| Marsha, Amy and I decided to play. Our outside worlds had been pounded by wind and rain thanks to Hurricanes Frances and Ivan. Our inner worlds were feeling battered also. We'd all been taking care of everyone except ourselves.... death, job demands, family crises.... Unfinished thoughts whirled and gusted our souls as violently as the hurricanes had battered the environment. Our Playdate fell in the middle of the Days of Awe.... so appropriate Amy agreed to haul out of bed to be ready to go by 9:45. A big change in her routine. "I don't even go to work that early and you want me to be up that early on my day off?!?!?!?!" YES, we do! |
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| Play Date 2004 |
| The flowers seem so fragile. Barely visible unless one knelt down and tucked in beside them. |
| And so she hauled out and was in the temple parking lot at precisely 9:45... ready to go to High Falls. We arrived at High Falls and distributed walking sticks and shirts. The weather was 'lovely cool'. The sky was nearly unclouded. |
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| It's a gnarly world sometimes! |
| Seed pod, seed and leaf; in a rocky position. |
| The water level was high. With a mighty group effort, each molecule joining ranks with the others, it pounded through every available crevice. The sound drowned out the world, drowned out the roiling of the brain Peace pervaded. |
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| Things were looking up! |
| We rambled through briars and over big rocks, occasionally stumbling only to find a hand immediately offered for support. The stumbling was a good thing as we noticed alcoves tucked into spots we wouldn't have otherwise noticed. |
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| Sun seas Water sees Sun |
| We clambered over rocks and ridges for an hour or so. We admired little flowers, red 'shrooms and big trees. |
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| We giggled... |
| It was approaching lunchtime, time to wander back to the car and set out to find an open restaurant. Amy had said if she had to get up at the crack of really early then we had to eat real food at a real restaurant. Trail Mix was not adaquate in her book. First, we took one more look around... allowing the rumbling of the water to be our world for just one more moment of time. |
| Making the best of living on the rocks. |
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| After Lunch, we went to Dauset Trails |
| This sign, admonishing Marsha and me to not pick, break, pull up, clip, propagate, fondle or check for allergic reactions to any plant or tree was at the entrance. It was going to be a real challenge. Amy promised to enforce it and watch us closely. We told her it said nothing about coveting. She agreed we could covet any plant we encountered, as long as we did not fondle them. |
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| This fine goose was assigned to be the official greeter for the day. He went on and on about not fondling the plants. We finally had to walk away from him since he refused to end his lecture. |
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| Amy went on a jog to make sure she didn't miss meeting this lady bison. Amy then kindly entertained her until Marsha and I arrived for an introduction. The deer and the bison were comfortably sharing the same field We fed the fish, the geese and the turtles. Each of us paused for a quiet, check the 'inside world' moment of reflection before we tossed a final piece of bread into the water. |
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| Otter take a nap in the sun |
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| Before leaving the park, we made a side stop at the Children's garden. Shhhh....... Even Amy fondled the Lamb's Ear! |
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