A Check-In

This will be little more than a check-in--just to say that I did post something for today.

I walked the Gethsemane to Calvary trail again today on the Packebush-Mathias farm.  With me on this trek were my sisters Lois and Linda, my sister-in-law Rhoda, my daughters-in-law Clare and Dorcas, my nieces Heidi, Diana, and Beth, Great-niece Isabella, Great-nephew Ezra, Grandchildren Tristan, Carson, Cedric, Elliot, Autumn, Wyatt, Ryker, and Callahan.  Eighteen of us, plus four strollers. 

When we reached the cross, those of us who had brought "burdens" laid them down at the foot of the cross, and then we relaxed, took a group picture, and sang "Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross."  It was the song that I remember my dad choosing most often when he led family devotions at home.  

We saw a muskrat swimming in one of the ponds, and heard a chickadee and a woodpecker in the trees along the pasture walk.  We saw deer and small mammal tracks.  A vulture flew overhead.  Prickly Pear cactus grew in several spots.  I guess it's still too early for most wildflowers, although I did see at least one of almost every kind of wildflower that I've seen elsewhere this spring.  Notably absent were large numbers of henbit and dandelion--probably the two more ubiquitous and visible flowers in most disturbed areas.  

One of the wheels on the stroller that Dorcas was pushing got a puncture from a locust thorn.  Otherwise it worked fine for the jogging strollers to navigate the trail.  

Joel and Lucia hope to walk the trail around 7:00 tomorrow morning.  Hilda is still dealing with after-Covid weariness and Arwen is coveting Saturday morning free time at home.