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Converted from paper version of the Broad Ripple Gazette (v03n08)
Right in my Own Backyard - Collections - by Brandt Carter
posted: Apr. 21, 2006

Right in my Own Backyard header

Collections
I think most of my collections began in my backyard when I was young. I often had a stash of rocks, and only I knew why each one was a treasure. This later evolved into a shell collection, with each "keeper" having been carefully chosen on the beaches of Treasure Island next to St. Petersburg, Florida. The progression then shifted to shark teeth that I gathered on the beach in Venice, Florida.
Then there was leaf collecting, begun in pursuit of a Girl Scout badge. I recall that this led to three subsequent collections - all for classes in junior and senior high and then again in college. I always had a good head start on these collections thanks to the variety of trees in my parents' yard. Few others could find plum, cherry, transparent apple, and peach leaves as readily. I would also make a bee-line to a yard on 62nd Street that had over 50 varieties of nut trees. Yes, I was always an over-achiever on leaf collections.
My less favorite collections involved bugs and butterflies - something about dead insects was just plain repulsive. I hated chloroforming beautiful butterflies and stretching their wings on cardboard, but my dad would help me gather as many bugs and butterflies as he could. One day on a job site, he caught a glimpse of something flickering in his peripheral vision. In an instant he took off his hat, abruptly excused himself, and captured a prize butterfly. The other men could only watch and wonder, not knowing the obsession a bug collection could generate. When my collection was returned after grading, the teacher wrote on the last page, "Great effort, Dad!"



Brandt Carter, artist, herbalist, and naturalist, owns Backyard Birds at 2374 E. 54th Street. Visit her web site www.feedbackyardbirds.com. Email your bird questions to Brandt@BroadRippleGazette.com




brandt@broadripplegazette.com
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