A Time for Family and God's Handiworks

Today we had another nature study adventure. These have honestly become our very favorite parts of the week. Even my dd2 talks about our nature studies. The other day we were playing on a playground waiting for Dd7 to get out of her enrichment school and Ds5 was playing on the swingset. He was swinging and looking at the playground surrounded by huge beautiful trees. He said to me, "Mom, this would be a great place to have a nature study!" Yes, it truly would. It warmed my heart that while playing on a playground surrounded by plastic structures on which to play he would be thinking of our beloved nature studies.

So today we went out. We worked on the Nature Study Outdoor Hour's 2nd lesson today. Yes, we've done about four nature studies but we're only on their second lesson (we sometimes do our own observations). Today the assignment was to be still, quiet, and listen. Out we went and I must admit that quiet does not always come easily in my house. But we did the best we could. I never realized that I could hear crickets so loudly in the middle of the day. My Dd7 first noticed them. We then heard at least three different types of birds. We heard the sound the wind makes as it's blowing through the bronze colored leaves still hanging barely onto the limbs in the trees above. We heard the way the leaves sound while rustling under our foot steps.

We decided to touch as well as listen. We noticed the difference in the way smooth living leaves feels as opposed to the dried, crackling feel of the dead ones. We saw a vine growing up a tree and noticed that it felt prickly and hard. We felt the soft figs that were growing in one of the trees (at least I think that's what they are...we're waiting on Daddy to make a definite determination).

We also saw the beauty of our God's world. We saw the robin eating his food from the ground and scurrying to his tree home when we came too close. We saw that a few leaves were still in the trees while most have fallen to the ground. We saw that some trees were in fact, still green.

This was a fascinating lesson for all of us and it only took a few quick minutes. We came back in and listed on three different charts the things we saw, heard, and felt. Then Dd7 copied our lists into her notebook.

I can honestly say that our nature studies have become something I look forward to, rather than dread. It's not "just another thing to do" for us but it's a stress free time to observe our Lord and His wonderful handiworks.