As a child I lived in many beautiful and exotic places within our country. I realized quickly that when people came to visit I was able to see more of those places than I did on a daily basis. For example, could you imagine someone from Oahu, Hawaii never having been to the Pearl Harbor exibit? Or what about someone from L.A. never having walked down Hollywood Blvd? So often we don't take the time to act like tourists and explore the town, city, State that we live in. Today, I took some time to do just that!
Just barely two miles from my house (I pass right by it everyday)is a wonderful community nature center. I remember my friend Dee Dee and I taking our children when they were younger and I loved it then. But sadly, I've never been back. Why? Oh, I guess I just let life get in the way. Plus, that was before I knew I'd be homeschooling and before I'd had my Charlotte Mason Education! ;) Today, my husband had a rare day off and we decided to try it out again. Sadly, this was the one day of the week that my dd7 was in Enrichment School, but ds5 and dd2 loved the experience. There are over 33 acres of trails behind this wonderful center! And over 300 trees are labeled with signs telling you what they are! I mean, all of the work was done for me! We saw deer, squirrels, butterflies, spider webs, and even a King Snake. My son picked up a bird feather at the beginning of the walk and thus, our nature journal has begun! I plan to research and identify this bird feather with the kids and tape it into our nature journal this weekend. How do you make a nature journal? I don't know! But it will start with a feather taped to a piece of paper and hopefully a name of the bird and a little about that bird written underneath. Nothing fancy here! But it's a start!
Hidden amongst the many Oak, Pine, and Poplar trees (and among the vast amounts of poison ivy!) was even an old wagon and "lean too". I'm not sure what the "lean too" is actually called but it's a type of shelter that travelers along the Natches Trace used to stay under when it got late at night. Yes, this nature center has tons of history surrounding it as well. If I'm not mistaken (I need to really research this more before I post this but oh, well...)Teddy Roosevelt used to travel the Trace on his hunting expeditions in this part of Mississippi--hunting for bear! This is where we get the word, "Teddy Bear"! What a wealth of history and nature studies we have right here in our own backyard. And do you know the best part, the nature center is free. They run on donations! I promise you this, the next time we're there we're buying a family membership! We'll definitely be using this little jewel again.
Jill
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Jewels in our own backyard, how true this is.
ReplyDeleteWe are starting to discover our jewels too. I really did not know how many there was til I did a little research, there is a bunch! I think the best nature journals are the simple ones, ones with tape, glue, and crayon drawings. Many blessings.