Steven E. F. Brown

After school today, Kieran and I went back to the Lakeside Palmetum. We enjoy wandering in the crepuscule created by the high, leafy trees, especially on a hot day like today. Under some of the trees, Kieran collected palm nuts that had fallen and broken open (or been chewed open by squirrels — we’re not sure). These nuts make perfect finger puppets. We brought home a bunch of them and drew faces with a marker.

“Make one with a sad, grumpy face,” Kieran said. “That will be Steve.”

That’s the thanks I get for working so hard as a parent!

The crepuscule of the palmetum is a cool refuge on a hot day like today.

While resting in the palmetum we found a lot of palm nuts.

Will they fit? Some have perfect holes in the bottom, while others have holes in the side, perhaps chewed by squirrels.

Kieran tries the nuts on his fingers.

The nuts are perfect for finger puppets!

Kieran collected a handful of suitable nuts and brought them home. One of them is still green, to show us how they start out.

We used a marker to draw faces on the nuts.