The Great Outdoors

One of the many things I will be eternally grateful to my parents for is the way they taught me to appreciate being in nature and enjoying the great outdoors. This thought popped into my head this morning as Christopher and I meandered through the trails at Ernie Miller Nature Center. Even at his young age of 20 months, Chris is already developing an appreciation for everything you can see on a walk through the woods. We stopped by a pond on our walk and got a close look at a snake as well as two frogs who then hopped into the water. We walked through a small garden with native plants and a babbling fountain... Chris just stopped and watched the water in the fountain, mesmerized and saying "mawmaw" (his word for water) over and over again. He was fascinated by the barn owl they have at Ernie Miller and said hi to it repeatedly. As we walked, he would stop when he heard a bird singing nearby, point to his ear as if he was tuning it in, and laugh. Later he stopped and watched a squirrel picking up seeds under a bird feeder. I just get the biggest kick out of his excitement over everything he sees on our hikes! When Christopher grows up and has his own children, I hope he feels the same gratitude that I do for being able to appreciate the natural world.