11/17: curiosity satisfied & the past sweetly recalled

When I drive into town I pass a pine-grove in a park.  Though I've been wondering (for months!) what it would be like to walk among those particular trees, I had never taken the time to find out.  Until this afternoon:

And another, unrelated good thing:  It was the birthday of a high-school friend today; I knew because Facebook reminded me.  I wrote him a quick happy-birthday note, and his response made a specific (and accurate) reference to a college paper I had mentioned to him back when I was writing it in fall 1986.  Wild that he remembered that conversation and its content; I was floored, and touched.