Adventures in Nature

Miss O: "Mom, have you ever seen a monkey?"
Me: "Yes, we just saw one the other day at the zoo, remember?"
Miss O: "No, I mean in the wild."
Me: "Come to think of it, no."

One of the amazing things about having children is being able to experience their unbridled curiosity and innocent, yet provocative inquiries. Miss O is into bugs (which I am thrilled about -- she didn't inherit my insane insect phobias), and she is in love with pretty much any creature she comes across, from lizards and snails to panda bears and pythons. She is constantly asking me questions like: "What do ducks eat?" and "Do camels eat people?" It really broadens my spectrum of thoughts and helps me transcend the daily minutiae of car maintenance and bill paying.

So it was even more special when we saw a starfish in the wild on our trip to the beach last weekend. No aquarium admission price to pay and no lines to wait in... simply and brilliantly, this enchanting creature was hanging out in its home for us to witness its beauty up close.

When we originally got to this beach, I was worried the kids wouldn't be able to just walk on smooth sand... but it turns out that exploring in the rocks was much more fun. We saw lots of large black crabs too. And Miss O's fearlessness is rubbing off on me, as an added bonus of the already overwhelming privilege of being her mother.

As a side note, incidentally, starfish are now called sea stars.

I look forward to all of the starry-eyed experiences I have yet to experience with my family.