explore

Every day around mid-morning I have to say "Turn that off and get dressed.  We're not sitting around wasting this day."  My directive is typically met with reluctant resignation which fortunately vanishes about three steps from the car (deer flies notwithstanding).  We are explorers after all, both of us easily thrilled by daddy long legs, fledgling robins, fawns, berries, bees (well one of us is, the other keeps a respectful distance) and blossoms.   

The frogs were our favorite today, from big throat-swelling croakers to the little buddies who are still sporting tadpole tails.  We stepped to the edge of the wooded pond to get a better look but nearly all of them swam away.  Patience was rewarded though.  As we stood studying the brave few who lingered, it seemed that our curiosity was mutual because soon others drifted back toward us, their huge eyes studying us with unblinking intensity.  

Or maybe it is the berries that were the favorite.  Wild raspberries, just beginning to ripen -- we plucked them from the bushes that flourished where the trail widened or bisected field and wood, golden spaces favored by the sun.  We savored warm bursts of sweetwood spice as we walked and decided that even though we may not know what it is to fly, at least we know how a bird feels when he eats a berry.

I sometimes make the mistake of thinking that I am leading these expeditions but I am quickly reminded that he is the guide:  "Let's go this way...  Look at this beetle, spider, leaf, rock...  Squirrels must live in here...  Watch out for that poison ivy...  Hurry to the shade before the deer flies eat our faces off!"