Pond Exploring in Uncle’s Back 40

Uncle's Pond

It was a bright and cool morning, and Mia and I were up early and ready for some outdoor adventures. We packed up our things and headed to the car, and Mia patiently waited in her seat while I searched through the atlas to find interesting places. While she was waiting, she grabbed my folded up fly fishing rod from the back of the car, and slid it up to me between the driver and passenger seats.

I looked back at Mia with a smile on my face. “Would you like to go fishing today little one?” She pushed the rod up further to me, and then proceeded to grab her little casting rod from the back. “Well then, I guess we’re going fishing!” I said to her. To which she responded with a giggle and a smile!

Hooray for the car windows down and the cool morning air!

I went back to looking at the atlas, and decided that we would try something new. This brought my thoughts to the pond behind my brothers house. He also lives in Auburn, and his house is situated on a nice little parcel of land. The pond can be seen from one of the roads that connects to his, and right now it is filled with lily pads and frogs. I had been wanting to get to it for some time, and this was the perfect opportunity!

Mia and I headed over to find that her Uncle was not home. I sent him a quick message to let him know that we would be out back in search of some monster bass. Mia got out of the car and played around in the yard while I got our fishing poles and tackle together. We doused ourselves in bug spray, and carried along our new Thermacell. Soon, we were headed into the woods and down to the water.

Mom, I like this little tree!

This was another great opportunity for Mia to do some walking in the woods, without the path of a trail to follow. Walking through the wild like this makes her slow down her pace, and makes her more aware of her surroundings. It also is a good opportunity for her to learn some basic problem solving techniques, such as how to move around obstacles.

I led the way into the woods, prompting Mia to follow suit. She did, reluctantly at first. I watched her as she scanned the area, looking around to see where we were headed. She made motion that she was headed left, towards an open section of ground. When she realized that there was brush standing in her way at the end of the open space, she looked at me with a quizzical look. Almost as if she was asking, “where’s the trail?”

“This way Mia, follow me.” I told her, as I held my hand out for her to grab. She walked to me, and I guided her under some low hanging branches, and over some fallen trees. She let go of my hand and stopped for a moment to look up at the sky, and then looked back at her surroundings. And then, SHE started leading the way!

These textures feel neat!

It was wonderful to see her stop at obstacles in the woods, and think about how she was going to get around them. She started using her hands to push branches and brush out of her way. She tenderly stepped on unusual ground surfaces, almost as if she thought they might be softer than they look. She even began finding little “passages” through some of the tightly grown trees. Scooching down to walk under them so she wouldn’t hit her head! This is a sure sign of progress in her awareness of her own body and what is around it!

When we got to the pond, we searched for a place to cast out. Needless to say, there wasn’t much of a shoreline for fishing where we stopped. I managed to find a small opening, but it provided little room to get our rubber salamanders and frogs into the water. So, we set down the rods and did some more exploring instead!

Mia continued on through the woods, becoming that much more aware as she went. She stopped to feel the textures of tree trunks, leaves, and the forest floor as we went along. She weaved this way and that as she watched out for obstacles. She stopped and reached for my hand when she needed help getting over some of the fallen trees that we encountered along our tour.
Needless to say, we did not find any monster bass on this trip. But we did manage to find a few spots that we can cast from next time. And Mia gained a better sense of self awareness as she went along!

Mia looking out over the water, taking in her surroundings!