first explorations of the natural world

Before I started school, I was on my own much of the time. My sister and Barry had started school and my other friends were sometimes not evident. Dad worked at night and slept during the day, so I guess mum kept me out of the house as much as possible. Mothers didn’t worry about their children getting abducted or coming to harm. The two small blocks of houses where we lived formed our boundaries most of the time, until we got older and were allowed to venture into the unknown world. This small area was the place to start my explorations of planet earth. While mum did her housework, I was usually outside in the yard or front garden and left to amuse myself. Having few toys, I spent time looking at plants, puddles, soil and insects and anything else that was within three feet of the ground. The sights, sounds and smells, were all new stimuli to be explored by my inquiring mind and no doubt started my love of nature.

There was a small gulley running by the path that stretched the length of the five houses. Water would seep out of the small boulder walls that held back the garden soil. It collected in small pools here and there, which to my mind were lakes. Small leaves or sticks would become boats, which I could float in the water. I encountered various insects, which were all fascinating to watch. Tiny red mites ran crazily around the boulders, apparently confused. I loved to watch the exotic centipedes as they snaked their way back to shelter after having their hiding places disturbed. Tiny spiders sometimes seem to arrive from nowhere. We were told they were ‘money spiders’ and meant good luck. Worms were fascinating creatures, moving along by alternately stretching and contracting. I was told they had an amazing trick. If you chopped one in half they would become two complete worms. I still don’t know if that’s true!

Various bees and hover flies popped in and out of the nasturtium flowers that grew abundantly on our patch. The leaves were home to various green, black and yellow caterpillars. In later years, Barry and I would catch bees while they were inside the flowers, using jam jars and a piece of cardboard to trap them. We lined them up along the path, seeing how many we could catch, then shake the jars to infuriate them. Then we plucked up courage to tip the jars over and release them, hoping to not get stung.

There were plants to explore too, some with unexpected surprises. There was a small weed called plantain. It had a small, plump, yellow bud and if you crushed it with your fingers it smelled of apples. Tiny purple and yellow snapdragons grew amongst the boulders and if you nipped the back of them, they opened up like a gaping mouth. A friend would hold Buttercup flowers under your chin and if it reflected yellow light onto your skin, it meant you liked butter. Apparently we all liked it. Dandelion flowers, when picked, oozed a milky white liquid that later turned dark brown on your skin. I doodled patterns on my hands with it, until someone warned me it made you wet the bed. Nettles were a painful discovery but could be eased by rubbing the sap of dock leaves on the sting. My favourite discovery was the fantastic smell of the small, purple flowers that grew on a shrub in the corner of the back yard – lavender.