Call me a nerd. Call me a quasi-intellectual. Call me anything (but don't
call me late for Baskin Robbins -- Ba dum Bum....) But, there is nothing I
like more (aside from chocolate) than learning something new and
interesting. It just takes me by surprise and makes me happy (I'm
notoriously easy to please!) So, it was with a ridiculous amount of glee
that we stood looking over the eagle's nest reproduction at the Earth Place
in Westport. At first I thought it was just an artist's conception of an
eagle's nest, but, no, it was an actual reproduction. What's the big deal?
Big is the big deal. That sucker was over five feet in diameter!
Escalade-sized! How cool is that?! I never imagined (ok -- I never really
thought about it that much, but if I had...) that a bird could build a nest
that large. I told you I was easily impressed. Anyway, I just had to let
everyone know about it -- it was neat-O!

There were lots of cool parts of the nature center. I also really loved the
tile wall they are constructing. They are in colorful bas relief and the
animals and plant life pop away from the wall. It is beautiful. I liked it
so much that I kept the guy talking about it for ten minutes even though we
don't live in the area. Maybe I can get mom and dad to buy a tile for the
wall (that is if they have any more money left over after Madeleine cleans
out all the gift shops!...)

The gift shop was actually our first stop at the museum -- isn't that always
the case with little kids?! Be and Ma looked at every item in the little
shop. They looked, they toyed with and they dropped (normally on the floor
somewhere far away from where it was actually shelved) every trinket in
sight.

With promises of future purchases - if they were good on the trail -- we
grabbed a trail map (to add to all our information on the tile wall) and
headed outside. It was hot and muggy. We were proud to have remembered the
trail map because we were short on time. There was only one problem. The
trail map was a little "interpretive" shall we say plus none of the actual
real-life trail heads were labeled! We eventually found one that had a
trail sign -- but it had been painted over. The name of the trail was
under several coats of dark green paint and peeked out only slightly.

There WERE lots of signs at the start of each foray into the woods -- But
they were all about ticks and lyme disease. How's that for a fine welcome!!
After that, I shied away from every piece of grass and quivered going
under every tree! They take their ticks seriously here!!

We were looking forward to doing Frosty because it was such a novel idea --
each stamp adds onto the total figure. Of course, we soon realized that
this can become an issue when you can't find the first stamp...

We headed as far to the side as we could, which, according to the map,
seemed to be the entrance to the Swamp loop trail. Nope. We soon realized
(via the mysterious lack of the bridges listed in the clues) that we could
not possibly be on the Swamp Loop Trail. What to do? What to do? Na had
spent way too much time at the tile wall and the eagle's nest (being flooded
by the light of learning) and now we were short on time.

We decided to press on. We passed a bench, and, after scanning the clues
once more, deduced that we were actually on the High Woods Trail. Past the
bench and past the stone wall, we found our first piece of Frosty! This is
where one's artistic judgment comes into play. How to dress a stamp image
with no body? We all made do and stamped part of Frosty in the general area
where we thought this part of Frosty would be if we actually had the body of
Frosty to stamp on (think pin the tail on the donkey) and continued on.

After a brief detour following the wrong part of the yellow trail, we came
to Frosty piece two (two for us, actually piece three for the series) and
stamped where we thought this part should go. I had a feeling Picasso would
have been proud of our design...

Past more tick warning signs and onto a skinny little trail, we headed out
in search of more snowman. The sky had started to darken and the sounds of
thunder could be heard. We were already jumpy due to all the tick signs so
we picked up the pace. We made it to the last wall by the narrow, curvy
road. The fourth piece of Frosty was rumored to be hidden at the end of the
stone wall. So I left the kids, scurried through the narrow opening in the
fence (getting stuck with my backpack) and skirted the curvy, narrow road
following the wall. "Hon" Da shouted... "I know, I know, I hear the
thunder, I'll be right back" "Hon" called Da once more as he started toward
the road "Stay there with the kids" I yelled back "I'll get it, I'll get it"
The wall was seeming awfully long and there was no shoulder to the road.
Thunder peeled again. "Hon..." "What?!!!" "I found the stamp already --
it was on this end of the wall..." ooops.... I scurried back along the
road and through the fence (got stuck again) Now I know how the squirrels
feel, and, smiling with a bit of embarrassment, stamped this piece of Frosty
some where toward the top of the log book page.

Ma was getting very nervous and clingy. Between the pricklies and the
thunder (ever since the Statue of Liberty fiasco she has been desperately
afraid of being caught out in the rain) she was in no condition to go on.
We retraced our steps back to the nature center and to the safety of the
GIFT SHOP.

After much rumination and deliberation, Be walked out the proud owner of a
critter catching kit and Miss Ma, with a twinkle of satisfaction in her eye,
proudly held aloft her purchase of -- several rocks. I don't even mean
cool "gem" rocks like amethyst or cat's eye. I mean regular pick em up off
the ground rocks. One was gray, one was this weird mossy green and one was
quartz. At two dollars a shot (now here's a money-making scheme I hadn't
tried...) Before we even exited the building, the quartz broke into two
pieces (I tried to look at it as an investment -- a rock split like a stock
split -- twice the dividend...)

Despite not finding all of Frosty (this time) we had a lot of fun at Earth
Place. We saw deer and wild turkeys and the but-end of some brown fuzzy
large rodent thing. We need to find a good brown fuzzy but identification
website to look that one up...

I guess, when you think about it, we found the parts of Frosty that made
sense for August. All the outside snow part must have just melted away,
leaving the clothes and other parts behind. BeMa

P.S. We have to mention two other cool museums (kids -- read "gift shops")
that we visited in the area and really enjoyed. One is the Maritime Center
and the Other is Stepping Stones. They are both in Norwalk and really hands
on fun for the kids!

P.P.S. Question for Letterboxer2002. What is the history behind your
personal stamp? We saw that particular petrograph image on the glass wall
at the local bagel shop one morning. Do you have anything to do with the
bagels? We wish we would have known! Then, we could have asked for you (an
exchange -- whoopee). We could have also told you to tell the manager that
the small size cream cheese containers are way too small. Single servings I
would say. I am a generous cream cheese spreader. Every toasted inch must
be covered with a smooth, opaque coat -- no bagel showing. When the two
halves are reunited -- the cream cheese must properly ooze through the
little hole in the middle (on both sides) like a button. Slurping out this
warm blob out is the best part!! Just thought I would mention it...

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