Most years I go to Camp Hardtner some time in late May to spend a little time with the permanent staff for the upcoming summer camping season. These staff members are college students who will be counselors and leaders of kids from primary through high school who attend a summer camping session.

Nothing gives me more joy and gratification than sharing my knowledge (such as it is) of the natural world with these young people. One of the things I tell them is that among the children they nurture the coming summer will be the next generations of scientists, biologists, ecologists and environmentalists. The time these children spend at Camp Hardtner, located as it is in alongside the Kisatchie National Forest in central Louisiana, is full of potential for striking the spark that ignites their love of the natural world and leads them to their career. They never know the long-term consequences of the nature hikes they lead!

In addition, I talk with the staff about their own relationship with creation and how the coming summer is also an opportunity for them to strengthen their own connection with nature. I tell them about the research that says being in nature positively affects our physical and emotional health. I talk about my own experience and how going out with my camera is essential to my own spiritual well-being.

And then we go for a walk to see what we can see! The photos with this post are some of the wonders we saw in May 2024. BTW, the tiny treefrog below was about the size of the thumbnail of the young man holding it!

#YearInReview