As I’m sure everyone is very aware of, Saturday was one of the most beautiful days we’ve had in a while. Around 10:00am, I waltzed out of my dorm planning on heading to the gym for a monotonous run on the treadmill, but my plans changed! The birds and sunshine were too good to pass up, so I altered my course and headed towards the water for a nice run around the lake instead. 
After a few miles, I decided to stop and rest for a while at my reflection spot, the tree stump on the Westhampton side of the lake. The changes from the last time I had been there were drastic. Everything just seemed so much more alive; there were families that came down with their kids to feed the ducks and walk their dogs, there were runners (wearing shorts!), there was sunshine reflecting off the lake, and I could feel my toes!
I was quite ecstatic about all these spring-like changes, and what intrigued me the most was a new group of birds making their home in a few of the trees alongside my reflection spot. Although I was quite certain they were not herons, it appeared as though we had our own temporary rookery (of some other type of bird) on campus. As I continued my run after leaving my reflection spot, I spotted the blue heron that resides on campus. However, instead of his usual stealthy perch in the water, he was settled high on a branch alongside the other birds. 
While I cannot be sure as to why he was doing this, I like to think that he felt a sort of kinship towards to other birds that suddenly decided to grant campus with their presence. Sort of in the same way I felt a kinship to the other woman who stopped in the middle of her run to gaze at the tranquil heron, and in the same way I feel kinship towards my fellow earth lodgers, who would have appreciated the birds just as much as I did. While this was the last time I am required to venture to my reflection spot, I plan to continue my trips there, and I am looking forward to observing even more changes as spring finally begins to arrive in Richmond.