodil stuffed path. It hit me. There were tons of people all around me, but it was silent. Their were some hushed conversations around but the kind you hear at a funeral. But it was too bright and cheery for a cemetery, it was more like a sanctuary. The perfect kind. The one that God orchestrated himself. What could be more beautiful than solid wood pews and stained glass? Fresh rolling fields of grass dotted with soft huge blossoming trees, that's what. And we were all baffled by it.

We moved around the park with mouths gaping. Everyone..the girl sitting with her dog on the hill, the old couple flirting on the bench, the boyfriend trying too hard to be romantic on a blanket under a cherry tree in a public park, the girlfriend (of a different couple) unsuccessfully attempting to look pleased that she was playing catch with her boyfriend, and the mom laying down for a nap with her baby tucked next to her. And among the crowd were a few homeless people who were happy about the warmer weather for much more practical reasons than the rest of us.

I kept going, amazed by the quiet and the sweet scented air. And the kind of glorious views that you have to just stop and stare at for a minute to make sure your eyes are registering it all correctly. Then you realize, it's perfect. Just when I had thought I had seen the finale I came up over a hill and looked down on 10 or so of the most breathtaking flowering magnolia, cherry, and crab apple trees all clumped together. College students were rolling under them like dogs...but even they were quiet. We were all full of respect for this heaven we discovered on the same spring afternoon.