Wonders of Nature

I took my eight-year-old son to the park to "air him out."  He was a little cantankerous, and I figured a little fresh air would do him good.

We made our way to the Little Miami River, one of our favorite places to hang out.  A nice little family of ducks  swam by - a mama duck and about six babies.  We watched them for a while and then continued our hike along the river.  Eventually, my son decided he wanted to get up close and personal with the river.  He took off his shoes and socks and handed them to me.  Then he waded in.  After a few minutes  he reached down and pulled up a rock.  "Mama, fossils!"

I walked over to see what he had found.  "Yes, Bubba.  Those are fossils."

"Are they trilobites?"

"No, Bubba.  They look like crinoids."

"Oh.  Can you hold this, Mama?"

I took it from him and he continued his search.

A few minutes later, he found a smooth, water-worn stone.  "Here, Mama.  Hold this."

I dutifully took the stone and added it to the collection.

Then he found another rock.  "Mama, is this a moon rock?"

I looked at the thing.  "No, Bubba.  It's limestone."

"Oh.  Hold this, too."

"Seriously, Bubba?"

"Yeah, Mama.  It's special."

Then he reached down and pulled up a giant rock.  It was covered in mud.

"Mama, check this out!"

"Bubba, it's a rock with a lot of mud on it!"

"No, Mama.  It's a wonder of nature!"

He spent the next twenty minutes carefully examining that rock, and everything in the mud.  He found tiny shells, fossils, water bugs, and marine plant life.

Okay.  So maybe the kid was right.  It was a wonder of nature.  But I  definitely wasn't going to add that thing to my collection of fossils, rocks, and socks!