This past week my son went back to school, like many kids across the region. I took Tuesday off work to just spend the day with him. Upon asking him what he wanted to do that day, his response was surprisingly simple: have Tom’s Donuts for breakfast and go for a walk.
Once we secured our donuts and did a couple of other errands in town, we chose to visit the McClue Nature Preserve just a few miles from our home. According to the IN.gov website: “Thirty acres (our of eighty total acres) of McClue are covered by some of the best old-growth forest in northeast Indiana, including large tulip trees and red and white oaks. Flowering dogwood adds color to the understory in the spring. The woods is rich in spring wildflowers, and a good area for spring birding. Nesting warblers include: Cerulean, Hooded, American Redstart, and Ovenbird. The remainder of the area is younger woods, or field succeeding toward woods. A small pine grove, planted in the mid-1950s, occurs along the east boundary. The entire preserve is very rolling with rounded hills and low, wet depressions.”
There were three trail lengths we could choose from. Tulip Trail is the shortest, being just a little over six-tenths of a mile. Poplar Trail is the middle length being almost eight-tenths. And The Long Trail is longest being almost one and a half miles long. While it was mostly woody scenery, it was still quiet and peaceful and we scared up a few deer and rabbits along the way.
While my son saw our walk as an adventure, I saw it as a great reminder that small treasures are near us everyday, but we may not always see them. We have lived in Steuben County for 11 years now, and I have driven past this preserve many times, but have never taken the time to stop. But do to a simple request from my son, we made the time to explore and enjoy this little woody scene for a few minutes before our lives get busy with back-to-school and fall activities.
So, today’s message is just a reminder to take a few minutes and go out for “just a walk” and see what little treasures you can discover!
The Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service is an Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity institution.