Ben is my spirit animal- he is animated, wild, energetic and adventurous as my middle child. We call him Danger Ben because in almost all things he is fearless! This boy child has given his mama a few grey hairs along the way, but so many belly laughs too! But.. Something happened and we noticed our normally playful middle child was struggling emotionally. It was time for a heart to heart with my little monster.
My heart broke as I listened to him while he cried and told me he was scared. He was scared that Daddy would die, or that I would die from the virus. He was afraid the angry people would come to burn the house down like the buildings on the news. My brave boy who would fight ALL the monsters under my bed crumbled like a sandcastle in the tide. He was no longer SpiderBen or BatBen. He was my baby again and he was scared!
We must, must, must be careful what these little eyes see.
We must, must, must be careful what these little eyes hear.
I did the only thing I could- I hugged and hugged my little man and did something that always makes my Ben happy: we read Dr. Suess. Specifically my favorite book “Oh the places you will go.” I told Ben we would go see this place. He didn’t believe me— he folded his little arms and dug in his stubborn little heels. However as a mother to small children I know the power of a few M&Ms and led my obstinate little monster like E.T to our Jeep for an adventure to something almost unbelievable. It is amazing what some snacks, pouch drinks and a few goodies can do for herding my self made army into the Jeep so we can go, go, go! Also, thank the maker for mobile hotspot! being able to set the kids up on Freetime with their headphones meant that I for a while was in charge of the radio and free to sing badly along with all the songs!
Calhan is a two and half hour drive from our sleepy mountain. I have driven through this rolling community only a handful of times for a few 4x4 events, but still find joy in discovering new things along the road. On these long drives you look for interesting things and I saw many— old barns, working hands and so much lush greenery.
Paint Mine Interpretive Park is hidden almost in plain sight among rolling and sometimes endless fields. I kept looking at my GPS wondering maybe if I had put the wrong address in because I couldn’t imagine this Suess-like place in the midst of all this flat land!
And then we found it!
It was like stepping into any of our favorite books! I saw my boy brighten and get excited. For a few hours he forgot about being scared. We walked and explored. Ben was the cactus patrol. There are oodles of cacti— but you’ll be relieved to know that no cacti or feet were harmed in our adventure. So good job Ben!
As an adult and photographer I felt childlike wonder at this place my self. Paint Mine seems surreal but there it is. Colorful spires and hoodoos (I love this word!) and so many little wild flowers. We were able to explore the who geography of what could be walked (it was disappointing have to explain to my children why people were climbing on the rocks but that is a post for a different time!) Before hiking back up to our jeep.
For a few hours we all forgot about the world and its problems. There is so much ugliness out there only a click away in a digital era. However, by stretching our legs, turning off the T.V and disconnecting we found something uncomplicated by politics and agenda-- we found beautym peace and levity.. My Ben was like Charlie stepping into the chocolate factory and again my happy boy!
So I leave on this note:
I know it is scary right now but this too shall pass.
Fear creates a void for all the ugly things and a place where we can create nothing of value. By embracing beauty we can create a home for all the things that lift us and set us free. That in this humble photogs opinion was well worth a half tank of gas and some crumbs on the floor board. ~Kate