Yard Greens Salad

When I began this blog I thought it was going to be harder to have nature experiences rather than urban experiences. However, as grandpa found out my boys find nature in almost every activity we do and sometimes it can make for slow going. A walk to or from the light rail, only a mere six blocks, can take an hour: So many sticks to tap. Maple seed pods to put in your hair. Flowers and plants to smell. The mile walk from the grocery, well dinner just might be late.

Our backyard also has become a place where the boys can hang out for hours upon hours. Yesterday they made a "salad" out of grasses, leaves, and a few of the pea plant flowers. They found a "tunnel" to play in under the boughs of the plum tree. They go in and out a "door" made of branches. And now at almost 28 months of age they are really beginning to play with one another which has added even more endurance to the outside play. How can you stop playing when your brother offers you "dinner" and you are expected to snack on it?

Books in the Park

Today we took a walk to the library. It is the summer reading program and the boys had "read" ten books each. They were ready to choose their free book and get their name added to the reading wall. The librarian was fabulous and made the ordeal every bit as exciting as it should be. Stickers for the chart-" make sure you get them on there," he said. Theo went to it right away. Sam held on to his. Then the librarian had the boys watch him hang their names on the wall and said, "keep filling in reading logs and you can get a star for your tag and an entry for the free breakfast raffle." Then he said take your time as you choose your book. Both Sam and Theo agreed on the same book- a silly book called Tubby...all about bathtime. Luckily, there were two of them.

In anycase, after collecting our free books and then a few additional library books we headed to the park right outside the library to read. We had just settled in to a bench in the shade when a couple of young boys came out to play. This park is fabulous because it borders on quite a few apartments. One of the boys I remembered from last year. He came over and asked if the boys were twins and I said yes. He said, "wow that's great that means they are 0 months apart in age. My brother and I are 13 months apart." I asked him how old he is and he said 7. Then he played a bit of "two square" with his brother using a basketball. A bit later as his brother ran in the house for a football and he asked if he could read to the boys. I said, "sure" and he sat down right in between them and read. Saying," I am a good reader." The boys agreed.

The boys enjoyed their new friend. And we told him about the summer reading program. He asked if you need to have a library card to do it and I said no. It makes me sad that he might not have a library card, but I said you just have to read ten books and you can get a free book. You can probably read them right there in the library if you can get an adult to let you go there.

Here is the amazing thing. Right outside our doors people have access to so many things and yet they don't even go there. It is wonderful that these children today were actually allowed to play outside, in a park no less. Many kids don't even have that access. But, that freedom seems to stop. In this young boy's world it seemed to stop even before the door of the library. How do we change that? Make libraries and the natural world open to all?

Library activities out doors? Ahhh....if we could only find a way to fund that. Currently, I don't even think I can go to the library tomorrow as it will be closed. No funding.

Keeping a Sense of Wonder

I am currently reading A Natural Sense of Wonder [Connecting Kids with Nature through the Seasons] by Rick Van Noy. He is a professor of literature who also desires that his children experience nature. The book is like finding community because he too must make an effort to actually get his kids off the typical track of car rides, green lawns, too safe of playgrounds and away from screen time. One way his family does this is by taking "outings." Sometimes these are afternoon explorations at a local pond, day trips to a nearby hiking trail, and weekend camps.

Currently I am reading a chapter where he is with his family at the Mount Rogers Naturalist Rally looking for salamanders. He not only describes his families' finds but the care with which they must take to protect the salamanders. He describes their important role in the ecosystem-- by eating insects they keep down insects. If the insects are left to eat all the bacteria and nutrients the trees don't thrive and the forest begins to die. It is the connections that his family makes that will allow his children to thrive: in school and in the world. He relates how a respected herpetologist Dr. James Organ relates to him, that "The best scientists are the ones who never quite grew up. They retain a sense of wonder about them."

Wonder is the thread that keeps Van Noy's book going. In his prologue he cites, Rachel Carson as he shares her hope that children be given "a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and disenchantments of later years, the sterile preoccupation with things that are artificial, the alienation from the sources of our strength." Wonder.

And so now I wonder: What is Wonder? I think of how long it can take two little boys to walk a few simple blocks. It is what I see in their discoveries: picking up a handful of maple seeds, finding a stick and then a collection of sticks, smelling a plant then getting dazed by watching a bee. Wonder. It cannot be rushed. It does not follow a straight line. It involves getting dirty. It deserves to be protected.

Tree poetry

A walk can refresh the spirit. You can notice small wonders a flower's scent, a new bloom, or even an interesting root in the sidewalk and then somehow feel calmer. Today I was refreshed by finding a tree poem. Even though the intersection was a bit loud with rush hour traffic our family stopped to enjoy this poem posted by a neighbor. How refreshing!

Neighborhood Trees and Stumps

We always stop to say hello to our favorite trees. The third largest blackwalnut tree in the state is on our walk to the grocery store. We pass several willows and some cedars. We even stop and say hello to our favorite stumps.

Our family cares about trees. When the boys were just a few months old we tried to save some trees from coming down in our historic neighborhood. First by actually doing an action when we thought the cutting was illegal. Then attending the Historic Neighborhood Review Boards meeting. In the end the trees were cut down.

Here is a picture of another stump in our neighborhood. This tree came down after the new owners bought the house. I sure hope they had a good reason to cut it. It was such a marvelous tree. At least the boys try to make use of it. This truly is "The Giving Tree."

A recent community walk occurred to view trees. However our family got the date wrong so we missed it. Nevertheless we learned of a great resource about trees in Seattle. Here you can find canopy connections.

Running down hills

So many things to write about: life informs and books inspire. The boys are growing so quickly. They are branching out and exploring their world. Most recently Theo has taken to running down hills. "Theo run hill" says my boy. His arms fly up and down. His hair bounces behind him. He has astonishing speed. But, he only has fallen a few times and overall this has not stopped him from finding pure joy in running down the hills around our house. I worry about his knees. Running on cement may seem light to him, but I know the long-term impacts. Yet, I don't want to stop him. He is so joyful. I wonder if I can find a good grassy place for him to run?

Richard Louv talks about the lack of access to natural spaces in his book The Last Child in the Woods. He identifies lack of open places and a lack of time combined with a boom of organized activities and sports all reasons for the growing childhood obesity epidemic. These days keeping children inside or putting children in cars and hauling them off to an activity is often the easiest and more convenient, but it doesn't give them the time for open exploration and exercise.

In contrast to a life of commuting a toddler around town having a toddler running down a city street basically means that the parent must do the same. Even though my boys stop at each driveway, their instinct is to say, "no cars" as they continue running on their way. This means that I need to be ever alert. It is all engaging and challenging. Also by not just getting in a car we spend way too much time near all those other people who drive their automobiles and trucks up and down our street. The air can sometimes give me a headache. I worry about the impact on my boys health. The fact that a park is only one mile and a half a way seems like a huge hurdle.

My hope is that somehow more people will choose to live life in our communities and walk our neighborhoods and ride our mass transit. I am not sure when that tipping point will be, however, I can only encourage anyone who cares about our communities and our general health to help create more green spaces and less traffic and to voice the need for convenient mass transit options.

A Quiet Spider in her Web

Today Theo was helping me water the garden when we made a discovery. We sprayed mist onto a spider's web. It reminds me of doing spider web hikes with my campers. We would carry a spray bottle with us on hikes and we could make the webs sparkle. There are so many bad associations with spiders that it is fun to make joyous connections with them. It's a nice way to introduce lessons on the wonders of their ways.

An orchard for a dome

I love this poem by Emily Dickinson.
http://www.bartleby.com/113/2057.html