Frautschi Point
A Nature Story

"Keeper had jammed the figurine into her pocket on her way out of her bedroom, right before she sneaked out of the house. Yemaya, queen of the sea, head mermaid. She was one of seven, carved for Keeper by Mr. Beauchamp. She called them the 'merlings'" – Appelt, from Keeper



4.

What exactly was Trace and her treehouse teachers supposed to do? The very single day of the school week that they cherished most, the 'out of the building day' was going away? Gone, adios. The three of them had what they came to call a pow WOW, the wow standing for 'We're Outside Wednesday'! and resolved that they would from this moment forward get every seventh grader at Leopold Middle to let moms, dads, caregivers, all, that they wanted WOW back! NOW WOW? They knew that had to have a catchy phrase that everyone would remember. Questions would come up. Teachers would wonder how to reconnect learning goals with time outside. NOW WOW created lesson plans up in that tree house, they began to call for 'green time' after school...! Parents began to have to land questions about rock formations, asked to identify big trees across the street, where did the water come from...oh my, it took awhile! All of this was a good start, but they needed an event. They decided it would be the Devil's Lake field trip. That was where all of the grown ups would come to understand just how badly these seventh graders needed their outdoor education! "We have to work on getting all the right chaperones" The three of them were walking home from school when the plan was hatched and it was Claire who was notoriously the team builder. "Principal Merling has to be there. Mr. Sorenson...my mom!" When she said this she realized that it was her very own mom, my oh my, who had wondered about WOW. "What exactly does your class do on those days anyway?" she had asked. Her mom was very busy. She was in finance and an up can coming partner in a firm of accountants. "The world doesn't solve itself," she would say. "Study, learn... a good trade." On weekends Claire schemed of getting her family out to the Arboretum by talking up the lilac bloom near mother's day. "There is a boardwalk that goes right into the marsh at Wingra Woods. You can stand there at the edge and watch the tiny fish swimming. It is where the native Americans used to live..." Her mother's eyes would wash over and she would raise her eyebrows. "The mosquitos are horrendous in those swampy areas."