Days Gone and Passed...

Our laundry.

A friend came over yesterday. We've been friends for about 10 years and have seen many things come and go in our lives.  What brought about the melancholy was that our days together used to be slow and carefree. We still had laundry to do while visiting and our visiting one another did not hinder our laundry duties in one bit. We just kept folding and washing and drying and hanging.

The days were slower then. We thought they were zipping by at the time, but looking back we both agreed that those were the times of lazy afternoons. Lazy afternoons where friendships blossomed over the sandbox. Afternoons of naps and hanging out the laundry. Afternoon walks in a wagon or bike rides with a Kiddie-Trailer behind our bikes. Tiny bike helmets on tiny heads bobbing side-to-side behind us.  Roads, buildings and Legos in the sandbox. Picnics in the park for play dates.

Those were the slower days. The quiet days. The days which we savor. The days we remember with tears in our eyes.

My friend and I reminisced about those days that have gone by and have passed us in a hurry to get everything done. I am forever grateful for the time I was able to spend at home, taking care of my children with no other boss than myself. I am grateful for those days without a paycheck with my name it, for it makes me even more thankful for the ones that are coming in now with my name on them. I learned so much during that time in our lives - those times that have gone by me in a blur.  They are now in the past. They have passed me by and now reside in my memories.

Firefly Season



Google Image Firefly



When I was a younger - about 1989, there was a firefly caught in a spider web.  My Mom and I were just coming home from Gramma Wille's.  It was dusk.  We pulled into the driveway to park and we noticed a firefly flashing away out of the corner of our eye.  Upon further inspection, we noticed that the firefly was not moving, just flashing.

That's when we realized that the firefly was caught in a spider's web by the house.  I totally freaked out.  I wanted to save the firefly, but was extremely terrified of spiders.  We went to look at the firefly and the web and noticed that the spider was coming out of hiding and heading straight towards the firefly!

I screamed, "Mom! We have to save the firefly! Kill the spider!  She tried to tell me that the spider needed to eat, that this was nature at her ugliest.  I didn't care!  Mom plucked the firefly out of the web and squished the spider with her shoe.  We took the firefly into the house. 

We found a canning jar and some grass and put the firefly into the jar.  He stayed there overnight and then the next day he looked GREAT!!!  I'm guessing that he was able to get all of the spider gunk off of his wings because he was moving just fine.  We released him the next night.

He crawled to the lip of the canning jar and stayed put for a moment.  Mom and I thought that maybe he liked us and didn't want to leave.  Then we thought maybe he was scared or thought it was a trap and we were going to be mean to him.  At any rate, he did leave the jar and flew off.  He flashed his little light right away and I knew he'd be alright.

From then on, Mom teased me about being part firefly.  We wondered every year if he came back to flash his light at us.

Well, tonight, all these years later, Rick and I were in the back gathering the damp-again-evening load of laundry.  Ricky noticed the fireflies before I did.  They were all over our heads, gently floating around.  Some landed on my hair, one landed on my arm and shoulder.  I put my hand out and under a firefly floating past me and he landed on my outstretched hand.  I wasn't the right girl for him, however, and he flew off - flashing his little light at me to say goodbye.

Ricky was totally impressed and said so over and over. I replied, "Well, you know... I am the Savior of Fireflies." and then we had to run inside because the mosquitoes were starting to feed!

Hiking ~ 2006 to present

We first started taking you hiking in 2006. We went to Door County and hiked down the cliffside to the water below. We even took along our Golden Retriever, Jazzy. She loved it as much as the rest of us! When we arrived at the water's edge, we found a huge teepee made out of drift wood logs. The teepee was approximately 15' tall and at least 15' at the base. It was awesome! We all sat inside of it. We've tried to find it since, but no such luck.

Today, we went hiking at Devil's Lake, Wisconsin. We hiked the East Bluff Trail. This time we took our Golden Retriever, Sophie. Jazzy wasn't far from our thoughts, however. We knew that she wouldn't have been able to make the hike. We used up all of Jazzy's Fun Energy since 2006 and had to put her down. However, today we thought of her and knew that, had she been younger, she would have had fun hiking with us. But, to the present, Sophie did a wonderful job. Many people, I'd say 98% of the people that came across us hiking, would stop to say hello to Sophie. They'd ask if she had enough water. They'd give her a pet, call her a good girl or say, "Hey buddy, you're up here too?" She did well with the other dogs - actually, I think all of the dogs were so worn out that they didn't have enough energy to even sniff butts!! One little cutie white fluffy poodle type was being carried. I said to Sophie, "Don't get any ideas, I'm not carrying you." The other owner just laughed and laughed. Sophie wanted to go first and picked the trail for us most of the way. There was one time where we were on a switch-back and she thought she could just jump down and get to me. In doing so, she almost slipped off of a huge boulder.

The trail we took today was absolutely beautiful. There happened to be lots of people hiking today, but it wasn't annonyingly crowded on the trails. We even saw a blind man and his family making their way on the trail. I imagine most of the people were on the beaches and in the picnic areas. Being a holiday weekend - Memorial Day combined with great weather, it's no wonder that Wisconsin most popular State Park was jam-packed full today!

Going up to Door County last week, we bought an annual State Park sticker so we could hike at Penninsula State Park both last week and again in October when we go on vacation. We decided to use our State Park sticker every weekend that we can this year, to get our money's worth. However, I think we will be using it mostly at Devil's Lake and then Penninsula the most. We'd like to get you to Governor Dodge this year. That's a favorite because it also has waterfalls. There is one more state park that I know of, with waterfalls, but it's waaay up near Superior - an 8 hour drive; we'd need to spend the night somewhere to get in some hiking.

Both of you are so funny! You've both asked for ibuprofen since we've gotten home. Sophie's feet were so hot!! We got out her little pool and let her cool off - it was funny when she sat and cooled off her pooky - could almost hear her body go. psssssssssshooo as she cooled down. But Dad and I are good, once we got some cold iced drinks at the Kwik Trip in Baraboo, we were good to go.

We all had a really good time. Hiking is one of the things that we all like to do. Whether we are in Wisconsin, Montana or California, hiking has always been our favorite activity. Thank you boys for the wonderful day! Remember to thank Dad for driving!

Last weekend we went to Door County to find our autumn cottage. We hiked at Penninsula State Park. That was alot of fun too. We went on the Eagle Trail. Sophie did really good there. I really like that trail because of the rocky climb and the cool temperature. Also, it goes down to the water! Since Rick just got his Temps the day before, we had him do all the driving in the Park. He did a great job and got some good practice in!