Silas Visits the Lost Forest

Well That's Silas "driving" the Mule. He loves to ride on it and he positively strains himself trying to figure out what makes it go. He cannot deny the alluring nature of the steering wheel and he has to hold on to it at all times. Whenever the Mule is idle, he touches, pokes, prods and examines every piece of the dash board and steps on all the pedals in his never-ending attempts to find out how to make it move.
This is Silas on top of a rock located in the "Lost Forest." The Lost Forest is the name of the family "ranch" and the aforementioned rock has carved into it, although it's difficult to see in this photo, the intials of my late father. He carved them there in his youth when he and his brothers were tramping, playing truant and otehrwise bird's nesting in the woods where all subsequent generations of our family have been raised. We all know the rock and it has become a special place for all the males in our family. Since Silas carries the family name, for good or ill, my brother felt we should get a photo of Silas standing on it.

This sun-dappled shot was made as we ventured into the woods to check the status on the two lakes. Silas enjoys the trips into the forest and my brother gets a real kick out of taking him. Silas doesn't get to visit as much as my family would like and when we do visit "Nanny's House," they all want a chance to spend time with him and teach him the little lessons that aunts, uncles, cousins and Nanny think he'll need later.

Silas examined the lake but decided that he's going to call it a "pool." I think that's mostly because he wanted to get in it.



He enjoys riding on the Mule but he seems to adopt a strange solemnity whenever we go out for a ride. I wonder sometimes if he views it as a very serious thing.
But I guess not since, while we were bouncing over ruts on the way home...he fell sound asleep.

We really went over to visit Nanny and to see Silas' new cousin, Baby Jackson. Little Jack is named Jackson Delmos Putnam and he was named after my father which makes him just a little more special. Silas got a look at him but was more interested in making trouble with Jackson's older sister Lucie.


These two are going to be Serious Trouble when they get older. Here, they were trying to figure a way to escape from Nanny's house and get back outside with the "Big Kids."

I didn't get any pictures of young Jack. He's brand new and spent most of the time we were there sleeping or wiggling or taking pride of place in Nanny's lap. But we'll be back to visit soon enough. After all, Silas loves to chase the Big Kids around outside and holler "Wait!" at them every time they leave him behind.

But he'll be Big someday too. Why not? He already acts like it.

And here's a photo of Silas with his Granpa Joe, or, as Silas calls him, Poppa.

Silas is "rodeoing" on a giant Rhino. It's a great picture and many thanks to Poppa for sending it along.

NOTE: Special Addendum: To see more photos of the Lost Forest, go here.