So you might remember that I (without really meaning to) laid down a new walking challenge for the kids. The original
threat intent was to hike Every Day.
Every Day is not possible, sadly. There are so many days that are already overfull with Stuff To Do, or days when Someone Is Sick, or days when The Weather Sucks.
But we have managed to do at least one hike a week, and it's been good.
There has been a simple walk around the lake, with a quick sighting of an invasive species, the nutria:
And a quick hike on a loop trail in the city that provokes the question "what is that stuff growing on these sticks?" (really, if you know please tell me!)
There have been extremely cold hikes where we had to walk fast just to keep warm.
And hikes where a sign at the trailhead warning of a cougar sighting spooked my daughter out and made her jump at every rustling fern the whole way.
There have been many opportunities to learn more about our local ecosystems and do some nature study.
We even managed to do one of our hikes so quietly that a pileated woodpecker flew right up to us before it saw us and swerved. The loud beats of its wings were startling in the quiet forest.
And the kids are impressing me. They really didn't want to do this, and they were not good walkers. Now, they have both developed better attitudes about it, become more interested in what there is to be seen along the way, and have better stamina. This time together can be a great chance to talk, hold hands, indulge in imaginative storytelling about the landscape around us, and just be present to our own bodies and the nature around us without the distractions of toys, entertainment, books, etc or the self-consciousness that comes from being in society.
Walking is one of my new favorite things!
