Learn Tree ID Like a Two Year Old

As I look out over our woods, I think back to the many walks I have enjoyed with my grandchild. In the last year, she has learned to identify trees and become a budding naturalist (no pun intended).

Last March, when she was not yet two, we took walks in the woods, and I (or her grandfather) pointed out things we observed along the path.  The trees were always there, so we repeatedly pointed out certain species of interest.  I know that young children use their senses to explore the world, so I pointed to a tree and invited her to touch it.  She recoiled at the thought, so I did not press it.  Rather I tried to encourage her to touch it by touching and marveling at the feel of it myself.  "It is really bumpy," I said. Still she would not touch it.  As we walked the trail, I stopped at other "bumpy" trees to feel the bark.

Fast forward to this December.  At just two and a half years of age, we walked the same path.  It was she who pointed out the trees.  "Look, bumpy trees," she said.  She eagerly ran to the tree to touch it.  As we continued, she ran to more and more "bumpy trees", each time touching the bark.  These trees are hackberries, and she could identify them perfectly!

I smile to think how much she had grown in nature in such a short time.  She is a budding naturalist for sure!

Next time we go on our walks, we will have to find another texture...maybe we'll explore the shagbark hickories.  Will she call them flaky trees or shaggy trees?  I know that one day she will learn the real common names for these species.  For now I am content with the names she is using.  Maybe they are better names anyway.

Tribute to a Nature Lover

It's that time of year to look back.  When I do, I look back at my mom who recently passed away at the age of 90.  I would like to dedicate my blog to her and her memory.  I may not write as often as I would like--life, work, the commute-- all get in the way sometimes, but I am hopeful to do more in the coming year.  If nothing else, as a tribute to my mom, a life long nature lover.

My mom was my nature guru....no, it isn't that she knew so much about nature, it is that she LOVED so much.  Growing up, our family enjoyed many nature experiences together.  We would go on early morning breakfast picnics in the city park and evening walks too.  In the summer we would camp in state and national parks, being the cheap way for a family of five to travel.  I vividly remember the trip to the Tetons where bears ransacked the neighboring campsite.  Or the evening star gazing in the Black Hills.  Those stars were the biggest I had ever seen.  Or sitting on the dock at Lake Okoboji watching my glasses fall to the lake bottom!

Although I grew up in a big city, these outings in the parks led me to college studies in nature...ornithology, limnology, mammalogy, etc. and eventually to my career.  As I got older and had a family of my own, I began sharing nature with my children just as mom had shared with me and my siblings.  We stopped to watch an eagle on our way to school, sat by the river to see sandhill cranes, or traveled to the ocean to observe the strange life in the coastal waters.

With my mom's passing, it was my daughter who pointed out that she still lives.  She lives in the memories of those nature experiences, big and small.  She lives when I look at the clouds at sunset.  She would say, "That's gorgeous!".  She lives when the trees sway in the wind..."dance" as she would say.  And she lives when I take my grandchild on a walk through the woods... smelling the skunk, feeling the moss, or watching the birds.

Sharing nature with children is a passion of mine, a passion ignited by a wonderful woman who not only loved nature, but loved sharing it with others.  So, I dedicate this blog...this sharing ...to her.  In this new year, won't you share nature with someone you love?

Environmental Hero

Last night, I was adding my profile to a new site that I had recently joined. One of the questions, "Who is your hero?" got me thinking.  Of course, my first reaction was Rachel Carson for her work in drawing attention to the dangers of DDT.


This got me thinking about my childhood. "Who is MY hero?"  The answer--my mom is my personal hero. No, she didn't stand up against a powerful industry.  No, she didn't write a bestselling book.  But what she did for me, and my siblings, is priceless.  You see, my family has a love of nature.  Two of us even have careers in the field.  How did this happen?

I have read that many of our early naturalists attributed their appreciation of nature to experiences in nature at an early age.  So, a few years ago, I asked my mom, "What did you do?" I really wanted to know why all three of us had this interest in the natural world, especially since we grew up in a big city.

My mom's humble answer: "I just took you outside for walks in the park."  I'm sure it wasn't just a walk in green space in a big city.  I'm sure there was discussion, perhaps like this: "Look at that bird; I wonder what it is doing?" or "Do you see that turtle; I wonder what kind it is?"

It was Rachel Carson who said:  “If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in.”   This, then, is what my mom did for us!

I remember having many pastimes in my youth like jumping rope, playing the clarinet, or collecting cat figurines.  Those pastimes are long past.  But watching nature...this is something that has stayed with me and that I enjoy each day.  My mom, nearing 90, frequently talks about the jays that come to the peanuts she puts on her railing.  Nature is a joy we continue to share and one I hope to pass on to my grandchild.

Watching nature is a joy instilled in me at a young age.  It is a joy that remains through the worries of the work day, the pressures of parenthood or the time spent with the products of the technology revolution.  Yes, my mom is my environmental hero.  She gave me the gift of nature appreciation.  Isn't that where any real environmental change happens....in the heart of a child!