P's photo collection: memories of his summer

P adored the abounding nature on my folk's farm. Bugs, frogs and lichen rounded out his faves, with cicada shells being the most frequently collected beauty. My dear mother provided P with a (large) dedicated space for his nature collection which he proceeded to fill with rocks, crystals and pine cones from Colorado, fossils, cicada shells and rocks from Kansas and (drum roll, please) a wolf skull, shark's tooth, and two snake skins.

Wha? Yah. Indeed. The child and I went to the AMNH right before we headed west and he became immensely enamored with a dolphin skull and a saber tooth tiger skull. Immensely enamored. Upon arriving in Kansas, P announced to Grams that in lieu of a toy this trip, he would greatly like one of these skulls :) What's 800 big ones between friends?

Magical Grams astounded me when she marched the little man into another room, only to return with a beaming chid bearing a scary looking skull and simultaneously screaming "Fangs! Mama, BB! Fangs!!! Look at those canines!"

The two snake skins were also found by the lovely Gramsie-grams. I spied the shark's tooth on our last day there, lodged in the limestone wall. Grandpapa, bless him, slowly excavated it, under the pounding sun, with the little man's help.

A picture of his window ledge filled with wild wonders would be more than appropriate here, but I have a sleeping child snuggled up against me and my camera is in the other room awaiting download... :) So, working with what's already on my computer tonight, here's the nature pics the little man requested I capture so that he could "have them for forever." (Apparently, when we can't actually collect something (say a dead frog, or an olive that will rot), visual collection fills his need to obtain...) Now, I'd personally edit some of these shots out, but seeing how its the little man's blog and he's requested them all be taken and posted, well, I do as a good little mama is told ;)