Blooms and Buds Abound

Spring is in full bloom around the Columbia area. The showers last week coupled with the unseasonably warm 80 degree temps of this week have ushered in an amazing display of blooms, buds and blossoms. I heard today that this is also partly due to the long, brutally cold winter which has resulted in everything now budding at once. My "pic of the day" showcases this explosion of spring.

Today was a long work day (~11 hrs) as I'm trying to recover from time lost in my 6 days off sick. What stands out to me most from my day is the guest speaker that came to my class. She is a health educator at the university and provided an experiential stress management session for the students. She explained that the American culture does not value self-care in terms of time for self and time to relax. We are a very busy, achievement oriented society, but we must take time for rest and stress reduction.

"They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven." Psalm 107:30