March 28, 2005 @ 12:14 pm | Filed under: Nature Study
I’m a wimp in the cold. Much as I respect the Charlotte Mason “get out for a walk every day, no matter what the weather” principle, I don’t live by it. No well-bundled foul-weather treks for me, invigorating though they might be. The children are encouraged to get outside for fresh air every day, but if they want my company, they have to settle for the sofa, the fireside, and a good book. Preferably one full of heroic wilderness adventures in the elements.
But as soon as the weather begins to turn, oh, I’m there. Just try and keep me inside. Housework? Pah! The floors can take care of themselves. The kids and I have paths to tread, shoes to muddy, trees to meet.
In addition to field guides and the indispensible Handbook of Nature Study by Anna Botsford Comstock, there are a few other books that leap off the shelves at me this time every year:
Wild Days by Karen Skidmore Rackliffe
Keeping a Nature Journal by Clare Walker Leslie and Charles E. Roth
Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots and Sunflower Houses by Sharon Lovejoy
Mrs. Greenthumbs by Cassandra Danz (for adults only)
Noah’s Garden and Planting Noah’s Garden by Sara Stein
Onward and Upward in the Garden by Katharine White (A collection of gardening essays by the wife of E.B. White).
These old friends keep us busy during the wet and chilly days of March. Come April, we’re outside living the adventure instead of reading about it. I am intrepid! I am daring! No breeze is too balmy, no creek too melodic, no backpack too full of snacks for this nature-loving mother.
That is, until the weather turns hot.
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Hi Lissa!
Posted on March 28th, 2005 at 12:47 pmSounds good to me!Here’s another great Nature resource by Clare Walker Leslie: it’s a book Called,
Nature Drawing -A Tool For Learning.It’s different than her journaling book,and Emmanuel books carries it.(Unless you get lucky like me,and your library carries it!)I also like the Jim Arnosky books.They are in the children’s Art section in the Library.Take care!love the site!!!-Eileen
Oh, for the balmy breezes you in the Mid Atlantic States Enjoy! Up here in Maine, we get about 2 warm days a summer. I do agree with you about ejoying nature in the warm weather, but we also enjoy it with a wind so brisk you feel like your ears will blow off, and then there’s the mud…
Posted on March 28th, 2005 at 4:45 pmAny way, Thanks for the suggestions for nature books. I’m always looking for new adventures to bring my kids on.