Deforestation

So yesterday was a very relaxing day. Free from school, work, and anything slightly stressful. As you may recall from last year, there was a mini forest I went to explore near where I lived. Well, I decided to go back there, and I'm glad I did. I went much farther in than I did before and I found a few things that surprised me.

First, this is where I sat for around 30 minutes listening to either my iPod or the ambient sounds.


After a while of enjoying the beauty and the near silence, I decided to explore a bit more. And I found . . .

An ant hill. Although I know you can't see them, that huge pile of dirt was an ant hill. Once I noticed it, I slowly backed away so they wouldn't attack. Have you ever seen that special on killer ants? Well, I did.

Similar to last year, it was cloudy. But finally the sun showed up.


I always love a good shot of the sun coming through the trees. So while leaving, I encountered another small path I hadn't seen before so I figured I would follow it. While following this path I saw a flower.


It was the only flower of its kind around. And I was really surprised that it was growing there. Here's a picture giving the context of where I found it.


If you can't see it, it is there in the middle of the photograph to the right of the path somewhat hidden by other plants. I was really surprised that a single flower was growing there.

So there was my forest adventure. Afterwards I had dinner with Melissa and a few other friends and we had an enjoyable night. So overall, it was an awesome birthday. Thanks to everyone who offered birthday wishes and to those who couldn't for one reason or another but wanted to. And to everyone else . . . I hope you had a glorious day.