Fauna

It's about time to pack up our suitcase and drive to the Cleveland airport. My son and I have had an amazingly fun, enriching and memorable stay here in Ohio. My appreciation of Erie County grows with each visit; the sense of community and family--of interconnectedness--here is so strong, and I really miss that living on St. John. (No family is a island, though they might live on one!) It warms my heart to see my son soaking up all the love he receives from his great-grandmother, great-aunts and -uncles and second cousins here in Ohio. And they each teach him something new, from how to collect buckeyes to how to herd miniature horses to how to shake hands "like a man" to how to climb over a cattle fence carrying a bucket of apples (thanks, Great-Grandma Prout!). Here in Ohio, the proverbial village shares with me the weighty (though not onerous) responsibility of raising my son, and I enjoy the sense of collaboration.

Thanks to my mother-in-law, my son and I visited four of the Erie County Metroparks during the course of our two-week visit, and what a discovery they were! The park system even employs a young naturalist who conducts free "Park Pals" programs for youngsters; the list of Park Pals events for September alone numbers in the dozens. This past Monday, we drove to Castalia Quarry Metropark (where my mother-in-law's father worked, once a upon a time) to participate in the "Wildlife Is Everywhere" Park Pals program. We hiked into the old quarry and observed turkey vultures, centipedes, butterflies, crickets, blue jays and wasps' nests. Julie, the Metroparks naturalist, is a gifted educator; she effortlessly imparted a sense of wonder and excitement about the local flora and fauna while we wandered around the park. My in-laws, my son and I stuck around after the program so that we could hike up to a tower above the quarry, from which we could see all the way to Lake Erie. On our way back to the trail head, we were lucky enough to happen upon a bright red cardinal giving himself a bath in a rain puddle atop the lid of a trash can. I'd seen birdbaths before, but never a bird actually giving itself a bath. Man, what a hilarious sight! That little bird was splashing around to beat the band, spraying water everywhere. I loved it.

After we left the park, we met Mike's cousin's wife at her family's barn, and watched (and tried to help) as she tended to her horses (and goats and llama). Between the wildlife at the old quarry and Emily's miscellaneous quadrupeds (and the puppies we met later on at my mother-in-law's sister's house), Monday was filled with learning about and interacting with animals. What more could a homeschooling mom ask for?

Naturalist Julie tells us that we're about to embark on a wildlife safari.

Checking out some signs of insect life.

Cookie the Miniature Horse grazes amidst buckeyes while Parker plays with his second cousin's Tonka trucks.

Jake the Llama. (He moved too fast for me--I couldn't get a good picture of him.)

Watching Jake get herded out to pasture. (Jake didn't seem to be feeling very cooperative that day.)

Even the goats wanted to watch Jake's antics.

A horse smaller than Parker.

Dust bath!

Aw, puppies.

The (operational) quarry in Parkertown! Parker loved seeing all the machines at work. (This was as close as we could get, and I don't think we were even supposed to get this close!)