Fun With Nature

So the girls and I are on the road yet again, doing our best to soak up every last minute of Summer vacation!  We're at my parents right now preparing for a visit to Big Meadows (oh my goodness!).  I'm very excited because Mom & Dad are coming with us.  As an extra special treat, my roommate from college is also joining us and bringing two of her children.  Sophie, Clara and I are thrilled to share one of our favorite places with some of our most favorite people!

Lately, the weather has been cooler (SO NICE!) and quite rainy.  My parents have a number of large oaks around their house and some of the roots have grown back above ground.  The rainfall created small pools in these exposed roots that were the perfect size for a Playmobil party!

 

 

 

There are also mushrooms growing everywhere.....all different kinds.  The oak pools and the mushrooms are too fun and great for a child's (and, okay, a Mom's too) imagination!

75 degrees.....sitting in the shade of a large oak tree....Mom & I sipping on hard cider.....Clara playing quietly......aaaaahhhhh, if Summer is like this all the time, I'll take it!

Provide For Yourself Without Diminishing The World

Oh, the joys of Spring.  They're here.  Each day I notice at least one new sign of Spring.  And it brings joy to my heart.  

{My daylilies are working hard to bust up out of the ground!}

{The peach tree is sending out its first blooms.}

{The violas came alive again.  The colors went from a little dull to totally vibrant overnight.}

{All the birds are active.  And this bluebird visits every day now.}

Still, here in Charlotte, we're riding the roller coaster that is our current weather pattern.  75 degrees one day and 42 the next.  You just never know what you'll wake up to.  Forrest Gump might say that our weather pattern is like a box of chocolates.  On those days that the sun shines down on us and keeps us warm, we're outside every spare moment, SOAKING IT UP!

{I laughed when the "littles" got tired of taking turns in the Jeep and piled in on top of one another!}

{And Soph, the little girl who always looked exactly like Dad to me, seems to look more and more like me every day.  Some days I look at her and I'm stunned. It's like looking at myself.}

And the sidewalk drawings just keep getting better!

{When I told Soph she couldn't have a lemonade stand, she drew one.}

{I was a little sad when the rain washed the mermaid away!}

{The little faces peering out of the rocket ship windows just kill me!}

Alain and I were riding in the car on Tuesday and the DJ on the radio said, "I hope Mother Nature decides to be nice and give us some warm weather today."  I don't really know why but that comment made me angry. I said out loud, "Really, what have you done for Mother Nature lately?".  Alain, who knows me so well, knew I was talking to the DJ and only grunted in agreement with me.  No other words were necessary.  One of only many reasons why I love this guy so.  But seriously, it did make me upset. Too many of us expect so much of Mother Nature yet we give next to nothing in return.  It's a relationship of take, take, take.  So I was pleased, no....more than pleased, to come across this article by Michael Pollan today (via Rhonda's awesome blog).  I hope you might take a few minutes to read it too. (My post title came from the closing of the article.) I wasn't looking for inspiration or motivation to do more but I was still happy to find it.

  

During Dr. Seuss week at school, I was a Mystery Reader in Soph's class.  I had to read my favorite Seuss book.  Well, it should be pretty clear what my favorite is.  The Lorax.  And as I read to all those eager faces, I was particularly moved by my favorite line:

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,

Nothing is going to get better.  It's not."

Amen to that.  That Dr. Seuss....he was pretty brilliant, no?

(And can I just say that the kids thought it the coolest thing ever that my name is Audrey, the same as the treehugger teen in The Lorax movie? They used to call me "Sophie's Mom" but now they all call me Audrey.  I love that!)

Hope you're all well and enjoying a beautiful week!

XOXO

Lone Eagle

Alain, Sophie, Clara & I spent the last four days in Hilton Head.  I am still trying to decide which photos to share and what blog posts to create.....but one thing is too good to keep to myself for any longer than is necessary!

This morning Sophie & I went on a long bike ride and she took her notebook along to make some nature journal entries.  We'd ride our bikes until she saw something interesting and asked to stop. It was a nice surprise to turn a curve and come across this fellow....

We parked our bikes and sat down on the hillside so Sophie could draw.  It was fairly quiet and peaceful and, as she drew, I looked around.  After some time, I noticed a massive bird flying above us.  There was something about it that was just different.  I kept watching.  It flew fast in massive circles above us.  Could it be?  I pulled up the camera.

As soon as I saw the bird through my viewfinder, I just knew.

I THINK I'M SEEING MY FIRST WILD EAGLE.

The white head and tail.  The very yellow beak. The massive size.

I didn't want to get too excited in case I was wrong.

I just kept taking pictures.  This bird was fast and it wasn't easy.

Tonight, as I transferred the photos from my camera to my computer, I started researching. And I showed the pictures to Alain.  "That's a bald eagle!", he replied immediately.  It appears from my research that it is indeed a bald eagle.  It's hard to describe how high he was flying and I feel so thankful for my camera and that I just happened to have my large lens on. A bald eagle, I can't believe it.

My very first one.  What a happy day!!!

Turtle Crossing

After the natural highs we received during our mountain trips last week, we decided to do something out in nature this past weekend.  There's a fairly large nature preserve not too far from home that we'd never been to so we decided to go check it out.  There was plenty of nature to be found....

 

That lizard peeking out of a hole in the tree?  Amazeballs.

After being there for a while, I realized it wasn't working for me.  Too manufactured.  And way too hot. (At Big Meadows, the temps never reached above 60 degrees. MY kind of weather!) While I appreciate the effort and the fact that this park is there at all, it just could NOT compare to what we saw and experienced last week.  Not even close. I didn't want to see a bridge with traffic off in the distance (as in Alain's photo above). I didn't want to see McMansions across the water (isn't that exactly what I was trying to get away from!!!?). For me, relaxation isn't having a motor boat or jetski go by every ten minutes.So we decided to head back home. Frankly I like my backyard better than this park.

Oh, but on the way out (!!!!!).......this little guy decided to cross the road right before we drove by.  

I don't think the car had come to a complete stop before I was jumping out with my camera.  

Oh sweet love.  I followed this guy all the way across the road to make sure he got there safely.  

A turtle bum photo?  Quite possibly the best idea I've had in a while.

He may have just made my day!!!!

AND, now that I know there are turtles creeping around, I may just have to go on back and take another look around!!!

Big Meadows

I could write about this place all day.  But I don't have enough free time.  So I will only tell you that this is truly one of my favorite places I've EVER been.  It's so magical.  

  

Okay, just a little bit.

Oh, the fawns.  The fawns.  I'm going next summer just to see the fawns again.  You could look into the forest while you were driving on the road and see them (like the third picture from the top). I told Alain that we have to go back when I can go to the meadow at dawn and at dusk.  Mainly for better photo lighting but also because the animals might be around.  The girls and I saw plenty of deer beds (15th photo down is an example ~ I showed Sophie & Clara the first one and then they found plenty on their own) but the actual deer weren't around in the middle of the day. While we didn't see any bears, we spoke to a park ranger who said he's seen eight so far this season. Sophie wants to camp there so maybe that's a possibility when Clara gets a little older (at the moment, she still doesn't sleep when she's away from home!).  I am also now obsessed with wildflowers ~ I'm sure you didn't notice. I'm researching books (thinking about this one) and considering attending Wildflower Weekend next year. To say that I was inspired by my visit to Big Meadows would be a drastic understatement. The natural beauty was overwhelming in a very good way!

I hope you can go one day too!