Noticing... in Winter

On the North side of our house, we have an old Rock-Elm tree that bears the distinctive right-angled branch of a pre-european trail marker. The locals would pick a healthy young tree along their trail, choose a major branch, and splint it so that it would grow in a peculiar fashion. Once the growth pattern was set, they would remove the splint, and their trail was marked for the life of the tree.

Of course, the only people who would notice this marker are those who know how a Rock-Elm normally grows. The pre-european locals were very good at noticing such things.

The old tree is over by the boundary of our land, which has a creek and 40 acres of woods on the other side. Needless to say there is plenty of wildlife out there, and no shortage of birds.

Jack's computer sits right beside a large picture window which looks out at the old tree. A perfect spot for a boy who likes to notice things.

With the heavy snow, we knew our furry and feathered friends would be looking for food.

Misti and Jack took a large selection of seeds and grains out to feed the critters, and very shortly, the scene outside Jack's picture widow became a hive of activity.




"Look, there's Mrs Cardinal" he would cry out "... and there's Mr Cardinal ... and some sparrows... and... what are those little grey birds with white breasts?"




We looked them up in his bird book, and determined that they were Junco's otherwise known as Snowbirds. Apparently they winter in Michigan and summer in Canada.












A little later, the squirrel (resident in the Rock-Elm) showed up.


And, of course, Jack had to get out amongst it all. He had found an acorn which he was sure the squirrel wanted.









Slowly and surely, our little guy is amassing a working knowledge of his environment, all in the name of "noticing".