A place to visit in all seasons

This pretty shoreline is a place I have been to countless times in every season. A quiet stretch of Idaho river near a friends home, it has become a destination of sorts. A place to run a dog, wind down from a busy day, explore, experience, talk, bird, throw rocks, catch frogs or just watch the water flow by.
When you visit a place in every season of the year you see it's beauty and watch it change each time you visit. Sounds change enormously as do smells. I imagine now I could not have the use of my sight and might know the season by the smell. Spring is muddy and rich with the smell of earth, silt, and water that flows high... pulling contents along it's shores. Summer is fertile with growth from trees, blooms, grasses, and insect life. Fall is fickle with some days cold and windy, others wet and then smell mossy and damp, then the sun peeks out for an afternoon and the earth warms the air enough for shorts and flip flops. Winter comes with a crunch beneath by boots and a crispness to the air, an absence of growth, yet a smell within the soil and water that is fresh, clean and pure, a cleansing of sorts. 
Are you not sure if you can sort the seasons out? Simply close your eyes and take it all in.... repeatedly... imprint it on your mind each and every time.
There are other places I mindlessly practice this method of season imprinting, and not just smells.... these visits do not have to be often, but if possible in all seasons is better. Seeing, smelling, and watching  the changes in the land is so very fascinating and far from boring. 
In less than a 10 year span from the shoreline in the photo,  I have experienced otters playing, a beaver hiding, fish swimming, frogs jumping away, happy children playing, laughter, barking dogs, tearful conversations, snakes slithering away, curious hummingbirds, quiet moments of peace, and the glory of every season. 
Ask those around you to remember places using sensory... even young children can recall a smell or something they saw.. and then go again, and again, and again. Walk the same paths, trails, stream beds, etc. Simple neighborhood sunset walks are a good place to start. 
During Thanksgiving weekend I visited a similar place..... somewhere I have been in almost every season.... but not quite. I will share it with you when I have those stories to share... they most certainly have deserved it. 

Gathering Up

When my children were small we usually didn't get very far down the trail. Little legs had a hard time walking, and they didn't really see the entertainment of just "looking around".
I introduced gathering up things along the way that they found interesting or were curious about. Along our journey they could discard them, collect something different or stuff their pockets as we explored. ( that is how many pine cones and rocks got into the washing machine)
At some point we might gather everyone together and hold our hands in a circle and take a picture. This became really fun when we were traveling, and became a way to explain the need to leave items for others to find. I highly encourage something like this for kids who like to collect, sort, stack and rearrange objects. If you are staying somewhere for a few days, assign them a log, table, or area in which to collect things to. Small laminated guides can help them sort and identify when they get a bit older.Make up a scavenger hunt; sending them out to find a handful of objects, making it more detailed and specific for older kids. 
Don't forget to snap photos... they become precious memories of those trails and explorations. 
P.S. rocks, pine cones, dead bugs, and sticks are not dirty............stinky socks are.