Hiking - Part 1

A couple of weekends ago, we packed up some food and water bottles and got out of town to one of our favorite outdoor spots. It had been a long time since our last visit there, and it was good to be back. And it was nice to observe that it's getting a little easier to get us all gathered and transported, then to collectively have a good time.

It was fun to dust off the old Nikon, poor neglected thing, and go to town in the rugged outdoors snapping photos. There were a few scattered bits of summer color left...

The pinkish mound in the background is the rock - just a big, mostly bald granite rock, elevation 400+ feet (I know, I know, but out here in this part of Texas that's high, and you really can see for many miles around). It's great for hiking and all kinds of fun exploration, including some small caves.

We started out with a snack at the base of the rock before we began the trek. I loved BH's little feet dangling from the hiking backpack - this was the first time he's ever worn shoes.

Two very handsome guys. BH looks a bit dubious about riding BB's back up the steep rock, doesn't he?

 See? Rugged. Rocky, cactus-y, scrubby. It's not often that we've seen water, though. Recent rains created a few little pools and streams along the way. 

 I've never actually seen a real scorpion in the wild. This one was actually dead. He was probably about 2 inches long. Creepy.

We also saw a strange, fat lizard and a few deer.

 This one's a bit out of focus, but I was happy to see these Queen Anne's Lace-like flowers - so delicate!

 Water is irresistible, isn't it? 

 I cannot remember what these cheerful periwinkle flowers are called, but I saw their little bright punches of color here and there on our hike.

 Ferns! These are little, perhaps only about 5 inches long, max. They grew at the base of rocks, in shallow crevices. They're very tough and hardy looking. 

 There are so many cactus hearts to be found. I enjoy keeping an eye out for them. Still such a metaphor for the human heart...

 Parts of the climb up are so steep that you cannot see the top. It's very lunar-looking.

 Look, he has an aura!

The White Tree of Gondor

haha.

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Well, it's been over two weeks.

I said in the last post that I was learning to be okay with process.

Sometimes I'm less okay with it. That's when I want to run from it.

Relationships have been a pretty consuming reality here for the past few weeks, part of the reason for the bloggy silence.

We are making such beautiful, God-powered progress in our relationship with AH. Those are the highs, of course. Along with that comes the lows, the stumbly, disconnected moments and days. Those are heartbreaking times. The lows are part of God's process for us, of course, too. But, dang, it's really hard sometimes.
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I'll have Part II of hiking day ready to post in coming days.

Thank you for coming by. I'm glad you stopped in!