23.5 Dogs and an Annoying Amount of Alliteration

        This spring seems to have reached the mental breakdown stage of the semester. So it seemed fitting to shirk all homework and drive to Balboa Park yesterday afternoon. The park boasts plant-watching, artifact-watching and people-watching--something for everyone. Its treasure include:

•  multiple museums
•  pavement performers
• awesome architecture 
• gorgeous gardens, 
• lovely lawns 
• people 
• and dogs

 My roommate and I wandered about counting dogs. Before driving home we counted 23.5--we could not decide if a fluffy toy breed qualified as a rat or a dog, hence the fraction.

In front of one of the Shakespearean theaters which are a part of the park's Old Globe Theatre.

          The strolling and the puppies proved a refreshing rest. The satisfaction from walking and wandering reminded me of Elizabeth's preference for traveling on foot. She shocks the Bingley part when traversing the three miles through the mud. She escapes Mr. Collins and Lady Catherine by canvassing the wilderness at Rosings Park. The women is eventually proposed to on a country road ramble. All of which (especially that last bit) leads me to believe in the benefits of pedestrianism.
        
           More than walking, I think the underlying value of rest is tantamount to the pleasure derived from parks, puppies and being a pedestrian. (Excuse me for the excessive alliteration in this post. I ought to go pen a poem.) 

          Beyond Balboa Park, I spent the entire day breaking from book and papers (drat! Couldn't think of a work or essays that starts with a b). I also slept and painted and read--not textbooks!

Painting Cherry Trees--watercolors on a Sunday afternoon.

                 God created us to rest, so it shouldn't be surprising that we require it. But it still amazes me how different and ready to live I feel after intentionally breaking from the business.

                In conclusion, everyone needs a great park designed for walking attached to their Regency estate. And until then, we can make use of the public ones where plenty of puppies are happy to greet you.