Footsteps

 

 "Wagon Trail" (Capitol Gorge in Capitol Reef National Park; Utah) [1:12m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Capitol Gorge spur road revealed no more than its next winding turn, one intriguing twist at a time. The vistas were vertical. Rocky skyscrapers of Wingate sandstone towered dramatically, enclosing us in a one-route maze. The pitted gravel road offered few options but “forward” at a measured speed.

Every so often, I slammed into my sensory limit, put the car in park and had the kids watch for non-existent cars out the rear window while I snapped off a couple of pictures.

We parked at the end of the road and set off on foot down a Mormon pioneer trail. In the hush, it wasn’t hard to imagine the distant creaking of wagon wheels.

Evening would soon sheath the canyon area in utter darkness, but we walked the first part of the trail -sadly notingpetroglyphs marred by not-so-ancient vandals.

Further along the trail is a Pioneer Register with the scratched signatures of long ago passers-by. Approaching darkness would have prompted those turn-of-the-century travelers to set up their night’s camp but sent us on a reluctant trek back to our car and a slow winding drive in dimming light.

Tags: 1 Adult/3 Children, Canyons, Capitol Reef National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, Hiking, Utah by Heather Dugan
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From an evening this past week…

 

 Bedtime Songs... [1:28m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

There will come a quiet evening that none of my children needs a bedtime song. I’m down to one presently, and it’s no longer an “every night” request with him. While there are still nighttime routines with the older two, they are down-sized versions of what they used to be.

I accept the passage even if I waver in embracing it. They are each growing into people I’m proud to know. I know there must have been a night way back in my childhood that I didn’t call out, “Tuck me in!”  And I’m sure my parents eventually noticed it as a bitter-sweet “transition” (although, with three younger daughters hollering in the background, it may have taken them a while)…

I just sang “Moon River” over the phone. It’s what we do when the kids “overnight” with their dad. They have each had their own special songs: “Edelweiss”, “‘Til there was You” and assorted slightly-warped masterpieces I created that included their individual names. Hannah used to ask me for her dreams each night, “What shall I dream about, Mommy?” ~And I’d whisper the first strokes of an idea for her to embellish in her sleep before tiptoeing from her room.

But we’ve definitely arrived in a different zone now. It comes to all of us parents. Our children grow as they should and as we desire.

But I may sing myself to sleep when that quiet evening comes… old “habits of the heart”.

Tags: Heart-to-Heart by Heather Dugan
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