Five Whole Days to Learn About Nature

It’s better than nothing.

The city-dwelling children enjoyed recess on a playground made of sandboxes housing monkey bars. Past a rectangle swatch of mowed grass, there was a backstop for playing kickball on an asphalt field. Along the chain-link fences, there were a few holes cut out of the blacktop where trees grew. From the outfield, you could see the mountains far away.

That’s where the sixth-grade camp was held. The sixth graders got to go camping for five days and four nights. They found wilderness there.

Camp counselors took them hiking through the forest, teaching them about things like the difference between deciduous and evergreen trees and how to identify stinging nettle and poison oak. For some of the city-dwelling children, this was the first time they had ever been away from the city.

On the last night, there was a night hike. The counselors told them to turn off their flashlights. They learned about the night vision of nocturnal animals, both predators, and prey. It was scary and fun because they were all together. As a special treat, they were taught that Wint-O-Green Lifesavers spark in the dark when you chew them with your mouth open.

Thank you for reading my response to the Weekly Prompt: Wilderness Found.

Would you care to read my response to the Weekly Prompt: Wilderness Lost? Here it is.

Among other things, Jill Kelley is a writer living in Idaho.