Saturday, May 07, 2011

Wildflower walk & Mother's Day thoughts

Today Dave and I had to walk 10 miles for walk training, so we walked in the morning to the first day of the Palatine summer farmers' market, then had enough miles left to do a hike that I did last year with some friends: Blackwell Forest Preserve in Wheaton.

It's supposed to have some beautiful wildflowers in spring, and although I don't think it was super spectacular, there were some beautiful displays here and there.


Tiny little purple flowers with dandelions...


White flowers on bushes, which were super sweet-smelling...


Adorable red-winged blackbird!


And some variety of white-tipped violet.

Sorry, I'm lame, I don't know names. Except for the dandelion and blackbird.

After the walk, we attended a childfree meetup group event at a restaurant nearby. (This is part of the reason we chose the Wheaton walk on this day!) It was really interesting (and validating!) to meet like-minded people, and we had a lot of great discussion about the lifestyle choice. It's something Dave and I have been thinking about for a long time.

It was a happy day, and tomorrow I get to celebrate Mother's Day with my mom, who is wonderful. Contemplating a life with (or without) children for as long as I have, I appreciate the sacrifices my parents, and especially my mom (because she stayed home with us), made for me. She is truly Super Mom, and I although I can try, I can never repay everything she did for me! I love you, Mom!!

1 comment:

Sara Sherman said...

Thanks Valerie. Your very sweet words made me cry. Thanks for your Mother's Day card and Michelle's. I'm so glad I have made the rule no store bought cards. You both have more talent in your little pinkies than Hallmark!
I guess Dad and I didn't really think about not having kids. "Back then" I think it was expected of everyone. Of course, I'm very glad we decided to have children. We are very blessed with both of you. Love Mom