Palo Alto Tender Tracks Thursday Nov.21, 2013 Day 24

Waning Crescent Moon
Eleanor Pardee Park

The day threatened rain and even though I figured it really wasn’t going to rain, the sky was gray and held this protective dark ceiling . This was our last day before holiday so, it seemed like a great time to use the wood that we have been gathering, bring out the small barbecue pit, the small camp chairs, the popcorn and have some holiday fun.  So, that is what we did.   The children were very present as all the pieces to the fire were put in the pit.  They learned and sang the Fire Song to help the fire come with just one match.  ( If you can learn how to make a one match fire in all different weathers by having the right materials and knowing where to find them you are in good shape!)  And, WE DID IT!!  A one match fire occurred.  Our materials that we used were very dry, they were placed just so, the children had helped and off we went with the fire.   Then we had to wait as the fire was built up, burned down, built up, burned down, built up, burned down until we had just the right heat to then put the top grate on and put the popcorn pot on. But, oh dear, it WASN’T just right.  The popcorn was not popping.
We waited, and listened and watited and listened and waited and listened but, it just didn’t pop. We looked at the popcorn to see if there was too much oil. Poured off some oil, put the pot back on but, oh no, maybe the fire needed more heat. So, we built up the fire and then: POP, POP, POP, POPPPPPPPPPPPP and it finally popped away and was ready.
Then the eating began with great delight!!   They ate and ate and I even had another snack of small pumpkin muffins and they ate all those up as well!!!
There was the traditional making of fire soup when we were done with the fire: You go and get water in our camp cups and one by one you pour the water over the hot coals, listen to the sound they make, watch the smoke that rises, and then begin to stir.  The question is, “How long does it take to completely put the fire out where there is no heat?”  And so the experiment took place.
The rest of the day was filled with hammering nails into the logs in various places around our area, climbing on the Laying down tree and playing over there, making house, laying down and resting later in the day when the Sun was warm and radiant and just having a fine time of it, and hearing some stories at days end.
The hammering was a delight for almost all.  I liked how Ridham tried it several times and then said, ” I just don’t really like hammering.”  Earlier he said that his Mom and Dad don’t allow this.  I said that I am pretty sure they would not mind him hammering at Tender Tracks. Therefore he tried again and then came to the conclusion that he just didn’t really like it.  However, Cole and Zac LOVED hammering and they wanted their own special place to do so.  Juliette and Julian wanted LOT’S!!!!! of nails to hammer in a log that had lot’s of small holes from bugs and birds in it already. They thought it was exceptionally fun to put the nails in there and then hammer them in.  However, there were a great deal more of holes then there were nails!!!
Towards the end of the day I noticed that Zara seemed a bit tired so I made a little bed with a blanket and got her and Serena and Eden very cozy in a bed.  There they rested in the warm sun.
It was a beautiful day just at the park in our little Forest that provided us so much nature/naturalness in such a small and  urban area.