A walk in the woods

It’s been beautiful weather all week and since the attention span of a kindergartener towards yard work consists of putting a small pile of leaves in a bag and picking up a stick and waving it around like a lightsaber, and since my guilt over possibly killing the hydrangeas with neglect was too much to bear, we needed something to do.

After lunch and some brief research we settled on a “nature walk” at Purgatory Chasm located in Sutton Massachusetts.   It wasn’t really a walk or a hike for that matter.  It was more like a climb, crawl, slide, and maneuver through the Chasm.  For those who are not familiar with it, it is a chasm believed to have been caused by the breaking of a glacier dam.

As we picked our way along, there were caves to be explored, sticks to be made into lightsabers and imaginary Sith to be fought by a Jedi Youngling. As I reminded my son and myself to think our way over, under, around,  climbing  proved to be a problem-solving adventure.  My son did need a rescue once from a rock he had climbed upon that didn’t offer an easy way down. But for the most part he was excited to be out in the woods and talk to folks about what he knew. 

Pictures do not do the Chasm justice.  I was annoyed with myself for not bringing a wider-angled lens.

The Chasm itself is a quarter mile long, and once we climbed our way through and back, he was eager to get to the playground across the street.  He does not get worn out easily, and to my shock I couldn’t even tear him away with the promise of ice cream. 

 

Garden Variety Gardening

Its Spring when I look around at my neighbors yards and appreciate the newly sprouting lush lawns and lovely landscaping they have then I turn back to my yard and it is littered with leaves and really needs a pruning - or a bulldozer. (I cannot seem to decide which is going to be more efficient).

Accompanying me this week is my soon to be six year old.   He's not thrilled about doing yard work. 

Absent is my husband.  The few times last year he actually went to "mow" the lawn the mower fortuitously broke and he couldn't complete the job.  Since a ride on mower is a bit too much of a luxury right now, it made sense to repair one we have. 

When I proposed the idea to my son he was all about helping me fix it.  After all who doesn't want to take a small engine apart?  So we started.  Or rather I started taking it apart while he watched, which lasted all of 3 minutes.  Then between asking me philosophical questions about Star Wars, and telling me everything he knows about Bees and Spiders he was tearing through the garage rediscovering outdoor toys that have not been used in a while.

The problem was a simple one to fix - and as I was putting the mower back together he wanted to help.  So I let him.  I've never seen a kid so proud!