Tender Tracks Thursday 2016 Day 2

Sept. 15, 2016
Lake Lagunitas
Day before Full Moon

And so we had our first full day just with the children. So many beautiful pieces for us all. By the end of the day half of them were falling asleep in the bus. I take that as a good sign: they were fully engaged in the day and all that was being offered to and for them.
When we arrived to Lake Lagunitas they got out of the bus and took their alive, imaginative selves and went off to explore the area. Shortly after that I gave a meat offering to the Yellow Jackets so that we could have a little peace of heart and mind while we ate. Skylar still was a bit bothered by their sounds and flight during circle which aided us in diving in more deeply into observation mode of these fine beings.
When we got into circle it was beautiful; there was singing, participating, listening to story with focused intent, and finding their beautiful mats with their symbols. Michelle and I are learning about their food desires or lack there of and will be having fun finding healthy food that they readily partake in.
They are learning, for some, a different rhythm of eating and/or not and finding joy in “eating” the delights of our surroundings.
They were eager for an adventure after circle so, off we went to a place beyond where we went the first day where a creek and forest awaited our play and delight.
The children discovered rocks to paint with and black soot from the burnt Redwood trees to paint themselves with as well. There were wonder filled trees that turned into houses and a beautiful grove to begin playing with what a real fire circle would look like and a real way of setting up wood to burn. They gathered a lot of wood too for our future fires. Jake, Kuba, and Archer predominantly went back and forth to get big rocks to make a safe fire circle with. At the end of the day we all carried these rocks back to the creek and the girls made the fire circle look as if it never was there.
Jake needed to go poop a bit before all of this in the woods which, according to him, was his first “nature poop!” He did GREAT!
Archer and Jake like to run far away so we are beginning the journey of learning how to stay together as a group and how that all works with Tender Tracks. Skylar and Eddie found a great friendship with each other and Ruby and Isabella were rekindling their joy as friends. They had made a great house that Skylar and Eddie were invited into. All four girls played together in their homes for awhile sharing “tea” and such back and forth. Archer was delighted with painting and gathering the black soot for paint. Kai loved painting with the rocks as well as Jessie, Kuba and Jake. At one point all the children were painting and searching for the best rocks for paint. We discovered many sounds, sights, smells and birds to see. Kuba stopped us on the trail as his keen eyes saw some ducks hiding down below at the waters edge in the bushes.
Jessie played a lot with the boys today as Ruby was mostly preoccupied with Isabella. He seemed quite happy and at peace with this. Kuba was filled with exploration and observation. Kai had a run in with an eyelash in his eye that Michelle skillfully extracted and he sweetly complied and then carried on.
Lunch time had the glorious quality of peace as we ate in our circle upon our mats. Kuba shared with us a riddle that he at first called a joke. As we got involved in this joke we did realize it was a riddle that needed guesses. ALL the children got very involved in having an answer and one by one shared it. This was delightful!!!
We had two groups on the way back and by the end it was all the children with Michelle and me with Archer and Jake. Archer, and actually most of the boys, were being asked to observe a lot about where the dust was going as they joyfully would pick it up and throw it into the air. It would flow down into many peoples eyes, even those passing by. Well, with a great deal of support, observation and figuring out how the fun could still happen within the safety of all, many different solutions came about and a bit of success with alternate possibilities made manifest. YEAH!
Our drive back was so much quieter as most were VERY tired. 🙂