Palo Alto Tender Tracks Feb. 12, 2013

Waxing Crescent Moon
Day 41
Stevens Creek Open Space Preserve

All were here today on this glorious spring like day.  Even though the need for Rain is grand, the pleasure of the Sun was still wonderful.   There was much play before getting in the bus.  Jill became some sort of monster being chased and while she was doing that I was in the Bus with Miu, Giselle and Aoife as they sprayed and learned how to spray with the four new and refilled spray bottles of different scents that I brought.
Roman Chamomile: Anti-infectious, aniti-inflammatory, calming and relaxing.  Good for Emotional balance and nervous system
Peppermint: Antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, antiviral and invigorating.
Lemongrass: antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiseptic, insect repellent, revitalizer, sedative, tonic.
Serenity (a blend of, Lavendar, sweet majoram, roman chamomile, Ylang, Ylang sandalwood, vanilla bean): for calming nerves or emotions at the end of a long day or in times of stress. As the body is able to relax, more blood is able to circulate to the brain.

It was fun to see the girls work at spraying these.  Miu was the one with the most interest in the fragrances and changing the smell of the bus. She really liked Roman Chamomile the best.
After all the running around with everyone else outside I joined for awhile and then it seemed like a good time to head on out.   We only counted the days on the bus as it was quite wild.  With a calming voice and some redirection they all settled down, received their stuffed animals and off we went.   When we got to our destination and they ran about for a bit, we all sat at a picnic table, had snack, sang songs and heard the story of the day.  The story was about Warm Fuzzies and Cold Pricklies. Warm fuzzies are kind and caring words and Cold Pricklies can be the same words yet said in a way that you know are not sincere.
This led us into washing some sheered wool to make it clean so that we could dye them different colors like the warm fuzzies in the story.  Each took a handful of wool and went down to the creek.   But OHHHH, the water was SOOOOO COLD!!!!  So washing happened for a little bit and then, off they went to play.
Jill continued cleaning the wool as she watched the boys have such a good time down stream playing, finding a board, going up and down, taking off their shoes and socks, rolling up their pants and playing in the water some more.    The girls were with me and we were eating or they were, on and off throughout the day, and playing Dr.
Whenever they see a picnic bench it then becomes their Dr’s office.  Alice was having four children, Aoife 5 and Gissele at least two. But oh yes, this changed on and off and I do believe they were helping each other have their babies and take care of them.
In and out and all around the children played and then, I took out the basket with the sewing needles and thread and already cut up squares.  It seemed like making pillows with the wool would be a good idea.  Typically by this time Tender Trackers have already made pillows out of CatTail Down but it hasn’t happened this year so, the right moment arrived.  Paul, Aoife, Miu, Emme, Alice and Evan began their pillows. Miu finished sewing it all by herself.  She said that her babysitter has shown her how to sew.  Wow babysitter, nice work!!!!
Kaden wanted some nails to hammer into the ground and I said that we could make nails from wood so I got a piece of wood and sharpened one end and then we went to look for stones.  We found a bone for digging with which Paul, Kaden and Taz used and then a good stone for pounding.  Kaden pounded the just made wooden nail in the ground with joy and then Paul followed suite.
They all played in and out together, apart, this game that game, in such a beautiful free form way. Some were with Jill and I as we helped them sew, or clean wool while others were eating, playing, exploring, digging with “Wolverine claws” and things like that.
When it came time to leave it seemed all too soon.
And oh yes, there was much singing because they really wanted to sing the song I taught them a couple of weeks ago: Aye Mo ginumba, the Village song as well as the Magickal Unicorn song and the Fire song.  Before we left in the bus I shared with them a “Medicine Song” that was taught to me about trees.  They then gave a ,one word,  Thank you. Most of them said Play. Right as we were driving away Evan saw four Deer. We looked out and they were all jumping around and playing!!!  It was so very magickal and a beautiful reflection of themselves.