WORDS

A quote for Monday. . . 

"I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples." 

                        
                                                              ~Mother Teresa of Calcutta




                             happy day!

PHOTO CHALLENGE - BIRD

A new visitor arrived at our pond early this evening. I ran back to get my camera.

On closer inspection, I realized he was with a friend. They swam further away when they saw me.


I sat and watched awhile and was happy I did. . . 

because soon they took flight.


It's the little unexpected treasures that come upon us. . .  that make life so worth living.


                                   
Check out Photo Challenge- Bird at RAZMATAZ
                        happy day!

ONE WORD WEDNESDAY

                            ~ savoring ~

happy day!

CHILDREN IN NATURE

The children came to play and explore. 

It was the last day in November and so mild that heavy jackets came off quickly.  

It was a glorious day to spend most of our time outdoors. The days of sunshine and warmth were limited.

The pond was one of their favorite spots. They fished there in spring and autumn, and now it had covered itself up with a layer of ice. 

Winter is on its way. Despite the mild temperature of the day, the cold nights have solidified the pond.

It's fun for the children to see the changes each season brings to the areas they play in. 

How thick is this ice? they wanted to know.

The stones didn't even break through, they just slid across.

One by one, the children searched for sticks to break the ice.

The sticks didn't break through when they tossed them on the pond though.

So they came up with a better plan.

chop . . . 

chop . . . 

                                              chop !

Soon everyone was chopping.

and had fun breaking the ice.

   They decided to check out all the other areas around the pond, and even stuck their feet in once they broke through.

Some areas had less ice, some had more.

They explored around the *island*

One chopped with a stick, the other scooped up the ice.

A ping ping ping sound was heard when the bits of ice and pebbles they threw slid across the pond.

They noticed when they threw a rock in, and it broke the ice, it made air bubbles.

The larger the rock, the bigger the air bubble.

They said it looked like glass. . . 

and forgot how cold it was.

The children could have lasted for hours doing all of this, over and over again. In fact, they did do it for hours. 

It's this connection with nature that takes precedent over anything else we may do. Everything else can wait for another time. Nothing is as important as being 

 IN the world, IN nature, exploring, observing, discovering and enjoying themselves while doing it.  It is something they will always remember and always treasure. 

And it is the people, who have that connection with nature, who will care for it in the future. Like the children.

happy day!

ONE WORD WEDNESDAY

                       ~  reflection ~

(Please feel free to join in One Word Wednesday, just leave your link in the comments).

                         happy day!

ONE WORD WEDNESDAY

                      
             ~ connecting ~

(Feel free to join in One Word Wednesday. Just leave a comment with your link.)

CHANGES

We went to collect eggs in our tiny pond for our aquarium, to observe them as we do each year, but could not find any at all.  We usually see numerous egg masses throughout the clear water.

The area looks very different this spring. The water has always been clear for the past five years but it has changed.

This year it is covered in algae.

Why did this change come about?

Are there eggs still there but hidden by the algae?

 Is there less life in the tiny pond this year? 

  We learned about eutrophication this week in my Earth School, in our watershed study.  


Eutrophication ( yoo-tro-fi-kay-shun) is a process whereby water bodies receive excess nutrients that stimulate excessive plant growth. This enhanced plant growth, often called an algal bloom, reduces dissolved oxygen in the water when dead plant material decomposes and can cause other organisms to die.

Is this what happened to the tiny pond? 
Is it because of the heavy rains our area experiences this spring? The rains in which the path from the barn to the woodlands became a river !
Did that *river* carry excess nutrients (nitrogen) from the barn area to the tiny pond ?

The children and I have a real life dilemma to solve and to figure out what measures we can take to help the pond life.