Little things

We've been blessed with a little early taste of spring, and have been trying to get outside as much as possible to enjoy it. After weeks of rain, we really needed the break, and the sunshine feels medicinal. This is the time of year that makes me really appreciate the beauty of the land I live on. While big things in nature, like clouds and sunsets, always catch our attention with their wow factor, we've been spending a lot of time appreciating some of the little things.

 

These handy little magnifiers give us a whole new view of things. They cost less than $5, and work great, magnifying 10 times on one side and 20 times on the other. 

  

Some of the tiniest things are pretty marvelous in their own right...like these cool striped fungi.

  

 

Of course, for some kids, trees (or manzanita bushes in this case) need to be climbed to be properly explored.

 

This shrub has the most interesting bark that peels off over the winter, leaving this lovely smooth red hard wood (and more kinds of fungi on the dead branch.)

  

 These amazing little forests of moss live through very hot, very dry summers and go for months without rain, surviving on the water they stored up over the winter. We decided they would make wonderful lawns for fairy picnics and parties. Unfortunately, the camera couldn't capture the detail of the leaves the way the magnifier could. They looked like tiny little trees.

 

Time to study nature in whatever way we want, the big things and the small, is just another thing I love about our homeschooling journey.

This is the good life.