Palo Alto Tender Tracks Wed. April 17, 2013

Waxing Moon
Day 29
Foothill Park: The Big Meadow

All were here today. The Sun shone so brightly, the winds blew refreshingly and the children continue to step into their more alive, talkative, exlorative, vibrant selves.  As the Tues/Thurs group has completely shifted into a softer, easier going group, the three’s are taking over into the more Wild and Wonderful world.  I keep writing about this but I think this year in particular, it is just so visible and so text book that I can just sit back and watch with grand amazement at Life and the natural Nature, of it all.
Jasper was first to arrive to day. He was filled with so much to say and in a way that shows he is just growing in leaps and bounds. Then came Serena. She is reaching out to me so much more with great smiles, ease and lot’s of fun as she also connects with gaity with all the other children.   Julian and Juliette have become an item of late.  They are sitting next to each other in the bus, playing with each other, eating with each other and, of course, enjoying each others company very much.  Davey is FILLED with exuberant physical energy and connecting with the other children.  He and Zara were walking hand and hand back to the bus today with such sweetness.   Harper and Davey played a pushing shoving game with me for at least 20 to 30 minutes and really didn’t want to stop.  I was crawling on the ground and meowing like a cat. Harper saw this and strarted to growl.  Since I was croached over Davey , like a wild animal, thought this meant I was to be pounced on and so the two of them DID!!  And off we went with pounching and playing.  Zara wanted some nice close friends so Juliette finally opened up, after Julian was busy, to sitting, eating and talking with Zara.  Then Harper gave Zara her hair clip for a bit and Zara was DELIGHTED!!!    Misha was talking with the other children in a way he has not in the past and calling them by name as well as joining the children regularly.  Duncan was having a great deal of fun running all around and going back to the “Dragon house.”  Most of the children went with Mindy over there and later most went with her to make some pretend fire.
Jasper got very involved in taking old charcoal and grinding it up into powder for making face paint.  And then, he LOVED painting my face.  All the other children came to his little rock store, got the black paint and either painted me or each other. Mindy was made beautiful as well with this superb paint that Jasper made. Harper said that she was making me into a beautiful Princess and Duncan called me a Dragon.  Zara just thought I looked very scary! Harper tried to let her know that it was just me and everything was ok.
I took a stick and did a “magick” trick for some of the children sitting in front of me.  I took the stick behind my back, broke it in two and showed them how one stick became two!!!!  They laughed and later on Julian was taking green grass, breaking it in two and doing the same magick trick.   The first stick I broke looked like a horse to me so I took some of the tall grasses and made a person on the horse for a toy. Then everyone wanted a toy and I spent the rest of the day making these little treasures.  Most got lost before they made them home but they were played with before that.  Which is really what I think is best, make it and give it back to the earth.
On the walk back the children came across a group of wonderful women painting the landscape on their easels.  The children were so well received by them and looked at all their pictures with great enthusiasm.  It was beautiful to see the exchange!