When my husband takes the boys out without me, they go wild. Literally. Never a store, rarely a playground–they explore the woods and creeks and fields, returning with photographs of every creature and flower and leaf they discover.
A creature-adventure to remember came the day they discovered a red-tailed hawk eating a squirrel. “He was so close,” they said, “we almost could have touched him.” They watched, perfectly still, as minutes ticked by. They returned to the scene of that adventure last week, and I asked Martin if he saw any more red-tailed hawks. He said, “No, just bulldozers.”
The wild wooded area, blocked in by neighborhoods on all sides, was being sacrificed to the latest development.
I have nothing profound or unique or controversial to say about suburban sprawl and destroying wild spaces; I have just a boy looking for hawks and finding bulldozers.
Sad about the bulldozers, but so great that they get out into “the wild” like that with their papa.
I love the stories about the “wild.” We are always talking about how our kids at school (kindergarteners) aren’t outside enough. We went on an “observation” walk yesterday and it might have been the most inspiring thing we did all year. Children who are so quiet in the classroom saw patterns around us, all sorts of objects the other children missed…Thank you Martin, and dad, for exploring, and for your mom for sharing!
This is an excellent post. You don’t have to comment or say anything controversial at all. The post speaks says it all.
What a sad loss.
Lovely, if upsetting post. You’re such a star.
I’m so torn when I think of things like this.
I’ve lived in old, established neighborhoods and I’ve lived in new developments.
When I was a kid I lived in a neighborhood that was newish at the time (thirty years ago) that had been fought by older neighborhoods and that has recently (five years ago) fought a new neighborhood coming in for the exact same reasons it had been fought. Seems a bit hypocritical to me, “Now that I’ve got mine, let’s preserve.”
At the same time, I’ve lived in older developments and not wanted to see sprawl.
I can’t judge. I just can’t.
I’m so sorry this special part of childhood is being taken from your kids. Our area, up the road, is tested every six months or so for increased stability so it can be built on. People need to live somewhere, I know, but so do hawks and squirrels.