Steve is working at Old World Wisconsin today, but I’m not.  This morning, I had another volunteer stint at the Wehr Nature Center instead.  I led three groups of preschoolers on a nature hunt.  Each child got a colored pipe cleaner wrapped around his/her wrist, and they kept their eyes peeled for that color on our walk.   There were plenty of purple, yellow, white and pink flowers to find. 

The little guy with light blue was a bit sad faced until I told him there was lots of that color to be found, but he’d have to look way up high.  The clouds had dispersed after a night of thunderstorms, and the sky was a beautiful blue, just like the boy’s eyes.   Orange was the most surprising color of all.  The first group saw a pair of Baltimore orioles chasing each other.  I had seen their teardrop-shaped nest on an earlier walk.  The second group saw a butterfly with orange and black wings, probably not a monarch or a viceroy yet, more likely a Red Admiral.  With the third group, I wasn’t able to spot either of those things, but then a discarded orange peel caught my eye.  Maybe not as exciting, but it was orange.  Red came in dark maroon, the prairie trillium and red maple buds.  I heard a cardinal but didn’t see him.  Black and brown was the mud beneath our feet, the tree trunks and black walnuts. Also the logs in the middle of the lake. 

Some of those dark bumps are actually painted turtles.  They wear many colors, but they were too far away to see.  And of course, green…green….green in every shade, every where, overhead, underfoot, and even under water.

It’s so much fun to get down on a three-year old’s level and go exploring.  The world is a wonderful place!  Enjoy it today!