Lately I've been realizing that last summer's pregnancy has altered my perception of distances and difficulties in travel. I realized this a few weeks ago at Winterthur when I looked at the half-block slightly uphill pathway to the parking lot and thought, "this is what I'd been dreading as the 'long walk back to the car?'"
To be fair, a ten meter walk with two curious preschoolers and a fussy baby is a long walk. But still: I'm waking up to the happy realization that some of the obstacles to our outings are entirely in my head.
I returned to this thought today as we hiked down to the creek. We tend never to go very far when we hike down to the creek, mostly because there is an awesome rock plateau perfect for throwing stones, sticks, little brothers, and giant pieces of bark into the creek, right as we make our way down to the creek path.
Today I somehow managed to motivate Peter and Lucy to explore a bit, and we made it around the bend and almost to the holly grove in three minutes flat. New family record!
It was a sunny day after yesterday's rain, perfect for digging in muddy spots, slipping in muddy spots, and otherwise trying to fall into the creek. I mean, not fall into the creek. I run a continuously updated assessment of the threat of falling into the creek and the level of peril it presents. In places, it's deep and dangerous. Other spots are shallow and would be an inconvenience. We spent our afternoon along a shallow bank, which was great from a safety point of view but did add a bit of irritation to my voice whenever Peter or Lucy dipped too close to the edge. Really, I didn't want to get my shoes/socks/pants wet trying to dig them out. They already view my pants as their personal towels.*
The biggest highlights of our day were dissecting black tree fungus, tromping through (and smelling the stinky smell of) fields of skunk cabbage, and hunting for worms. We hit gold with our first overturned log; so many worms fled for cover I thought we'd uncovered a nest of newly hatched snakes.
Peter and Lucy tried to hold every worm they could find. Lucy was frustrated that Peter'd not located a worm for her, when he spotted a teeny-tiny white worm. Yes, she was overjoyed.
*Lucy had muddy hands today and wiped them, without question or hesitation, on my pants. "That's why mamas wear pants!" she said. Do you know where she heard this? Yesterday, at IKEA. I offered my pants as an alternative to the crazy-powerful hand dryers that scare the pants off Lucy and Peter..
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