Playing in the sand...
Swimming? I'm here to relax...
Just my feet, please...
Should I go for it???
Just a little bit more...
Race for the towels...
Homeward trek...
...in the pickup...
Behind the house where my family lives right now is a river right on the property. My family loves to go down there in the evenings or on the weekends. It is so quiet and still and beautiful...our own little retreat. We ride the pickup truck back 3/4 of a mile and then we have to walk for another quarter mile or so. Everything is gorgeous! We walk on a path of trampled down grass. The trees surrounding us are all different shades of green. Dark, shiny, vibrant... Their trunks are thick, deep brown, standing tall. Blackberry bushes march along on either side. We finally reach the river. We duck low hanging branches until we come out into a beautiful pebbled beach. It is about 50 ft. around with multi-colored rocks of different sizes. On the right it is sandy, bordered with leafy bushes. We set up the chairs and get out the beach toys. At first we stayed on the beach, content to wade and splash each other. Then slowly we got in deeper and deeper. I should mention that my dad triple dog dared us to swim in the water and Cade immediately responded, "Oh,oh, yeah! I am definitely going to do it, you don't even need to dare me. I am sooo going in!" Before we got in my dad made Cade take his shirt off so that he would have something dry to come back to. Now the big guy wasn't so sure..."Oh, guys it looks really cold now. I mean before I thought I could keep my shirt on so I was going to do it but, ahhh dad, do I have to take it off?" Eventually we all (except my mom. It has to be 90 for her to swim) got in...minus Cade. Apparently he was all talk. He would stand about up to his waist and say, "No, guys I really don't want to do it." A little later, "Oookay I guess I'll do it. Is it really cold?" "Ohhh, but do I have to do it?" Finally we convinced him that it would be better to get it over with because otherwise we would tease him about it. After we were all on shore, wrapped in towels my dad said, "Listen." Everything was absolutely silent except for the gentle rush of water and the chirping of birds. God's creation is so evident, especially out here!
Oh and by the way, if you're wondering when we found time to go swimming since it hasn't been above 75, I'll just tell you that it was barely 60 degrees when we went. Everybody claims the water was -30 but hey, if that's what you gotta do to swim in Oregon, that's what you gotta do.
What a writer you were!!!
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