Others: Cows and People

Perhaps you all are tired of hearing about our outdoor adventures.  Well, we are not tired of taking them!  Sorry.   Here's a post from a site I just found about another family who, much more intentionally than Nick and I, are doing something similar.

Saturday we re-visited a hike we took much earlier in the fall. Tyringham Cobble is a wonderful hike for kids.  Not very strenuous, different environments, cool sights. Things were so different from early September. You begin the hike by walking through a pasture.   Last time there were flowers with bees and butterflies, warm sun, green, yellow, purple.

 This time, the pasture had been cut, hay bales removed.  The weather was much cooler with clouds and occasional sprinkles.

That's me stepping around cow poop.

 

The next part of the hike takes you through some woods and clearings that were full of goldenrod at the beginning of September.  

We call this Turkey Rock

Parts of the Cobble had been cleared in the past by farmers and Shakers owned the property at one time.  You can see old apple trees, junipers, and lots of wild flowers in this section.  Here it is in mid October.

Then you climb up to the top, which is very rocky and affords fabulous views.

September

October

The climb down is through woods which leads to another open area.  You end up back at the pasture you entered through. 

September

The only blooming goldenrod on our October hike!

Willa watches cows.

Aww. Baby.

When we got back to the pasture, cows had moved in and were all around us eating and drinking (and doing other cow stuff).  The kids were thrilled to be so close them and see lots of babies.  It was cool.  I can proudly say, I am not jaded when it comes to cows.  :)

Sunday, we had different company on our hike.  People.  We went to Purgatory Chasm near Worcester where it was quite crowded.  I can't blame them.  It is a spectacular environment to see and explore and it was such a lovely day.   I was a bit put off at first, as we usually see one to five groups who we pass or pass us quickly on our walks.  But this place was like a mall the week before Christmas!   The amazing surroundings won me over and I decided to be excited that so many families were outside exercising and appreciating nature. 

The Chasm is believed to have its origin in the sudden release of dammed-up glacial melt-water near the end of the last Ice Age, approximately 14,000 years ago.  It is an amazing spot! (I keep using that word, but I can't think of a better one.)  Cal seems to love scrambling and climbing, so he was in his element.  Willa also liked it, but she was enjoying pretending to be scared.  She loves the drama.

Willa and I check out a cave.

Here she is "scared".

You climb down into the chasm over giant boulders.  Caves and crevices are formed by the rocks making tiny spaces where many non-claustrophobic folks were exploring.  Not me.

Looking up you see sheer rock cliffs, popular with climbers.  There are trees grasping on to the rocks with their roots.  Have I mentioned this is an amazing place? 

Once you are out of the Chasm, there are other spots on the property to explore, though the kids were not inclined to do so.  We followed the loop around up to the top of the Chasm, which was just as fun.

Willa, as usual, hamming it up. 

 After leaving the Chasm, Willa and Nick went to the sliding rock: a large expanse of rock at a good incline for sliding.  I was concerned for her pants and her bottom, but she found some cardboard and had fun sliding.

Cal had turned into a big whiner and the only thing keeping him going at this point was the promise of the playground (or gayground as he calls it).  It was a fun playground which included a merry-go-round!  I haven't seen one of those in a long time.  I thought they went the way of the real teeter-totter.  All the kids were attracted to it, but Cal couldn't get the hang of waiting for it to stop spinning before trying to get off.  He had a couple of harrowing moments, then gave it up for other, less frightening areas.

We had a great day, topped off by Mexican food (including a Margarita).  Hard to beat that.

We missed you, though.

Water

Last week was very, very wet.  After a dry, but beautiful September, the rain came.  Lots of rain.  Thursday I drove through three puddles that I was kind of afraid to drive through.  Enormous puddles.  During one crossing, a tiny, low Mercedes sports car was coming through the other way.  I felt kind of bad for him, but kind of not.  (A touch of schadenfreude, sorry.)  So I can't say we did much in the way of adventuring.  The one day it was sunny and nice, I proposed an adventure, but was reminded that I promised the kids they could watch Star Wars, which, of course can not be postponed, even for nice weather.

I did get them to compromise (I'm trying to teach Willa about this) and we all went for a dog walk, during which we picked up leaves for a leaf garland.  Here it is:

As you can see, it is 1/2 done.  It has been too wet to collect leaves or we have been otherwise occupied since then.  So, it remains unfinished.  It is raining again today.



The weekend was not rainy. Saturday was even sunny!  Nick proposed we check out Chesterfield Gorge.  The gorge has been described as a "dramatic rock canyon" featuring "70-foot high walls carved by glacial melt," i.e. the Westfield River.   His thinking: It's rained a lot, I bet it's really moving!  And it was.  As we walked along the cliff top protected by a fence (and lots of hand-holding and warnings from parents) we were granted amazing views!  Dramatic is the correct adjective!

Action Cal!  He doesn't walk anymore, but jumps and runs.

Yes, Willa is wearing 2 different socks.

They went a bit sticker crazy before we left.

Should've flipped this. If you tilt your head to the left, this stump looks like a gnome.

An artsy shot.

We finished up our explorations of the gorge with time to spare, so we decided to check out Glendale Falls, touted as one of the longest and most powerful waterfalls in Massachusetts.   This is another short walk, this time down the falls area where you continually get spectacular views.  We did some rock scrambling and tree root climbing, until the kids and I found the marked path with stairs cut into the slope.  It was kind of hidden, so it was sort of like coming upon a fairy path or ancient ruin.  Like we weren't meant to find it.  Kind of magical.  I'm probably over-romanticizing it...
Meanwhile Nick continued on the path of most resistance to the bottom, all the while taking amazing photos!

Willa poses at the top.

Nick said "Janelle, you are blocking Cal's head."  So I moved.  Ugh.

Nick helping Cal cross a tiny stream using stepping stones.

 Everyone's impression was "Wow!"

Sunday was less active, for me at least.
Nick arranged to meet several college friends in Worcester, where my friend, Josephine lives.  Josie and I try to meet up once a month or so to let our kids play and we can talk.  Nick and company arranged to meet at Coney Island Hot Dogs and not being one to pass up a chance to go there, Josie and I met there as well.  The kids usually eat hot dogs, but not this time (a few bites).  They would rather hang out by the jukebox with their friend Harry.

I wish I had taken pictures of Coney Island.  It's a classic old place with an intact (really cool) neon sign.  To check it out click here.

Josie and I escaped to her condo and spent a relaxing afternoon together, interrupted periodically by the needs of our kids.

Snack time

Willa created some awesome art, Cal enjoyed Harry's cool trucks and tools and Harry enlightened us all on his Bakugan and Ben 10 characters.

It was very nice, but we missed you though. 

This is for you:

I don't intend this to really be a blog, per se.  It is intended to include certain people into the daily adventures of the life of my family.  People, who until recently, were intimately involved in those adventures.  Or people who were never involved so intimately, but who might like a glimpse, now and then, of our adventures.

For some reason, I feel like I should be writing a manifesto of this blog right now... but that goes against what I wanted from it.  So, without anymore blah, blah, blah from me here is my very first installment.

September 25 and 26:

We had a great weekend.  Beautiful weather, lovely company, and actual productivity (as you know, I am always struggling with that).  Saturday evening Heather came to visit.  She is so good with the kids.  I was finishing a bit of cleaning (just sweeping and mopping the floors) when she arrived.  Nick was on his way home from a Teaching American History grant trip to Lowell (I'm sure he'd love to upload some photos/videos from his weekend).  Heather, like the Pied Piper, came in and swept the kids up in her spell.  Not only W & C, but also Emily from next door.  Not that any of the three of them are shy or anything....

We had a nice evening; went for ice cream in Southampton.  Heather got a flavor called "Boston Blackout" despite being a die hard Yankees fan.  I guess she is an even bigger chocolate fan.

Sunday, Nick found a new (to us) breakfast spot in Westhampton: The Strawbale Cafe.  It was a beautiful spot and food was terrific. (They had keilbasa.)

Keeping busy pre-food

This was the ceiling.  Very pretty.

It's called the Strawbale Cafe because it is made from strawbales.  Cool, eh?

They have a wonderful fire pit which they light for waiting guests during maple sugaring season, when they have many and it is chillier out.

Then we were off to the D.A.R. State Forest where we wandered and explored. 

Yes, Willa wore her sparkly shoes on this hike.

Part of our wanderings.

These were the tamest ducks ever.

On one leg of our hike we saw some horse manure.  Cal was very interested in it or horrified by it, not sure which.  He wouldn't stop talking about it until we moved on to another adventure.   The kids eventually took off their shoes to "wade" which quickly turned into complete wetness.  They were a bit cold until we got back to the car and changed.  

Had a great weekend, though we did miss you.