The lovely thing about traditions is that they remove the difficulty of making decisions. We have a tradition now on Mother's Day of eating a big breakfast, going to Mass, and then taking a hike. This is just the third time we've done this, but twice in a row is enough to create a tradition in our household. The kids usually complain about the idea of hiking, but since it is Mother's Day, they tone the whining down. We had beautiful weather today to head outside, so once they were in motion, the complaining stopped. My favorite part of the day was watching them talk to each other as they walked in the sunshine.
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| Big breakfast made by the kids |
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| Family photo with the big boys home from college - they got home the day before. I love when we take up the whole pew - it means everyone is together. |
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| Spring in the Cleveland National Forest. |
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| We have done this hike before a couple of times, but we needed to do something flat because my oldest tore his ACL. But even though the spot was the same, the flora was different. Lots of wildflowers were blooming. I think this is a penstemon variety. |
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| Wait for me! |
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| Having fun amongst the wildlfowers. |
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| The lovely lupine was in bloom. |
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| Some kind of thistle? |
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| Big Laguna "Lake." The lake was dry, but birds were in abundance. After watching Big Year, the move with Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson as birders (thumbs up), we were on the look out for birds. I counted mallards, coots, another kind of duck, egrets, some kind of swallow, sparrows, blackbirds, red wing blackbirds, crows, and juncos while I was paying attention. I could be talked into being a birder in my old age - a good excuse to travel to beautiful, remote natural places. |
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| Picnicking in the sun. |
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| Another unusual wildflower |
A belated wish for happy Mother's Day blessings to all who mother!
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