A Running Collection

Amelia waits for the earth to burst with color and she begins to plan her flower collection. She b undles together the spring color bursts. She knows the combination even before she gathers single green grass strands and bunches of wild purple flowers. She walks among the fields picking yellow flowers from the collards and dill and white ones from the blooming cilantro. Their metamorphosis offering the colorful blooms as the garden is done providing winter food and now offers sweet smelling flowers for her bouquets.  Friends arrive to camp and play and create. By lunch time, the “harvesting” is happening They are going to have a feast. A harvest feast. They collect Loquats, thistle flowers (you can eat), collard leaves, brussel sprouts still hanging on, the last of the beets, wild onions, and all they can handle of rosemary, sage, mint, and parsley. They make a fire and set to work.  The piles of produce they’ve gathered is arranged so strategically, I want a ...

 Spring Break suddenly was upon us along with an extremely chilly cold front. George offered to take the kiddos on a short camping trip for the first two days before we all took off for the North Carolina mountains. As he was heading out the door, I mumbled something (I'm sure out of guilt that as a home school mom I'm never doing enough) about using some of his great geography, topography knowledge to make their trip ever so slightly educational. By the end of spring break, the kids had visited a total of 4 hydroelectric damns, seven rivers, and followed one river all the way to it's source.  They also studied the Torreya trees, learned the history from a local plantation, and drank gallons of hot chocolate. By the time we reached North Caroline, the temperature was dropping into the teens at night. We stayed cozy and found adventures bundled in the closest thing to bundled our Floridian wardrobes would afford. The kids wanted to find snow. We found snow and hiked i...