On 5/25/18, the class finished our second exam of the summer semester in the form of Rheumatology. It was a beautiful day when the exam ended and some of us planned to meet at Fitz to head to John Bryant and Yellow Springs for the afternoon. I ended up taking a solo photo-walk through the nearby streets of Oakwood and snapped a few photos. After stopping at the piano floor for some rough chord-learning, the rest of the group arrived. Conor and Natalie climbed into the car, while Laura and Deejay consumed some Chipotle in the backseat. We then headed to John Bryant where we played on the playground for a bit and then met up with Nicole where we headed to the trailhead. The trail took us down by the creek, which we walked alongside for awhile until we found a tree that had collapsed into the rushing water. Natalie was the first to walk its length and Laura eventually joined, you will see some photos that adventure soon. We continued to hike for awhile and eventually turned around to head back to the trailhead to meet with Nora, Cody, Kaeli, and Sonny at Yellow Springs Brewery. We arrived and got some beer and headed out to the porch of the Brewery, which backed up perfectly to the bike trail. Kaeli and Sonny arrived first in exciting fashion and Nora and Cody soon followed. We spent the next few hours chatting and petting Cashew (the kindest pup) in the warm afternoon sun. We eventually parted ways as the sun dipped further away. The rest of us climbed into the car, rationed out the remaining snacks from my lunch, and headed home. I dashed home, made some food, watched some Office, and snapped photos of the magnolia in our yard, which has recently begun to blossom. I then stopped at Kroger to grab some chocolate for s'mores where I saw Henry and Anna, and was off to a bonfire. It started with Natalie crushing her birthday Ice from the past weekend and us building a massive fire out of wood pallets. Adam and Winston eventually arrived as well as Emily and Nick with Ollie. It was a great day and I hope you see that in the photos below. Enjoy.
This song came up on my shuffle on photo-walk and I felt like it captured the day.
Above & Below: Some kids enjoying the swings. Peep Laura in her custom-fitted swing. No "over-unders" were done as that is very dangerous.
Below: Plunging into the wilderness. Can you spot the local in the group?
Above: Laura looking at a water snake.
Above: "Yea, I still got those balance beam skills" - Natalie thinking to herself.
Above: Step 1 - "The Approach"
Above: Step 2 - "The Sistine Chapel"
Above: Step 3 - "Locked In"
Above: One of my favorites from the day. Check Laura's face as she Trendelenburgs along the tree. Below: I use to be obsessed with outer space and would watch all the shuttle launches. I especially enjoyed when the shuttles would return to earth. This photo below is just like that moment when the shuttle's wheels touch down safely. You think things are going to go south real quick, but it ends up turning out alright.
Above: Here's Natalie reverting back to the gymnastics glory days, walking that balance beam.
Above: I spent most of the hike looking directly up at views like this. It was a perfect day.
Below: Spent about 5 minutes trying to get a good shot of this spider web. To clarify, this is a woods spider not a home spider. But for those wondering, I think he does fight crime on the weekends.
Above: Another one of those "look up" views.
Below: An empty trail.
Above: A break at Laura's Precipice.
Below: Another spider web.
Above: Light filtering through dense branches.
Above: I'm not sure if it's the tie-dyed shirt or the "Sunflower" Open hat but this kid needs to move to YS ASAP.
Above: Another one of my favorite photos. Pretty incredible.
Above & Below: The hiking crew rolling into Yellow Springs Brewery to treat their dehydration with beer.
Above & Below: A cool place with good beer.
Above: A pair of kind and happy souls riding in on the bike path. We tried to give them the most "Kaeli-like" welcome which included loud cheering and applause.
Below: That Yellow Sprang's aesthetic.
Above: Another pair of kind and nice souls with good girl. Never a dull moment with these happy people.
Above: Laura + Cashew.
Above: Cody probably telling everyone how I thought a "scarlet-crested sangerine" (spellcheck) was called a "orange-chested tangerine". Nicole saw right through it.
Above: That mint leaf tho.
Below: Another personal favorite. It's coming up on a year since I was first introduced to these people and because of it, it's been a good and happy year.
One I drove with to cabrewing and she possibly lost her keys in my car and she has turned out to be one of the nicest people you'd be lucky to meet. Another lives super close to me, is constantly laughing, is from NY, and cooks incredible food in pineapple (RIP Spongebob). Another I thought was a guy based off her name (sorry Darryl) but is probably one of the strongest (mentally and physically) girls I know. One had a birthday on the day of the cabrewing trip and didn't tell anyone about it - that attests to who she is, selfless. Another I remember talking to on cabrewing about Colorado and how beautiful it was and little did I know that she would equally enthusiastic about everything else. One of them fractured her tibial plateau and part of her ankle (?) and never complained once - just tells you the type of person she is, more concerned about others than herself. And the other has become of my closest friends and I initially disliked the kid (jk) but is actually one of the nicest guys you from Pittsburgh and the US for that matter. And with them, they brought others into the PA Class family, all of whom are incredible. Ok, I'm done.
Above & Below: After I got home, I made a quesadilla, turned on the TV to The Office (Episode - Broke)
(Right when Michael says "Right, right. There is no way in hell that I am going to say that we're broke" *steps into elevator* and *elevator opens and Michael is bent over* "Oh, I'm really worried I'm going to say it.")
And while the quesadilla cooked, I went out and took a ton of photos of the magnolia which has recently begun to bloom. Here is an excessive amount of those photos.
Above: One of my favorite of the magnolia photos. No, those aren't carrots.
Above: Then it was off to a bonfire with some good people, a clear night, s'mores, and Ice.
Above & Below: A) took only 6 seconds B) new glasses C) I can't believe she did it all the while kneeling in the fire. That's being a good sport.
Above & Below: Winston and some of his human caretakers. Earlier today, Winston got hurt. Hoping Winston's leg begins to feel better and is back to being his energetic self soon.
Above & Below: Here are some photos of Oliver Graydon, a gentleman of a corgi. He did not like me snapping photos of him but I was able to get a few good ones.