Tender Tracks Wed. Day 12

Dec. 5, 2018
Waning Crescent Moon
Lake Lagunitas

Addie was absent today.

The question to begin the day was, ” Will it really rain today? Will it drizzle? or…?” And, what did we find?  It drizzled, sprinkled and showered on and off.

The children did wonderfully well with all of this. The day flowed with ease as we had our small circle this morning at a picnic table, no story, snack that they basically did not like and then exploring where we were, briefly.  The snack was Rose hips, Elderberry and raw honey tea with the popcorn they made from last week with Sunflower butter and honey mixed in to make something akin to popcorn balls.   More information for Ruby and I with regard to this groups food preferences as well.

Since the morning was cold we decided it best to take a nice walkabout and that is what we did.  We walked up the big rock stairs, which most definitely brought warmth to their bodies.  Then down the big trail and to a spot we have not been to for a while.  During the warm days a certain kind of Hornet lived there and, in truth, we avoided this place until the days were cold.

On our way to there, we discovered SO MANY NEWTS!  These little friends of ours were in heaven over this weather and they were having their own “walkabouts” too!!  The children followed many of them and were often surprised that they weren’t where they left them when they came back to find them. We came upon a very large flock of birds that were making all kinds of sounds in one big tree. I thought for sure they were Robin Redbreasts due to the sounds and what I know of what they do this time of year.  And, they were all feeding up in the Madrone trees eating the Madrone berries. It was rather hard to see their colors, however, and only their silhouettes. I know now that I have not known what the Robins silhouette looks like.  But, on our walk home, as we passed the same spot, I discovered that indeed they really WERE the Robins. I saw them flying low and I could see them very clearly. The children who were with me got to the see them a little bit.

Beau found beautiful spider webs in an old building and he was fascinated by them. Nelly LOVES all things in nature and takes a good amount of time looking and noticing.  She let me know that the berries on the ground were not ripe because some were yellow but the ones that were very red were. And, she was absolutely correct!!!

When we got to our spot they found water. There we sat for a while and looked for swimming Newts, which we found.  We had our lunch and towards the end, the rains came a bit.  We noticed all the different types of rain and wondered what name goes with the different kinds of rain. We wondered about Sprinkle rain, Drizzle Rain, Showers, Rain, Torrential Rain and on and on.

The children played for a bit more after lunch. Beau walked right into the deep part of the creek and was so surprised that he got wet.  Nathan was wet yet sooo happy about the fun he was having.  Walking back he and Gideon were found just staring at a large tree. They called Ruby over so excitedly and showed her this most beautiful thing, the tree.  Sienna, was happy playing in and around the water. Ellery was in a bit of a daze at lunchtime, and after. Sienna wondered why, when Ellery got asked some questions during lunch, she didn’t answer.  Again, she was in a bit of a daze.  I think the weather was a bit different for her, or something. 🙂  Rohin was HAPPY!  walking, talking, playing.  I held his hand most of the way walking back and he quietly sang a little one line fairy song sweetly to himself.  And Gideon was just his happy self, playing in the water, experiencing the many sensations that he feels.  He was even more at ease with his wet and/or dirty hands knowing that at Tender Tracks we take care of these things a bit differently than when indoors. We don’t have sinks and bars of soap and wash towels, to name a few differences.

It was such a fine gray, misty, showery, magical day.  They really did great with it all. And when we got back to the bus, we had a grand Changing Party time. We then wrapped the up in warm blankets, I played some music on the Kalimba on the way home and then Ruby and I sang for them a bit, which they always show signes of loving.