Cloudy Day Hike

The kids came up to me this morning jumping up and down with excitement saying, "Rain!! Rain!! It's Raining!!" They immediately headed for the closet where the dusty umbrellas were and headed outside to play.

Oh to be so filled with elation at the simplest things and to be able to express it so freely like a child.

It wasn't long before my daughter, who laments over any day wasted entirely indoors, came in asking me if we could go for a walk before we did school. Surprisingly, I said "sure!" It was Canadian Thanksgiving (my husband's a Canuck) and I was in the mood to get outdoors and feel the brisk fall weather. And the "rain" had already stopped; as usual, it was only a five-minute California sprinkle.

As we headed out, my son asked if we could head to the park; a well manicured patch of grass with a sand pit and jungle gym. I told him I had something else in mind and headed that way.

We crossed the main street, past the shopping center, and over to an empty lot tucked up next to the mountains where a Catholic Church is going in. I parked the stroller, unbuckled my 2yo and walked onto the empty lot full of burrs, weeds, wood chips, etc.

Before long, the kids were busy covering up holes with twigs and things to see if they would catch something in their trap before their next visit. My 2yo happily tromped around and I took pictures of what looked like just weeds.

This patch of weeds...



looked like this close up.
Click on the picture for a larger view - can you see its fruit and the rain drops on it?



And this big weed bush...



looked like this close up with the most delicate little pink flowers on it.
Reminds me of Japanese cherry blossoms...




On our way back, I headed up a fire-road that heads into the hills. I thought I'd go a little ways and head back since the baby was fussy and tired already. When I said it was time to turn around, the kids asked if we could take the trail up to the top.

I thought about the rather large scat (animal excrement) we saw a few feet back and thoughts of mountain lions started creeping into my mind. We'd been on the trail before with Daddy, but honestly, I was afraid to go.

My son said, "We came all this way to turn around?"

I consented.

It's a fear I need to get over anyway.

So we headed up the trail...



all the way to the top. Unfortunately I only had my cell phone camera with me, but isn't it beautiful? How often do we get to see clouds like that?



But Beauty is everywhere -- in white clouds against the blue, in the gray bole of the beech, the play of a kitten, the lovely flight and beautiful colouring of birds, in the hills and the valleys and the streams, in the wind-flower and the blossom of the broom.

What we call Nature is all Beauty and delight, and the person who watches Nature closely and knows her well, like the poet Wordsworth, for example, has his Beauty Sense always active, always bringing him joy.

~Charlotte Mason





I'm so glad I said "yes" to their requests today. It brought us all joy.