Palo Alto Tender Tracks Thursday March 14, 2013

Waxing Moon
Day 48
Huddart Park

Alice was absent today and, Taz, Kaden and Paul were back and raring to go.  The morning was filled with great chase and play with Audrey all around the park and then into the bus and getting ready for our day to make butter.  During the entire ride to our destination they shook white cream that was placed in glass jars with marbles in them.  Just like Shawn Hoolahan from their story of Tuesday (and today) they had to “work until their arms ached from it” in order to make their butter into GOLD!
When we got to the park they all piled out and began to play again in the sand as I set up circle.  And again, one by one in their own time they all came over.  It was so easeful and an organic flow the way circle keeps coming into form.  We sang our songs and now we are singing a Spring is here, spring is here let us dance and be of good cheer…… song along with some other new ones that have them using their bodies, hands and hearts.
For snack they had their rich and creamy golden butter spread onto a round loaf of fresh baked bread, cheese and Lemonaide made from Lemons that Emme brought from her tree at home.  Then on to the story again about finding gold all around us and sharing and working together.
By this time it actually was early lunch time so most ate and then we packed up but oh dear, it took so long to pack up and such that we could not go back to the wonderful place that we went  to on Tuesday so, I brought them to another place that was closer and just as fun.  Down the trail we went but there was much about where are we, where is the sun, what does the trail look like when we turn around and much around that so that we could find our way back.  And oh yes, when eating there was a lot of finding the yellow and gold all around us.  The children made a large pile of all the flowers that they gathered that were yellow and beautiful.  We have been seeing that  Spring is no longer around the corner but right here in front of us!!
Now, back to the trail, when we came to the bottom we really spent time seeing how we would get back from many different perspectives and, they were in deed able to figure it out by days end.
I took them down a little trail that led us to a beautiful little pond and there clothes came off down to undies, inspired by Evan, and in they went. Evan went in pretty much all the way but the rest just waded about.  He became so very cold and he and I spent a good amount of time figuring out how to stay warm and feeling two feelings: the joy of playing in the water and the discomfort of being cold.  Being able to hold two feelings like this doesn’t truly kick into a person until around 5 years old.  Prior it is all about one feeling at a time: I LOVE you!  I HATE you!  and such extremes… Evan worked this well and in the end, found warmth with all of his extra clothes and very warm wonderful wool socks that his Mom beautiful brought for him.
The children wanted to learn how to braid so Audrey used my hair for a demonstration as well as braided Evans and put Pauls up in the Unicorn style that apprears to be becoming a true Tender Tracks fashion statement for the boys!   Aoife loved drawing her map of the day in the new Map Maker book but did not want to have me write down what she drew or share it with the group at days end.
The most wonderful and magickal thing happened though, I thought I heard something on the trail above us.  One by one the children came up with me and then, we found GOLD!  It seems that the Leprachauns were following us and lost some of their gold on the ground.  We were looking for their tracks all over and in the process not only found gold but incredible mushrooms of many colors, golden leaves, different plants and, more gold for each one of them to find.  It was remarkable!!!
But then alas, it was time to go so packing up we did and up the trail we went with glee and joyful steps.  All the way back they were telling stories of the day and remembering the many wonders that we saw.  Aoife and Giselle discovered something like 12 + Banana Slugs throughout the day!