Sophia

Ruth took this while we were on a drive over the Beartooth Highway with our friend MJ. Sometimes its hard to tell if Sophia is 2, 12 or 32. For some reason her expression just seems so grown-up to me.

Ruth and Sophia were looking at a train on the railroad, half a mile away and a few hundred feet above us.

Although this image has no real bearing upon the subject of the poem, when I first looked at it on the computer I though of Lawrence Ferlinghetti's Wild Dreams of a New Beginning. Here are a few lines that seems most fitting:

"...
Eyes smell flowers and become them
...
the washed land awakes again to wilderness
the only sound a vast thrumming of crickets"

and here is the full text for those with the inclination to read the entire poem:

Wild Dreams of a New Beginning

This is a girl who loves her rides. She's so confident on them, she didn't even want Ruth touching her.

Here is Sophia in the drivers seat demonstrating proper seatbelt techniques.

We went to see the fascinating Casa Grande Ruins (Near Phoenix, AZ), some of the doors were a little too small for Ruth and I, but they were just the right size for Sophia.

Poor Sophia has been cooped up indoors too much this winter. She put on her mommies shoes and was walking around with a water bottle. I think she was hinting that it's time to go for a hike; I'd be happy to oblige were it not for the foot of snow outside.

"These are not the kittens you are looking for."

That is apple juice in the cup, I swear, just plain old one-hundred percent alcohol free apple juice. Sophia always looks that drunk after a successful nap.

The espresso demitasse was the perfect size for Sophia, but--the poor girl--her mom only let her drink cocoa from it.