Daniel's Initiation

Several days ago I published the account of my hike to the Pantry with Atticus and Conrad. This past Sunday afternoon I decided it was time for Daniel to make the pilgrimage. I had preached in Pueblo that morning and the girls had stayed home with the kids. John had been sick all night keeping Jane up until 2:00 a.m. Staci has been sick ever since she got here, so Daniel and I were the only healthy ones in the bunch. When I asked him if he wanted to go for a hike he was more than eager. He just didn't realize that it's 9/10's of a mile to the Pantry.

With hiking sticks in hand (mine hand carved by Ernie Loganbill in Independence, Kansas) we set out. It was a perfect day for the adventure and we enjoyed the time together. Well, at least I did. Daniel is very quiet and I'm never sure exactly when he's really enjoying our activities. But, we walked and he was a great little trooper. Never whined or whimpered. He just walked. It was as though he was thinking, "let's get this over with."

At the Pantry we sat inside (it was only in the 50's here on Sunday) and had some drinks. His poison is chocolate milk.

As we were ready to leave the hostess asked if we would like some bread to feed the ducks at the pond. "Certainly." we said. "Gus," she yelled, "give me some duck bread."

With our well filled sack of "duck bread" we made our way to the pond and found the ducks weren't all that hungry. We fed them anyway. "Eat, duck." They were less than impressed.

As we walked home Daniel occasionally would be heard to say (under his breath) "I'm tired." "Do you want to ride on grandpa's shoulders?" "No!"

That little guy walked every step of the way. A total of 1.8 miles carrying his walking stick. Later that evening I asked if he would like to go for another walk. His response, "I would go for a 'widdle' walk."

Me too, Daniel. Just a 'widdle' walk