Playing in the Woods

"We need the tonic of wilderness. We can never have enough of nature."

(Henry David Thoreau)

Today we drove almost an hour south of our home to hike in a canyon we'd never spent time in before. 

 It makes me happy that the boys are in their element there, exploring in the woods. 

I loved watching Bruce pick up huge sticks and admiring how handsome he is when you call his name and he looks at you and his ears rotate forward and he looks, all at once, noble and majestic and friendly with those kind eyes of his.

I don't know what it is but Claire has theeeeee cutest little bum and legs right now, and watching her in her new little hiking kicks made me happy. She's getting so big. And she'll tell you: "I'm the baby of the family, but I'm not a baby. That means I'm the youngest."

I loved watching my sister and Claire and Bella and Bruce up ahead on the trail. 

I loved cold river water on my feet.

I loved the beauty of the canyon, the sideways slabs of stone, the mix of trees, the rushing water, the fact that it felt as though we were all alone in it.

That moment with my sister under the falls. 

It was cold, we were laughing, and I love that we grabbed each other's hands. 

I loved a few quiet minutes with Mia, 

talking as we strolled along together.

I loved talking with Christa about the wonder of life--from the incredible detail in a single cell, to how amazing bees are and the intricate order and precision of all natural things--and the witness these things are, to both of us, over and over, of the existence of God.

And no matter where we go, I swear we always come home with more sticks. Cuz...Benji. 

Love these boys.

Creative Play

We have been graced with some seriously gorgeous weather the last week and a half, folks.

Like, wow.

Beautiful beautiful, especially for the end of February.

And March hasn't disappointed so far.

The other day I was sitting at the kitchen table in the early afternoon.

I was writing an article for work, sitting in the sunshine as it streamed in through the window.

I stopped at one point to make a bag of popcorn and take it out to the kids who were busy outside.  

I snapped some photos, because they had created this whole shindig on the deck, and I hadn't even noticed.

And then, a while later, I snapped these photos through the window of this guy making his way around the yard on his bike.

And last week, when I went outside, I found them busy kitchening, setting up their own stations and busy creating.

And I thought about this quote by Fred Rogers that I totally love:

"Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning.

But for children, play is serious learning.

Play is really the work of childhood."

Honestly, who could give a care about school work on a day when they could be out using their minds like this---

stretching their limbs, 

being imaginative,

breathing fresh air,

soaking in sunshine?

Yes.

Play is the work of childhood.

That's their job.

Nature Journaling

I love this book.  

It is a beautiful, thought-provoking, insightful read.

It almost should be its own post, because I will probably read it again and again.  

But for today, I'll quote just a few short passages: 

"This is perhaps the greatest legacy we can bestow on our children: the capacity to be enchanted by the quiet gifts of everyday life."

And this...

"Modern life calls us away from nature's rhythms, away from the kind of observation and interaction with the natural world that can quiet a troubled mind, restore a sense of well-being, and renew our connections with all life.  We spend our days inside stead, yoked to some other rhythm, bathed in artificial light, breathing recycled air, surrounded by man-made materials---concrete, glass, and plastic....As the nature writer Robert Michael Pyle has observed, many children today suffer from what he calls 'the extinction of experience.' Unlike children of earlier generations, they simply do not have the kind of direct, frequent, contact with the earth and its creatures that result in a passionate, lasting relationship with the natural world.  Our children, he points out, may have 'politically correct' responses to whales, global warming, pollution, and rain forests; they are well versed in the major environmental issues---but far less grounded in their own visceral, firsthand experiences.  Their actual physical contact and intimacy with nature is fading away.  It is not enough, then, to teach our children about nature; we must allow our children to grow up in nature."

Nature study is all about noticing the natural world; the intricate detail, the beauty that washes over us each day, the kinds of things we often take for granted.  

Do you ever wonder about losing your vision, and that glorious moment when sight was restored?  

I do.  

How magical watching a rainstorm would be, or waiting for that blue on the horizon to be washed in sunlight, or taking note of how incredible a small insect is?

Ever since these folks were small, we have spent hours and hours outdoors, one thing that makes me truly happy.  

But since we've started nature journaling, I'm hoping it will be another level of noticing detail.

Last time, we were up the canyon and sketched fall leaves.  

Today, these were the treasures we collected around our neighborhood block: miscellaneous rocks, petunias, hazelnuts (both in and out of their sheath), lobelia, snapdragons, a chestnut and a sunflower (and we stopped to admire the seeds in the head of an especially large sunflower). 

Our table, a messy array of colored pencils, crayons, and freshly cut apples.  

Listening to Pachelbel's Canon.

Benji, beginning

Isaiah, at the start

My final sketches in my book

The petunia Isaiah sketched

His drawing of it (I love how he tried to draw the veins of dark purple)

Our sunflower, and Mia's rendition of it below

Mia's snapdragon

A fuzzy little friend that fell out of a petunia we picked outside

Crawling up Isaiah's hand as he tried to sketch him

His drawing of our little friend

Benji's sketches of a tree seedling

In the same book, Katrina Kenison talks about being outside with her two boys one day as they played in a nearby stream.  After talking about their adventure, she says this:

"The world, seen through the eyes of a child, is a delicious, irresistible place.  And, for the moment, anyway, I am the lucky adult companion of two little boys, my own sense of wonder renewed each time we step out the door and look around us."

I feel the same way about my three little companions.

Insecting

It's rainy out tonight and I could so go for a few more days of this.

It is a blessed breath of fresh air to the heat we've been having (and the fires!).

It's humid, wet, windy, and rainy -- and cooler (hallelujah).

As part of our summer activities, the kids and I have been insecting.

I bought the kids some bug nets and ordered a couple insect books online.

Since then, curiosity (and hunting) have abounded.

We went thru a pretty serious bee stage at the house.  Benji was catching wasps at almost every opportunity.

We would all have to stop what we were doing in the beginning to rush out and aid in the capture of whatever had been sighted.

I thought I may have to encourage the looking and studying at first, but no.

They are all about it.

A few weeks back, we headed into the hills earlier on a Friday afternoon to spend the night at our family's cabin.

We ate taco salad for dinner, and headed off, walking along the road, inspecting lots of ticks in the grasses on the sides.

I loved this: watching these boys with nets over their backs, watching and waiting.

It was quiet with no one else around.

Afterward we made s'mores in the big firepit at the cabin, came in and read Little House in the Big Woods, all cozy together on the sofa, sitting in the low light from one small lantern.

It was perfect.

We've had some really lovely finds.

Isaiah's big, beautiful butterfly from flowers in the backyard.

This large moth from the porch at the cabin, already injured and dying when we found it (hence the damaged wings).

See this dragonfly I stumbled upon during my run the other night?  When I got home, I grabbed my keys, got in the car, and went back to find him.  Also injured and unable to fly, but so stunning.

And here's our collection of crawlies, including this big black beetle (right here in the foreground), found by the cabin:

 I'm signing off to go lay low now, enjoy the cool air and smell of rain.

Hope you are having a lovely July.