Lunch date?

I packed a salad, an orange, and a can of Izze to take to the park today, so I could a) get out of my apartment for a while, b) enjoy the beautiful day, and c) get my thoughts in order before the school year started.

Imagine my surprise when I got to the park, settled into my blanket, and found myself barely four feet from the furry back of a woodchuck. He rumbled off into a creek bed for a few minutes before reemerging on the other side, snuffling around in the grass for food and generally being oblivious to any human presence. (I would have given him a carrot, if he'd only asked...)

There was quite a lot of human activity going on today, too: freshmen picnicking, babies laughing, jugglers and unicyclers doing their thing (really!). The entire scene highlighted so much of what I love about this town: its oddity, but also its strong community vibe. We were all outside, together, perhaps stopping to chat for a few minutes, just because it was a beautiful day and we all wanted to be there.