Wednesday, January 12, 2011

A Treasure Hunt


On the 15th we will have lived in our new town for a whole month.  In that time, we have explored neighboring towns, sampled delicious food from local restaurants, and we practically know the mall like the back of our hands.  But, today it came to my attention that we hadn't been to a nearby park that my kids were dying to go to.  So, I grabbed my camera and we set out for an hour or so of playing and wandering!

It's refreshing to see color in the dead of winter.  Our previous town had lots of snow, and when it wasn't falling out of the sky it was covering the struggling vegetation.  Needless to say that I was thrilled to see shades of green, red, and brown even with a heavy cover of gray sky above.


Black oak trees are abundant here.  What amazes me is that since the leaves have fallen off the branches, clusters of mistletoe form high up and look like scraggly bird nests.  My kids are excited to play on the playground wearing only light jackets, and a berm of hardened snow is nowhere to be seen.

Black oak trees also produce some rather large acorns.  I love the contrast between the orange-brown shell of the acorn against the glossy green paint of the picnic tables!

Pathways wound throughout the park grounds piquing the interest of my little explorers.  Shouts of "Let's go this way, Mama" and "Ooh, lets go look at that!" was all I could hear as I felt them pull at my jacket.  A wooden foot bridge crossed over a shallow creek (if only my camera battery hadn't died at this point I would have taken a photo or two) and benches with memorial plaques were scattered along the paths.

It was a lovely afternoon.  And while I don't necessarily think that this park was extraordinary or unusual, to us, it is a gem in the new town that we are finding to be quite a treasure.

3 comments:

heather said...

Exploring a new place is so delightful! Glad you are enjoying it.

Zil said...

Nice capture of the moments that pass too quickly.

Anna said...

That acorn on the table shot is brilliant!