An Unusual Birthday Celebration

My youngest daughter is now 50 years old. Even though that fact makes me feel very old, she acts the same way she did as a child. She still loves her birthday. In fact, we tease her that she starts celebrating on May first and continues through the entire month. It's a birthday month instead of a birth-DAY. I never cared for my birthday but she loves it.

I'm not sure her birthday reached her expectations, but she did spend two full days of fun for me.

Since I wanted to go to a place called the Heckrodt Wetland Reserve and she loves hiking and nature also, we decided to start the day there. It is a free boardwalk in the City of Menasha, Wisconsin. It has three miles of trails with the opportunity to see and photograph a variety of animals and plants.

We had heard that the property had two owls with one having nested this spring. The owlets were able to be seen from the trail. We got there quite early and walked the trails. We saw a few animals but nothing more than I can see on a regular basis. She wanted to see a baby fawn laying all alone in the sun near a babbling brook. We saw some deer but no baby fawns. We saw pelicans, geese, various birds and small animals, but the trail was closed in the area of the owls. It appears that the owlets were about to fledge, and they didn't want any extra people scaring them during this process. It was a bit disappointing, but it was a peaceful walk and a lovely morning. There was a group of school children on a field trip and that could have forced more animals deeper into the woods.

We stopped at a bakery when we were finished and splurged on a tasty treat. It was delicious because we don't often do that. 

 

 

Next we met my oldest daughter and switched places. I drove home and they spent the next few hours at a spa. They had massages and loved being pampered. That is definitely not my thing so I was happy the two of them could spend time together. They finished the day with a trip to her son's track meet and dinner with the family. But wait, there's more.

 

The next day started off bright and early. My daughter's birthday also means a trip to the cemeteries. It sounds morbid, but it is actually a nice tradition. My mom, dad, grandparents and great grandparents are buried about two hours away from my home. Every spring before Memorial Day we make a trip there to clean up the gravestones and put baskets of flowers out. It was a very important thing for my parents and grandparents so I am continuing (along with my daughters) to keep up that tradition.

 

On the way up we had coffee and a treat at our favorite coffee shop. Two days in a row was heaven. Then as we were traveling the back roads of Wisconsin, my daughter pulled the car off the road. I thought we might have been having car trouble, when right up close was a baby fawn. It didn't have a babbling brook in the sunlight, but it was newly born and adorable. The mother was no where in sight, but the baby looked healthy. It was behind a fence so it was safe.

 

 

Then a little bit later down the road we came across a young eagle and a full grown one out in the field. It wasn't the best picture, but fun to see out of the car window.

The first cemetery was bustling with many people trying to take care of the graves before Memorial Day. I am sure this tradition will diminish as the years go by. The tradition of funerals and burials are becoming less and less, but right now there were several people paying their respects. The second cemetery we went to is an old country cemetery. It is very quiet and serene and we were the only ones there. It is where most of my mother's relatives are laid to rest. It is always a good feeling to just visit and feel all the history there.  

As we headed home, it was good to honor my family in that way. I imagine it wasn't the two-day birthday celebration my daughter would have chosen, but I appreciated it more than I can say. It's a good thing she celebrates for the whole month and maybe she can also do something for herself before the month is over. In the fall, my other daughter will take me to pick up the baskets and put everything to sleep for another year.