Dig In the Dirt

As a child, I loved digging in the dirt. I made bark plates, had stick utensils, and used dead trees, puddles, mud, and pine cone parts as ingredients in made-up meals I would mix up. My favorite "kitchen" space was a small stoop on the side of my house that led into our garage. It was the perfect "counter space" and mostly unused by my parents and sister.

I thought about what I would most like to write about today, and digging in the dirt sounded like something I would have wanted to do as my eight or nine-year-old self, the age of my students.

I made a little video of my discoveries. I think I'll make this into a lesson for writing poetry or maybe thinking about how to research things in the dirt. I'll share it with my students sometime next week. Perhaps they will share their own discoveries with me. I hope they will.

First, I looked out at my surroundings.

I then realized I needed a tool for digging. Looking down, I found a hearty stick frozen to the ground. It took a little prying, but I was able to free it from the grass that was holding on.

When I found my spot to dig, I knelt down and realized the top layer of dirt was quite hard. I had to do some scratching first, then I could begin to dig with a bit more success.

And here is the rock I found all cleaned up.