Winter in the wilderness

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We had a great day today, romping around at a winter program for kids at The Wilderness Center. We learned a few things...the kids can now tell the difference between moss and lichen, we know that they recently discovered that the red bat hibernates under leaf litter, and how to identify the beech drop.
I also realized that my kids have been paying attention all of these years. They were whizzes out on the trail, spotting animal trails and tracks, bird and squirrel nests, etc.
I was a proud mom to say the least.
But what makes me even more proud was the conversation we had on the way down there, about why they love the wilderness. In perfect kid form, they argued about who likes it the most, and why they like it so much.
"It's everywhere you look. You just need to pay attention."
"But I think it's so cool because, it's like, beautiful and science all together."
"I like it more."
"No, i'm the wilderness kid."
"Well, you're a butthead."
"Dork."
"Nerd."
Punch, punch, punch.
And then, just a bit later, they discussed hibernating animals and shared their collections to make amazing art projects.
It was just one of those simple days as a mom I want to remember. Nothing extraordinary happened, nothing extremely noteworthy. Just a better than average, average day. The kind we tend to glaze over if we don't stop and pay attention.
Just like the nerd/dork/butthead said.

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