Self-Guided Hike at Branch Hill Farm
Amy and her family visited the Branch Hill Farm “Seasons of Change” walk, which is part of the WWW Explorers Club. This is a self-guided walk for families with 18 different informational posts through the fields and forests of Branch Hill Farm. Please learn more about the walk and the Explorers Club here. We hope it will inspire your family to reflect on nature and life through all the seasons.
We started walking in the wrong direction. We found number 18, and then number 17. I asked my kids if they wanted to go back the other direction and start at number 1, but they said they would prefer to stay the course. When we found number 16, we were delighted to find a book posted. The Knight and the Dragon, by DePoala. It turned out to be in order when we went the “wrong way” and we enjoyed reading it and seeing the pictures along the way. Also at number 16 was the bat house, which was really cool. We had never seen one that size before and thought it was neat that it was placed near water so the bats’ home is near an excellent food source.
Reminders of the summer ending were all around us as we felt the cool breeze on our faces and arms, found leaves that had just started changing color, and many flowers dead-looking and full of seeds for next year. There were fewer birds, too. I’ve got to confess, it was a somber reminder of how hard this year has been- but too, it is a reminder that the Earth takes care of itself in remarkable ways- creating new life again. As the summer draws to a close, and the uncertainty of what this school year is going to look like looms over my head, it was amazing to note how Nature is already preparing for the new life, the better days, but it also knows that it has to endure winter before the new life comes.
As we entered the woods, we saw a beautiful Eastern Phoebe flitting from dead branch to dead branch looking for insects to munch, its tail bobbing up and down. Nature has a way of putting pictures into our feelings, speaking to our souls about what we think and feel. When we spend time in nature, it connects us to something bigger than we are. It is a place full of safety and un-safety, a point in time to just be, feel, smell, see.