Mommy Camp, Day 2

When we got to the Salt Marsh Nature Center my daughter said to me "Is this the same place I told you was full of trash? They've really cleaned it up around here!" I was amazed that we'd finally made it given the reviews she gave it after a class trip, and the price to pay, a visit to Puppy Paradise, was hardly a toll.

Walking the gravel path we heard little but the wind blowing through the mugwort and phragmites and watched abundant monarch butterflies that rarely settled down. We stopped by a lookout where a smiling shirtless man pointed out the excellent view of the highway bridge in the distance. How funny, that's the last thing I wanted to look at there. Why was he so excited about the bridge? I liked imagining that I could see a windmill instead.

We got to the small beach at the turn around point on the trail and saw a dead horse shoe crab in the grass. It fascinated my son even though he's easily scared by morbid things these days. At the marsh, he touched the animal's carcass, even removing a claw. He asked me if I thought that was really brave. He asked me if I'd take a picture. He asked me to put it on this blog. He seems to understand blogs innately, and suggested I blog my whole life, so the page goes "down, down, down."

More marsh elements here, here, and here.