Tender Tracks Thurs. Day 16

November 2, 2017
Day before Full Moon
Lake Lagunitas

Linda was with us today and this will be her last day substituting for Ruby.
It was filled with, what felt like, some leftover flurry from Halloween festivities and excitement.

We had a beautiful circle with a story about How the Seasons Came to Be. 
There was a contest you see between Grandpa North and Grandma South. Everybody just loved always going to visit Grandma South because she was so warm and cozy and most rarely visited Grandpa North in his cold home.  So a contest was created where they had to guess what hand a pebble was in that they passed back and forth and back and forth behind their back.  It seems that they are fairly equal at this guessing game because that is why our seasons are fairly even!!
We spent the rest of the day noticing when it got hot, cold, cloudy, warmer, cooler and such.  And the weather DID keep changing back and forth and back and forth throughout the day!!!

We made a map in order to find our way to where I was guiding them. Devin loved this.  He started to draw on the map. One by one as each child saw what was happening they came over and wanted to add to this map, and they did!  Then, Devin became the carrier of it throughout the day. He really wanted to take it home. No one else chimed in for it so, that is what he did!

We just had such a fine time finding our way to the different spots that were described to get there: Woodpecker Heaven, Fairy pool, the second bend on the path….
They got a little stuck however at a spot that three of them remembered from last year. The place where the sand is so fine you could roll in it and wrap it around like a soft blanket. There they STOPPED, sat down and began to make PIZZA!!!  Yes, pizza. They made all kinds of Pizza from this fine dirt.   We finally were able to move on and go to the wide open space with the Lake in front of us and Wood Peckers ALL AROUND!!!

The children immersed themselves into this place exploring the water looking for fish and tadpoles and anything else they could find.  They made “fish” out of the lake plants too.  At one point Austen was having a GRAND time swinging one of the plants into the water. No one could come near him as he did this so they discovered another part of the pond and had fun there. Austen was appreciative of being able to swing and swing and swat the water top over and over and over again.  He was in Heaven.

There was the typical running, chasing, hiding, and seeking throughout the day.

Shortly, after we sat down for lunch, two MMWD trucks with a boat in tow came driving in!!!  I thought we might have to move but YEAH! we did not.  The first man came out and he was very nice. Linda and I were asking him many questions about our water, the lakes, where the waters go and the like.  He answered with kindness and then went back into his truck to finish his lunch.

After we finished ours Puma had to poop so I went with him. The rest of them continued to look for frogs and fish, watch and follow the Woodpeckers and the clouds that continued to change.  Then, it was time that we all cleaned up our belongings for the men to move their trucks near the water, push their boat in and sail away.

We had a GRAND time watching this entire event. As we walked home we saw them in the lake and yelled and waved hello. They waved back.

A beautiful, beautiful day.

Any one know what this bird is? And if so, do you know if it is a Male or female?? Post your answer if you wish!!!!