~ labor day in the woods ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

South Mountains State Park....

High Shoals Falls Trail.......

~it's cold~

~splash~

~rattlesnake orchid foliage~

~under the rodedendrons~ 

~cardinal flower~

~moss waterfall~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~carrie~

~ sand play ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our sandbox has been a favorite place to play recently.

Thanks to Daddy adding a few bags of fresh sand!

(Doesn't that always make a difference? Freshening up a spot?)

Lela created this magical land.

She commented, "the darker sand works best, the lighter sand won't stick together".

Of course, I had to ask why (for my own insecure self, not for the sake of education),

and she said "because the darker sand is wet"

with an ever-so-slight hint of annoyance in her voice.

Duh, mom.........

I made up for my mistake by sitting down and playing with her,

setting up scenes, adding decorations and listening to her.

This little bouquet of flowers, she tells me,

is what the puppy uses to mark his territory.

She wanted me to take a picture of the puppy under the bridge.

She posed her little daddy faery in his room.

~ photograph by lela ~ 

~ photograph by lela ~ 

Laurel makes a soup.

For anyone interested,

our sandbox is a lovely hexagon, created by my awesome man!

It's 6 Bradford pear stumps (from a tree we cut down)

and 12 short logs of cedar that was scavenged. 

Also a side note - the bare feet, arms and legs?

Because it was in the mid-70s here on March 1st when I took these pictures!

~carrie~

~ sunday hike: mcdowell nature preserve ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, we decided to take our Sunday Hike on Saturday,

and I decided I didn't feel like posting it until Wednesday.

We hiked the Shady Hollow Trail at McDowell Nature Preserve,

and then connected with the Cove Trail, 

for a nice, long (for kids) hike.

We found some of the first Spring ephemeral wildflowers!

I could go on and on about these, 

but I think I'll save botanical stuff for a separate post.  

Maybe I'll even get an in-focus picture of these little beauties, eh? 

Daddy knocks on this hollowed out tree to see if anyone is home.

It looks like the perfect flying squirrel residence, but we didn't see anyone.

Dead standing trees, called snags, are a very important part of the ecosystem.

Winter allows you to gaze through the forest.

This forest is not that old, 

but the fact that it isn't choked with saplings and invasive species is a good thing.

We come down the hill and walk along the shore of Lake Wylie for the rest of the hike.

Lela and Liv ran ahead, while Laurel took her time to poke among the stumps at the water's edge.

We pause to play and explore in a little cove.

Lela has found a catkin of some sort, washed up on the shore.

It was a bit more of a reddish color than this picture shows.

Many different trees produce flowers like these, and they're a lot of fun to play with!

In the little cove, the banks are steep and covered with beautiful mosses and lichens.

Their forms are exquisite and near-endless in variation. 

Below, little reproductive stalks lift the moss spores above the fray. 

Mosses have an other-worldly quality, at least to me.

I get my nose as close down to them as eyesight will allow,

and notice spider silk floating over what I imagine are tiny trails and burrows.

I feel as if I could stare at it for hours, 

gently probing,

and feel certain a little faery would poke her head up.

The mosses and lichens crowd each other, 

growing as closely to one another as they can.

Lichens are a fungus and an algae, growing together for mutual gain.

I imagine that their cooperative spirit is contagious, 

and the resulting neighborhood is friendly and helpful.

Maybe this little lichen sends up its little spore stalk (the cup-like object near the middle)

that can also double as a bird-bath for tiny faery-birds.

I can definitely see little pixies lounging around this acorn cap hot tub!

I have to move on from my magical macro world,

and unscrunch my back and legs.

Zelda is always watchful, and keeps her eyes on the girls.

She's just about the best dog in the world!

Laurel finds more spring wildflowers!

  A beaver scent mound marks territory....we're getting close to their dams! 

  

About the point on our hike, I ripped the end of my toe badly with a stick.

My eagerness to wear my Chacos on this warm afternoon.......

Walking around in a bloody sandal (yuck) 

meant that I missed taking pictures of the vast beaver activity along the creek.

Another post.....

Even more spring ephemerals!

I will be sharing more about these beauties soon.

  

 We rounded off our hike with a few minutes of creek exploration.....

 ......and grapevine swinging!

This is such a great park! 

If you're in the Charlotte area, you should definitely visit McDowell Nature Preserve!

~carrie~