Soapbox

The Best Part

So I've got this kid… who just came back from a three month stint in the wilds of Texas, fighting invasive species. Several times a week he posted photographs on Facebook of his adventures: some plants, and birds, insects and reptiles. Yes, his mother was definitely of two minds over his photos of venomous snakes they chased through the brush and alligators that swam by, but I know he is in his element then.

Right before he got back the local metroparks put out another edition of their park magazine, which included a challenge to find the top 10 reptiles which can be seen at the parks. I kept it and set it out for Steve to read the next morning, since I thought he might be interested.

When I got back from work that afternoon I asked him if he had seen it.

   "Oh, yes, as a matter of fact. And… well, I found a mistake."
    "You did?" (Why am I not surprised? )
    "Sure. It says….. here, that there are 3 species of venomous snakes in Ohio, but of course, there are 10."
     "Ten? Really?"
Yes, really, and he proceeded to name all of them.  I looked- it was a naturalist at one of the parks who wrote that story. Huh. They'd do better to hire my kid than this clown.

Later he was in the yard, helping me install a new compost box. As we dug through the layers, encountering centipedes and earthworms, I observed that at least we didn't have to worry about scorpions or snakes or lizards crawling out at us, as he would have a week ago.
      "Mom" he admonished, "That was the best part of Texas!"

    Oh right. Welcome back, son.