Sharing with little ones...

Since starting to blog...frankly I haven't been really blogging. I found many projects to keep me busy and focused on my mission to share nature with people, in both work and play.

A few months ago I was asked by a fellow nature program supporter if I would be interested in starting a program for a couple of homeschool families...I wasn't sure about this type of venture since I am not a traditionally trained "teacher" but knew I had a lot to offer these families and it would be a great way to start building more programs locally... thus began Tuesdays Adventures. Yup, you guessed it. The classes were held on Tuesdays for 10 weeks this fall taking me an a small group of three around the county exploring new a different places. We tried to cover one focus each trip, geology, water, clouds, seeds, plants, basic ecology but we mostly just played pretend and learned about the animals and the places we visited. Some weeks we met at a host family house and had lessons there, and other weeks we explored: Pirates' Cover - Corona del Mar State Beach, San Joaquin Marsh, Turtle Rock Nature Center, Mason Regional Park, Santiago Nature Preserve, Grower's Direct / Costa Mesa Community Garden (on Hamilton), and Orange County Coastkeeper Nature Play Garden The success of the program is loosely based on...they want more!  So I will be writing a Spring 10 week program starting in March.

What a great day for a project - after a quickie post on Facebook, I have such wonderful people in my life (Pam, James, Will, Gary, Adam, Teri, Mike, Matt, and Nicole) who all came out on a lovely Sunday morning to help with the garden. We first worked on the hidden trails, then moved into the garden area for weeding and mulching (a never ending task). With such a great crew we knocked out some great work and headed off for lunch at the near by burger place.

Join us next time - http://www.facebook.com/events/206559722784771

Quote -

―…children are disappearing from the outdoors at a rate that would make them top of any conservationist’s list of endangered species if they were any other member of the animal kingdom.‖ Tim Gill, British play advocate in The Ecologist

Innovation Project - Nature Playscape

A what? Nature Playscape...what is that? Sounds cool and something I would want to be a part of.

You are! Well most of us, who enjoy the outdoors and sunshine, dirt, trees, rocks...you get the idea. If you would like to help out, definitely you can contact me via email.

Is this my idea? No, many people from around the globe have this idea - children are suppose to be in nature to grow healthy, creative, and active imaginations. I agree, so I pitched the idea to the local non-profit Orange County Coastkeeper to use in their demonstration garden in a urban area of Orange CA. Thankfully they loved the idea and hired Reconnect Nature to do the project.
http://www.coastkeeper.org/coastkeeper-garden/

After working with the garden team we decided on a few key features to implement into the design: hidden trails, embankment slides, boulder fields,covered pathways, and climbing trunks. Designing is the easy part, I have become creative and realistic about what features will continue to keep the area natural and subtle enough for families and everyone to enjoy.

We are hoping to work with the local community for future projects and volunteering for the implementation this spring - and in time for the Coastkeeper Garden opening this April.

Wish us luck!! Stay tuned for more details!

Tanka Haiku (Japanese poetry of interconnectedness to nature)

In the Park - Santiago Creek Park
Girl walks along trunk,
She is told to get down now,
I give a small grin,
I promise to not deny,
Our children will play again.




,

Oak on the Embankment - Fremont Canyon
I am aged seasons
I collect webs on branches,
Rock starting to crack,
Precariously placed here,
Life will not last in seasons.

If you only had one day...

This day is not much different and I am too distracted thinking of all the best days to replicate, or mourning knowing this would be the last. If I had one day, I would hope to have no knowledge of past or future, and to only know this day as if it was all I had ever known. Witness the rising of the Sunshine, on the Hills, with golden beams highlighting the Trees and begin to cast grey shadows on the Ground and Grass. The rising Birds for a greeting of song are the sound which lets the world know it is time to experience something new and never before witnessed. This day is a day filled with the potential for new life in the Blossoms opening to the days rays filling with hope of guests to lift nectar and pollen to share and scatter for seeds of future. The heat is soft and wraps around my head neck and shoulders, my body eases lying down. All I can do is listen to the light and the shadows as the sun moves across the Sky. There is no hunger today, no thirst; it is only to bear witness of the life around me. Humanity has no attachment to our scenario, I watch children play, and tease and become sad only to forget why they cry to continue playing with a new sense of life and joy. The string instrument is a hum vibration only brought to full potential in this moment because sound is brief once released, the moment is passed, and only by human hands does the world know such sounds. I forget about my breath, I forget about my body, and I am forgotten I have no past and I have no future, this moment is all I have each day. I reengage my body, I want to see a view from the Mountain; I experience a climb to the top to witness the 360 degrees of zero separation between me and the Sky. It is only on the peak I see where the Earth and Sky meet; it is far away in the distance where you come from. I follow the Sun’s path to the end of the Earth were it meets the Sea, to again witness the sky and ocean meeting it fills with breath and joy of calmness crashing of water collapse on the shore. Watching light settle behind the rim of sea my eyes highlight the Clouds on a memory for another day, to recall because I will not get another day like today.

Holiday - Giving of Thanks.

I write of the remembrance of last weeks gorge. It came to me, once I received the shopping list of visiting family that matters this year were in my own hand. I voted with my dollars this season and went all out, Organic to me is life purity and the representation of it, nothing altered and nothing tainted. Our culture is a machine of consumption with little or no thought about the driven industries behind it. I am greatful to live in an area with such abundance of organic food, that it was not an all out pocketbook buster. These competitive pricing allowed everything from the organic free range turkey, to the sweet potatoes, and the pecans bought in bulk (which reminds me I need to make another pie).
You might ask..."Did you taste the difference?" Well not at first...I had to think about it a minute but yes there was a difference, the turkey dark meat was the darkest I had ever tasted and almost too rich, the white being more flavorful. The beans were my favorite and fresh was definitely the crispness, potatoes were slim and we gobbled those up, with in a day or two. But the Gravy...ah the gravy was divine. I have to give this up to my cousin's wife who I bravely handed over the turkey to entrust in her roaster, and the drippings into the gravy, which she tasked like a pro. So yes, there is a difference, even if it is only in my mind and principle do I buy organic, there is a difference. As for the connection to nature, my thoughtful process with the purchases and cooking gave value to the food and family with which I will always want to appreciate and enjoy no matter the occasion. During your holiday, place thought into the ingredients and food and you too might experience a little more for your time and money.