Palo Alto Tender Tracks Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2013

Full Moon
Day 43
Foothill Park-The Dock

Kaden was home sick today yet everyone else was here after the vacation.  We went back to the same place because there was still projects to finish and this place is great for being able to be close to the bus in order to bring a lot of stuff out  and to unwind with great ease.
We sang our songs today yet needed to omit the King Winter songs, for the moment.  Even though I saw Jackie Frost  this morning, the days have been like Spring and I believe that King Winters Reign is diminishing as we speak!  However, singing our rain songs seemed like a very good idea and, even though Evan LOVES the Fire song, I suggested, at the end of the day, we continue to sing our water songs in hopes of calling forth more rain, not sun!( though we LOVE it!)
When we got to our spot everyone got out and went to the dock with true delight.  I then called circle and we had a beautiful snack with home made Rose Hip and lemon water tea.  They drank it ALL up and wanted more!
I then told them a story of Spring Is Coming and it’s Just Around the Corner. Throughout the day I would bring their attention to ways that we know that it is spring.  Buds were all around us and mating behavior too I will add, with the Coots.
The Coots were surrounding us throughout the day and we got to get very close to them as they seem to have little fear of humans.  I was delighted today because even though Kaden was absent Taz seemed pretty fine about it and played with all the children, particularly the boys.  Throughout the day the boys and girls would go in and out of playing with each other and not wanting to play with each other. A circle was held at one point for them all to declare how they wanted to play and it also came out with whom they wished to play.  This turned out to be boys with boys and girls with girls.  Evan actually wanted to play with Alice but she was not delighted with that because he had thrown water on her and that is why we called the circle in the first place.  Yet, it was not long before they were playing together brother and sister and he was helping take care of the baby she just gave birth to.
Early in the day Miu said that she wanted to wash her hat.  I immediately remmebered about the wash board that I keep in the bus and we both went to get it.  I showed her how to use it at the ponds edge and soon enough all the children wanted to wash their clothes.  They began to take things off so I went to get rags and such that they could use instead of winding up with only wet and cold clothes to wear.  This went over just fine and soon the wood structures were covered with wet garments drying.
We took out the buckets with the Redwood cone dye and the Walnut/Toyon leaves dye that Evan and Paul had put wool into the week before holiday.  They took this out and WOW they were really dyed!!!  They rinsed them off in the pond and laid those things out to dry too.    Aoife washed more wool for another blanket/pillow she wanted to make yet that would have taken a long time to dry so I suggested we gather Cat Tail down to stuff a new pillow.  She did and finished sewing it very quickly.   Even though Paul and Evan said they wanted to finish their pillows play took over and that never happened.   Giselle changed her mind and went staight to sewing and it is discovered that she is a very fine seamstress!  She said she learned it from her Grandmother.
Taz was a Black Panther for a lot of the day, Paul transformed more then I could keep track of and Evan was in costume because it was Purim.    The girls were family, Mom, sister, baby and such and all were washing people, and, seeing water bird people, and, exploring people…… and so the games went on.
Miu had dropped one of the rags in the pond and it sunk and she was very upset so, she, Jill, Aoife and then Evan went searching for a very long stick to pull it out. She and Evan came back carrying this very, very long stick and all tried to retrieve the rag.  Jill stepped in for the final umph to get it out and, YEAH!!!!! they did and success was had!
On the way back we sang many songs, Jill read a book about the long journey of making a coat from the wool from the back of the sheep to all the people that washed it, combed it, made it into cloth, dyed it and sewed it.  They were very silent as they listened all the way through.