Glorious Hiking

I took Evie and two friends hiking at Devil's Lake State Park yesterday. We go there often enough that Evie knows the trails well and was even able to tell her friends what rocks or landmarks were coming up. It was a beautiful day, we watched turkey vultures, looked at waves petrifird into the rocks beneath our feet, checked out "potholes" in the rocks, talked about glacial moraines and attempted to put a deer skeleton back together. The girls asked questions of the naturalist at the Nature Center about the origin of the name Devil's Lake (actually called Minnewakin or Spirit Lake by the native people, white settlers translated "spirit" as "devil" . . . wouldn'tcha know), as well as about the effigy mounds and the nesting habits of the aforementioned turkey vulture.

The girls were all so sweet in the backseat looking at the books I left for them ("A Life Like Mine," "Peoples of the World," and "Eyewitness Plants"). The other six year old can't read at all and the eight year old is quite hesitant and can't read "big" words. They would ask Evie what "such and such" says and Evie would read it and they would all talk about it. It didn't matter who could read or who knew what about which topic, they were all sharing and enjoying each other's skills--it was lovely to listen to.

Today we will be home--doing what I don't know! Tune in later!

Days and days well lived!