A Visit to Crocodile Forest

To look at this stretch of woods, you would never know what was within all that green.

“Where are we going to go today, Mommy?” I asked.
“I don’t know, Noah. Where do you want to go today?”
“Hmmmm,” I thought for a minute. “I know! Let’s go to the Crocodile Forest. That might be fun!”
“Well, let’s wake your sister up and get dressed, and we will go.”
“Can we wear our boots, Mommy?”
“Absolutely,” Mommy told me.
After we were all dressed and had our boots on, we took the walk through the soybean field to Crocodile Forest.  

It is called Crocodile Forest because my Daddy says he saw a crocodile in it one day. I’ve always wanted to see a crocodile, but Mommy says I can never ever touch one. Crocodiles can be kind of grumpy.

We found the little path that went into Crocodile Forest, and Mommy held our hands. The trees were so pretty. Their leaves were yellow, orange and brown.
Then we heard leaves crunching behind us.
“What’s that noise, Mommy?”   

“I don’t know, Noah. Let’s be quiet and listen.”
The noise was getting closer. A big pile of leaves was moving. It sounded like something was coming right to us. Maybe it’s the Crocodile. It must be the Crocodile!
It’s getting closer, closer!
Out came a...turtle.

It’s just a turtle hiding in the leaves.
Whew! That was close.
Mommy lets us play on some big trees that have fallen down, and we pretend we are trains crossing the tracks.Then we hear another noise.

“Shhh!! What’s that noise?” Mommy asks.
We listened carefully. The noise was coming from under the ferns.
It made a Squish Squash sound.
The noise got louder, louder.

Out came a…snail!
Whew! It is only a silly snail, not that grumpy crocodile.
Next Mommy took us to skip rocks on the pond. She showed us how to throw them so they would skip on top of the water.  

Just as Laurel was getting ready to try, we saw something in the water.
It was long and dark brown. Bubbles were coming up from around it.
“Mommy, Mommy, I see it! It MUST be the crocodile. It’s swimming in the pond. We have to get out of here!”
Just then out of the water came a…log.  

Just a plain brown log. Not a grumpy crocodile.
“Come on, children,” Mommy said. “It’s time to go home and have a snack.”
“OK, Mommy. But can we come back to Crocodile Forest tomorrow? Maybe then we’ll finally get to see the crocodile.”

By MWD

Crocodile Forest...a magic place not far from G's house...never mind that it really was once an irrigation pond. Never mind that it might not really have a crocodile in residence. At least we've never seen one...yet. 

Behold, children are a gift of the Lord. 
       Psalm 127:3