Life With The Crew

Children, Ice, and Loons

Horrible weather!  That is what most adults (and some kids) would say.  Ice, not snow.  Cold, but not cold enough.  Slippery, not powdery.  Yes, the weather conditions are not the best, but right now my daughter is outside, somewhere in the back yard, touching, exploring, absorbing, the wonders of the ice.  Yes, ice makes things dangerous and causes many problems, not just for people (see note below), but it can also be beautiful and I'm glad my daughter still sees that beauty.

The following message was sent from our local wildlife rehabilitation center, Centre Wildlife Care this morning.  It makes me so sad to think of these large birds stuck on an icy road, unable to move away from speeding traffic. 

"Keep a look out for grounded loons. We had 9 messages just over night about grounded loons. When it rains, they think roads and parking lots are bodies of water and land. The rain/ice storm must have hit at the same time as their migration. They can't walk or take off flying on land; they MUST be in a large body of water.

DO NOT RELEASE without talking to me...They cannot be released anywhere. They must be put in a large lake or river...NOT a pond.

If you see a loon, give us a call for assistance: 814-692-0004. Below is what they look like. Their legs are way back on their body...that is why they cannot walk on land or take off flying. They really are sitting ducks. They will not make it without help."

 

 

 

Our Path

Today is a rainy lazy indoor day, but we've had some good outdoor time lately.  After one particularly grumpy morning, I gave up on plans for "book work" and said, "Let's go - we need fresh air and fresh attitudes."  And so we headed out to woods, water, and a welcome quietness - both around us and inside us.  I mentioned in another post that I'm reading Ainsley Arment's book, "The Call of the Wild + Free".  Even though I said I wasn't really learning anything new from the book, it is enforcing what I already believe and perhaps encouraging me to follow this unconventional path even more.  When I can see the way my daughter acts when she is "wild and free" (happy and engaged) and the creativity that results from this outdoor time (creating her own nature center, doing creative play based on what we have learned), I know that this is a positive path.  

I found a wonderful book at the local nature center, "The Nature Lover's Quotation Book" by Hatherleigh.  I am not normally one for book's like this - you read a quote, and then what?  But I found most of these particularly enjoyable and inspirational.  I wanted to share a couple.

"Every oak tree started out as a couple of nuts who stood their ground."  - Henry David Thoreau

"The fairest thing in nature, a flower, still has its roots in earth and manure." - D.H. Lawrence