gwalla | I should take long walks more often

A trip to take back a couple of movies turned into a much longer walk when I decided partway through a shortcut back through the Cal campus to take a detour up along Strawberry Creek. The Campanile had started playing a tune, and there was still plenty of sun, which seemed like a good reason to linger. I wandered up past LeConte Hall and crossed the creek at the bridge near the Faculty Glade, went down to look at the North Field and the back side of Hearst Gym, spent some time looking at the stream from another smaller bridge, then doubled back up past the music library and out past Kroeber Hall. Most of this part of campus was not that familiar to me. I'd intended to head down College Ave. and straight home, but on the spur of the moment trekked up to Piedmont Ave.

I got hit with a mild but insistent nostalgia bomb along the way, starting as I crossed the bridge at Sather Gate (looking unsuccessfully for a sign for Cal Animage Alpha; I wonder if the club still exists, as anime fandom has changed so much since I was in high school) and gaining a bit in intensity as I walked past my old elementary school and along a path I used to take to get home after school. Appropriately enough for my frame of mind, the cherry trees in Berkeley are in full bloom. Despite the gnawing feeling of the most useless emotional response ever, it was a pleasant walk.

Also, I encountered a cat with thumbs. They're evolving. We're screwed.