mud pies

'Indian Slough' 16x20" oil pastel;  Kathleen Faulkner

Slough

noun

1.

an area of soft, muddy ground; swamp or 

swamp like region.

2.

a hole full of mire, as in a road.

3.

Also, slew, slue. Northern U.S. and Canadian. a marshy or reedy pool, pond, inlet, backwater, 

or the like.

4.

a condition of degradation, despair, 

or helplessness.*

*Webster:  number 4 doesn't work for me.  I'll change that to 'a condition of glorious mud teeming with life; the thought of which can give one comfort and hope.'