The Farm On Holly's Hill: Sunnin' on the Paluxy

I once thought that the best place to take a nap was on the couch on an Autumn Sunday afternoon while the football game played on the TV. I still think that is some fine sleeping time, but I decided yesterday that I have a new favorite spot. On the edge of the river with my float on the bank just enough that I won't be carried off by the current but yet my feet are still submerged and I am still floating in the cool water. With the sun warming my back- that is the best place to take a nap and I quite enjoyed my nap yesterday on the Paluxy river.

As the days grow longer and the weather warms, my bunch spends almost all of our time outside and it doesn't take long for the river to call our name. Yesterday we answered the call, loaded up the Suburban with fruit, snacks, and the swim bin and away we went. The swim bin is a Rubbermaid container that has all of our floats, water shoes, nets, goggles, and various other assortments necessary for enjoying time on the water. This way when the impulse to take a day trip hits, all we have to grab is one bin and a bag of towels.

Loving the sun, He was 3 month old on his first trip

It takes about two and a half hours for us to get to Glen Rose. The trip is very enjoyable with the scenery really beginning to change after Mansfield. Our Suburban has a cranky a/c so we were driving with the windows down. Seriously, life is good with the warm sun shinning on your arm, the wind blowing your hair, and some vintage Bon Jovi and Areosmith on the radio. The kids are quiet and content and we are just plain happy. As a matter of fact, a brand new Denali passed us on I-20 and I felt sorry for him because he didn't get to have his windows down. The thought made me laugh and I guess it proves that it is all about perspective.

We know the place by heart, even where to expect the deer to be when we take our drive around the park at dusk. However, each time we go it is different. With nature nothing stays the same. Last summer the drought revealed rocks, ledges, and dinosaur tracks that we had never seen before and this year with the purging of the drought and then all the wonderful rain, the river was more pristine and clear than I have seen it in the 15 years that we have been playing in it. So many of the pictures look very similar to the ones we took the previous trip, but they do mark changes in the family. Now when I look at these pictures taken yesterday I will think, "Look, these were taken right before Cheyenne left for college." I am grateful for the wonderful memories I have, and so many of them were made at Dinosaur Valley State Park, Glen Rose Texas.

The air is dry in that part of Texas and it didn't take long for the temps to cool down once the sun dropped behind the ridge. A good day on the river is awesome therapy, stress and frustration melt away and float on down the way like the leaves that fall on the water. As the sun sets, we pack up our stuff and take our browned bodies back up the trail and go look for deer. We always find some. The one yesterday was most definitely getting close to having her fawn(s). There were several others in the fields as we rolled down the state park road heading for Canton.

Not only do we get to know each other better spending time in nature, we get to know our Creator better as well. If you study an artist's work, you will learn something about the artist himself. The same is true for God. His handiwork is all around us and it is good to take time to study it and take it in. I asked the girls- Jonathan was off exploring with Tony looking for fish, turtles, and snakes, go figure- what they could tell about God from his creation there on the Paluxy. The answers were that He likes "pretty things", "harmony" and "peacefulness". Very true, indeed. It is so awesome to know that the Creator of all this beauty was right there enjoying His creation with us.