A Mossy Wood

that's a porcupine quill, by the way

 

 

we wound up in the lair of some panthers

wild and ferocious

but becoming Bagheera pretty quickly

Ineke's first experiences with moss. 

 

You'd never believe it from the pictures, but before the crazy snow dump of last week, we had some glorious mild, spring-like ditch the dining room "school" table and get your notebooks and rears outside and enjoy the day sort of weather.  And, ooooooh, was it nice.

I strapped Ineke on my belly (I really need a backpack-trust me, the girl doesn't quite fit her Moby like once upon a time) and the kids grabbed their science journals and we headed out.  Last year Ineke was so small, she spent her woods walks strapped onto Mama.  But THIS year, I set her down to explore.

FREEDOM!!!!!!!!

She was ecstatic.  She was overjoyed.  She was awed.  She screamed when she was put back in for the hike home.

Also, there was a giant leap from last year to this year in her comprehension.  I saw immediately that she had discovered, in a moment, that there was a world outside of the house.  That there was an "outside".  It was written all over her face.  Her eyes shone a new sort of glimmer.  It sounds like I am making this up- that I am being overly dramatic.  And maybe it seems that way but it also happens to be true.

After that woods walk, she began climbing up to windows to peer out and racing through a door as soon as it was opened.

Children give you many things, but the thing I am always struck by is the great joy that *I* get by living vicariously through their first moments, their first experiences and the amazement and the awe and the joy and the hilarity of such a world.  The crunch of the leaves.  The moss that ripped off of stones when she tugged.  She softness of a carpet of green.  The wind in her face.  I've experiences these things thousands of times, hundreds of thousands of times.  And I delight in them and sometimes, they even stagger me.  But it is different with children.  When children experience those things all you must do is sit back and watch.  And it literally fills you up.  Bubbles out.  Runneth over.  What a gift children bring to this world.

I hope to keep these posts coming; I have some incentive for the next few days at least.  We'll see how long it lasts!