“Mom, there’s a baby bird over here,” calmly called Kid 1 from across the backyard. I admit conflicting feelings of wanting to help the dove huddled on the ground and wanting to actually fix the tree well I’d meant to address for months. The baby bird – and my big teenager’s moment of genuine concern – diverted my attention. We looked up Tucson Wildlife Center’s advice and re-nested the nestling. (Title image by Ethan Van Devender.)
Kid 1 patiently watched for a parent to return while I left briefly for work. After the first hour, he called to report “no”. When I came home, he excitedly showed me that mama – or dada? – dove was in the tree above the baby in its new strawberry-carton home! The water around our oak tree’s trunk will have to be diverted another day. The little life of that bird is extended at least another day. Small stuff can feel big in the backyard and in parenting.
My attention span has remained especially small this summer. Before this weekend’s bird story presented itself, I had already outlined little things to celebrate in between harder-to-grasp accomplishments. May they bring a few smiles to your day as well.
Cool little projects
My procrastiplanted sweet potatoes are handling summer well in an assortment of beds and containers outside. They started as leggy indoor vines and now have huge leaves and grow in more of a mound. Possibly they are being pruned by my pet dog or our resident packrat, but they keep growing anyway.
I successfully organized literally one corner of the house. These are photo albums, travel and history books, and field guides for the family, now categorized, accessible, and less dusty. Nearby are novels and eclectic non-fiction, fairy tales and poetry. I’ve worked sporadically on other boxes and files, collections of seeds and containers… you just wouldn’t guess it by looking. This one completed corner of our dining room makes me very happy.
My Wet and Wild in the Garden students dug in the mud, and dug in the mud some more. This also makes me very happy. On the first day of class, several little ones didn’t feel comfortable touching the cool, moist soil with their “bunny paws,” aka hands. Then, aha! When offered trowels, they were all in, and kept coming back to play in more ways. This gardening teacher remembered that tools are as much to accomplish tasks in the garden as they are to engage the gardeners.
Cool little life
In Tucson’s intense summer I set very low expectations for my plants. Alive is good, green is better, flowers or fruit are above and beyond. Some small stuff that got high praise from me were wolfberry leaves emerging from branches that had waited in dormancy until after our first BIG monsoon storm; mint leaves that emerged from tough roots after one missed watering killed off the former stems; and a perky zinnia bud from a stray seed planted in a demonstration pot back in May at Miller-Golf Links Library.
Kid 2, like Kid 1, is adept at finding and focusing on nature’s details. At the Red Rock State Park visitor’s center, he crouched patiently next to an artificial stream teeming with life. Tadpoles! He gamely observed the posted “stay out of the water” rule while pointing out the tiny creatures in all sizes and stages. When he was ready to move on, we were rewarded with an adult red-spotted toad hopping across the sidewalk!
On a larger scale, I felt privileged to guide and supervise small humans in water play during Wet and Wild. With a hose as my tool this time, and I believe we were pretending to be birds, kids had an extra cool time exploring a puddle we pretended was from rain. As planned, wetness made a big difference in helping us all enjoy the garden a little longer on an extra-hot day.
Cool little places
To beat the heat, my family did spend plenty of time indoors. Kid 2 met a summer goal to re-build a disheveled Minecraft world – with Legos on the table in his bedroom. Naturey? No. Imaginitave, cooperative, and brain-building. Absolutely. My boys are as emotionally invested in their dynamic, miniature Lego worlds as I am in my plants. “Loose parts” play is something I believe in big-time, and plastic pieces definitely count.
Each of my boys also took a big trip for Boy Scouts. So when I look back on our summer I realize a lot of my attention was spent helping them properly prepare for their adventures. As a family, our trip was smaller: Sedona, AZ, a local wonder requiring relatively little planning or travel. Playing in refreshing creeks is fortunately encouraged in Crescent Moon Ranch and West Fork Trail! We also hiked on luxurious red sand, paused in repeated awe at the different-sort-of-desert views, plus shared stories, food, and games with extended family. What an end-of-summer treat!
Back in town, I appreciate the travel inherent in Nature to You’s mobile gardening lessons because I get to know diverse people and places in Pima County. We sure have some little libraries! The real ones, not wooden boxes. Dewhirst-Catalina is a storefront branch that packed their tiny meeting room for gardening storytime in July. The eager questions and creative ideas from adults and kids alike were beautiful. I’m also encouraged by the library’s plans to expand programming space beyond their walls because of patrons’ interest in growing things.
Cool little bird?
As I write this on Monday morning, a dove parent is feeding his or her rescued baby. I’m excited to tell my son when he gets up. I’m thankful to have played a small part in supporting wildlife in the world of our backyard, and that my kids and I have enough attention and tools to do so. I’m also relieved to not need to trek across town to Tucson Wildlife Center today, nice place though it is. It’s my last day to try getting things done at home before my school teaching job resumes.
What small stuff has emerged as summer successes for you? What little projects, life, or places have kept you going? Happy “new” year if school is a part of your life, and continued growth indoors and out!