After the obligatory Old Faithful viewing we visited Black Sand Basin. It was a relief just to get away from all the people. The air was cold and the humid, it felt so good on our parched Colorado skin. Microbial mats of color illuminated our senses and gave rise to our mystical imaginations. The deep gurgling from geysers rumbled through our heads and it felt like we were waking up. Waking up from the long drive and the 2020 pandemic isolation slumber.

I feel like I am watching my upcoming parenting-an-adolescent years in fast forward here on the banks of the North Platte. This mother Bald Eagle stepping back, ignoring the pleading cries of her oversized fledgling in favor of him learning to hunt for himself, but still watching. I literally observed her hiding being a rock and peering over the top at her fledgling. I wonder how long this dance has been happening; a month, weeks, days, just today? I mean, he sounds pretty hungry. Is this the time he is going to do it & get himself some food?

I joke a lot, but it was both a fun & relaxing day. Being on the water as it gently lapped the boats is a therapeutic sort of calm. The kind of calm I wish more families were experiencing on this day; the first day of back-to-school in a pandemic during a major computer malfunction (zoom crashed). Not that I miss the crowded lake, it's just that I wish for families to feel relief from the current tension that is pervading our communities as kids go back-to-school this year.

The book arrived in Zenna's latest Literati box with the promise of animals, adventure and Minecraft! Zenna was on me quick: "Mom, Can we read"? With maps, a girl in the wild cared for by endearing wolves who rescue animals in danger and Minecraft, we quickly dived in. At first it was just two chapters a day, which quickly became four. Both kids fully hooked. Then they found the Taiga on Minecraft! A full day adventuring the Taiga on Minecraft ensued! Which was followed by a full rest day from the screens (their choice!) ...where we nearly finished book 1, did I mention it's a series ~ Yay!

"In summer, the song sings itself."

~William Carlos Williams