Playing in the fields of Cashton

The thing about visiting the country is you don't need to plan any activities. The activity is all around you. From the moment we parked our car at our friends' Roger and Carla's house, the kiddos were off running. They didn't complain about being bored. They didn't ask to play video games or fiddle on the iPhone. Those things were forgotten. We visited with our friends under the giant sunflowers and watched the kids pick berries. Even the little kids took berry picking seriously, filling up their little pails. I only realize what a city slicker I am when we get out into the country. Wildflowers and fields and streams replace square lawns and telephone wires and street signs. I probably couldn't survive in the country but it sure is fun to pretend for awhile.

Jim & Jackie were back in Wisconsin.  A caravan of friends hightailed it to see them. There was hula hooping. 

We walked to the end of the driveway and this was the view.

Cashton lives in the heart of some of the prettiest Driftless Wisconsin terrain. Surrounded by coulees, the steep rugged hills and bluffs rise up above the Kickapoo River. This is also the area of the Ocooch Mountains, named for the Black Hawk War when indians fought through this area.

Having access to places like this means tromping through the waters, walking along the coulees and indulging ourselves in the natural beauty. We didn't pay an entry fee, there were no tokens, no parking places and no closing time.

Everyone swarmed the table when we returned from the hike. Carla put out amazing food that immediately turned to crumbs.

There was some porch sitting with the man of the house. Eventually we had to go. And we were quickly absorbed back into our life in town. 

This photo captures everything good and real about this day.

It reminds me of the simplicity of happiness.

"That man is rich whose pleasures are the cheapest".

Henry David Thoreau