[A
note to educators on this list... last week
I mailed the last of the monarch butterfly metamorphosis images out. If
you requested the images and have not gotten them by now please let me
know. I included a short article that I wrote on the metamorphosis,
that explains what is happening in the images. You can also find the
article on line at
http://www.natureofthewild.com/articles/Monarch/Monarch.html
if you
have any questions please let me know. In a few weeks I'll send out
some other images that might help younger kids with counting... ]
To me fall is the most beautiful time of the year. Spring has rebirth
and wild flowers, but colors come in waves stretched out over time and
in isolated spots. Only fall can absolutely transform the entire
landscape, awash in brilliant color.
A couple of days ago I walked the land across hillsides, down ravines,
through streams and out in the fields along the woods. Everywhere I
looked the scene was ablaze in the colors of fall. I thought to
myself
that if this was the most beautiful season of the year then perhaps
today was actually the most beautiful day in the entire year!
I've now had that thought five days in a row. What an incredible time
to be outside, to have your senses almost overwhelmed by the season.
The crisp smell and taste of change in the air, the sounds of rustling
leaves, the gentle kiss of the wind on your face, and all the light
streaming through the leaves; it is all out there, just waiting for you
to take it in. I hope that you head out and do exactly that.
I rarely do any photography in
the middle of the day, but last week we had several rainy, overcast
days and I headed out in one of them when the rain stopped and the sky
started clearing up. I went out to a pond that I have an ongoing
project on. When I got there could see something moving through the
water. There was not one, not two, but three otters out on the water. I
was really excited.
Otters are about the most fun animal in the world. They just love to
play. A friend of mine pointed out last week that the amount of play an
animal takes part in is directly related to their intelligence. Decades
ago I was able to watch some otters sliding down a hill into water, and
then getting out and doing it all over again... not much different than
children sledding down a hill. I think that otters must have invented
amusement parks.
The otters were too far out to get good photographs of, but it is my
hope to return in a couple of weeks and find them again. That would be
so much fun!
Charles St. Charles
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