The other day, my boyfriend and I piled in a car and drove out to Mattawan to visit his aunt. Every time I visit one of his relatives it always amazes me how much land they have. Lulu, our enthusiastic 9-week-old beagle was in heaven running until she tuckered her little heart out. Having Lulu is such a great reminder of play in nature. I love running around with her or laying with her under a tree while I read or do homework. Her curiosity of nature is definitely contagious. We continued our nature-filled afternoon at one of my boyfriend's favorite childhood spots, the fish hatchery. I suppose this is more of a man-made piece of nature, but either way watching the fish is amazing. There's a fish food dispenser mounted on a wooden bridge that leads you to the middle of the pond. You put in a quarter and drop in a little food, and about 40 fish come flying from every direction to attack it.
The only school of fish I've ever seen were of tiny little minnows that would nibble on my toes at my favorite lake in Paw Paw. I had never seen that many fish in one place, nor had I ever seen a fish that big. Any time I had ever been fishing I only caught small-mouthed bass. I love living in Michigan because there are so many unique experiences that I never had growing up, and they're all a very short distance from here. When I was young I was always outside, playing in my backyard or at the neighborhood park around the corner, but the comparison to places here is unreal. Most of my friends' backyard's are about 5-100 acres, and I don't even know a place where there is that much open land where I come from. Also, a lot of people I've met since I've been in college raise animals. Learning more and more about the environment makes me think about how I eventually would like to live my life.
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