Ice Ice Ice

Todays trip to snack rock took three times the normal number of steps. It was just Drew and I today, and he thought we could make it despite my warnings that it was going to be very slippery. Wow, was it ever slippery. There were maybe three inches of snow, then a solid half inch of ice on top that was almost impossible to break through. We slipped and slid and held hands most of the way to keep from falling over constantly. It was a challenge, but the snacks at snack rock tasted extra good.

Taking a break- walking on ice is very tiring.




















Looks like a camera trap picture of some wild animal approaching the stream for a drink...




















This is my favorite shot of the day. While I was messing around trying to get to a spot to take a couple pictures of snack rock Drew somehow made it across the stream without getting wet, which was a minor miracle. I still have no idea how he managed to do it. By the time I noticed he was even trying he had already crossed and plopped down on the ice to take a look around.

The snow and ice really isolated the senses. Normal winter forest smells of wet leaves and mold and rotten logs are suppressed. The normally loud stream was mostly underwater so all we could hear were the fastest bits. The sounds we could hear was a muted bubbling with a muffled echo- and the unusually loud chirping of birds.

After taking this picture I crossed the stream and we sat together for our snack of apple juice and a couple miniature Hershey's bars. Then we slipped and slid our way back to the truck. It was 24 degrees when we left the house, and only 26 when we got back home. We didn't mind the cold though, we were dressed for it and stayed plenty warm. Needless to say, we had the whole place to ourselves.

FROZEN

I've had a number of local 'old timers' tell me that back in the day when the river froze over lots of people used to go ice skating above Daniels Dam. For the first time in the 9 years I've lived close to the river, it's frozen solid. The ice is at least 6" thick, so thick that I could drive my truck across it without worry- but in this day and age people are too scared so we have the whole place to ourselves. The river here is so shallow that even if we broke through we could stand up.

The boys and I took down Drew's RC monster truck to the frozen river several times over the weekend. Wow was that fun!



So, so much fun. The only reason we eventually headed home was that the truck batteries died. So this is a first for both the boys and I. Frozen river playtime!

Sledding!

How can anyone live where it's flat, or where there is no snow? What kind of childhood wouldn't have sledding? Inconceivable!

Daddy- can I go down the slide? Instinct- No! Second thought- why not?



While we dislike the construction taking place across the street from our house, it sure is nice having a big open field for sledding.




















Looking at our house. Sunset, snow, hot fire in the woodstove. That's living.

Last walk of 2008

The boys are bigger now, and make their own decisions about where to go for their walks. The last walk of the year was to Snack Rock. Snack Rock is a great little hideout. Once you are there, it's about as far away from the nearest house or car that you can get in our part of Maryland- about a mile. Nestled deep down in the hollow of the stream, it's always quiet. On a nice day we walk here from the house- a 3 mile round trip. It was cold and windy and miserable, so I drove down the hill to cut out the worst mile of the trip. Since we didn't walk as far, we also dropped down to the Daniels Dam and we threw a bunch of rocks at the kayak launching spot. We had the river pretty much to ourselves today- just us and a lot of ducks.

No excuse for not updating the blog all summer except

We splashed in the ocean
























We warmed stuffed animals by the campfire on cool evenings





















We rode horseback on Chincoteague ponies.





















We "camped" at Chincoteague Island





















We went progging in the river.




















We smashed things. It was a wonderful summer and fall.

Getting warmer

Well, summer is on it's way. The redbuds and dogwoods started blooming this week, and these heavy rains will close the forest canopy quickly.

Right now, the canopy is still open. It makes for nice pictures.

We took the scooters to the river last week. Rain had washed the leaves off the old road, and Nick can use the much faster Razor scooter now instead of the training wheel 'Spiderman' version. He'd only been using it for two days, but it was enough. We went about 1.5 miles alternating between scooting and walking. Up past Lunch Rock and back.

















With stops for snacks of course, and water. And then more water. My turn. My turn. You already had a turn! My turn.








































LOOK! A TRAIN!!!


















We're ready for summer, bring it on!

Practice Makes Perfect

Yesterday when I pulled into the driveway Drew came running up to me and asked "Daddy can we go kayaking?" It was too cold, so we did the next best thing- practice fishing. I put bobbers on their rods, set up a few targets in the yard, and tell them that the grass is the water, so they have to stay on the driveway so they don't get wet. I really don't know why, but they just love this. They will stand and cast for 20-30 minutes at a time, which is about as long as they do anything.



















Drew's rod is much bigger and nicer than Nick's, so of course they both fight over who gets to use Nick's cheap junk rod...

Both of them have completely mastered the standard overhead cast. Drew is starting to get pretty accurate left to right, but still can't figure out how to cast specific distances. Nick just heaves it as far as he can every time, just like Drew did at his age.



Now that they are cooperating, with Drew getting to the point where he can give Nick helpful casting tips (see video below where Drew says "you're letting go too soon"), the fish in the Patapsco are in big trouble once the water warms up...



At the end of the video, Nick pulls a classic Naylor move. He tries to cast, but his bobber ends up next to Drew with the line over Drew's head. Nick doesn't see his bobber fall, but when Drew gives him the advice, and he realizes what happens he stands up straight and just drops his rod out of frustration. I see so much of myself in this it's embarrassing. True to form though, he bent right down a second later, picked the rod up, and tried again.

Mushroom Hunting

Five men went looking for mushrooms today along the river. Some of them were pretty whiny.

They touched the moss, watched a train, and found lots of mushrooms, though they left with none to take home for dinner.

We threw rocks at the dam too (because).

Cold Winter Walks

What to do on the water in mid-winter? It’s too cold to safely kayak with two boys, and their little hands get cold when we try to go fishing. Swimming is out.

So we walk, throw rocks, kick leaves, and walk some more. We don’t tend to see a whole lot of wildlife, but there is usually a train and sometimes a lot of ducks. Instead of twice a week we only go down a few times a month. But it’s always fun.

Winter walk

It was fairly cold today, but sunny and not windy. We walked to the dam first, to throw some rocks. They were a blur of motion finding and throwing rocks. Scout’s bowels, stimulated as they always are by being somewhere strange, kicked into overdrive and she marked the area several times. Then back to the car for a snack of beef jerky and dehydrated apples and off on a long walk.

We were just headed up the trail when we saw a big group of geese way up in the air, headed right for us. They dropped and dropped, rocking back and forth, making a lot of wing noise. They started swinging upriver, then swung a hard left hand loop and hit the water right in front of us. The half-white goose we watched all summer was in with the group. I fumbled for the camera, but it happened so fast. We saw lots of mushrooms, ducks and geese, and smelled that fall leaf-smell, and heard the dry leaves hissing over our heads the whole way.

Nick walked as far as he ever has, far enough to need me to carry him most of the way back to the truck.