Palo Alto Tender Tracks Tues./Thurs. Sept. 27, 2012

Huddart Park
Waxing Gibbeous Moon
Day 8

Everyone was here and in fine spirits.   Well, Aoife was having a harder morning yet Mom and sister stayed for a bit and she settled in.  Alot of the day though she was holding Audrey’s hand until we got to the water hole.  But that story is to come later on down this page.  So, before circle we had some rousing chase games.   I was Coyote and the children were varying characters.   For example: Kaden is quite often Optimus Prime, a transformer character and Emme is almost always a Unicorn.  I chased, they ran, until, Ocarina blew, and circle time began.  Evan was not really ready for this so he and Audrey went to the Laying down tree where there he played as much as his body desired/needed.  The rest of us stayed in circle time and did what we do; sing, eat, check the weather, count the days, wash our hands, hear the story, see what the Fire Faires brought us, and more and not in this order.  Evan came back at the end longing for the rest of his snack, and there it was.

We then hopped into the bus, got our stuffies and off we went.  But oh dear, the bus was split again into those that love loud sounds and those that don’t and me, the driver that needs it at a certain volume for safety. Therefore, shortly before we reached Huddart I pulled over and we figured out, again, how to make driving safe and comfortable for all.  The rest of the way was just fine.

When we got there we found another friend of mine with some of his students. They were working with gourds making them into bowls and plates for their up and coming over night trip.  The children had fun seeing those things and meeting new and wonderful children and adults.   They explored the house from last week that they loved so much and then, off on our journey we went.

Miu had a very, very unhappy moment though just as we were walking down the path.  Her new backpack had the straps on the bottom curled up and secured with a rubber band on both sides.  One of the rubber bands had come off and she was REALLY SAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Truly!  So, as I met her with compassion, love and respect for her pain, she settled down, after a while.  Some of the girls came over to soothe her and in a fairly short amount of time, her tears were complete, she picked up her backpack and off we went.  Later in  the day, I found a rubber band and she was willing, and happy, to use this one even though it was not exactly like the original.
There is much  beauty to this story, and far more detail then is expressed her,  and one part that I love so much is the ability for children to truly and so deeply feel their feelings.
Can you imagine if we allowed ourselves to really feel our truth.  Of course as adults we have learned where and when we CAN really feel our feelings and this is, of course, just right.   Yet the aliveness and vibrancy of young children’s truths is a treasure to behold and, so easily taken care of when simply met, loved and allowed.  I am always astounded by this truth. This was one of the joy’s of the day for me to see her move through this with such beauty, grace and honesty. OK at the times of great scream crying, maybe it did not hold a traditional image of beauty!  (Writing this with loving humor!)

We then came to the road that went two ways and with a “forest” in the center.  Which way to go that would be safe?  Through the forest!!!! ( it was an “island” in the middle of the road for one side for cars to go up and the other side for cars to go down.)
We brambled through these woods and found feathers, bird scat and had to move over and around many branches.  On the other side, YEAH we did it! and down the road we went.  Emme was up ahead and checking the world out for us.  She and Alice discovered some backpacks on the lawn and said they saw some people go into the woods.   The rest of us  joined them and began to stalk closer and closer but then, we saw on the otherside of the meadow big dirt piles and heads bobbing up and down.  Who could THIS be?  Then, walking over to us were some more nature program friends.  We met all of them and then went our way only to meet up with the people we met last week!  Then they blessed us with sharing a Thank you song that they just wrote for the Bay trees.  They were making new Fire kits from Bay trees and they created this song.  We just were lulled with sweet and harmonious sounds of their new creation and then, they asked if we would like to see the fire being made.  The answer was YES!  They pulled out their hand drill kits and began to sing the Fire Song, that the children  just learned, and began to coax the fire out of the wood.  On and on they went and they were struggling actually. After some time and with effort and encouragement from everyone, big kids and little ones, the FIRE CAME WITH ABLAZE!!!!!!!!  The children were delighted and in awe.   Most of the time Emme wanted them to see her pretty shoes, her pretty backpack and how it all sparkled.  She was really taken by them all and wanted to see our new friends again and again.

After we said good bye to them we found horse poop and their tracks.  Emme, Alice, and Paul ran back to tell them what we found and then off we went to go to where I wanted to take them originally.   We settled down to eat and even though it was already 12:30 Evan and Miu needed a bit of  coaxing to get them interested in eating instead of exploring more!   When the eating was done enough, each one discovered ways to get down to the water hole.  There was much that happened even in this short part of our day but suffice it to say, all figured out how to get down this challenging slope and most took off a good deal of clothes and went into the water.  Wetness abounded along with happy faces.  The most unfortunate part of the day was that we had to scoot, scoot away from all of this fun and make the long journey back to the bus.  They were wonderful with their ability to get back in such a swift time and back to the park we went.