The Vultures are back. Counted 11 vultures soaring above the Creek last night-a perfect end to Earth Day. As I watched, I felt incredibly fortunate to experience such a spectacular show, Mother Nature at it’s best.
Sadly, no more Coyote anymore! (I’ll fill you in on the Coyote another day).
Today I was working on my latest Butterfly Girl book character – Nika the Gemstone Collector. Secretly, she’s probably my favorite, maybe it’s because she reminds me of myself when I was growing up. A bit of a tom boy – having 3 brothers, I didn’t get much girly time). Nika is always exploring, enjoying her own company but she also loves to be around the Butterfly Girls, especially when she has Gemstones to share.
As a child, I remember my father tumbled stones in our garage. We were filled with excitement, waiting to see how the stones would look after all that tumbling-it was like magic.
I also remember being envious of my brother who found an enormous Agate which the local Museum proudly displayed his name alongside his treasure. Not any old museum either, this was the National Museum of Scotland.
As for our kids, they were happy finding any old stone that sparkled. Sam and Jas still love to roam about looking for stones and rocks. On the beach, pebbles are a favorite after shells of course!.
A real fun activity for kids (and not forgetting the parents) is painting stones. We have ladybirds, bumblebee’s and flower painted stones dotted around the house. One Christmas we decided to give the whole family and all our friend painted pebbles as gifts.
Anyway, my main drive for Nika the Butterfly Girl is to inspire kids to get outside and explore – have an adventure finding some stones, cones, beetles and bugs, feathers or even, maybe catch sight of a Butterfly Girl!
