I reach into my pocket to warm my hands and without fail I stumble upon a collection of pine cones, dutifully collected by my eldest. I notice that I’m smiling to myself and realise that these pine cones are bringing as much joy to me as they do to her. I’m walking a few steps behind my children as they explore a National Trust property. Every couple of steps they’ll drop to the floor or reach to the sky at the next snippet of nature they’ve discovered. Today we’re using the zoom on the camera to look at things up close, it’s a little like a pocket microscope for the field and they are in awe; a leaf, some bracket fungus an old piece of wood all look so different under the zoom. It’s only today that I’ve realised that my eldest has always loved the outdoors and adventure (the nature argument), however it’s coming to the youngest and it’s clear that a love of the outdoors can be nurtured very easily when there is so much to discover.
The Wandering Whippersnapper 