During the last week of March, the children and I were given a taste of the sunshine and warmth that normally comes to Detroit in mid-June in the most cruel manner.  Like many midwesterners, we brandished our rakes, cleaning out corner gardens and making lists of landscaping supplies.  Unfortunately, this was nothing more than a hoax by mother nature, leaving us with the feel of the sun's rays on our faces only to turn around to find snowflakes covering our newly mulched beds. 

Now, there is no doubt that I love Dawn-at-By_Sun_and_Candlelight .  I've always poured over her past Field Days  with a cup of tea and a pad of paper to take notes on!  I decided early on to contribute to this one, only to wonder what I could possibly post about, surrounded by drooping tulips and sad, fallen hyacinth.

Well, to pick up my spirits I consoled myself with the knowledge that this is the "Early Spring" Field Day.  So I loaded up my troops and headed to the closest patch of "nature" left in my city.  At 46 degrees, this is the best day we've had in a couple of weeks!

We live in a suburb of Detroit and there used to be forest behind our house just four years ago.  Now it is filled with townhouses.  There is still a tiny patch left about five minutes from the house, so we decided to go there.

Emme and I just started reading about forests this past week and I was very pleasantly surprised when we pulled up and she pointed out the "coniferous trees"! 

Of course "THE BOY" had to be, well, a boy.

But  what I wondered was......were there any signs of SPRING left after our below freezing, frost-filled nights?

Well, of course there was mud, lots and lots.

And that's when I noticed it. 

GREEN!  There were green sprouts on both the ground and the shrubs.

The girls decided to collect some pine cones and other assorted "goodies":

And no field trip with THE BOY is ever complete without a picture of Canadian Geese, running in terror:

Overall it was a good nature walk.  We spotted a few things that we wouldn't have noticed had there been leaves on the trees.

Here is a perfectly formed bird's nest:

And if you look really closely, you will see fungus-y mushrooms growing on the trees:

So there you have it.   An exciting, educational, and fun visit to a place we'd driven past for years and had never stopped at!  Even small areas of nature can be full of wonderful surprises!  Take time to enjoy spring.

The sun was warm but the wind was chill.
You know how it is with an April day
When the sun is out and the wind is still,
You're one month on in the middle of May.
But if you so much as dare to speak,
A cloud comes over the sunlit arch,
A wind comes off a frozen peak,
And you're two months back in the middle of March.

(Robert Frost)