We hadn’t seen each other in two years and in that time the little boy had become a teenager, hinting at a man. I remembered the days when we made swords out of sticks, searched for snails and fossils, and hiked through the Root River’s South Fork. I had planned the day carefully but worried that a picnic lunch and exploring the bluffs wouldn’t measure up to expectations he had of his old aunt, who had created those memorable days of the past.

When I arrived at his grandparents’ house where he was visiting from his home in Ohio, my nephew seemed reluctant to leave. During our drive to my house, he said little. After preparing our picnic lunch, we headed toward an animal trail leading into the bluffs. Kevin’s continued lack of enthusiasm concerned me; perhaps he was no longer interested in such activities. The trail was one of many I could have chosen in my big backyard, which encompasses more than 60 acres of the Big Woods in southeast Minnesota, an area of limestone bluffs, hardwood forests, perennial streams, springs and caves.

Read the rest of the Nancy's column in our March issue...