The end of summer

Living with children makes you feel the passage of time differently. There seem to be benchmarks everywhere you turn. Just last week for example, Tess went off the ten foot high dive at the Cove pool (no pics unfortunately). Colm is starting to sound out words. Always, it seems, Tess or Colm is arriving somehow. Arriving at some understanding, some prowess, some desire. It's easy and tempting to live vicariously through their exploits. Mostly it inspires me to live like them, alert to the cues that life is offering me.
We took a day hike to Black Lake in the Elkhorn Mountains. Nobody else was there, we had the place to ourselves. The kids and the dog ranged all over the place, climbing boulders, swimming in the cold moutain lake. Tess got blisters from her sandals and had to walk most of the way barefoot. Instead of quitting the hike, she did it.
These kids are ready for a backpacking outing.