Planting Community

Thanks to  dedicated neighbors,  Green Canopy Seattle and the Washington Native Plant Society our communities have great opportunities to reclaim forest lands and greenspaces that have been taken over by invasive species such as English ivy.  My boys are particularly pleased that they get to plant trees and native plants in their own neighborhood.  It is one of our families favorite outings!

Keeping our Neighborhoods Safe

One of the reasons that I choose to walk with my children almost everywhere we go is because it is good for neighborhoods to have people walking the streets.  It makes them feel vibrant.   It is also just good for us. It allows my family to feel connected to people and nature.  Every walk we go on it seems that we meet at least someone we know and exchange greetings and updates.  We also always notice at least one thing about the environment that is different.   This is important.  I write this listening to the birds.  Both of my boys woke up at the sound of the first bird of the day  and while luckily they have gone back to sleep, the birds continue to sing for me and I am glad.  In 1962 Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring.   The title refers to a spring without birds singing (due to pesticide, DDT in particular).  In 2012 it is up to us to pay attention to our world.  Are we changing it? For the worse or for the better?  Our walks are a check in.

Last night for example our boys said, "Can we go on an after dinner walk?"  Even though both my husband and I were tired and I had a headache; it sounded like a beautiful idea.  The boys  even requested the urban greenspace they wanted to go to.   My husband and I looked at each other with a question.  We have debated it before:  the loop we take when we walk this greenspace takes us through a drug trafficing center.  While mostly this activity has ignored us it has felt uncomfortable at times.  We also have even had to detour the greenspace when teenage activities not appropriate for young children were taking place.  Nevertheless, it is our urban park and in it are native plants that even I assisted in planting ten years ago.   It is also a park where before we even get out the door S says "I want to sit on my log and rest when we get by the big tree."  We all know this park.  So we went.

The journey to the park was lovely.  A friend pulled over in her car and talked to us.  We talked and made our way up a giant hill and even though S kept saying he was so tired, he only required carrying for a short while.   Then we wandered the greenspace.  We were all in awe how in the past month everything had filled out.  It was so green!  And somehow all the green revealed to us new pathways we had never noticed.  It was lovely.  Then we were out.  As we headed home we had to make our way down a long block which bordered the greenspace and we noticed two men standing, smoking, shifting back and forth obviously waiting for us to pass by.   It was uncomfortable and of course the boys wanted to dawdle more than ever.  When S said when we passed some stumps,  "this is where we used to picnic," I was sure he was going to sit down and want a snack- but we went on.  As soon as we finished the block I took a look back.  The men were gone.  They had disappeared into the woods.  They were not hiking.   A camp?  A stash?     

I wonder if it was wrong to go on this route?  Mostly I think it was right.  We just need more people doing the same thing.   Enjoying the evening light.  Getting to know neighbors.  Listening to the sounds of our neighborhood.  Solving community problems together and making our neighborhood safe and comfortable for everyone. 

Tree planting!

My boys are only three but somehow they have seen
much more tree cutting events than tree planting events. Perhaps it is because even though we have planted trees we have not used such incredible machinery. Today's planting event was great because the of the trucks that parked along the street and in particular the corkscrew drill they used to dig holes. I am hoping that now the boys won't only play tree cutters but also tree planters when they are doing imaginary play with their trucks.

The Outdoor Child Should be an ‘Indicator Species’ for London - Children & Nature Network (C&NN)

The Outdoor Child Should be an ‘Indicator Species’ for London - Children & Nature Network (C&NN)

This is article shows how you can measure the health of your community by paying attention to how many children under age 12 are playing outdoors in your community. It offers suggestions on how to monitor this and recommendations on who to work with in changing the current status quo. I don't know how much research like this is going on in my city, however I don't think enough. My own informal research says that I don't see kids just playing out of doors. I don't see that many kids biking past my house going to play with friends. I would love to see planning in my community use kids as a measure of success!