More peacock sightings, and kid fun

This morning I heard the unmistakable sound of the peacock. It sounded like it was out by the road, across the creek. I looked as I was leaving for work, but I could not see it. But this afternoon, I saw it standing on the side of the road, not too far from where I first saw it a few weeks ago. Later in the evening, as we were heading for a rare evening out, we saw it again, this time about half a mile up our road. I had found out from a neighbor that some people in the area were looking for a lost peacock, so we decided to stop by their place and let them know we had seen it. I don't know these people too well, and driving into their place was like going into a mini zoo. Horses, domestic ducks with their own pond, rabbits, turkeys, guineas, and several other peafowl. I let the woman know about her wayward peacock, and she said she would "go get it". I wish I could have tagged along to see if and how she accomplished the task. I hope she did, and that the bird is safe and sound at home.

After the first peacock sighting, as I was approaching home I became aware of two kids running towards my car from the direction of the creek. It was Starflower and Mr. Attitude, soaked from head to toe and grinning ear to ear. They had spent the afternoon swimming and exploring the creek. Calvin was with them earlier, and they even brought the canoe over and had fun going through the culverts under the road. In previous summers the creek has gone largely unused, mostly because we already have the pond for swimming, but also because there is a fairly deep hole in the creek, and this is the first summer the kids are old enough that I feel comfortable with them swimming there on their own. It sounds like they had too much fun exploring the shallow riffles to even care about the deep area. It makes me feel so good about living here, that they have the chance to do some real KID EXPLORING. No nature deficit disorder here!