March 24, 2010

•  Searching for Waterfalls, Redux~~

                 (03/08 was the original)

   

  Wet spring weather–it’s what you need if you love waterfalls–and I love waterfalls! All the crystal-clear little streams tumbling headlong and cascading over any little ledge–or, even better, over big ledges! I can’t imagine anything nicer than the sweet sound of water running over rocks and splashing down ravines. This has a magnetic attraction for me. So, after a goodly rain all day Sunday, we headed out in search of an elusive waterfall–one even the big girls hadn’t seen before.

                  

                         (Lucy, Emma, Wyatt)

  We parked our vehicle at the gate to The Left-Hand Side and disembarked. Now, all the places on our farm are named, and some of the names defy reason. This particular place is on the right-hand side as we approach it from home. But when Farmboy was indeed a boy, his family lived on the other side of the farm, and as they approached the gate, it was, for them, on The Left-Hand Side. For 40-something years it has thus been known.

                

                    (Sus, Addie, Emma, Lucy) 

  There were a few issues as we set out. I had encouraged all to wear jeans, but since the day was warm and delightful and springlike, Mom was disregarded One hiker was in a dress, and two were in shorts. So who gets to be the bushwhacker? Mimi in jeans, of course. We traversed the pasture, carefully avoiding cow piles. Wyatt, who also was smart and wore britches, was forging ahead with me. He said, “Mimi, you know what some people call these? Cow pies!!! Hahahaha…isn’t that funny, Mims? PIES!” We laughed at the very idea of anyone designating these stinky obstacles with such a delectable name–and plowed ahead.

       

  Soon, we came to the woods. A deer, startled by the invasion of her privacy, hightailed it off in leaps and bounds. No one but the bushwhackers saw her–the others, in all their bare-legged spring glory, were straggling behind, delicately avoiding the briars and stobs.

                 

  At the top of the precipice, we could look down and see the water falling over, and we could hear it splashing below. The allure was so great that we had to descend.

    Carefully, we picked out way down the rocky, brushy incline, and soon we were at the bottom. It was worth a few scratches to see the bright green moss up close, to touch the water as it fell, and to admire the beauty of our own little grotto, deep in the holler.

   

  Even though the moms and mimi cautioned against falling into the water and getting soaked, it was just a matter of a short time before everyone was soaked, at least up to the knees.

   

   Even Addie put her little feet in, with the help of Aunt Ra-ra (Sarah to the rest of us.) Wyatt had to shed his pants when they became too soaked to be tolerated.

                  

       

  Everyone was very tired last night, especially Mimi, and we drifted off to sleep with the sweet sound of water falling over rocks in our ears and dreamed of all the little creatures that would come there for a drink…just like we had.

     

   

  • 9:33 pm
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