Family Chatter: Creativity in Exploration
This past weekend, my daughters and I jumped in the car and took off looking for an adventure.
Alora, Zoe and I didn’t really know where we were going or what we wanted to do, but we wanted to have fun and be outdoors. We decided to drive north towards one of our favorite places, Mountain View. Nestled in the foothills of The Ozark Mountains, this lovely town is filled with kind people and bustling with creativity with beautiful wilderness in every direction. It’s home to Blanchard Springs Caverns and Sylamore Creek, which was where we were headed.
We wanted to explore some areas of the creek we hadn’t previously visited together. On the way, we stopped at the local Walmart to purchase bathing suits, since we hadn’t come prepared and we weren’t sure if we’d be getting wet. Provisions in hand, we headed off into the woods, taking scenic roads—and eventually gravel ones—to reach our final destination: Gunner Pool.
I had visited this area with close friends during my high school years and I thought it would be a great place to share with my daughters. I wanted see if my memories held true to its beauty. They did.
It was beautiful, but a bit tricky to reach in my humble 2006 VW Jetta TDI. The gravel roads were filled with pits and bumps and we had to do a lot of maneuvering to avoid them. It was fun though, and the girls thoroughly enjoyed the backcountry driving. Since Alora and Zoe live in the city, they haven’t seen many gravel roads, so it was exciting.
I was right at home. Gravel roads were a strong part of my upbringing, so it was nice to share the experience of traversing winding, unwieldy dirt roads with my girls.
Once we finally made it close to the water, we got out of the car and made our way on foot to the waterfall and the creek. Even though we could have gone back to the car to fetch our newly-purchased swimsuits, we dove right in without them. The water was bitterly cold, and crystal clear. You could see the smooth boulders and small fish swimming along through the crevasses. The surfacing boulders were coated in a thin patina of slick, tan-colored algae.
We spent the next hour and a half walking and floating through the clear water. Me holding the girls’ shoes and socks as they flopped around like fish in the shallow creek bed, their laughs echoing through the valley. Our tender, wrinkled feet being jabbed by the creek rocks’ rounded and worn surfaces. It was a beautiful day. After a while, we found a pathway that led toward the road that would take us back to the car, and ultimately home.
On the drive back, we decided to stop off at Tommy’s Famous Pizzeria, a local pizza place in Mountain View, known for its delicious pies and hippie atmosphere, with hand-painted faux quotes all over the walls that say things like: “Computers may outthink us one day, but as long as people got feelings we’ll be better than they are. –Elvis”
We didn’t mind that our clothes were completely soaked and we knew they wouldn’t either. As we settled ourselves at the bar, the guy behind the counter took a good long look at us and said out loud “Is it bathing suit weather already?” to which we laughed and nodded our heads in a unanimous “yes.”
Creativity is a beautiful quality of humanity that occurs when an individual embraces spontaneity, has a sense of exploration, and is willing to allow oneself to get lost in the moment.
This is what makes us human. Nurturing creativity in my daughters is very important to me. I will continue to encourage them to explore, take chances and find new gravel roads.