Lookin' For Hoodpeckers

There's nothing more wonderful than when your grandchild begins to show an interest in what you're interested in. Ever since she was old enough to understand I began to introduce my little sweetheart to the outside. So many kids these days choose to be stuck indoors watching tv and playing video games. As writer Bill Heavey said in a recent issue of Field and Stream magazine "Too many kids are becoming indoorsman". I decided from the start that she will grow to know the natural world around her. She will learn the names of birds, and bugs, and snakes- everything that crawls, slithers, swims, and flies. I will also teach her to love and respect nature and how it is important to our survival. So when she took my binoculars and looked up into a tree I knew that the seed I had planted was beginning to take effect. I asked "Whatcha lookin' for Eisley?" and she replied "I'm lookin' for a hoodpecker paw paw". Even though she got the pronunciation wrong it still brought a smile to my face. That's my girl.....


Suggested reading:

"Last Child in the Woods" by Richard Louv


"Sharing Nature With Children" by Joseph Cornell