Happy Earth Day y'all

So since it's Earth Day I thought I'd share some photos I took when the kids and I walked to the park near our house the other day. My son has a very special friend at this park. He refers to him as "my friend the Big Blue Herron". We hadn't seen Big Blue in a while so when we saw him there recently Clyde's face just lit up. Of course, I didn't have my camera that day... These were taken a few days later. Big Blue seems to have found a friend. When he's (we're not really sure of the specifics as to the sexual orientation...) by himself he will wait for you to feed the fish and then land close and feed off the fish you're feeding. i know, it seems an unfair advantage but it's so freakin' cool.

There are also a ton of turtles at the park. We've even seen one or two that must be soft shell turtles. They are HUGE. Seeing them swim let's me know how it is people can see things like Loch Ness. Now I'm not saying there is no giant sea serpent living in the waters but I can see how the imagination could put more things there than might actually exist.

I love letting my kids play outdoors. It's tough here in Texas during the summer because it gets so hot and you could seriously fry eggs on the playground slides so I'm taking advantage of it all now. I'm always proud when I see my son pick up a piece of trash and put it in a can (not so proud when he gives it to his sister and tries to convince her to eat it. It doesn't take much

convincing),

I can remember going to Maine to visit my dad's family and seeing all the wildlife and being taught to respect what we saw. We fished, we played, we swam and one summer my brother and I even went frog fishing. Trust me, not the best idea but that's a story for another time. Even when we were back home in Ohio we played outside all the time. I can remember playing camping across the street at Melanie's house (she had the cool hibahi and fake food) or playing on our porch pretending that we were runaway geniuses living on the ocean studying dolphins and trying to ride our bikes past the sharks and 'gators that lived in the grass, I mean water.

I guess my point is that I want my kids to enjoy the outdoors. I hope I can instill in them a love and respect for the main thing that sustains us all. We are all God's creatures great and small.

Wow. This is a long one for me.