Rocks

As we all know, making something forbidden to a child makes it just that much more appealing. Especially if the forbidden person/place/thing is something they see every day. I submit for your consideration: The Rocks.

 

We have a creek of sorts that runs through our property, existing mainly because we live in a gully, and the water from land and road runoff is channeled right through the thick of our yard. There is a pipe that aids in controlling the direction of the water, but most of the creek has been carved by good ol' Texas rains.

 In the deepest part of the creek, it's probably over five feet... that is, when there's water in it... the depth mostly due to erosion from forceful water pouring from the pipe that directs it our way. When it's dry, it's a shady, weedy, cavernous bowl full of stinging plants and bugs and who-knows-what. Either way, it's a place that toddlers don't belong. Naturally, it's the place in our yard our toddler most dearly wants to explore.
 
The large rocks around the steepest edge of the opening were placed there when we first moved here, relocated from the front yard (they were in an odd, haphazard Stonehenge kind of formation near the driveway and the front part of this 'creek').
 
It was easy to see the danger of this water feature (ha ha) once kids became part of this picture, and so a rule had to be made: Don't Go Past The Tree Without Mama. So on mornings when we venture outside, a certain little girl will walk up to the young oak tree that marks the No-Go Zone, stand there wistfully for a moment, then turn back to me and say (quite seriously, I might add), 'Mama, Henny wants to sit on the rocks!'

Occasionally, that might be quite true...

 

I must admit, I get it... these rocks are pretty cool... they're full of fossils and bits of ancient creatures and things, and the steepness you feel when sitting on their ledges is dangerous and exciting. When there's water in the bowl, there's usually fish and crayfish and frogs and snakes, and right now there are some amazing cattails. I'm sure when this brave girl and her plucky sidekick are bigger, they will spend hours in it's muddy or dry depths, carving out their own Secret Places... but for now, they have to be satisfied with a chaperoned and brief visit, comprised mostly of sitting and peeking. Still, there's something to be said about these Rocks.