Tomorrow, we're heading north to Lake Michigan one last time as a family this season. It will soon be too cold to tent camp. Well, too cold for these campers, anyway! I don't mind temperatures in the upper 40's at night, but that is about as low as I go. Perhaps if we had better sleeping bags? Ah, but that would require getting more stuff and I am totally against getting more stuff at this moment.
With camping on my mind, I found these two cute and very true quotes about camping.
How is it that one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire? ~Author Unknown
Confession time here. We have just mastered the art of starting a campfire after 8 camping trips this season, which is very frustrating!
Campers: Nature's way of feeding mosquitoes. ~Author Unknown
Last camping trip, we got chiggers again. Oh, I hate chiggers! I am hoping we won't be eaten alive by the bugs this weekend.
Our tents set up at Springmill State Park over Labor Day
Sep. 13, 2009~ Another Quote from Laura Ingalls Wilder ~
"As the years pass, I am coming more and more to understand that it is the common everyday blessings of our common everyday lives for which we should be particularly grateful."
~
"What a wonderful power mothers have in their hands! They shape the lives of the children today, through them the lives of the men and women of tomorrow, and through them the nations and the world."
~
"We can teach this love of home to the children and it will help to hold them steady when their time comes."
I am currently re-reading a favorite book of mine called Prairie Wisdom by Yvonne Pope. Actually, it is a wonderful little collection of Laura Ingalls Wilder's writings gathered in a sweetly illustrated volume. Here is one of the quotes that I love.
"The true way to live is to enjoy every moment as it passes, and surely it is in the everyday things around us that the beauty of life lies."
I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in. ~George Washington Carver
I believe that there is a subtle magnetism in Nature, which, if we unconsciously yield to it, will direct us aright. ~Henry David Thoreau
A friend gave these tulips to me last night. What a beautiful gift.
"To laugh often, to win
the affection of children,
to earn the appreciation
of honest critics and endure
the betrayal of false friends,
to appreciate beauty, to
find the best in others,
to leave the world a bit
better, whether by a
healthy child, a garden
patch...to know even one
life has breathed easier
because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded!
"One day whilt watching the habits of a paire of pewees at Millgrove I looked so intently on their innocent attitudes, that a thought struck my Mind like a flash of light, that nothing after all could ever answer my Anthusiastic dersires to represent nature, than to attempt to Copy her own Way, alive and Moving!"
-John James Audubon, My Style of Drawing Birds
I highly recommend the book, The Boy Who Drew Brids, A Story of John James Audubon by Jacqueline Davies, beautifully Illustrated by Melissa Sweet. This book was also awarded the Young Hoosier Award, books chosen to encourage young children to read. In this story, a young Audubon comes to America and discovers his gift for drawing birds, but not after years of trying/failing to draw them naturally. This story depicts how he discovered the truth about small bird migration.
Today is also Weblink Wednesday, hosted by a special lady, Valerie aka socalval,. WW is a way to share with others links we think are helpful. One of my favorite websites is Simply Charlotte Mason. I have totally enjoyed their nature study series this summer. They offer many other wonderful free items to us Charlotte Mason lovers.
"Mothers and Teachers Should Know About Nature: The mother cannot devote herself too much to this kind of reading, not only that she may read tid-bits to the children about matters they have come across, but that she may be able to answer their queries and direct their observations... Any womanwho is likely to spend an hour or two in the society of children, should make herself mistress of this sort of information; the children will adore her for knowing what they want to know, and who knows but she may give its bent to some young mind destined to do great things for the world."
Charlotte Mason, Home Education (Union Maine: Charlotte Mason Research & Supply, 2001), 64. Home Education was first published in 1886.
"After all, what is the chief sign of growing old? Is it not the feeling that we know all there is to be known? It is not years which make people old; it is ruts, and a limitation of interests. When we no longer care about anything except our own interests, we are then old, it matters not whether our years be twenty or eighty."
Welcome to my happy little place to learn about the study of nature and all things beautiful. This is my personal nature journal, where I hope to record my fledgling journey as a naturalist and my appreciation for the Master Gardener's creation. I will also display some of my favorite paintings and list some of my favorite living books and quotes. I hope you will enjoy your visit.
