RECOLLECTING SUNDAY SCHOOL CAMP......... Karina Klesko, US Hiking though the woods, dampness moves with me. Our vacation bible school teacher blows her whistle and we come to a halt. a gray squirrel pauses on a tree branch splashes of sky The teacher calls out names of different woodland plants to find. We all begin the hunt, moving in different directions. A Monarch disappears into Maidenhair Ferns. I follow the butterfly. Patches of Bloodroot and acorns strewn down the slope to the burn. Checking off the correct genera I write my name on popsicle sticks and push them into the ground beside each plant. All morning—the same—light A decaying tree stump is nearby. Rotted wood mixed with earth steep a deep musky odor. Out from the stump, waxy green heart-shaped leaves & fungi cascading over the edge the flow of bird chatter. Referring to the handbook: A picture of a Waxcap seems to be closest in size and has a heart shape leaf. into spongy yellowish-green moss. sun ripples through a breeze— tall oaks and pines shadow a toad I study descriptions of wild flowers, lichen, puffballs and blow my whistle so the teacher can check my journal and walk my marked path. turning the key on her skates— city girl   "Even a minor event in the life of a child is an event of that child's world and thus a world event.                —Gaston Bachelard    return to top of page