One of the real joys of my year is the fact that the head of the University of Rhode Island's Environmental Education at the W. Alton Jones campus invites me back fairly often to walk with, and, I hope, edify and inspire the field teachers who will, over the course of each school semester, be doing so much to sensitize thousands of students to the wonders of the natural world. It's an honor and a blessing to be there, and today was the day. I felt fine and didn't have the slightest bit of trouble making the trek and dredging up IDs and good stories they could use. This one, the cast-off shell of a Shadow Darner dragonfly's larval youth, is always a favorite. It's known in the trade as an exuviae—according to authorities, the singular, exuvia, in incorrect—and, in addition to being a perfect model of the aquatic life that was, it's a wonderful word to say. Kids... and their teachers... love to let this bit of Latin, which means "things stripped from the body," roll off their tongues.