We rolled down the hills, barely missing huge cow pies and giggling all the way.
Ginger purposely rolled IN a huge cow pie, writhing around joyfully in it as if it were the greatest set of silk sheets in the world! (Then she rubbed up against me... P.U.! )
malio and chris "raced" up this "hill". it took them about 45 minutes. they weren't so much running as they were slogging. still impressive display of boyish testosterone. (If you look at the photo with a microscope, you can see them both dotting the hillside).
A couple of EXTRORDINARY things went down (quite literally):
Malio jumped about 8 stories from a tree into the river in front of the falls. i know - he's a complete nut. KIDS - DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! (Those two little bird legs you see in the middle of the branch hanging across the waterfall...those are Malio's feet). UNREAL maneuver!
I reached into my back pocket when we reached the falls, grabbing for my camera only to realize it was not there! it could have been anywhere along the tangly, foliage-ridden trail, or the grassy, dirty downhill path along which i scooted on my behind...or...in the muddy, twisty, rocky, murky, cold RIVER.
...i decided i would not leave until i found my brand new, deeply loved underwater camera. i was completely determined. i waded in the river for over an hour, retracing every inch of my path, tip-toeing across just the right rocks. i dug around in underwater grassbeds, thinking the camera might be woven up inside one of them. i took my shoes off, so that i could feel around the river bottom with my bare feet and in between rock crevices with my toes.
...i threw my left shoe onto the river bank, and in slow motion, it rolled three times, then plopped into the river, and was immediately whisked off downstream, tumbling over rapids and disappearing quickly from view. rather than get upset, i simply threw my other shoe right after it. i am growing "pads" on the bottoms of my feet from hiking and walking barefooted so much. COOL!
...i reached into all other crevices with my hands where i could reach. i went back over the land paths more than twice each. malio and chuck looked too. i finally asked my mom to guide me to the camera. i waded back to the edge of the river, to the exact spot where i had entered it in the first place. i reached my hand blindly down into a pocket between rocks under the current, and there my camera put itself in my hand. THANK YOU MOM!
* after our long, exhausting day, we got into chris' car and turned the i-pod on "shuffle". the very first song that began to play - (and it's a miracle chris didn't immediately change it, like he usually does) - was KODACHROME, by PAUL SIMON. paul simon was mom's favorite singer of all time. the song lyrics go like this: KODACHROME, YOU GIVE US THOSE NICE, BRIGHT COLORS, GIVE US THE GREENS OF SUMMERS, MAKES YOU THINK ALL THE WORLD IS A SUNNY DAY, OH YEAH...I GOT A NIKON CAMERA, LOVE TO TAKE PHOTOGRAPHS, SO MOMMA DON'T TAKE MY KODACHROME AWAY...
...well, my momma sure didn't take mine away. SHE GAVE IT BACK!
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