Vacation Song

We went for a picnic July 5th (which was my nephew Caleb's birthday-happy birthday, Caleb!) to Wolverine Canyon, which has been a favorite nature spot for my family since before I was born. It's also just down the road from us, which is nice. The pictures we took of the children reminded me of this old poem, so I thought I'd put them together to share with you.

"Vacation Song"

I have closed my books and hidden my slate,

And thrown my satchel across the gate.

My school is out for a season of rest,

And now for the schoolroom I love best.

My schoolroom lies on the meadow wide,

Where under the clover the sunbeams hide,

Where the long vines cling to the mossy bars,

And the daisies twinkle like fallen stars.

Where clusters of buttercups gild the scene,

Like showers of gold dust thrown over the green,

And the winds' flying footsteps are traced, as they pass,

By the dance of the sorrel and dip of the grass.

My lessons are written in clouds and trees,

And no one whispers, except the breeze,

Who sometimes blows, from a secret place,

A stray, sweet blossom against my face.

My school bell rings in the rippling stream,

Which hides itself, like a schoolboy's dream,

Under the shadow and out of sight,

But laughing still for its own delight.

My schoolmates there are the birds and the bees,

And the saucy squirrel, more dull than these,

For he only learns, in all the weeks,

How many chestnuts will fill his cheeks.

My teacher is patient, and never yet

A lesson of hers did I once forget,

For wonderful lore do her lips impart,

And all her lessons are learned by heart.

Oh, come! oh, come! or we shall be late,

And autumn will fasten the golden gate,

Of all the schoolroom in east or west

The school of Nature I love the best.

~Katharine Lee Bates

May we all go out and enjoy Nature this summer!

Love,

Marqueta