Original tree-lined hotel driveway from days gone by....
Looking across wetlands to mountains in distance on a hazy day....
Remains of old hotel fountain on right....
"Leaves of three, let them be" ... poison ivy is abundant.
Original spring....
Starting point of trail....
Creek where SWAC Niece discovered hundreds of tadpoles.
The shady areas were appreciated on a muggy humid day.
Seeing everything through the eyes of a child is seeing the world differently. Today my sister, 11-year-old niece, and I drove the back roads, picnicking along the way at Augusta Springs Wetlands. The world around me, as seen through my niece's eyes, made for a fun adventure.... We set up lunch at the picnic table while she made a bee-line for the pond and creek. This is our little science-oriented girl who has turtles, gerbels, and cats for pets ... as well as aquariums containing bugs and tadpoles raised into frogs.
When I heard her gasp from the vicinity of the creek I knew she had discovered something and meandered over to see what it was. There were literally hundreds of tadpoles swimming around in one area. She had never seen anything like that and I hadn't either. It was amazing and we watched them piled on top of one another squirming around in the deep pool. That was good for an hour of entertainment as she watched and observed and leaned far down to reach into the water ... doing everything short of actually falling in.
She grabbed a quick lunch and was back at the pond as my sister and I talked and watched her checking out frogs and water bugs and other aquatic life. Finally we decided to take the nature walk around the wetlands. I had seen this walk through the eyes of my own children when they were young.
Today it was fun to once again see the wetlands through the eyes of another child ... the catepillar hiding under the leaf ... the moss on the rocks in the creek ... the cicada that had died and was perfectly intact on the walkway (she collected it to take home to Richmond) ... the inch worm that swung down from the overhead branch....
She jumped down into the creek, climbed over rocks, skipped along the boardwalk, sat alongside the spring, smelled the wildflowers....
Childhood. It's wonderful and something to be savored ... and together we continued to explore in these waning days of summer....
Photos by SWAC Girl
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