Marin Tender Tracks Dec. 15, 2014 Day 27

Waning Moon
Lake Lagunitas

Today Theron was absent and we celebrated Jai’s birthday!  The day had some rain so we did celebrate under the fine covering of the wooden shelter at the lakes but we  then made our way out to play under the gray, yet rainless, sky.  Jai enjoyed his birthday celebration and story very much it appeared and he passed out his muffins that his Mother made for the celebration with pride.   He carried his Tender Tracks present around throughout the day bringing it out from his pocket now and again to admire it and be delighted.   And EVERYONE gobbled up those muffins, completely!
When we got to our place, initially, there were some workers there who said that they were going to open something that would flood the little creek near us and that we should stay up on the flat area.  We all settled in to watch what would happen when the waters came in.   At first it was a bit of a bubble that got bigger and bigger with water bubbling, flowing and making it self look glorious as the little creek grew bigger and  bigger and bigger.  It was much slower then I thought it would flow out yet none the less, great fun  watching the flow of the water grow.   We played all around this area with the sticks and soon Hana became a bird, Robin …..? oh dear, the complicated birds name has escaped me.  And oh yes, this came about because before we ever stepped foot out of the bus and onto this land we were all wondering if any birds were around in this kind of weather and, if they were where are they and what do they do and where do they go when it rains?  We were wondering about all sorts of animals so I said, every time we saw or heard a bird I would write it down in our book.  So, we began to do that.  Ariel is the princess of hearing and seeing birds and then comes Thea. The two of them saw and heard birds that we didn’t think were around and we watched and tracked them and wrote  down what we saw. It was then that Hana became a wonderful bird, Velia followed and the three of us were cozy inside our special nest, the great Redwood Tree.  Now we had the sort of beaks that can eat worms so we were looking all over for worms.  I went over to Linsey, Enzo, Jai and, at this time, Ariel.  They were building and decorating the house, as well as taking it down, while Ariel was eating at the table.  We asked if they had any worms and they proceeded to feed us well.  The game carried on with delight, we all ate and then, went on our adventure led by Thea who really wanted to check out where the strong water flow was coming from like we did before.   So we went with her lead.  She took us, once at the top, down to where the big flow takes place and we all had fun.  We then discovered a fallen tree and played in, on, and around it for quite some time.  We found a REAL worm which the girls just loved playing with too!   They had found some Newts earlier and Velia, in particular, had a very, very, very grand time playing with it, after getting her hands so beautifully muddy to do so.  Thea, Nico, and Jai found another one and the others followed them to see it.
This day was filled with a great deal of noticing the natural world, the birds, the bugs, the plants.  We ate some bitter Plantain which is so very good for you. Here is a small excerpt of some usage of this magical and wonderful plant along with where I got the info.  There is much, much more to be read though so please, go to the website and others to discover more about this great plant that grows through the cracks in the side walk and most likely in your yard!

General use:http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/plantain.aspx

The leaves and seeds of plantain are most often used medicinally. The fresh leaves, crushed and applied to wounds, sores, insect bites, bee and wasp stings, eczema , and sunburn are healing to tissue because of the high allantoin content. Plantain is an ancient remedy used widely for relieving coughs, bronchitis, tuberculosis, sore throat, laryngitis , urinary infections , and digestive problems. The infusion has been used as a blood purifying tonic, a mild expectorant, and a diuretic. The juice from crushed leaves may also stem the flow of blood from cuts, and soothe the itch of poison ivy or the sting of nettle (Urtica dioica ). The root of the herb has been used to relieve toothache . The juice may relieve earache . A decoction of plantain has been used in douche preparations to relieve leucorrhea, and the juice or infusion can ease the pain of ulcers and inflammation of the intestines. All plantains contain high amounts of mucilage and tannin, and have similar medicinal properties. Plantain is high in minerals and vitamins C

So, we did many wonder filled things and the day, well, it was simply sublime  with on going rich connections and the children’s inherent nature of being completely in the present moment was a great, great treasure as we explored, played with and connected to all that was right with us in the now.