Life in a small town

fox, originally uploaded by jahansell.

Every year Sharon Audubon puts on the Enchanted Forest. (I keep calling it the Enchanted Broccoli Forest, because of that old veggie cookbook, but there is no broccoli there!) It's a chance for kids to walk through the woods at night, meet animals of the forest, and learn a little about them and their habitats. Here, the "fox" asked the children to help him bury a big juicy caterpillar. The owl showed them her mouse dinner. The skunk, who was hanging out in the garbage can, asked us not to let the owl know where she was (owls eat skunks) and the bear was raiding the birdfeeder. (These are very realistic animals!) We all learned a few new facts (I never knew bears eat bees along with their honey - hey, it's protein!). Then we all had hot chocolate and a hayride. My 4-year-old, who has gone to this every year since she was a baby, told me urgently, "mom, they're really people inside! I can see their people eyes!"
It was a perfect fall day in a small town - everywhere we went - ballet class, "Kids Time," the ice cream shop, the grocery store, we saw people we knew. Our last stop before the Forest was the school, where my 7-year-old daughter has been practicing riding her 2-wheel bike. Today, at last, she got it - she is now officially off of training wheels. I don't know who is more pleased, her or me!