Walking through Nature's Realm

Alligator sunbathing peacefully, unmindful of tourists clicking and trying to capture its best shot.

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​White Ibis bird, looking at us and hoping to get some food ,if not just hoping we would leave ASAP.

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​A lonely duck away from its group.

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Being in the city or suburb, one can get very busy and ignore all the sounds. We walk/drive past without spotting animals large and small. Even when walking in the park or walkway, we tend to put a walkman err.. iPod and avoid hearing the sounds of nature. It surprises me (to certain extent worries me) that my children prefer to see a movie as soon as they enter the car or look into a smart gadget to play games. I remember old days, when I was a child, fighting for a window seat with my cousins. Now I find a lot of vacant window seats in trains, buses and cars but none interested to look around and enjoy the scenery. This is a digital age and kids born in this age are exposed to many gadgets. There are so many applications in App Store/ Google Play store to learn, play, think and have fun. After a tired day of classwork at school, extracurricular activity and homework, kids do tend to look for a gadget as a means to escape their tiredness or as an added tool to improve their mental capabilities. Sometimes I really feel, kids can take a break and look at nature and world around us. Nature trails and looking at animals small and large can be one of the best stress relievers.
Though extremely difficult to spot a medium sized animal in a trail or by car, it's not impossible. I was fortunate to take one of the Nature trails with my kids in one of the National parks and was happy to see my kids have fun. My kids were equally happy trying to spot an animal big and small, as they would be having fun playing in a smart gadget. Most of their remarks are mentioned along with pictures above/below. Our hearts and mind were extremely happy, energized and enthusiastic to spot/identify animals. After spotting an animal, we got carried away and crazily clicked pictures(using a camera from a smart gadget). The animals did not seem to mind either. We did not know the names of some of the animals we clicked. I was thankful for having a smartphone which gave me pictures and the names of animals. This made me think, gadgets in nature trails can be very helpful as they can be used as an important tool to find their names.​

 













A blue Heron looking to catch a fish for a morning brunch.

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A Dolphin's fin raising out of the river. We so wished it would jump up, like one of those scenes in the movies.

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A  bold squirrel  came near us and was hoping to get some food. Sorry squirrel no food or drink allowed inside the park. 

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