"But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.  He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and who leaf does not wither.  Whatever he does propers." Psalm 1:2-3

"Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world." - John Muir

"It is not so much for it's beauty that a forest makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit." - Robert Louis Stevenson

For this week's Green Hour Challenge we got better acquainted with a couple of beautiful and gentle trees in our backyard.  For this challenge we were to "adopt" a tree to observe and journal about throughout the seasons of the year.

Alex chose an Oak tree.  We're not sure which kind it is yet (pin, red, or white).  Without larger leaves and seeing what the fruit looks like, we weren't able to come to a conclusion.

We were able to collect a tiny spring baby leaf from the Oak, it's so cute!  The little tips are reddish, they look like fire is coming off the ends.  Making us think this might be a Northern Red Oak?

Also, Alex's Oak tree had these stringy looking things hanging all over it which we've come to identify as catkins, or the tree's flowers.  "Could this be part of why poor Hannah is suffering so badly from allergies right now?", we wondered.

Hannah's tree that she chose we couldn't identify at all yet.  The leaves were up to high to see well, but we did take a leaf off of a "baby" tree that was growing right next to it to see if that would help.  I think we'll have to wait for our resident "tree expert" (Grandpa) to help us with our final identifications.  This photo is as close as I could get with the camera to the leaves.  Also the first photo at the very top of this blog entry is the top of her tree.

Both kids made a bark rubbing, filled out Barb's great form that she provided for us, and made a nature journal entry.

Hannah's Work

Alex's Work

They both made specific notes about their tree during observation such as what they saw, heard and felt on their tree.  They attached their leaves to the journal pages, and drew a picture of their tree.  I printed out the photos I took and they labeled those as well for their nature journals.

It will be so much fun to observe these trees through the seasons to see what changes occur.

Other nature study that we have been busy with has been wildflower identification and hatching tadpoles!  I plan to post an entry soon about all of the wildflowers that we have been taking photos of and identifying from our back yard, but here are a couple sneak-peek photos (click on any of them and choose full-size to see a closeup):