There’s Treasure Everywhere
A recent evening walk with my sons Timothy and little Mack was a valuable reminder to me that there’s treasure everywhere. Take a look.
During supper, little Mack commented that we hadn’t been to the park for a long time. Then suddenly he wanted to walk to the park more than anything else in the world. More than anything else in the universe. In many, many universes.
Little Mack on his brother’s broad shoulders
The neighbor’s corn is tall now (up to my shoulders) so I knew it wouldn’t be an easy thing to walk through his fields to get to the park, less than a mile away. The scratchy-scritchy corn is bad enough, but the detasseling flashbacks, for me, are the worst. Timothy offered to take Mack to the park, and I braved the flashbacks to tag along.
Scritchy-scratchy. . . anybody else seen the movie “Signs”? Ooooh. Makes me so shivery.
After the torturous slog through the scritchy-scratchy corn, we walked through another neighbor’s prairie grass pasture.
MUCH–nicer.
Our neighbors mowed a path through part of the pasture, which was so considerate of them.
I do buy these boys shoes, see? They’re carrying them. That’s what they do with shoes. “Do people actually wear these things–on their feet?” they ask.
Of course little Mack is chattering this whole time. What a blessing for him to have three big brothers to chatter to, and one still at home who will carry him through the corn and listen quietly to every word.
At the park, I sit down for a minute and discover treasure: a cicada case! The first one I’ve seen this summer.
Cool–cool–cool!
Cicadas are fascinating insects and are eaten in many countries–did you know this? They are known to have been eaten in ancient Greece as well as China, Malaysia, Burma, Latin America, and the Congo. Female cicadas are prized for being meatier.
Hmm. I’m trying not to think of a human parallel here. Not–going–there.
Shells of cicadas are used in the traditional medicines of China. See how skillfully I changed the subject away from my thighs? Ooops. Rats.
Honestly, I’m wondering what a deep-fat-fried cicada would taste like right about now. With a cornmeal-crunchy batter? Can’t you picture it . . . what do you mean you can’t?
Cicadas sing a very loud song during the late summertime. Did you know that some cicadas sing so loudly that the sound can cause permanent hearing loss in humans, if the insect is right outside the ear? Also, some smaller species have songs so high in pitch that humans can’t hear them.
When I was a little girl, when the cicadas started singing, Mom would always say “Oh kids, listen to that–the cicadas are singing. That means that summer is almost over!”
I seem to remember her grinning really broadly at this observation. To this day, I still feel a mixture of sadness (no more long summer days with swimming and gardening and biking!) and happy anticipation (shorter days, cooler temperatures, hot soups, and new school clothes!) when I hear the cicadas.
Of course now that I know that they can actually damage my hearing, I might have another feeling about them. I spotted another case . . .
. . . and another! Definitely, this was my lucky day!
Little Mack came running up to me and asked if we couldn’t please, please climb over the beaver dam to the tall climbing bank?
We’ve done this adventure before, and I realized how much easier it would be with Timothy along to do the climbing that little Mack loves so much. The last time little Mack and I climbed the “climbing bank” we found a skull that we still haven’t identified. Fox? Opossum? Little Mack thinks it was a smallish dinosaur skull. I don’t.
I looked up at this tree and noticed that the sun was sinking. “We’d better climb fast,” I observed, unnecessarily. “The sun is going down.”
“Don’t worry, Mom,” grinned my youngest. “Timothy and I are fast climbers.”
“Well, first I have to climb THIS. . .”
There’s a big glut of dead trees and limbs and detritus that has stuck in this area of the creek for years, and little Mack calls it the “Beaver Dam” although I really don’t think there are any beavers in this area.
If there were, chances are one of them would have tried to eat one of my chickens by now.
Timothy shimmied across the logs, and then little Mack took his turn easing his way across, and then I inched across. The mosquitoes were starting to bite, and I nearly fell into that brakkish water taking a swat at one. But then I found a red, white and blue baseball stuck in the mess of logs and dug it out.
More treasure!
This time I got to stand at the bottom of the cliff and take pictures, instead of make the climb myself. And admire my sons. I admire Timothy’s drive to climb something challenging like this steep cliff, and his determination to do so. Even more I admire his kindness and patience in helping his little brother up to the top, too.
Treasure!
Oof. It did take a bit of effort on Timothy’s part to hoist his brother up to the top. For my part, I was watching them, holding my breath and swatting mosquitoes. No picnic down at the bottom of the cliff, either. I do believe I was a bit hungry, too.
Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes comics have always been a favorite at our house. We have several raggedy dog-earred copies of collections that have been passed down from kid to kid. Little Mack now does his share of toting them around and settling down and chuckling at the adventures of the little boy, Calvin, that he has so much in common with, and his tiger Hobbes.
I love those two little piles of shoes at the bottom of the cliff.
Now you’ll see why the trip down was so much faster than the trip up.
The sun was going down quickly now, and we had to move quickly to get back through the park, across the prairie grass, and back across the cornfield. Scritchy-scratchy.
Our evening walk was absolutely filled with treasure. I hope for you, Gentle Reader, a Sunday full of treasure of the greatest kind!
30 thoughts on “There’s Treasure Everywhere”
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Wonderful story! I loved the flow of your narration along with your use of pictures to move your story forward. Yes, there are treasures everywhere if we slow down enough to dig for them. Looking forward to reading more of your adventures in spirit.
So sweet of you, Penny. 🙂
This, my friend, is beautiful. Sigh.
Oh. Anne. That means SO MUCH to me. Thank you, my dear friend.
What a sweet and precious family experience that you shared with us. Isn’t it awesome when those special little times bring so much happiness and glow to our hearts. You are definitely blessed with such an awesome family. Thank you. Hi…from a fellow Ultimate Blogger…so nice to meet you.
Nice to meet you, too, Wendy. Thanks for your sweet comment. Sometimes those quickly-grabbed moments create the best memories, don’t they?
What a lovely walk! Thank you, I rather enjoyed it. I now have also found a treasure today…….a smile every time I think of this post!
Have a wonderful day!
That’s such a sweet thing to say, Brenda! Thank you!
No haven’t seen the movie in it’s entirety ….ah the cicadas—remember the few times that they filling all over awhile back in the Midwest and when I was in high school in KY in the 80’s.
Sounds like you all, especially Matt had a blast 🙂
Those cicadas are memorable, aren’t they, Liz? And so is the movie “Signs” if you ever get a chance to watch it! The first time I saw it, I had a real hard time going for my daily runs past the cornfields that surround our place, though! 🙂
Looks like a great time, and the pictures for future years. I love looking back at some of the treasures of our past. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Chef!
What a wonderful adventure! Brings back many memories for me of those years with my own kids – except I have 3 daughters and 1 son.
Love the pictures, too, as it helped bring together the whole journey and allowed your readers to join you along the way! 🙂
Thanks so much, Karen!
I remember Signs, but it’s Children of the Corn that really freaked me out about cornfields!
You reminded me that sometimes saying “okay let’s go” even when you don’t feel like it, turns out to be the best decision. On Saturday the girls wanted to go to the beach. We had a friend staying and they wanted to go out. I had already taken our eldest daughter to the shops to buy provisions for her Duke of Edinburgh expedition and another one into town to pick up her phone from the repair shop. It was hot. It was Miners Gala (ie Durham was HEAVING and a lot of it was HEAVING with beer…) and I really didn’t want to drive out to the beach. Eventually I gave in. We had a fabulous afternoon, lazed, watched the beach volleyball 🙂 ate ice cream (them not me, I hate ice cream I had a beer instead!) and bumped into some friends. Just think, I could have missed all of that if I had said “no I’m too hot and tired.”
Gillie,
I’ve been trying to say YES more often to my youngest, and it has been beneficial for both of us. I have more fun, and so does he! Thanks for sharing your story. The BEACH? How could you ever say no? I have had very little beach time in my life, and I just love it!
Talk about adventures in paradise. Some people living in the built-up areas or slums would envy you.
It’s a paradise that so many take for granted, Francene. Thanks for your comments!
This was a beautiful story.
Thanks, April! 🙂
what a beautiful story !!! Full of treasures for sure !! 🙂 ~nik~
Thanks Nicole!
Three words describe this blog. Stunning, Fabulous, Treasure. I absolutely love reading about your walks and your boys.
Thanks Anita-Clare!
Amy, you always delight me with your ramblings and treats of your everyday life. You and your blogs are treasures!
Thanks Deb, you’re so sweet and so encouraging!
A great picture story again, and (again) you’ve done a great job of putting across the feel and atmosphere – yes there is treasure everywhere, to be found in the simplest of things.
A lovely reminder,
thanks,
Gordon
Thank you Gordo!
Hey Amy,
it’s 2 am and I can’t sleep, trawling the internet (not the best sleep inducer, I know) and came across your website. I’d like to read your blog but excuse my ignorance – how do I follow you?
Hi Marion! Thank you, and it’s very easy to follow me–enter your email address in the little box up at the top of my home page–you will then be part of the Best Club on Earth, and you’ll receive every new blog post as it comes out, in your email box! Thank you! Also, if you are on facebook, I have a vomitingchicken.com facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/vomitingchicken/