Tender Tracks Wed. Day 19

Feb. 6, 2019
Alpine Lake
Waxing Crescent Moon

Addie and Ruby home sick and Tiana, was our substitute teacher.

The children took to Tiana very well. Her grounded, kind, and skillful ways made the day so very easy and sweet.  Not a beat skipped with her there.

Sienna, however, for the first time had a hard time coming and it took awhile for her to find her way into the bus.  Whether it was because “daddy was snow boarding” or because her eyes looked like she could be getting sick, was unknown.  She did just fine throughout the day though, towards the end, she did seem tired.  Ellery was easy peasy. She for the first time went off on her own, quite peacefully I might add, on the big rock after circle.  I went over and was with her for awhile. She didn’t show any signs of being discontent. Quite the opposite, rather peaceful. Tiana went over and was with her for awhile as well and they had a fine time!  Nelly was having so much fun with Rohin throughout the day and filled with great delight with all that we did. This is just consistent each and every week. She is so talkative now too.  At lunch time, she and Rohin went back and forth and back and forth telling stories.  They got everyone else excited about sharing stories so, one by one they all took turns sharing grand and adventurous tales of their own creations.  Gideon came this day  feigning sleep. Once in his seat though and when all had settled in out POPPED his eyes and he was right there with his usual fun and laughter. Nathan was/is, like Nelly, very consistent with his engagement and happiness and Beau, he too was himself, happy go lucky, playful and alive.

Now, from the beginning.  When we got to this bright and sunny place they went straight to the waters edge where, last time they were here, they found great logs to pull and carry. And, so they tried again!

We then came to circle and there we sang, found a great green “Lady bug”, actually a cucumber beetle.

We looked at it for the longest of time and then Rohin got scared and began to cry. Tiana, very gently, helped him to settle and I came over easy like to pick it up. The children came over to see it better and then I put it off into another spot. All was well and back to circle we came. We had snack and then I read them a book called The Child of Snow.  It was a great story to bring in what with all the snow and our days being so very cold. All the children said they had seen snow accept for Rohin.  The story also is a great precursor to Spring that is approaching.  And oh yes, we put up our weather stick and watched Brother Sister Wind play with the feather at the end of the stick. At first there was no wind to be seen or felt.  As we looked all around for evidence of any wind, what should happen, while we were NOT looking at our weather stick?? The wind came in.  We all noticed the sky and, there were NO clouds! The sky was blue, blue.  In the bus they had noticed how many were wearing blue and then we looked again.  When circle was over they went right back to the edge of the pond and were peacefully playing. It was at this time that Ellery went over to the big rock.  At different times, different groups of children went over to the rock so she was playing in and out with the others. Then Sienna got a very small cut with a very small amount of blood on it.  We found the great and mighty Plantain plant.  This plant is so very good for cuts and bee stings.  I crunched it up for the juices to come out, got a bandaid, and put it on.  A couple hours later she took the bandaid off. All was well.  Please, do google this to discover the many gifts and healing properties that it has.

At one point I was playing with Gideon, Nelly, and Rohin. They started to make nests and then nests for snakes.  Later on all of us became snakes crawling on the ground looking for little bugs and things. They found lot’s of other things then bugs and mostly, they were snakes being so close and connected to the earth.

Gideon had fallen a bit over a log and got muddy. He wasn’t physically hurt, as far as we could tell, but most assuredly not liking this so, he got in my lap and little by little his tears settled. All the while and one by one, the children came over to see how he was.  Their warm and loving smiles that they gave him were just so very beautiful.  Sienna and Ellery were playing a little game with me. It started with Sienna. She had found different kinds of sticks in the water. They could easily be broken. Then the two of them started trying to break any stick they could find. Some could be broken, and some could not. I asked that they put them on my hand and cover every part so you couldn’t see my hand. From there a game of, camouflage and completely hidden, came about. The the others came by where they piled and piled grass, mud and sticks on my hand so: hand, camouflage, hidden, WHOOOSH it away: hand, camouflage, hidden WHOOSH it away and on and on.

There were roaming groups and games and then, lunch, which you already heard about the storytelling festival we had during the time. After lunch we went on an adventure to find TURTLES. We practiced being ever so quiet walking up to them, we then went further and found painting rocks upon the ground, rocks to build with, puddles to stomp in and running, running. Rohin fell three times, Beau once, Ellery once. A sometimes painful learning to be running in rain boots on rocks ground.  “Why did I fall?” is the big question of the day.

There was some figuring out which way to get back to the bus, then singing , thank you’s, bus ride home and Tiana telling an engaging story to them all.