Adventures with Mommy

One beautiful Thursday I took Clare to the woods where we hunt, intending to scout for deer sign and see if the trails near our stands were being used.  And since it seems foolish to walk around in the deer woods during bow season without a bow, I grabbed mine.  So Clare hung out in the Ergo on my back and I nocked an arrow and we actually stalked a forkhorn buck for nearly thirty yards before I tried to draw back.  Up to that point, he probably thought Clare and I were just out for a stroll and was content to keep eating as he wandered down a power line about 15 yards away.  To her credit, Clare was a great little hunter -- quiet, observant.  But when the buck finally presented a good shot and I tried to draw back, that movement must have been too suspicious because he was off in a flash.  Any serious deer hunter would probably scoff at my efforts to hunt with a toddler on my back, but it was well worth trying.  And Clare and I still got a beautiful picnic lunch in the woods out of the deal. 

I honestly don't remember when or why we went to McLain's, but I remember that I took my rollerblades only to find out that our Target stroller is not really the "jogging" stroller it claims to be.  Or at least, it's not a good rollerblading stroller.  But we had fun anyway, playing on the beach and on the swings and walking in the woods. 

One of the best things about taking pictures in the fall is to relive those moments.  Anais Nin said, "We write to taste life twice, in the moment, and in retrospection" and I think the same can be said for photography.  Looking at fall photos is almost as fun as being there, though they lack that amazing smell that can only be found this time of year.