Our Photo Journey

Day thirteen of our photo journey …

There are at least a gazillion ways to get to various hideaways on Enid Lake. Our mission today was to find a new way that we hadn’t tried before. When my kids are involved though, there is always a pretty good chance that means we will embark on an adventure that we won’t soon forget.

Turn left Mom!

No wait a second.

Maybe it was supposed to be right?

It wasn’t long before we found ourselves on a dark curvy road that seemed to get more narrow with every curve. About the time I began to wonder if this road was really going to lead somewhere or if we were setting ourselves up to get stuck in the middle of nowhere without even so much as a cell phone with us, the road in front of us became impassable.

Of course it was way too narrow to even think of turning around.

You can do it Mom! Keep going!

Ummmm…  Son?

We’re not in a four wheel drive pickup truck anymore. We’re in a old beater, and I don’t think I can make it through here.

Sure you can!

You can do it!

You can make it! (Everyone now chiming in.)

Of course we got hopelessly stuck when our old beater bottomed out. I just sat there and laughed when Haley mentioned that we really should have turned right.

The kids finally pushed us out of the rut, and then laughed hysterically while I had to go back up that curvy dirt road in reverse for about a mile before we could finally get turned around.

Finally, after a series of disagreements on which left and which right we needed to take, we voted on getting there the old fashioned way, following the signs to the other side of the lake.

Yeah! I think we made it! 🙂

Then this drop dead gorgeous guy walked by me, and ummmm…

Well, my photography skills instantly deteriorated.

I think this is a picture of the bathroom door. 🙂

I figured I better at least pretend I was taking a picture of something.

Wasn’t there a tree here somewhere?

I have no idea what those things are in the tree. Baby pinecones?

Kids?

What kids?

Oh yeah! Where the heck are the kids?

I remember when I thought it was romantic to take walks like that!

We could be on a deserted island and Haley would find a boy. Way down in the corner, that’s her talking to a boy in the water. I think they were discussing exchanging email addresses right about then.

One last look back at the water before we lose the sun.

Gosh it is pretty!

Does anyone know where that drop dead gorgeous guy went? 🙂

Day twelve of our photo journey …

Goodness! Today was filled with a whirlwind of activities and errands so we didn’t have a ton of free time, but we still made a few stops to make sure to keep our commitment of at least one picture a day.

Our first stop was a cotton field …

The flower blooms on a cotton plant are absolutely beautiful.

The first day the flower blooms are a creamy white.

By the third and fourth day the blooms deepens to a deep pink.

No matter how hard I tried, I knew I was going to end up taking a picture of the tall grass before I left the cotton field.

Along the way we had to pass an old bait shop that serves some of the best barbeque sandwiches this side of the Mississippi river.

It turned out to be way too difficult to drive past without stopping for a bite. Yup! That is coleslaw you see on the sandwich. We have a few strange eating habits around these parts of the country.

Hey lady! Do you think we’re stupid? We have all the grass we need right here. How on earth do you plan on coaxing us up to the fence with a handful of grass?

Howdy ladies! I may be just an old cranky mule, but I sure aint too proud to accept a handful of grass when it is offered!

Hey camera lady! I know ya said you already have all the cow pictures you need, but when was the last time you saw a calf as cute as me? How about if I stand real still? Will ya take my picture now? Will ya? Will ya please? Awww… C’mon! Will ya take my picture?

Day eleven of our photo journey …

It was so grey and dreary outside today that my plan was just to take a picture of my favorite coffee mug and call it good.

BUT . . . I knew that there was no way Haley was going to let me get away with that, so I didn’t even bother looking for an excuse.

C’mon Haley! Let’s jump in the car! Let’s see if we can find anything worth taking pictures of. There has to be some color somewhere.

So we cranked up the radio in our old car, and headed out the nearest county road, in search of something, anything . . .

Out near the Cossar State Park, we started seeing color every direction we turned.

It is instinctive for me to head straight to the flowers.

It was as if God had reached down with a giant paintbrush and changed our world from black and white to full living color.

We were so busy looking at everything around us that we almost missed these guys quietly watching us. We sat there for several minutes, afraid to even breathe for fear that they would run away.

It was then we realized that there was one lone deer behind us that they must have been waiting for, so we continued on our way.

I couldn’t help it. I had to take one more flower photo.

The sun was nearly gone when I glanced back at the edge of the stream, and it nearly took my breath away.

In that moment, I realized what my heart has been missing.

I don’t just like to be surrounded by the natural beauty of nature, I thrive on it. Soon it will be time to consider another move – back out to a country setting where I feel most at home.

On the lighter side, we learned a very valuable lesson today. Never, I mean never, even consider drinking a 32 ounce iced coffee drink before heading out for an early evening drive down a long country road. 🙂

Day ten of our photo journey …

Relaxing on the park bench, just enjoying the sunshine on my face, I looked up and saw Haley leaning on the edge of the pavilion.

The look of pure peace and tranquility in her eyes made me begin to understand how far our photo journey has brought us.

Day nine of our photo journey …

Have I ever told you that I have a thing about mailboxes? I think maybe they bring back memories of when I was a kid. You know, when people used to mail real letters to you. Yeah, I know, that is too far back for most folks to remember, but as a kid I remember literally running to the mailbox to see if anyone had sent me a letter.

Since I finally put a real mailbox up (not just the one at the post office) I thought maybe I could get away with this being my picture of the day, but the kids had other thoughts, so off to the boat ramp we went.

Haley and Shona (Nick’s Girlfriend) decide to show you that it is day nine of our photo journey, but somehow in the process I got distracted by all the vivid colors surrounding me, and had to take a few pictures.

I love the colors in Mississippi this time of year. Everything is so bright, that at times, it doesn’t even seem real.

Oh wait a sec! I have a new model to frame in my lens, don’t I? Okay, let me stop for a second to grab a picture of Shona when she is staring all dreamy like at my son! I figure if she is still staring at him like that, even though we’ve told her every possible embarrassing story about him, she must be okay. 🙂

Ooops! Sorry! I got distracted by all the color around me again. If you put a bunch of shades of green around me, I can’t help myself, I am sure as heck gonna end up taking pictures.

With smiles like these, I think these two girls could probably get away with just about anything, as long as it wasn’t criminal.

Everyone was getting hot and tired, but there was simply no way we could drive by the park and not stop for a quick climb on all the playground equipment.

Yup! Haley is clowning around and making funny faces.

Just another day in my life. Yeah, life is almost normal again, and I am feeling pretty dang good about that.

Day eight of our photo journey …

When we moved, it felt at times as if our lives had been uprooted, right down to the flower bulbs we planted early in the Spring.

For weeks after we transplanted them, the leaves of the flowers looked brown and wilted. We were certain that they would die, but we just didn’t have the heart to dig them back up again.

Day after day I watched for signs of life, but it was really starting to look as if they didn’t survive the move. Over time, I forgot about them.

This evening, sitting in my old rocking chair on the porch . . .

I happened to look over . . .

Imagine my surprise to see that not only had they survived, but they were actually beginning to bloom!

Heck, I don’t even know what this flower is called, but I reckon if this flower can survive, and actually flourish, so can we.