The past few walks with the kids have been a bit frustrating. Partially, this is due to Jasmine's improved eyesight. Since she got her contacts she has been far more aware of the dangers around her and far more interested in things she otherwise would have missed. So, as a result we go very, very slowly. The lack of progress annoys the boys. I'm torn between wanting to eat up some miles and wanting to show Jasmine all the things she can now see -- that all happen to be within three feet of her. Jasmine's new visual abilities have made things a bit less exciting because she now knows when she's heading off a cliff, most of the time.
A place like this one, Castlewood Canyon Dam State Park, also has a creek that's perfect for wading in. Water is almost impossible to resist for any of the kids. I keep bring them home soaking wet, wrapped in towels, or in a completely different outfit than the one we set out with. Even so, we've done a good job protecting ourselves from the sun, but quite poorly when it comes to the mosquitoes. We're all sporting a few nasty bites and various self-inflicted scratching wounds. These flying vampires are biting through our long-sleeves shirts and pants as well as deeply inhaling the apparently attractive odor of our insect repellent sprays.
Of my landscape photographs, this is one of the few that I like.
It was about to rain at Roxborough State Park. Many of the Harebell's sheltered bees. The flowers face toward the ground; perfect shelter for a bee. The bees hid early, a full hour before the rain actually hit. I can't say I blame them. We had our rain coats and ponchos out about then too. Mountain rain is like a water balloon. We had a nice downpour for a little bit, the middle third of our mini-hike, and by the end we'd returned to partially blue skies and some sunshine.
It's not quite the opposite of a macro, but fairly close... I mean far.
Jasmine graduated from Anchor Center's pre-school this past Friday. It was very emotional for all the parents. All the kids are now moving on to new schools, most to the traditional classrooms. Jasmine loves to go to Anchor and will miss it a lot come Fall. We will too.
I just found out what a "flax wench" is: a woman who spins flax. I just take lotsa pictures of it. I love flax.
Wood's actually a great choice of housing materials for a mushroom. But then again, I don't think the Big Bad Woof would be trying to eat them. It might make for a very psychadelic story though.
