Snip and Snail: vacation

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Monday, May 31, 2010

Birthday Wishes: Thirty-Six Amazing Things

After wishing our amazing Papa a joyous thirty-sixth trip around the sun last Tuesday, we loaded up for the weekend and headed north to celebrate in South Georgia. This was Papa's only wish. In his honor, here is the list we came up with on the way home: thirty-six amazing things we did over the long weekend.

1. Received nourishment from Grandma and her garden

2. Watched a mother whipoorwill protect her baby
3. Saw three deer
4. Saw two rabbits
5. Saw one fox squirrel
6. Saw one enormous red-tailed hawk
7. Saw one gopher tortoise
8. Saw one water turtle laying eggs
9. Found two nests with baby birds
10. Fed chickens and saw day-old chicks
11. Saw lots and lots and lots of butterflies

12. Opened our camper door each morning to the sight of Grandma's flowers

13. Took a sunrise walk

14. Tried to catch minnows in the pond

15. Saw new quilts in progress

16. Shared freshly boiled peanuts in the sunshine

17. Picked blackberries (both in a garden and on a pond bank) and ate them off the vine

18. Drew water from a well

19. Caught frogs

20. Called to a bob-white bird and were answered
21. Went blueberry picking (and blueberry eating)

22. Played kickball in the rain
23. Got stuck in the mud
24. Gathered wildflowers in the fields
25. Went searching for interesting mushrooms
26. Caught a grasshopper

27. Held baby kittens
28. Welcomed a full moon
29. Stayed up late, roasted s'mores, had sleepovers
30. Went searching for arrowheads and found flint
31. Built fires
32. Revisited a goose nest we discovered on our last visit
33. Went swimming in the Altamaha River
34. Floated a watermelon in the river and ate it while swimming

35. Hiked to rock caves
36. Spent a long weekend with four generations of family

Monday, April 5, 2010

New Traditions: Easter Nests

We have returned, safely and soundly, from our annual Easter trip to Georgia. We usually arrive as the wisteria carpets the ground beneath us and the dogwoods and redbuds have long since bloomed, but this year, due to the calendar and the unseasonably chilly winter, we arrived at the perfect time to witness nature's southern masterpiece.

Big B and little b experienced the wonders of nature, big and small. They helped Grandma plant her summer garden, poking little fingers into rich, fertile soil.

They went exploring and hunting for treasure, using vivid imagination to make games from pinecones, sticks and clay rocks.

They helped Papa make a minnow trap and paid attention to the sounds and cycles of the pond.

We tried our hands at creating different kinds of eggs...

...and of course, hunted them, with great excitement and reward.

But the wonder of nature that impressed upon us most deeply was the discovery of this goose nest, hidden among the reeds on a pond dam not far from Grandma's house. We diligently checked "our" nest every day. We all marveled at how large the eggs were, and how carefully they were laid upon a soft, downy featherbed.

This technique stuck with Big B. As of the night before Easter, we had seen five deer, two fox squirrels and three bunny rabbits. I suggested that since the bunnies obviously liked to hop in pine straw beds, perhaps we should line our baskets with the brown needles. Big B took it one step further, and carefully made a downy grass bed, goose style, upon which the Easter bunny could leave his gifts.

We set the baskets out to wait just before sunset and set off for one last ride through the woods. As luck would have it, we saw two Easter bunnies on that ride, awaiting nightfall to work their magic. Big B was mesmerized.

On Easter morning, Big B and little b woke us to tell us the geese were visiting. They noticed the majestic birds before even noticing their baskets full of treasure. Such is the power and the wonder of nature. For all of the pomp and circumstance of the holidays, nothing holds more magic for a child than watching the world unfold before his eyes.