In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Rule of Thirds.”

Growing up, we lived in a rural area. Every weekend, we would meet our friends and seek adventure. Those adventures usually amounted to nothing more than climbing a tree, catching tadpoles in the creek, kick the can, or capturing lightening bugs as dusk began to fall. They may not have been the most exciting of adventures but the memories made have lasted an entire lifetime. I like to think it was our imagination that led us to believe the tree we climbed was actually the mast of a sea going vessel, the tadpoles we captured would grow into frogs to scare our mothers and the can some sort of exploding device we needed to kick before it was too late. And the lightening bugs? Those were iridescent fairies we would keep under our bed to protect us from the bed monsters.

When I saw my son walking with his friends along this long, remote path which is part of a national preserve, the memories of my youth came flooding back. Stopping to let them walk ahead, I wondered what adventures they were imagining, what tales were they confiding to each other. I could hear their laughter floating toward me and it seemed fitting to capture the moment.

Taken on a long, long walk in a nearby nature preserve.