Track Loving

I was talking to a friend of mine about animal tracks.  She grew up on a farm in northwestern Minnesota.  Her Grandfather loved to follow tracks.  Following her Grandfather she learned to appreciate the story behind a set of tracks.  She follows the tracks under her bird feeder in her suburban yard with great interest.  I remember my Grandfather pointing out the deer tracks to me in his garden that time they stepped on and smashed his pumpkins.  But my first memory of being fascinated by animal tracks was in kindergarten.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  It was springtime and we weren't new students anymore at Lake Owasso Elementary School. We were almost first graders now.  To prepare us for first grade, we got to go to the first grade classroom, share a seat with a first grader, and listen to the first grade teacher talk to us about what to expect.  We had been hearing about this upcoming visit for weeks.  I was very excited to go to the first grade classroom.  Since I had an aunt in the first grade I got to share her chair and desk during this lecture.  Cheek to cheek, we sat on the chair hanging over on both sides.  I sat very still and listened with concentration. I had no idea that I was transferring to a private school the next year.  I enjoyed the first grade visit very much.  I wanted to be in first grade at Lake Owasso like my aunt.  I hadn't figured out yet that she would be moving on to second grade.  When we got back to our room our kindergarten teacher said the Easter Bunny had been in our room when we were gone.  Sure enough there were rabbit tracks in the hallway and into our room.  The white chalk tracks hopped across the room and up on the piano bench. My teacher was excited about the tracks too. From the piano bench the Easter bunny hopped on top of the piano and down on the floor again towards the window.  I. Was.  Amazed.  These bunny tracks were purely magical. I totally bought the Easter Bunny story-hook, line and sinker.  Wouldn't you know, the only time we left our kindergarten room except for recess and we missed the Easter Bunny!  That was a very exciting day for me.