Sunday, March 12, 2006

Sun Day

I never imagined I would hear this uttered by one of my children:

"I'm an anthropomorphic European Dragon!" (Fishy, 6)

Strange child, LOL!

***


Today was a Gorgeous Spring Day with capital letters. It was sunny, warm and calm. We headed off to Kensington Park (The farther East you get in the USA, the more British the names get.) We specifically wanted to get some photos of where we'll be shooting some of our film footage, but there was plenty to enjoy on the way.

The lakes have completely thawed now and the swans were out en masse, causing Fishy to proclaim, "now THAT'S what I call Swan Lake!"



Today's objective lies along the Aspen trail.



As soon as we get out of the car (which John has parked at a steep sideways angle on a hill, causing me to have visions of it rolling down the hill and crushing me as I exit) we can smell it: Spring! Joyous Spring!! The sweet smells of drying grass and pine needles mix with that of moist, thawed earth and budding trees. Our route takes us past countless sparkling little rivulets running clear and cold through the marshy grasses. Deer tracks of all sizes cross and re-cross the trail, and near the larger streams, little raccon prints are pressed firmly into the rich, black mud.

It isn't long before the birds spot us. The unmistakable ruffling flutter of their wings all around our heads tells us that they're coming in for seeds, and we truly regret not having brought any. Sluggie, however, finds some scattered on the path, and soon the birds are eating from her hand. She gives another to Mollusc, who immediately gets a chickadee to come for it.



Farther along, we find a gentleman giving seeds to a grey squirrel who is sitting a mere 2 feet (or less) from him. (That's the man's sleeve in the lower left corner.)



Sluggie discovers, among other things, a fossilized snail shell. And of course everyone needs a good walking stick.



Fishy blazes new trails through the woods, trusty walking staff at his side

and comes upon a clearing where the cattails tower above him.


There are quite a few little footbriges on this trail. I think everyone knows that the sole purpose of bridges is to provide something to look under.

And under and around most of these bridges is where we find a number of funny, striped bulbs pushing up through the newly thawed mud. We soon learn from an older lady passing by that these are skunk cabbages. She tells us that they are "Nature's Easter Eggs," which I find delightful.

All around us downed trees beg to be walked along single-file

and rotting stumps demand to be climbed:

We find the Aspen Trail
letterbox and look at the new entries. Someone has visited from Taiwan! We vow to bring our letterboxing kit next time.
The end of our hike takes us past the nature centre and the lake there, where huge, grey carp at least as long as my hand and forearm hang weightless in the murky water.

Every now and then one raises its pouty orange lips to mouth at the water's surface. And if we're looking at the right moment, we can see a fat, glistening body hurl itself up out of the water as it snatches at an insect.

The fish keep us occupied for quite a while

Mollusc hopes that one will nibble her fingers.

And The Prawn wants to know if they have teeth.

Finally, it's time to load up and head home. We'll be back soon!!

* * *

Supper was fabulous - barbecued chicken on the grill (YES! grilling weather) oven roasted potatoes with rosemary and garlic, and sweet corn. The kids played outside both before and after supper and are only just now coming in to shower and settle in for the night.

Even though it's not Wednesday (Flylady's Anti-Procrastination Day) I finally finished a project the Prawn and I have been working on. The B&W pics with the smoke haiku were taken while she was painting the frame and letter white. Today I got the fabric on the backboard and assembled it all. D is for Prawn, obviously. ;o)



I hope you all had a wonderful Sun Day, too. :o)

10 comments:

Faltenin said...

Wonderful post, Candy, makes me really regret spending my Sunday on a plane...

Your kids seem fantastic!

C said...

Thanks, Fal. :o) It was a gorgeous and inspiring day. :o) Hopefully tomorrow will be a good make-up for spending today in flight. :o)

Jay said...

I love the picture with the bird! You are giving your kids so much to grow up with, it's really great to come here and practically be part of a family!

egan said...

Sorry I didn't have time to read the text. The photos are wonderful though. I'm a tad bit concerned about the skateboarding though, it is a crime.

C said...

Dude what kind of drugs are you on? ;o) Yes, totally a crime. Which is precisely why there are absolutely 0 pictures depicting skateboarding in this post. Though I think I know which one fooled you. In the leaves and grass, though?

ctqoi: don't ask why

C said...

Thanks, Jay. It's always great to have my "job" validated. :o)

Notta Wallflower said...

What great pictures. My favorite is of Prawn with "Princess" on the neck of her shirt. How precious. :-)

egan said...

Just call me stupid, it will save us all time. My bad. I swear I saw a skateboard. I need new spectacles.

ctqoi - is that the bottom line of the eye chart?

tshsmom said...

I'm jealous. We still have 2 ft of snow and LOTS of ice. :(
We DO have lots of chickadees though. They're my favorite bird! ;)

C said...

Notta - thanks. :o)

Egan - I would never call you stupid. Cheeky, yes, stupid, no. :o)

Ts - Yeesh! I get cold just reading that! Our snow has been gone for a long time. We did have flurries today, though. But yesterday was WARM - I think up in the 60s! I had windows open. Hooray! Emmett (orange kitty) actually blew OUT of the window it was so gusty, LOL!


dcdodei: decoder ring of God - hmm - almost works with the Angels and Demons theme. . .