Monday, June 20, 2011

shifting gears - the walk that unlocked summer

The last week of school is always a whirlwind-tests, conferences, picnics, parties, and endless forms to fill out. The children's anticipation builds.

Okay, we're ready – bring on summer!

After hosting an end of year party and a trip to the springs things started to wind down. We are not a family that will fill the entire summer with a string of camps. Each child has a couple activities, but I think it's important (and economical) to be able to switch gears and spend some time off of a full schedule for a while.

Well, there we were on that first day with nothing going on. Everyone was stewing in their juices. If I had some sort of app that could count how many times the word “Mommy” was called out I'm sure my high scores would have unlocked the “She/He won't leave me alone” level. Ugggg...

They were having trouble switching gears.


“Get your shoes on.” I said, “We're going on a walk.”


There was a storm brewing at the tip of the mountain, but being poured on was a small price to pay to break-up the funk.


I ignored complaints for the first five minutes. As we listed to the creek rush under the bridge our eyes cleared and our ears seamed to shift on our heads, like a fox or a pony, picking up the subtle sounds that escaped us before. Summer greeted us – not carnivals, airplanes, boardwalks and diving boards (those are great by the way) but the summer of the countryside that you can get lost in 'till you're called for dinner.


A stream to dip your toes in



a roadside lined with daylilies






A storm passing



sun breaking through



wild berries

 



a jar with quartz, tadpoles and snails



ending the day perfectly dirty




4 comments:

  1. I always said to my kids- "The dirtier you are at the end of the day, the better of a day you had." Have a great summer!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dirty, sweaty is the best way to spend the summer. Needing a shower at the end of the day instead of the beginning is a good sign. Have a wonderful summer

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thank you : ) can I interest you in some Indian gears??

    ReplyDelete

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