Meadow Warm Springs

 Some of the kids and I took a little trip to Fillmore to stay with my cousin Samantha.  It was fun to see all the work she's done on her pioneer home since the last time we were there, and to hear new stories she has discovered about our ancestors in the area.  I love spending time with Samantha.  She is always enthusiastic about something and always warm and welcoming.  She and Araceli were going over some family history.  Araceli feels a connection to Samantha, maybe because her house is haunted. :)

 We brought dinner and had a lovely meal with Samantha, then went off to explore the Meadow warm springs while Sam caught up on her work.  I had never been, but I'm sure we'll go back.  It's easy to find if you google directions, and it's well worth the treasure hunt.  There are 3 springs on private land, but fully accessible to anyone, with a (heavily rutted, just warning you) parking lot and walking path connecting the springs.  The light was incredible.  We meant to stay for a short time, but we couldn't tear ourselves away until the last light was gone.

 The water was, indeed, warm.  And there were little fishes everywhere.

 It was deep, like to the center of the earth.

 The light was unreal.  It just drenched us.

 Catching fish

 Araceli looks like a mermaid

The sunset was majestic to the point of putting to rest any question about the existence of God.  It was like an incredibly generous gift, right there for anyone to take in, just like God's love.  I wanted to fall on my knees, it was so life-affirming to be out in that field for that sunset with my precious kids.  I didn't, though.  I just said yes to one last ink-dark swim in the warmest warm spring with four of my favorite people.  I tried to condense all the gratitude I felt into that one moment in time, but it's impossible.  As I watched the moon rise, I thought about Golda and Ruby in Portugal and Scott and Freestone in Wyoming at scout camp, and how all of them could see the same moon, how it had just come from the east, from Portugal.  It seemed to reassure me that everything was right in the world, that all of us were safe on this planet in that moment.