Saturday, November 1, 2008

Hearts-a-Burstin'



Took a nice long hike today with Son #1, who is home from Charlotte for the weekend. In the house, when the W word was spoken Radu's ears perked up.   When shoes were retrieved from another room he sat up straighter and followed me with his eyes.  When I tied my hiking shoe-laces I noticed his front legs were getting itchy. Winston, not wanting to waste energy unnecessarily, raised one old eyebrow and waited for a sign from Radu.  This outing is definitely the highlight of their day, but no need to move until you need to.

We set out down the path to the studio with Radu and Winston bouncing around in excitement. They soon ran ahead doing their doggy thing of sniffing and marking, pouncing unsuspecting insects, and checking occasionally to be sure we were with them. They stayed with us a long time, but only two of the four of us made it all the way to the river.  The other two spotted a deer on the rocky ridge above the river and dashed off in a barking frenzy. Too bad for them. They missed their chance to go swimming, chase the hickory nuts we threw into the water,  and even missed seeing the colorful maple leaf reflections.  Later we all met back up out on the pipeline.  By then Radu was ok,  but Winston was moving slowwww, and  acting rather like the old rhinoceros in Jumanji's stampede scene. Slurping water from Meetinghouse Creek helped him a little, but from there it was a slow walk home, uphill the whole way. 

Back at the house we walked up the driveway to admire a particularly beautiful red maple/hickory/blue sky combination.  While there I pointed out the berries of our native Euonymus, or Burning Bush, otherwise know as Hearts-a-Burstin'...  with happiness? Well, that's what I always think when I say the name, and today that is just how I felt while hiking and sharing my world with my first born son!

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