Working on My Bad Attitude and M's Fine Motor Skills- Seeds!

I have to admit that I've had a pretty rotten attitude toward the outdoors lately.  We've had the hottest summer on record for Texas and we're in the middle of one of the worst droughts as well.

I felt a little convicted though the other day when I was reading Wendell Berry, and he was describing the kind of people who claim to love nature but really only pay attention to the parts that are uniquely beautiful (the mountains of the Grand Canyon, dramatic waterfalls, etc).  It's a kind of nature sensationalism.  Berry believes that the best kind of nature lover is the one with affection for the land they live on- regardless of its lack of unique attractions.

His words rang true to me; so I decided to work on loving my parched little land.  Today we took a walk in the "green" space behind our backyard and challenged ourselves to try to find as many beautiful and interesting things as we could.  The girls carried little baskets for their treasures.

The first glimpse out the back gate was pretty dreary...

Even the cacti are having trouble.

We came to a beautiful oasis of green and then realized that it used to be the retention pond!

But...we did find some treasures. 

 M and I enjoyed looking at the intricate details of the dry grasses and lichen with a magnifying glass back home.

  

I had M work on isolating single a single seed from each grass cluster.   She focused on her task and enjoyed the challenge.  Some seeds were pretty tiny!

This was my favorite: