And I do mean boys. The Plichta brothers, ages 9 and 11, are my youngest friends. Going on a hike with them, as I did last night, is like having radar and sonar for anything on the ground, in the air, or in the water. Like a heightened sense of perception. They notice everything, last night a beetle, a termite, a snake “Shall I catch it?” “No.” “Look how the sunlight lights up this pine tree bud.” What’s this?” about innumerable objects. They’re into bones and feathers and anything that moves (or used to move). Once they called me over excitedly in the parking lot to see a dried and squashed gopher. They joke a lot. Last night they noticed how the frogs stopped singing when we got close. Here they are inspecting the driftwood sauna structure built by Dylan on the beach.

They picked right up on this minimalist rock/wood project someone had left on the beach. On the way back we stared at the just-sinking sun on the horizon, hoping for the green flash, but it didn’t happen.

“Hi. My name is Anne Smith, aka Marguerite Turnley. I am a writer and an artist. I thought you might like to use these pictures on your website or to encourage drawing. They are from an old book called Inquire Within, which I have inherited.…These pictures are from old homes in many countries at the turn of the century. The pictures have been scanned from the old books and I thought you might find them useful..… Regards, Anne Smith”

 Click here.