The little boy and I were out for a walk.
He saw a neighbor’s front-yard tree
and said, Palo verde.
My heart soared with happiness.
He came across a large patch
and shouted, Clover!
He saw succulents and said, “latex.”
The other day, while we were walking,
I asked him about a tree in the median.
Quickly he said, Oak.
Then I showed him another shrub
with red fruit clusters,
and he promptly said, Toyon.”
Another day,
I showed him an olive tree
in a neighboring city.
Today, we were both appreciating
the Chinese rain tree canopy.
Whether he will remember or not
at the tender age of 3.5,
I don’t know,
But I teach him anyway.
A few days later,
I see the word internalized
in his growing vocabulary,
very rewarding to me
as I see him turn into a little botanist.
About the Creator
Seema Patel
Hi, I am Seema. I have been writing on the internet for 15 years. I have contributed to PubMed, Blogger, Medium, LinkedIn, Substack, and Amazon KDP.
I write about nature, health, parenting, creativity, gardening, and psychology.
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Comments (3)
This is so cute! My son has been doing some gardening at daycare and he seems to be loving it! I'm going to plant some lavender with him at home too.
He's a smart little dude, all thanks to you hehehehe
Good job on this one and kids should be outside learning and not on screens.