Day 34
At our old house, our family regularly hiked, explored, and played through a beautiful natural area that met at the end of our block. It had nicely groomed trails and diverse features including, prairie, forests, woodland streams, and ponds. It wasn't until we received a flier in the mail promoting a guided hike that we knew this hidden gem was a nature preserve with an actual name.
When we received the flier, we were excited about learning more about the Weiland Preserve, managed by the Waukesha County Land Conservancy. We instantly felt the urge to do more than simply visit this place. We looked at ways to get more involved. We started by volunteering at a few clean up days helping remove trash and buckthorn, an invasive species that decimates native forests ability to thrive. Then we became the adoptees of the preserve. With a goal of getting more people involved and helping improve the habitats within the preserve, we hosted hikes, work days, and nature play dates.
While we enjoyed sharing this wonderful space with others, we found true joy when we felt like we were alone with nature.
We loved taking regular strolls and seeing the changes through the seasons. We adored adding to the impressive stick shelter hidden in the woods. We even learned how to snowshoe breaking trail after nearly every snowstorm.
Besides enjoying it leisurely, we also used it educationally. My daughter wanted to create a weekly “show” where she could teach other about all things nature. Wednesdays at Weiland was born. She created episodes on nocturnal animals, native flowers, trees, mud, and anything else her creativity allowed. (I foresee a future coming out of the farm, so stay tuned.) We also volunteered through a county parks program to monitor the ephemeral ponds and work on other various citizen science projects. We caught frogs, set up and checked bird boxes, removed garlic mustard, and even got snipped by a crayfish affectionately named Snippy.
We miss Weiland, but we now have an opportunity to create new memories at our own special space.
However, one tidbit of information somewhat sealed the deal when considering if that space was the place for us.
