The smell of pine

   There are many places I love to visit at my local parks, spending most of my green time in Golden Gate Park, and in particular around the one mile stretch of walkway that is adjacent to Stow Lake. I spend about one hour here (or more) on a nearly daily basis, and although I'm very familiar with most of this area, there are often new sights and smells to surprise me, sometimes because I have not looked very closely before, and sometimes because different times of the year and conditions illicit new sights, smells and sounds.
   The picture below was taken recently, on a stretch of road that curves around the southwest portion of Stow Lake. I began walking on this road (it is actually a car path, whereas the pedestrian path is outside the picture to the left) when more people would arrive to walk, and I sought solace and quiet here. It was after a heavy rain about two months ago that I first noticed the strong, wonderful smell of pine at this location, and the fragrance has returned during the past three weeks or so, despite no rain during that time. It may be that the rain caused the trees to bloom, or the lack of rain and above-average temperatures fooled the trees into thinking that spring had already arrived, but most of the park, including much of the city, has been smelling wonderful.
   I recall seeing about a year ago a blind person being led around the lake by a friend, and as they passed by one of the people that I see here regularly, that person turned to her friend and said, "why would you bring a blind person here?" I remember thinking to myself how stupid that sounded. It reminds me to try to keep my mind, as well as my nostrils, open.

The curve of road in question