A Respite | Brazos Bend State Park

I imagine the past 12 days have been emotional for both those who celebrated this election’s outcome (not me) and those who mourned it (me). I’ve tried to avoid reading e-v-ery single article posted throughout the day and I’ve been very selective of the ones I share with others. I know the significance of this election. I know the new dangers we’ll likely face. I know it’s time to do more doing and less complaining and I’ve taken my baby steps towards the former. But honestly, I need a break from it all. I need to go a day without thinking about this – not for my own sake, but for the sake of the ones who look to me for joy and peace and hope that everything will be ok.

I didn’t know where we’d go this Football Sunday*, but I knew that after the past several weeks of seeing so much hate and so much hurt, I needed to be reminded of just how incredible this earth is. I needed to remember that when you peel away all the layers of wreckage, this perfect creation is right there within reach and it packs the power to transcend all the negativity being spewed from every direction. At some point on our hike today, P whispered in his creepiest voice “Mama, this is a magical place”. I agree, kid.

The boys learned what marsh was and spent a big chunk of the hike testing areas with rocks. P doing his very inappropriate dance. It’s like a Rihanna-Shakira mashup. We FINALLY saw an asp caterpillar. We’ve been reading about these for weeks and I’ve shown them photos and warned them of their dangers, but we’ve never seen one in real life. I was glad they could see that I wasn’t some crazy lady making up stories about imaginary poisonous caterpillars. I was not glad that I picked the one grill being guarded by a poisonous caterpillar.  

*Football Sundays are the days where my husband is required to watch and write about an entire day’s worth of football. My job is to keep the kids out of his eyes and ears while he does so. It works out perfectly because more than 2 hours of football noise makes my soul hurt, so I’m happy to escape it.