Day of Ft. Dodginess - Take 2

When last we left the Saturday morning adventures of Nolan, Trevor and Ma, they had just departed from the soggy Bob Hay Memorial Conservation Area and were making their damp way to the equally moist Memorial Park named after John F. Kennedy, north of town.

Did I mention it was still raining?

 The JFK Park had an impressive array of attractions on their website. But when a park advertises a "butterfly garden" one should be advised that it may simply be a few butterfly-friendly bushes and plants stuck on a 30x30 ft. plot.

I hadn't expected much in the way of butterflies this early in the season. But the Nature Center, with stuffed ducks and other exhibits, was rather disappointing. Disappointing in the sense that it was all locked up, though the park had officially opened the previous weekend.

 Ah well.

The lads were hungry and searched for a pavilion conducive to picnickery. But covered tables, while suitably alluring in the heat of summer, do not have the same enticement in windy and rainy, 50 degree weather.

We ate in the car.

 About this time an interesting conversation ensued, prompted by watching the robins hopping about in the grass:

Ma: "It would be fun to be a bird, wouldn't it..."

Trevor: "Yeah. Then I could hide and be safe."

(hmmm)

Ma: "I used to want to be a bird when I was a kid."

Trevor: "But you're not a kid, now."

Ma: "No, but I was a kid, once..."

Trevor: "Not today's kid."

 Ma: "Ah. Kids of today are different?"

(no answer)

Ma: "Well anyway, if you were a bird, you wouldn't know a lot of the things you know now, since you're a person."

Trevor: "I would study math."

 Round about this time we'd finished eating and the rain had slackened just a bit so we decided to walk down to the lake. Not a lot of waterfowl, but there were several Canadian Geese performing water ballet.

And two of them found a little sand bar to stand on, where they quite conscientiously rubbed their faces against their wings, either to clean themselves or distribute oil from their preen glands.

After the second rainy park, we were ready for something a little warmer. I had promised a visit to the Ft. Dodge Art Museum, and found it after a modicum of lostness. Then we cooled our already cold heels in the parking lot for the next 15 minutes while I endeavored to remove my hiking boots and two layers of wet socks.

While sitting behind the steering wheel.

Think I pulled a coupla muscles....ANYWAY, we did get into the museum where the boys seemed to enjoy looking at all the exhibits.

Naturally they moved a little faster in their perusal than I, but that's to be expected. I made them go back and look at one room a second time.

 As an interesting aside, they did notice--after examining their kid-friendly flyers--that one picture (an abstract) had been placed back on the wall upside down.

 Heh.

Tune in NEXT time when we find out how cold, wet people rejuvenate by iconic means culturally diverse from an art museum.

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