Nature Walk

     One of the goals of many Homeschoolers (is this one word or two?) is to allow the children to be out-of-doors often, in every type of weather, to experience for themselves the beauty and wonder of God's creation.We really hit the jackpot in this area last Wednesday and found a treasure trove of wooded trails hitherto unknown to us.We had taken the girls to the horse farm, gotten another two subjects done in the van and then started to get hot and restless.We decided to walk down the driveway in a different direction but still on the property. It was such a warm and sunny day. In fact, it was St. Patrick's Day and about 72 degrees.

John pointed out these frog eggs in the water which I wouldn't have recognized.He had seen some just like them in our neighbor's pond. It will be fun to see if these hatch out.

Sam had loaded his bike before we left and hurried to catch up with us after finishing his work. It is always interesting to see how fast things get done after the removal of a captive audience!

   We came upon many deer stands and some old farm equipment.

Then we stepped out from the woods and saw this vista. The very tall hunting cabin on stilts looked  intriguing.

    This cabin is elevated on four telephone poles. There was an amazing view from the staircase and in fact, we saw a herd of deer nearby.When we were driving home from the farm, we could see this stand way back from the road but of course had never noticed it before.

As we walked along enjoying the warm sunshine, I meditated on how tremendously blessed I was to  be spending this time with my own children. I  was touched with appreciation for my husband who was working in the next state to provide this opportunity. I did have a tiny bit of regret that we had not known about these walkable trails for the past year of coming to this horse farm! Oh well... God's timing is always perfect. This impromptu nature walk was a real gift from God to this winter weary Mom and kids and I can't wait to go back!

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