Spring

When we get home from school on these lovely new days of Spring we spill straight out of doors to hang out on the back or front porch. The deck in back is perfect for hopscotch and skateboarding and I can sit on the steps and enjoy the kids, a glass of wine, and the rich air of
a warm days end.



















The air smells of the river and wet earth, as well as cooking smells from the restaurant behind us, and the hills rising up around on all sides seem to shelter us as they turn a delicate green.



















From our front porch we can watch cyclists and walkers on their way to the towpath to enjoy the air and river and woods, and people wave and smile and greet us. We are in a hub of activity in a small town in a wooded valley.



















We draw with chalk, cartwheel, play kickball with the kids next door and poke about in the garden discovering the plants that are coming up.



















Everything feels new and fresh and possible.


































Tonight when we got home Skaterboy ran right out with his fishing rod to throw a line in the river, and ran back in again almost right away, practically beside himself with excitement.















"Quick, take its picture" he said, and I did. It's a young steelhead trout, which he immediately took back and released, absolutely thrilled with himself.



















When dinner was ready I sent the girls to go get him. They walked through the parking lot, across the railroad tracks, along the river and clambered down the embankment to the sandbar he was fishing from.




















When no-one came back after twenty minutes I went to get them, and there they were, pulling the little steelhead from the river one after another, even the twins, with help from their brother.



















I feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to live in a place like this with the kids. It's going to be a great summer.