The Wrong Nature Center

June opened up with a hot day. We'd gotten a slow start and Alex was anxious to continue his non-stop outdoor life. I wasn't in much of a mood to travel far, so I thought it might be a good day to visit the Marshlands Conservancy. The land contains forested acres with paths that lead down to the shore which is lined with saltwater marshlands. The last time we were there, Alex was far too young to hike with me and the paths weren't stroller friendly. I wasn't too sure how far we'd get this time.

I started out with a picnic in Florence Park, telling Alex that we were going to a different nature center that day. After we got to the entrance of Marshlands, we started our long walk down their driveway. Alex informed me that this was the 'wrong' nature center. No matter how often I told him that it was just a 'different' one, he insisted that it was the 'wrong' one. Apparently only the forested, inland Rye Nature Center will do now.

It was an amazing walk along the marshlands. We got a tad muddy walking on the straw grass at the waterline. The better path led down to a sandy beach where a ton of waterfowl were nesting with their young. I was surprised to see how calm the geese were when we approached them and their goslings. Alex was more into playing in the wet, muddy sand while I gathered some more seashell treasures for our collection.

The weather turned unpredictable. Soon enough the thunder and dark clouds that came up turned to rain while we were walking back along the path. I told Alex "Oh well. I guess we're gonna get wet." Reminded of a Nick, Jr. music video, he started to sing Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds".

"Don't worry, about a thing. Every little thing is gonna be all right."

Then he hugged my leg. I suppose he was reenacting the scene that shows a mama bat shielding her baby bat from the rain with her wing.

We got muddy and sandy and totally wet before we got home, but we had a great day at the "wrong" nature center.

Sunday, June 6