Discovery

Hey, Environmental stories are not just bad news! We make sure that my grandchildren don’t suffer from “Nature Deficit Disorder” (See Richard Louv’s book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder), even with the i-Pods, computer games, and busy schedules of swimming lessons and softball games. When the snow melted in April, they found this raccoon skull in the woods behind my house, and excitedly proclaimed “Grandpa, we found a dinosaur fossil!” That was the beginning of several lessons that covered more than the difference between fossils and skeletons. As we continue to watch what happens to the remains, the kids are learning about life and death in nature; avoiding “friendly” wild animals; and much more. (So far we have seen over a dozen different kinds of invertebrates making use of this new micro-habitat and helping return the racoon to the Earth. See my post today in the Macro gallery for a closer look.) More importantly, they continue to be excited about nature, knowing that it is all around them, and not just the cartoons and exotic stories on TV.

Canon 50D
Sigma 18-200 mm.
Fill flash