Where should we go today?

Today was a gorgeous, mid-60s autumn day here in the Old Dominion. So after Mass we headed out for adventures, ending up (after a drive around and a visit to a community playground) at Prince William Forest Park .

This is one of those parks built in the 30s through FDR's Conservation Corps job-creation. This was land that had been farmed and left for centuries since the first colonists came to the area in the 1600s. The problem with farming back then: they didn't understand the need to rotate and allow fields to "rest". The land was played out and people left; then new folks would come a few decades later and the cycle continued. By 1930, only small farms remained and much of the land was gradually reverting to the gorgeous deciduous forests we see now.

In 1933, the CCC worked on reforesting the area. By 1941, the CCC had built roads, bridges (the one pictured above is over Quantico Creek), dams, and five rustic cabin camps (and from mid-April till mid-October, you can rent these same cabins - now wired with electricity). Today, the park's more than 15000 acres contains over 35 miles of hiking trails, 20 miles of biking trails and camping and fishing facilities. We can't wait to do short camping trips to this area -- only 15 minutes from the house and yet so completely "out there".

We had such fun -- dh did a bit of nature study with us on the trees by teaching the kids (and me!) about identifying the bark, leaves, and size of trees. We collected lots of acorns, hickory nuts and colorful leaves from the maples, oaks, and poplars.

Here's the nature table String Bean designed for her family ... the table cloth really brings out the glorious autumnal colors.

Nature Study: 1st attempt not so successful

OK, I'm going to admit something here ... I'm AMAZINGLY nature challenged.

I'm a fairly intelligent woman.

I have a BA in print journalism from Gonzaga University and an MBA with a concentration in Marketing Research from the College of William and Mary. I've scored well on various batteries of tests including passing a psych review to work in Flight Control at Delta Air Lines (not an easy thing to pass but I'm spatially top-notch and am amazingly honest when quizzed by a psych!). I have an amazingly high iq and read all the time -- deep stuff, not just fluff.

But, somewhere my education is lacking. Somehow I've gone through 18 years of formal schooling + a total of 40+ years of living and I'm still missing something. I'm nature challenged.

No, really, really nature challenged.

I can't tell a River Oak from a Water Oak from a Live Oak. And the only reason I know that there are more types than just "Oak" is because I spent more than an hour -- an embarrassing hour -- trying to teach my kiddoes about trees today.

I had grand plans -- we'd head to the Marine Museum park (an absolutely beautiful playground carved into a mixed type forest with gorgeous trees) and each pick a tree. We'd use the Common Native Trees of Virginia to determine exactly which tree and then draw it in our nature journals and record various facts and then come back in a month and take more readings. It would be fabulous.

Than reality struck.

I couldn't figure out whether a leaf was compound or simple, pinnate or palmate, 11 or more leaflets vs less than 11, slate gray bark or "not curled and peeling" .... well you get the picture.

At one point, I'd lost both String Bean and Bam-bam, who'd left quietly deciding that ignoring this crazy, book-reading lady would be better than trying to understand what the heck she was muttering about ... "margin wavy or widely toothed or is it at least some of the leaves deeply lobed"?????

Only LegoManiac stuck it out with me.

After almost an hour, we were able to confirm that one tree was a sweet gum and the other a flowering dogwood ... the kids were NOT impressed.

I came home to my very understanding husband. The man who has a PhD in Poultry Science, has coached Science Olympiad middle school teams to the Nationals, a guy who was North Carolina State champion in "Tree-mendous" .... did I get sympathy? Well, a bit.

His suggestion? Take a deep breath, re-group and down-size my expectations and lesson plans.

So on our next outing ... probably on Friday (you have to get right back up on that horse, don't you?) ... he said just collect different leaves, bring them home and really look at them, figure out what they are and KNOW the leaves.

Once the leaves fall (in the next month or so), than really look at the bark of the different trees ... take rubbings, pictures, sketches and try and id from these. By the time Spring comes around, we should know the "population of trees" in the park; we should know what we're looking at or looking for and be able to start id'ing trees in situ.

Who knew you had to know so much about trees to be able to identify them with your children?

And, you know the really ironic thing?

String Bean's poem for memory-work this week is Joyce Kilmer's The Trees!