Reaching Out to Nature

by Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger

05 Nov 2007 11:01 AM

Usually the morning routine is a frantic pace of getting everyone dressed and fed and out in the driveway in time for my eldest son to catch the bus to first grade. Then after we wave goodbye, I shuffle the other two children back into the house to begin our daily routine.

But the time change must be affecting me. The day is as crisp as the newly fallen leaves, and I didn't have the heart to make everyone go back inside. So instead, I asked if they wanted to play in the woods, which is essentially our backyard.

We stepped down the path, myself, a 15-month-old and a "almost" three-year-old to explore what nature had in store for us today. We shuffled through the leaves to get to the small climbing toy and plastic playhouse. These things are familiar to us, having come from a postage size backyard that necessitated playing indoors with lots of brightly colored plastic. But, it wasn't too long before my youngest, who hasn't yet been conditioned away from nature started out on his own, down the hill and deeper into the forest that is our backyard. He did it with a gleeful heart, leaving my second child and I to chase after him and keep him safe.

On our adventures, we listened to the babbling creek, spotted bright red berries and banged sticks, just to see what they sounded like. A toad, probably wondering why we were in our own backyard, leaped away in a huff when my daughter picked up a nearby leaf. The leaf was as red as the berries, and we had to save it for Daddy to see.

Of course, the outing couldn't last too long, since "almost" three-year-olds have small bladders, and we are not quite ready for nature's potty. On our way back to our household comforts, we stopped to ring a main bell, rusted and beautiful, left here by the previous owners. Then we headed up the hill with hardly a glance back, because, well, we will be coming back again tomorrow.

Are you enjoying nature this fall?

Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.

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Learn more about Mary Ann Romans

Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat.

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