Water and Worms

A bird came down the walk:
He did not know I saw;
He bit an angle-worm in halves
And ate the fellow, raw.


And then he drank a dew
From a convenient grass,
And then hopped sidewise to the wall
To let a beetle pass.

~Emily Dickenson

It's been quite rainy the last several days. Thanksgiving, it seems, was our last sunny day 

between Thursday and Monday. Little F was not going to let that stop her from going outside.

 I made sure she had a coat on (it was after all a cold rain), put rainboots on her feet, and let 

her explore the wonderful outdoors. I thought for sure she'd make mud puddles and was 

finding myself wishing I'd brought a more play friendly jacket with us to her nana's home. 

Thankfully little F is far more fascinated by grass and puddles than by mud. She spent 

most of the morning picking grass and wild onions, "planting" them in Nana's empty 

flower pots, and chasing worms in puddles. 

There were plenty of worms. She started out by squatting so that she could get a better 

view. Then, tentatively, her hand reached out toward the worm. Quickly she retracted  it, 

then tried again. This time she reached through the low puddle and actually touched

 its back! She startled as the worm recoiled from her tough, curling its front and rear ends, 

wriggling into a tight coil. She again retracted her hand, and again reached out. This 

continued for several minutes. Changing her methods F then cupped her hands to 

block and change the worm's path. I think she was rather disappointed it didn't 

climb up 

             into her 

                         hands. 

But she kept exploring and observing the worm for quite a long time. 

When she came inside she said "I did saw a worm outside. 

It was big and taller and taller. It touch me."