nurturing nature with Peter Rabbit
Considering our yard is a truncated 10 x 10 space not much bigger than our livingroom, I’m amazed at the creation capacity it has: Snap peas, squash and spinach, raspberries and two blackberry bushes, a fruit cocktail tree, a patriotic rose of sharron, a flowering pair tree, roses, climbing jasmin, and wild flowers splashing color in unexpected places. Gardening has always attracted me as a natural teacher to children of how life cycles work, and how things grow. It never occured to me that our planting would attract other teachers as well.
A few days ago, our raspberries ready for the picking, we went out to gather our first harvest, only to discover that “someone” had beaten us to it; they were gone. It wasn’t long before Emmanuel discovered a rabbit hopping around the wildflower jungle that is our yard. He chased after the rabbit with great excitement and curiosity; this small brown bunny was impossible to catch and excellent at hiding. The next day, we went out to pick some spinach, only to find that this rabbit had exceptional timing. Our garden may have been somewhat of a failure, but in many ways, provided an excellent oportunity to let nature teach us.
We took our son to Barnes & Noble the next day, and picked out the original authorized version of Beatrice Potter’s classic little book, “The Tale of Peter Rabbit.” Encountering a wild “naughty” rabbit close to home, our son was instantly drawn to Peter. The drawings are masterfully real, and the charaters are personified in such a way as to remain true to nature (well, besides the fact that they are partly clothed and can talk!). We were able to sympathize with the antagonist gardener Mr. McGreggor chasing after Peter, and understand the importance of obedience; Old Mrs. Rabbit told her bunnies to stay away for their protection, not for their punishment.
Peter still visits our garden frequently, though he’s not too fond of the sprinklers. We really should get a fence to protect our produce, or our blackberries will be next. Until then, we will observe our Peter Rabbit as he interacts with our garden during the day, and read stories about him at night.
