It was JUST one of THOSE days....

♬  It was just one of those days, just one of those craaaazy days…..    ♬

It started as JUST one of those JP retiree mornings. I was up early, made myself and my wife Jeannine a cup of steaming hot tea, fed our sibling cats, Bertie and Fiona, made some toast, had another cup of tea, waved Jeannine goodbye as she drove to her school, and then bemoaned the fact that I couldn’t flick through the editorial pages of the New York Times because, for some unknown reason, my paper hadn’t been delivered. 

I knew then that it was going to be one of THOSE days!

Feeling a tad irritated, I caught up with the morning chores – emptied the dishwasher, switched on my desktop, listened to Morning Edition on the radio, put my dressing gown on the bed for Bertie and Fiona and told them to behave themselves.

Around 9, I drove to the nearby Goodwill, unloaded a bag of unwanted clothing, and then drove on to the doctor’s for my 10:00 o’clock appointment.

Not too happy with what I learned from my doctor, I arrived back home around 11, put on the kettle, made some tea, dunked and ate three cream biscuits, and took Bertie and Fiona outside for a VERY closely supervised walk. At noon, I came back in and made myself a light lunch washed down with another cup of tea

Ho, hum…………Just one of those retiree mornings, ruined by the absence of my daily paper.

As it was such a beautiful day, a bright blue sky and the temperature touching 70, I resisted the temptation to have a nap, deciding instead to go for a walk. So, making sure I had my wishing rock in my pocket, I got in my car, drove a mile or so, and parked close to the Cherry Creek trail. As I got out of my car, I was struck by the quietness and the nearby cottonwood trees whose leaves were a flaming yellow

As I began my walk, my head was filled with the conversation I had with the doctor. The prairie dogs saw me before I saw them. One of them who was on guard duty stood on his back legs and, breaking the silence, screeched his warning call to every prairie dog around. All the others took note and disappeared down their holes. 

Prairie dogs, as you know, were mentioned in the 1804 journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. They note that they "discovered a Village of an animal the French Call the Prairie Dog.”   Its genus, Cynomys, derives from the Greek for "dog mouse".

Curious, I walked over and looked down one of the prairie dog holes. Nearby, about a foot from the entrance, I saw a tiny skull resting on the earth. I picked it up and blew of the dust, put the skull in my shirt pocket, thinking, ‘Hey, it ain’t such a bad day after all.”

Then, I spotted some petrified wood. I picked it up, turned it over and, wow, it was such a beautiful piece.

And there was another piece! Like a geode, the top was covered with tiny quartz crystals. Looking at it, touching it, gave me such a rush. My eyes widened and my head began to glow. I felt great! Not a worry in the world! WOW!!

I knew then it was really going to be ONE of THOSE days!

Next I came to an ant-hill, the home for thousands of ants and one or more egg-laying queens. Swarms of ants will soon depart the nest in great nuptial flights. After mating, the males die, along with most of the females. A small percentage of the females survive to start the business of making new nests. Watching the ants move back and forth, pushing sand and tiny pebbles out their way, I was amazed at their industry.

Then, THEN, I spotted this beautiful conglomerate, a mix of rocks glued together, lying next to……………………THIS!!

                               A Native American ARROWHEAD!!

I picked it up and stroked its jagged edge. Hey, someone, long ago, made this beautiful shape........and left it for me to find........MAGIC!!

‘Flippin’ ‘eck,’ I shouted………..’What a DAY!’ 

But, it wasn’t finished……...just down the hill I came across a beautiful fox skull, complete with jawbone!

I knew then it was time to go home and clean my wonderful discoveries. As I walked up the path towards my car, a couple of teenagers came rushing past me, laughing and having the best of times on their skateboards. Hey, I thought, I had the best of times, too. It had been JUST one of those great days.

                      

Just wait, I thought to myself, just wait ‘til I show Jeannine, Bertie and Fiona what I found.

The next day, sitting in Laurie’s classroom at Mountain View School, I described my walk and showed my treasures to the wide-eyed audience of second graders……….

The next time I go to the classroom, I'll give the kids this list of things to look for when they next go for a walk.......it should help them focus non what's around them.

‘I’m a Collector’

 When you go for a walk, don’t disturb the small creatures that live outside. It’s their home.

See if you can find………….

Something green Something red Something yellow Something brown Something black Something pointy A blade of grass longer than your index finger A piece of petrified wood An animal track A piece of bark A spider web A feather A pine cone eaten by a squirrel A heart-shaped rock

A pebble smaller than a dime A pebble the same size as a quarter A wishing rock A white pebble A black pebble A leaf skeleton Something a bird would eat A dead branch as long as your thumb A flower A flower seed A tree seed A twig with pine bark beetle galleries Some moondust!! Something really, REALLY cool!