My husband texted on his way home yesterday and said, "Get your suits on, we're going to Barton Park."  Barton Park is just a 25-minute drive from our house - good time to catch up with each other about the day - and it's so nice to be able to take a quick outdoor trip there at the end of the day during the week.  

Thor hung on as they went out into the river, always wanting to do whatever his dad is doing, always game to try anything.  I watched as they body-surfed a short rapid with each other, Thor's laughter bouncing off the riverbank.  Then I watched him go by himself on the next run and saw his little head bobbing down the river until he hit still water.  He could not have been more proud of himself for doing that on his own (6th picture from the top, he tells me about it).  I remember taking him there when he was little, how he would hang onto our fingers at first, then bravely take a few steps into the water.

The sun began to wane.  It's getting dark so much earlier, all of the sudden, it seems.  I noted some fallen golden leaves on the walk back to the car.  There was a certain smell to the air, like the river in summer, but with the slightest tinge of the woods in fall.  Next week Thor starts school.  A new routine will begin.  How quickly things come and go.  


Barton Park, August 2007.
by mlekoshi