Snowflake Bentley
May 18th, 2012 by mica
We had the fortune this week to come across a new book, “Snowflake Bentley.” It is the story of Wilson Bentley’s life, who was one of the first photographers to capture the image of snowflakes. He was born in 1865 and was fascinated by snow from a very young age. He lived in the countryside of Vermont, and spent years drawing snowflakes and eventually documenting the uniqueness of each snowflake with his camera. He was focused, and certainly thought to be crazy at times, but felt a purpose to share all that he saw in nature with the world at large. The kids were captivated by the story and we tracked down a copy of his life’s work, “Snow Crystals.” Ronan was thrilled to get his hands on it.
In a move that surprised me, Ronan asked to borrow my camera. During his “quiet time,” he flipped through the book and took pictures of Bentley’s snowflake pictures.
The book was a good reminder for me. Ronan is a child with deep curiosity, focus and a good share of eccentricity:) And I hope that he is similarly able to find and live out of a craft and a purpose that invigorates him. And herein lies one of the joys of being his mother at this stage in life– getting to deepen and expand upon the wonderings of an already very curious boy. Here are some of his interests of late– the mechanics of building.
Creating a habitat for his roly poly friends.
Design. A leaf with a bug stuck to the bottom of the stem.
And the workings of the human eye (photo by Ronan).
