Celebrating the Ordinary -- Day 4

This week-long challenge from Marie's Journeying Beyond Breast Cancer has helped me immensely -- I now stop to appreciate so many of life's gifts, seeing the ordinary as rather extraordinary. 

I took today's pictures on my walk this morning. 

I find regular walks so soothing to the body, mind, and spirit. Because of physical limitations, I can no longer run, but I can walk. And I have found walking to be a greater gift in many respects because I can slow down to appreciate the space that is my neighborhood.

At first, I wasn't happy with moving here because it is a greater distance from my doctors than the neighborhood I used to live in. I moved out of necessity, as cheaper living was to be found here, with the added financial responsibilities of a new child. 

But now I've come to enjoy passing each house, savoring people's gardens, and the lovely trees. 

The football field pictured here shows serendipity. It's located in a pretty park, but it's not just an ordinary football field. I take it as a sign from the universe that I was meant to be in this space, place, and time. The football field, I was to eventually discover, is the home field for a high school team named the Spartans.

I cried when I first came upon the Spartans sign, for my alma mater is Michigan State University, the home of the Spartans sports teams.

Serendipity, indeed.

Home to the Spartans

Where Ari plays regularly (same park)

The neighborhood on my routine walk.