The Santa Ana river trail has for a long time been my only source of exercise. My mum used to take me and my siblings out to Mile Square Park for walks, but that stopped being an option after my younger sibling “ate it” on the pavement a few times and my mum realized we couldn’t risk going to the emergency room. 

While it is covered in broken glass in some areas, it is an amazing ride on scooters or bikes. The trail slopes under concrete roads, and especially on a scooter you can feel the rough ground as you roll over it. Even without a bike or a scooter the trail is wonderful for a walk, with long stretches of uninterrupted trail you can admire the surrounding trees from.

My family aren’t the only ones that appreciate the beauty of the trial, either. It is almost always in use by joggers, walkers, and bikers. It is amazing the way the trail invites everyone. Among the many things I’ve seen along the trail, perhaps the sweetest was an older couple picking flowers.No matter what kind of way you would like to spend your time, it is a wonderful place to do it.

During the spring the trail is lined with yellow and purple flowers, but as summer ended all of them died and left behind brown shrubs. While not as pretty as the flowers, the colors have a lovely effect against the sky while the sun is setting. 

I think this is an important message during this unforeseen time. While this time in our lives is not as pretty as when there is an abundance of flowers, the shrubs they have left behind remind us they will come back. And while we wait for them, we can think about how lovely the shrubs are in their own right.