I told the group of 2nd graders about Rachel Carson, and her relationship with her young nephew; how they spent their time wandering in nature, exploring the seashore; how she was inspired by and nurtured his sense of wonder. How adults and children are both enriched by this shared time in nature.
I told them how I like taking walks with my kids; (if I am successful in dragging them away from the TV), how I like to walk quietly with them, to not be to quick to point things out, but to observe the simple beauty we find walking in nature; to share the spontaneity of experiences; that I am sure the 2nd graders are like my own children, and Rachel Carson's nephew, seeing things with the discovery of young eyes.
I explained this as part of a insect program, before our planned hike to sweep for insects.
As I walked out into the cold wind of late October in the Colorado Foothills, I was concerned that it would be a waste of time to try to find some insects. Certainly they must be in dormancy. Perhaps we should just take a walk around the grounds. At the prompting of the other naturalist and the 2nd grader's teacher, we decided to take the insects nets and bug boxes and try to find some insects anyway.
After a short hike, we settled on a grassy south-facing meadow.
The truth of my earlier discussion about discoveries and a sense of wonder shocked me. Within just a few minutes the second graders had searched through the grass, logs, and rocks and filled their bug boxes with grasshoppers, beetles, worms, ants, ladybugs, daddy long leg spiders, and even a black widow spider (with visible hour-glass) and a wooly spider. I watched in amazement at the enthusiasm of these kids.
The sense of discovery in children is natural. It takes only slight encouragement by an adult to see it flourish in a natural setting.
Before we started back up the hill I had the kids listen quietly for a few moments. The strong wind whistled through the Ponderosa Pine forest. I told them how John Muir loved the wind in Ponderosa Pines, how he called it 'the finest music in the wind.'
My hope is that these kids will remember something of our walk, our discoveries, and they will be as positively affected these experiences as I was as a child. Not just the knowledge gained, but the feelings the arise in nature when we witness the simple beauty that is always present, if we are watching for it.