School Is Out at Sparrow Springs

Today, the kids hung hammocks between the oaks. They built rock castles at the creek and picked blackberries in the fence line, followed by nosy sheep. They hunted worms and bugs to feed their animals: tadpoles in a creek-side rubber bin, a turtle in an empty raised bed and salamanders in a porch terrarium. And they nearly caught a wild cottontail in the barn.

Summer days. They pluck and chew a leaf as they pass the mint patch. The girls put zinnias in their hair. The boys sit talking on the hillside after chores, watching the fireflies. The rabbits pant in the heat. The mockingbird sings the meadow lark’s song. The neighbor’s horses snort and swish their tails. The boughs sway in the breeze and the creek laughs on.

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