Tender Tracks Tues. Day 21

Nov. 28, 2017
Waxing Moon
Lake Lagunitas

Ruby is back yet, oh dear, we could not find her!!!  And, what was that Red lump in the back of the bus????  It was…….RUBY!!!!  Yeah, Ruby is back and we can all settle into our year completely. We can only trust that fires are gone and no more major challenges are on our horizons.
The weather was simply beautiful. A crisp fall day with leaves doing just that, falling with fall berries ripening on the trees, new songs to add to our November songs, new story and a container of three weeks to usher in the winter through adventures, stories, songs and shortening days.

Today we went to our sunny spot with the water trough and, fallen down metal post.  They revisited those things there that they love and then we eventually came to story.  In the story the Gnomes showed Trilly-Trully and Trippy-Troopy how they tend to the stones and make them bright and beautiful (this is laying the foundation, unbeknownst to them, of what they will be doing on the last day before holiday:), and how to gather and cook Madrone berries, the bright and beautiful berries growing on the trees Trilly-Truly and Trippy-Troopy have been finding.  The story held the clues to what WE would be doing for OUR day!

After circle Puma took the little hammer that was in the story and began hammering the stones that were brought out. Devin joined in and then both of them wanted to have hammers that fit their bodies so, I brought out our hammers. They all got a safety lesson and how to take good care of our tools. Then, each one got their hammer, went off to their own safe place with them, found wood and stone to hammer and at it they went.  Austen, pounding a rock paint stone, loved making paint for Ruby and my faces, Puma had a great stone that he was working on splitting open, as well as Vita and Avaline, and Devin was having a hard time finding a stone.  Puma left his and Devin picked up where he left off.  This hammering time finally dwindled. We then packed up and off we went.

Vita was excited to find so much scat, deer scat, on our trail as well as many, many tracks. We all took time here and there to explore these wonders that were left out for us to explore.  We found the lake that had this incredible green film over it and a little waterfall that was not there last time we visited. There was a Madrone tree with ripe berries for us to harvest so we did all of these things: explore, immerse and harvest.  Ruby and I climbed up the tree to harvest and Puma tried but could not. Avaline, Puma and Austen explored the watery waterfall area, Devin and Vita had a grand time throwing rocks into the water which then everyone else joined in and we gathered and ate the berries as well. But then, time to go to our final place where lot’s of Madrone berries were.  We did and there we had our lunch, climbed trees, gathered, gathered, gathered played, found amazing old tracter type of things, piles of wood that we wondered about, three children that gave great poops to the earth and helping each other up and down the trees. And oh yes, on their own, the children created grand Hide and Go seek games.

Vita had gotten a scrape from the tree and was resting her harm. Ruby came over with some more Berries to pick and put in the bag and there the three of us sat, peacefully and contentedly, plucking the berries off their stems and into the bag. Devin really was into harvesting the Madrone bark for tea. Puma, Austen and Avaline were having a great time climbing a couple of the Madrone trees.

Before we left I took out my Corn meal pouch and gave them each a little to offer to the trees to say thank you for giving us so much today.  Cornmeal is an old traditional way of offering gratitude. Children are the most grateful beings I have ever met when given a chance, they sit for such a long time expressing their gratitude for this and that.

When we got back to the bus they loved hiding from me while I went to the rest room.  When I came back, they were hidden under blankets, or, was it really them???  fun and laughter ensued and then off we went to go back to the park.