B is for Blooming by Julia Manganaro

Before COVID, I liked my town of Albuquerque, New Mexico just fine. It had plenty of indoor trampoline parks, breweries with playhouses and Legos for your restless little ones who didn’t actually want to go.

There were two Build-a-Bears for when you just really wanted to spend $75 on a customized stuffed animal. So many things designed for me to zone out on Instagram after a 12-hour day. B is for banality.

When I was working, I always told myself I didn’t have time to go on a walk and be in nature. Quarantine made me fall in love with all of the incredible things in and around my town. One of the biggest staples of Albuquerque is the Bosque on the Rio Grande River. The word “bosque” is Spanish for “forest”. While it doesn’t look like the forest most of us are used to (large pine trees and mountainous terrain), large cottonwood trees and coyote willows create a haven for the almost 500 species of animals who call it home.

The girls and I have frequented the bosque throughout quarantine. We have seen cranes, beavers, ducks, and their favorite: rollie pollies. We have sat by the bank as I attempted to re-learn how to interact with my children after years of working 6 days a week. We have jumped on logs and stumps, ran through paths covered by willow branches, muddied our feet, and built sandcastles. We have had dinner on a fallen tree as we watched runners huff by and ducks waddle to the water. We have cried on the long walk back to the car; their tears for tired feet, mine for a tired spirit. We have watched the sunset standing ankle deep in the water; lifting our dresses as we splashed. B is for bewildered.

For years, the beauty that was all around me was second place to paying someone for entertainment. If by a miracle society goes ‘back to normal,’ I know that we won’t. There isn’t a life where I prefer a Chickfil-A play place to a forest along a mighty river. This river is our new normal, our old friend that always has something magical to show us.

B is for bosque, babies, balloons, and blooming. Always blooming.

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JULIA MANGANARO IS A MOTHER OF TWINS, TEACHER OF MUSIC, AND LOVER OF EXPLORING.

IG: MOM_ALL_HARD