News : What is Your Favorite Season?

By Aaron Askelson, Naturalist I certainly have a hard time picking my favorite season. In Iowa there are so many unique things about each season that it is hard to pick just one. The excitement I used to feel from the first snow has kind of worn off a little at my age but to say it is completely gone would be a lie. Having a snowflake catching contest with my son is still a favorite activity. The first flowers that come up in spring time now seem to mean a lot more than they ever did when I was a kid. When the leaves begin to turn in the fall is another one of those signs that brings back vivid memories of long drives along the Mississippi River to absorb all the wonderful hues the leaves were changing to. Summer can be summed up in an old canning jar holding 5 or 6 fireflies in it. Running barefoot through my grandparent’s backyard with my sister and cousins catching as many as we could. Each season brings something new to the senses. In the late fall you have the crunch and crackle of dried leaves being crushed under foot. One of my favorite activities with a group of kids is to challenge them to try and catch a falling leaf out of the air. It seems like a rather simple task until you try it. On a breezy fall day, it can be quite entertaining to watch 25 second graders trying to catch numerous maple leaves as they spiral and swirl in a not so straight way to the ground. A couple of years ago we had a field trip of second graders out to the Nature Center. One of the kids had recently moved to Iowa from the deep south, so “winter” was very new to him and he had never been on an ice-covered pond. I led this group across the ice to the other side instructing them to take small cautious steps. We all crossed without incident and the group as a whole become much more adventuresome. After investigating some deer and pheasant tracks the kids were drawn back toward the frozen water. I asked the teacher if it would be alright to cut our hike short and enjoy the frozen pond for a while. She wholeheartedly agreed and stated that this was probably the first time many of them had had the opportunity to do something like this. Of course, with ice there were a few falls but the kids were so excited they bounced back up and began to play again. They were having a great time slipping and sliding across the ice. Spring time brings new sights, sounds, and smells. My appreciation of the early spring flowers has grown over the years and I have become better at identifying them. My latest favorite is Spring Beauty, which is a super tiny flower that my kid thought was funny because it was so small and delicate. Spring brings the promise of a new year and new growth. Summer is a time when I try to be out on the water as often as I can. Canoeing and kayaking along the Cedar and exploring new waterways is where I feel at peace. In Iowa it can be hard to find areas of true wilderness but many of Iowa’s rivers can provide glimpses of wilderness that can almost transport you back in time. The solitude of being one of the only people on a stretch of river can have a real calming effect on you. Getting to see a fawn and doe come to the water’s edge as you float silently by is something that not everybody gets to experience. Which season is your favorite? I was pretty sure I had mine figured out (summer) until I started writing about each season, now I am not so sure. So many activities in different seasons - I guess the one thing that ties them all together is almost all of them are done with family and friends. So whatever season it is, get outside and create those memories with your family and friends. The Benton County parks are a great place to make those life long memories. -The Nature of Things