Marin Tender Tracks Thurs. Oct.9, 2014 Day 10

Crescent Waning Moon
Picking Apples on Cascade Rd/a house of a friend + Roy’s Redwoods

First off we went to a friends house of Theron’s Mom right near by to go shake some apple trees and get some apples.  The children, or some of them, came with VIM AND VIGOR!!  There was on going excitement and enthusiasm for this day and what we were about to do.  When we got to the house, we walked in the back and had to keep looking up, just like Trilly Truly and Trippy Troopy did when the wind brought them to the apple trees in our story A House With No Doors No Windows and a Star Inside!  Then, I sang them a song Rosy red, rosy red, apples bright above my head, Hanging from an apple tree, I see one that’s just for me. Will it hang or will it fall, I wish I were a bit taller….. And this was VERY true.  The trees were tall, we were small and we couldn’t reach a single one!  So, I shook some branches and then climbed up into the tree to shake more and get a few more down. The apples rained upon us and the children all scattered to gather.  What fun!  The woman whose trees these are was very generous and friendly.  She also picked each and everyone of them up so they could pick their very own apple right as we were leaving and passing by yet another apple tree. What a treat!
We then went back to the bus, accept Theron who was very upset. He and Jai BOTH wanted to carry the bucket that had the apples.  You see,when we were leaving we realized that we had LEFT THE BUCKET BEHIND!  They both ran back and Jai got it first.  Linsey stayed with Theron and they finally came back as floating clouds and ease was restored.  Then, off to another adventure at Roy’s Redwoods.
When we got there we stood on the safe side of the bus and ate our beautiful apples.  A lot of them were truly at the end of their perfection yet we were still able to eat some of them. I then brought a few younger apples for them to fully eat.
One of MY intentions for this day, was to continue looking for Redwood cones in hopes of finding them. Well, that AGAIN did not happen, however, and as always, much else did occur:
• Gathering more “black paint”
• Painting faces, arms, bodies
• Continuing to build the house that was being built and taken down from last time
• Finding tree frogs and holding them
• Playing on a couple of the “bouncy” trees
• Chase and Hide and go Seek games
• Story time
• Listening to the birds and figuring out where we are and how to get back to our bus
•Hana was more peaceful and easeful today then any other day.  It seems that she has settled in, knows how TT runs and is having a grand time within this new frame work of “school.”
•Ariel is stable with her play, who she plays with and of course, she loves Hana and after that THERON!!  She is so strong and was picking up big logs for building.
•Velia is so capable of with communicating so clearly to the children and, at the same time she is still very clearly not quite four . What I mean, when she wants to play with someone instead of using those great communication skills she knows she will push, shove or do something that no one would like.  I just love it when I ask her in the middle of this  “Would you like to play with …?” She then gives the biggest and most innocent pure smile and says “YES!” and then all is right in the world again. 🙂 And, the other child seems to relax as well. He innocence and purity is so strongly visible.
• Everett was playing a lot with Theron today and completely involved with the day.
•Thea LOVED playing with the frogs.  She is fearless and filled with passion and joy when it comes to reptiles yet, she was able to wait her turn to hold it. 🙂
• Nico too loved holding the frog yet not as fully as his sister THea.
• Julian was having a grand time with the frog as well, running, hiding in the trees and trying to find cones.
•Jai loved the bouncy tree, the frogs!running, chasing, playing and oh yes, the apples
•Theron was having a more challenging day today socially. He had an easier time with playing with Everett and expressed to Linsey, in different words then this but, it was all too noisey.  He in fact was one of the loudest so then I thought that not only him but I think many of us when it gets loud we either get louder or find other ways to tune out the loudness that might not be as helpful as we would like.
I find nothing more satisfying then to experience a child with a behavior that is challenging and then, finally discovering what their tender souls are really going through and being more empowered with this to then aid them.
Theron was really into the word Poop today so towards the end of the day I said “You know alot about poop Huh?”  He stopped for a moment.  I then told him about Owls and Snakes and how they poop out of their mouths. ( Ok, it is their cough pellets but it is a bit like pooping even though they do indeed poop!  Here is a youtube that shows this happening!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyjIgGVNdV4
This got their attention and I then told them a grand story about a snake that swallowed a plastic egg and how a man befriended the snake in order to save his life and get that plastic egg out, because he couldn’t cough or poop it out!!!!  Play mellowed out after this.
And, then, we all got VERY involved in gathering REdwood tree black fire dust, painting ourselves and then realizing oh dear WE HAVE TO GO!!! And so we quickly packed up and found our trail. We parked at a different place this time further up the road and took a different path to get to the Redwood Grove.