Into the Woods with Ms. Esme!

Hello, wonderful friends!  I wonder what you are planning to do this summer besides reading, reading, reading?  For the past several summers your librarian been going "off the grid," that means I go where there is not so much technology or running water or cell phone towers and I live in a little hut in the woods of Vermont.  I learn a lot about fairy tales there!

I love to explore deep in the woods, which is different than a forest preserve because things there are truly wild.  Here's a short video that will give you a little feeling about it. It smells like after it rains and all the trees whisper secrets to each other.  There is a cascade near the hut that sings a lullaby all night long, and you can see more stars than you could ever count.  Rainbows are a regular thing.   I love the moss and the mushrooms and the twisted roots and secret spaces and all the green movement.  It almost feels like being underwater while you're walking on the land!

Yes, there are animals, mostly snakes (that are not poisonous) and voles and frogs, one of which was very big and bumping into the window in the middle of the night and almost scared me out of my skin! They say there are bears and moose and fisher cats (which is not a fish or a cat, it's an animal I never knew about before staying in such a rural place).  I have never run into any of these bigger animals and I don't want to, though I wouldn't mind seeing a fox.  I always find the animals very startling, but it really is their world, I'm just a guest in it.  Here is a video of my late-night bullfrog visitor!

It was not a too-far walk from the hut down the hill to the little public library in the town.  The librarians were very kind and patient, of course.   One of the best things in the world is packing a picnic, taking a walk on a country road and finding a good spot to read among the trees!

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Whether it's the woods or the seashore or somewhere else, I really hope someday you can go and visit a place where nature belongs fully to itself. Time spent in nature does unusual and refreshing things in our brains, and nature has so much to teach us without saying a word.  I know many of us will be having "staycations" this year.  Until you can have your own woodland adventure, check out In The Woods by David Elliott, illustrated by Rob Dunlavey and A Whiff of Pine, A Hint of Skunk by Deborah Rudell, illustrated by Joan Rankin for a little bit of that country feeling with some animal friends for company.  You can always visit the library for more adventures in places different from our own!