By CONNIE MERTZ

One of life's greatest joys for my husband and I is to share nature with people of all ages.

We were invited to do this very thing at our local fair recently. We gathered all sorts of stuff from nature and went armed with information. What a treat!

From grandparents to toddlers, visitors stopped by our tent to investigate what was in our mini-aquarium and clear plastic bottles. A "touchie-feelie" box hid a deer antler, oak insect gall and moss. The looks on the faces as they placed their hands into the unknown were very interesting. The monarch butterfly spoke for itself, though some had never seen a tiny monarch caterpillar just hatched on a milkweed. Many had no idea that monarchs feed solely on milkweed, and without them, they wouldn't survive.

The eye catcher of the evening was an antlion. We had taken a container with an antlion inside to show his pit, but we also kept one inside a film canister to show our audience up close and personal. They were all intrigued by this shy little fellow in my hand tossing dirt and trying to hide under the loose dirt. The mystery of the night was to find the hidden yellow spider atop a goldenrod.

Ken had gathered up some aquatic insects and they entertained the kids. There were hellgrammites, water boatman, whirligig beetles, salamander and minnow, to name a few. They were fascinated! We also took along a drawing of Pennsylvania and on it placed our state's flower, animal, tree, bird and insect. Few knew all five.

It wasn't easy finding all our nature goodies, and in fact, we searched most of the day. Some, like the preying mantis, we just lucked onto. The best time of all was catching butterflies in a field rich with blooming clover and alfalfa. The permeating aroma mingled with their flights was a beautiful sight.

I share this to entice you to enjoy nature, and then share what you observe with another. The rewards are priceless.