Palo Alto Tender Tracks Day 43, March 15, 2012

Waning Moon
Eleanor Pardee Park and the Duck Pond

Grace and Alexi were absent today.
This was a glorious day yet I am going to brief today in this description.
St. Patties day was just around the corner and it was time to hear the Story of Sean O’Hoologhan and Mrs. O’Malley.  Mrs. O’Malley taught this grumpy old Leprechaun that  one doesn’t have to go chasing rainbows to find gold but that it is right infront of you and you can even make it and EAT IT!!  After the story we made our own butter, grind wheat to cook into biscuits.  WOW they got right into it giving space for each other to crank out the wheat from the grinder and shake that jar with the cream that then turned golden and into butter.  After all the years I have done this I STILL find it so exciting and miraculous to see that white cream change color!
They helped mix the wheat they ground and  added raisins and water to the pot to make biscuits and then watched them cook.  They got gobbled up and according to Laurie they were the BEST EVER!!!  It took us so long with this journey that after eating this it was time for lunch and none was hesitant to eat that as well!  Then it was off to the duck pond.

At the duck pond I just followed the children and they led us around the back side that we rarely explore.  Bodie said to me, “how come we are going this way” and I just said, ” I am following all of you.”    Some were so happy to find a place that we had been to before but gotten to from a whole other direction, their play houses.  These houses were from large and very fully grown Palm trees. They are squatty and some rather “spooky” underneath all of the Palm Fronds.  They just LOVED playing here and Bodie, Giulio, Lucy and Anjalie were having fun eating Pickle weed and finding many different kinds of shells.   The rest went in and out of playing house and/or fishing next to the pond.  Some of them wanted to go after a time yet Jasper wanted to stay and Laurie was willing to stay with him.  He LOVES Laurie so this was his joy.  The rest of us walked back enjoying the birds, the air and finishing up their lunches.