It looks like Spring has arrived a little early here in the Midwest (take that groundhog!). The signs of it are everywhere; daffodils blooming, college students dressing in tank tops, birds roosting, seasonal allergies cropping up….you get the picture. I have learned in my 34 years that this season announces itself in different ways depending on where you live. In Kentucky it was with the dogwood blossoms, in Boston the freezing rain turned to, well…regular rain, when I lived near the lake the boats started showing up in the harbor, and – according to my mom – in Southern Georgia it means the arrival of the buzzards (why? I have no idea). Anyway that you define it, it means that we have survived another winter!
To celebrate, the boys and I ventured out of the house today for a ‘nature walk’ around the neighborhood. We discovered some exotic species of birds (mainly robins and sparrows), a handful of different flowers and even a few holiday decorations that had been recently cast aside. By far the most fascinating finding of the day was a series of newly cut down trees marked by a few, fresh stumps. Aha! My mommy senses jumped right into this educational opportunity feet first.
Upon further inspection I realized that these stumps really were pretty cool. Someone from either our village or maybe just a passing arborist had come along and marked the stumps with their age, species, and a few more cryptic notes that I couldn’t really decipher. The last one that we found hadn’t been marked yet, so we attempted to date it, although considering a 3 year-old has a limited knowledge of numbers over 30, and I was having a hard time deciding what actually counted as a “ring” we gave up. It was still a lot of fun and proof that no matter where you live, you can find adventure with just a little creativity and walking out your front door.
Fridays from Home 