The first question was, “Do we let the boys take off on a mission to follow the creek all the way to the river?”
The conclusion we reached was, “yes.”
They were gone for a few hours, and returned home glowing, but not over having reached the river. Their excitement was over a patch of wild orchids they had found deep in the forest.
The second question was, “Mommy, do you think you can handle a kind of long walk so you can take pictures of the orchids?”
The answer this time, “I think so.”
(It was a bit of a hike, but we took a shortcut.)
I followed racing children and Jonny followed me, deep into the forest.
The forest was so dense and so lush, we wondered if the orchids could be found again.
Then, ahead we heard the cry from Gabe, “Here they are!”
And there they were, and I was amazed that my children ever noticed them at all, this “Showy Orchis,” truly not showy at all.
Barely perceptible beneath the green of the forest floor, tiny pale lavender blooms atop thick broad leaves that drew nearly as much attention as the flowers themselves.
Showy, maybe not, but lovely nonetheless and worth the hike.
Mission accomplished, we headed back towards the entrance of this new to us forest, as boys shouted that we must visit a remarkably large poplar tree that they had discovered on their earlier adventure.
Keats requested a photo with the tree.
I got distracted.
Little girls begged to be carried.
But we reached the giant tree growing out of the side of a ravine.
Kids made faces. I took pictures.
We marveled at all the green. How quickly it saturates the earth and how dramatic after winter’s gray.
The sky began to darken and we hurried back.
Truly, a lovely way to spend my Mother’s Day afternoon.
I hope you had a wonderful day as well.
Leave a Reply