As things speed up in the springtime, my urge to slow down and savor the moment increases …and then I remember that stepping in and spending time with children, walking in their way, is just the medicine I’m seeking.

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?

In that time I gave back to my farming roots and realized a lot about the state of agriculture in Colorado. Mainly, that we're off course. If we're going to be able to sustain ourselves and thrive; we don't need more farmer's markets, we need more farmers.

As I stated earlier, learning the history of the original inhabitants of this continent during a pandemic brings into focus one of the major struggles these cultures endured, or worse, did not survive: The realization that the lands Christopher Columbus 'discovered' were in a state of ruin when the pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock because of the introduction of viruses and disease.

Here was a very different narrative than that I learned in school, which sheds light on the current culture clash in the Americas today.

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.

In this picture my (then) six year old daughter, is beginning to read the story of history written in the rocks. She’s collecting information and organizing it, like a Geologist. And just like reading in a story in a book, first she learns the parts {letters, words, sentence, pauses, etc.} and then she learns to read.

Behind the scenes at Zane's Lego stop-motion production theater

I've been stalling on this app download for months! I'm still asking myself to find the good in this:

Commence Gratitude list (yes, I really work through things this way!):

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!