My Walk…

Many years ago when I was in the thick of homeschooling I would drop everything we were doing if the day were clement, which in Texas it usually is unless it’s the middle of August, and take the children off for a bike ride.

The nature walk we would cycle around was a car drive way so bikes had to be loaded in the van and hung on bike racks, at times at the front as well as the rear of the vehicle.

These were my first Clampitt experiences, no one wanted to mess with me and my vehicle when I loomed in their rear view mirror!

The children liked their rides some days, rebelled against them others and I had a variety of tools to help me cajole them into joining me with a willing heart each afternoon.

When the girls were young I would say,

“If we go on a bike ride today you can skip ballet…” these were Fridays when they had better things to do than plie!

I would pack a picnic with special treats like peanut butter and marmite sandwiches, crisps of any flavor and cadbury cream eggs if the Easter candy was still around.

Food is always a good bribe!

There were four bridges we could cross,

Bridge

always fun if we remembered the trolls that lived beneath.

There was a tunnel under which they shouted while pedaling to hear the magnificent echo.

There was water down to which we could walk,

CreekBeach

and spend a few moments on the pebbly beach skimming stones across the water.

Each child had an accident of some sort while riding through nature, they ran into trees, skidded and fell on leaves, got their tires caught in muddy ruts.

I remember the beautiful feeling of tranquility as I entered into the green canopy,

Trees

there is something so peaceful about fresh air even if it is a little humid!  Spring blossom adds a touch of hope!

Blossom

and symmetrical tress that make me realize what an artist God is!

ATree

There were always interesting nature finds that made good reasons to stop and marvel (take a breather!), like these inch worms that fall from webs in the trees in February,

InchWorms

and caterpillars which hubs calls asps,

Caterpillar2

I don’t really know the difference!

Caterpillar

and a rarely sighted grass snake that always made my herpetologists’ day!

GrassSnake

When I was in Dallas for the past month I walked the routes we rode as a family on bikes and find much the same thing.  This mushroom reminded me of Beckenham Place Park in London.

Mushroom

The pathways have been extended and now go along very noisy stretches of roads so I tended to keep to the interior which my parents, when they visited many years ago, described as,

“Solitary.”

The nature preserve is solitary but in the peace I can lose myself and pray for my children like Job 1:5.

I find myself doing that a lot now that I am an empty nester.

My walks in Florida are proving to be very different and I will write about those another day.

 

 

 

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