“Over here! Look, it’s a scorpion!”
My niece was excited about her find, and we all gathered round, watching the tiny scorpion scurry. He seemed terrified, and who could blame him? Having his nice cozy rock lifted, and a bunch of huge faces staring down, and somebody kept waving that stick at him! A scorpion’s life isn’t always easy. 
My sister was in Arizona with her family, all down from Canada for early Christmas. After the exciting stuff (i.e. kids opening their gifts), we set out on a desert walk. The kids were exploring, and turning over lots of rocks in search of cool discoveries. Their dad was closely supervising, to ensure that no harm came to anyone or anything. I was impressed by how the kids respected nature. “Don’t hurt it — it’s a living creature. We’ll put it back just the way it was.” Such good kids. (Not that I’m biased, or anything!)
All in all, this short walk turned up 2 scorpions, a centipede, a millipede, a spent shotgun shell, plenty of ants, and all sorts of under-rock wonders I would never have seen. If Debbie and I had taken the same walk by ourselves, we would have talked a lot, but we would not have turned over a single rock!
The scorpions would still have been there, but we would have missed them. It made me think about how much else we miss everyday. The world is full of fascinating things all around us, but we’re just not paying attention.
I’ll have to start looking under more rocks.
PS. The picture is from a different outing a few days earlier, when the kids went exploring around Tucson with their grandma. Yes, it was cold even here in Arizona, but beautiful nonetheless!
6 responses so far ↓
1 Erin // Jul 17, 2008 at 7:13 pm
What a nice story. it really does make you stop to think about what we may have missed along the way. Kids have such a way of opening our eyes to these things and slowing down to appreciate life more.
2 Lisa Duff // Jul 17, 2008 at 7:46 pm
I would have a heart attack if I saw a scorpion. I’m a city girl who has never seen anything like that.
3 Dwayne // Jul 17, 2008 at 10:34 pm
The treasures that children find because of there observance is amazing.
4 Melissa // Jul 17, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Oh man, I’d have freaked out. I have heard nothing but bad things about Scorpions. I hate bugs. . . but I love watching children explore the world around them.
5 Deanna Keahey // Jul 20, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Personally, I’m not afraid to see the scorpions, but I know many parents would be afraid for their kids to get too close. My brother-in-law was carefully supervising the whole operation though, to make sure everything was OK. I liked the way he encouraged both their curiosity and respect for nature — in a safe way.
6 Tanya // Jul 20, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Nature is so interesting! I would love to go and see these creatures! You brought up a really good point. Often we are walking around and not seeing many wonders. Even if creatures are weird or scary, it is still worthwhile seeing them and learning about them.
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