Spring hath sprung...

Spring is in the air.

At least, that was the unavoidable impression yesterday. We drove out to the Helderberg Nature Reserve for a picnic lunch with Christina's family, and the birds and bees were communicating their messages with unusual vigour. No sooner had we parked and started to set up that we saw two tortoises getting frisky. Tortoises! Frisky! Those words don't even belong in the same sentence! But there they were, quite literally banging away. In the end, the female was less than enthusiastic and stalked off (at full tortoise pace) to the bushes.

But it went on all day! We took a stroll around the pond, watching all the weaver birds energetically building their literal love nests, bumble bees in abundance, flowers blooming all around. We sat on the pier and watched the red dragonflies, when a turtle swam out from under us and glided gracefully through the pond weeds. Ducklings chirped excitedly as they paddled along behind their mothers. The turtle returned ... followed by another. It appears that turtles like to frisk underwater. Who knew?

Afterwards we stopped at the beach at Strand for a stroll along, well, the strand. The sun was shining, the water was freezing, beautiful. It really is a splendid place, the beach - especially for kids. So much potential for getting them interested in the world around them, and introducing them to the wonders of science. The physics of the wave action and the lunar tides, the splendid plethora of biological diversity... wonderful. Christina found a little cone shell which she put on her hand so that it could cruise around on her palm. It extended a long and inquisitive... proboscis? Well, let's hope that's what it was. Spring was in the air...