Birthday Boy

DAY TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTY ONE

Today is my son Nikolas' birthday. He is eleven years old. What an exciting time in life. At eleven years old you can still be anything in life, a movie star, a doctor, an astronaut, the President. You may even grow up to be a bellman. If you're lucky, that is. None of those other jobs allow you to hike every day. OK, maybe a movie star could but only some old has been, who's not really working much anymore, like Robert Redford. Of course, Nikolas wants to be a marine biologist so I guess if he wants to swim every day he could do that. When you're eleven anything is possible.

I had so many great plans on where to go today but since we had a big party for Nikolas planned I had to stay close to home and do the wife's bidding. That only gave me a little time for hiking so I went on my monthly sojourn to the Coachella Valley Nature Preserve.

There's this really cool palm totem pole.

And today I noticed, for the first time, that the poles on the cabin are all carved. I have no idea how I missed it before. I guess I just bombed right past it without even looking. Attention to detail is not one of my better traits; I'm more into the big picture.

I wanted to go in and ask if the carving were original but the Center was closed. Next time.

I want to see if the work is finished at the McCallum Grove. September 30 was their target date. This walkway isn't finished yet and this project started earlier. At least the original guardrails are in place to keep you from tromping through the vegetation--as if you would.

The work at the pond is done and it looks good. I don't spot any crawfish in the water and most of the reeds have been cleared out.

They still won't let you go swimming, though.

This is one place where the palms are incredibly healthy and expanding.

With all this water, it is easy to see why.

This is where the water actually bubbles out of the ground. This is the first time I have ever noticed this, as well. I guess you don't have to be eleven to see a world full of possibilities and new experiences. You just have to slow down and look through the eyes of a child.