On the River

First, excuse the pics at the bottom of my post. I don't know why they doubled and were laid over each other. But, you will get the point.

So, my last report was late due to the fact that I was unable to connect anywhere in the hills. Now that we are back in Jeff City for the 4th of July. I will make a double report. The Current River was spectacular. The weather was warm, the river was cool, and the wildlife was abundant. Even the crazy hillbilly wildlife. My favorite story from the river is Ellis and his exploration into the world of fish and wildlife biology.

My Granny’s sister Barb has a beautiful farm out in the hills. Granny, my mom, me, Ellis, Avery and Celie went to her farm one morning to see her “girls”. Her chickens. They are certainly a chatty group. She has one in particular that loves to ride around on Aunt Barb’s shoulder. Her name is Bitty. Ellis had the chance to hold her and she pooped on him. He just laughed. The chickens were a hoot. Ellis just watched, chased, listened to Aunt Barb and asked a TON of questions. That morning on her rounds around the farm she also found a baby rabbit. It was a brand new baby. His eyes were still shut. He was in the middle on the road, and still alive. Ellis held and cuddled that little baby. Again he questioned away. Celie carefully touched it and was amazed. Avery watched from a distance with both. The big garden was again a huge learning experience for Ellis.

Later that afternoon we went to the river. There was a man and his grandkids there with a minnow trap. He had trapped some and asked if the kids wanted to see them. He gave Ellis and Avery each a minnow to hold. Ellis spent the next 30 minutes investigating the inner and outer workings of his 5 inch minnow. Of course, this brave fish gave his life for the sake of childhood science. Ellis was hilarious! He found the fins, the gills (which we had a whole lesson about how fish breath), the eyes, the mouth, and where the fish poops. (Lots of animal poop this day) Once the fish expired, Ellis was able to use his fingers to move the eyes around and he discovered that if you squeeze the eyes together, the mouth will open and Ellis’ finger will fit in perfectly! HA! What a boy. The man’s grandson gave him another fish to play with. Well, he did not fair any better than his fellow fish. When it was time to leave for the day, Ellis did not want to leave his fish. He said, “ But I love them so!” But we decided that the river was their home and they needed to be at their home. We said goodbye to the fish and he gave them a good toss into the river. There is certainly never a shortage of learning opportunities on the river.