At the end of the day

"In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt." -- Margaret Atwood

Yesterday the Boy Scouts went on a hike at Burke Lake Park. It was a nice day so Cassie & I went along.

(I know, it doesn't show much but my arm is only so long. You're lucky both of us are in the frame. I never remember a camera so these are from a cell phone and don't really do the beautiful sunny Spring weather justice. That's an apple in Cass's mouth.)

The scouts hadn't gone far when we started pulling away from the pack. We had knitting, drinks, sandwiches, Hershey Kisses, string cheese and apples; what did we need scouts for? Cassie had a piece to memorize for Rainbow and hiking around a lake is a pretty good time to do it. In 5 miles we went through the piece 10 or 12 times and found that "the best way to learn is to teach." I'd heard the part so many times Cass figured I should be able to do it, but it's like driving & riding. If I drive somewhere I remember, more or less, how to get there. If I'm just riding along, I'm lost. Cass got a good laugh prompting me through it, but the more she prompted me, the better she knew it herself.

(Here's a better view of some of the lake. It's not a real lake; there aren't many real lakes in this part of the country. That's one of the things I find disorienting. These pretender lakes have terribly irregular shapes from following the ins and outs of the valley. They haven't got the right glacial drift shape at all. These photos were taken standing on the dam. )

I never did get any knitting done, but Cass has her part memorized for Thursday -- another blow at the anti-procrastination monster.

At the end of the day, we didn't smell like dirt. We smelled like wind and grass and sunshine. Happy Vernal Equinox.