Exploring in the Rain

     Yesterday was a cold and rainy day.  When third grade gathered at the farm, we quickly emptied our kitchen scraps, cleaned out our buckets and then headed out for an exploration of the whole 16 acre section of the property that we call Emerson Farm.  The children saw diamonds (water droplets) in the trees,

     fungus growing on branches,

twisty white vines,

beautiful green mosses,

flat strips of bark from a sycamore tree, and the way the colors are so much darker and stronger in the rain.  They stopped and listened to the bouncing, rattling, pattering of rain as it came down through the branches above them.
     They discovered that the farm's boundaries are Millhouse rd., the driveway and yard of our neighbor, the railroad tracks and the playing field.  They also discovered the bed of an old pond

and the break in the dam through which the water escaped.

On their return they had the chance to leap a small creek or take the long way around and go over a wooden bridge.
     We wished that we had more time to explore and we also wished for trash bags when we walked along Millhouse Road!  All in all it was a great way to spend a rainy day!