J & I went outside this afternoon to play in the front yard. But within minutes I knew that the great outdoors was calling us to venture past our sandbox.
We headed across the street in hot pursuit of a dragon that was heading down our neighbor's driveway. Before I knew it, our dragon hunting led us through our neighbor's backyard & onto the nature trail that encircles our neighborhood's 53 acre lake - full of geese, ducks, egret & more.
As we tracked the dragon, I had occasional thoughts of turning back. J is only 3 and our sponataneous hike had us without water, snacks, or my handy dandy Ergo for those times when a 3 year olds legs need a good long break. But there was no stopping us. We had found so many spots where the dragon had been destructive & these 2 brave knights would not be stopped.
Finally, the dragon dove down into the water, disappearing for quite some time and J & I decided that was ok, we wanted to walk the whole lake tonight - really! My legs & patience were game - and I hoped J's were too.
Along the way we had visits from unicorns, dogs, geese, and more.
About half way around the lake I found jewelweed abounding! I had been on a secret mission for this all along & while I had found some, this was the mother load. I knew I would be returning in a few weeks to harvest the jewelweed & wildcraft myself some jewelweed salve for future encounters with poison ivy.
Then I turned around & looked across the lake - a huge Mimosa tree in full bloom. Something else I had been on the hunt for - so I could make a calming mimosa tincture. Yay!
As we were coming into 90 minutes of our adventure, we visited some of our favorite blackberry bushes for a snack to keep us going. The dragon liked the blackberries very much.
Then it was back in civilaztion for awhile as we passed the pool & tennis courts. We visited the water fountain. Then sat down to watch a little tennis.
Soon we were delving back into the woods & the sun was setting. We stopped by the mimosa tree & harvested some flowers. J played in the creek.
Then lightning bugs led us the rest of the way home.
And all this started with just stepping outside for a minute. I love my neighborhood.
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