It’s been a minute since I wrote about our wonderful Bear Creek Explorers, and since the weeks mix up in my head once they’re past I thought I’d share what we’ve been up to by topic rather than in chronological order. First, I just have to say how grateful I am for our little group, the traditions we’ve formed together, for the land we’re guests on, and our deepening connection with the plants and animals, soil, stone, water and fire that make it all possible.
One week, it was super cold. The pond was frozen when we got there, and still frozen when we left.
Checking the rain gauge is tricky when it’s frozen solid, but a couple enthusiastic explorers made sure we had an accurate measurement by the time we left.
Another week, it was POURING. Not raining, not sprinkling, full on buckets. I always struggle on these days- how do I make all-day in the woods fun and educational in a cold, steady rain?
Not sure it was the best choice, but I decided to start that day by pulling out laminated graphs of the rainfall data we’ve collected over the years. The kids have two full water year’s worth of data now! I wanted them to examine the data and see how it compared to the current year.
My idea was to have them mark this year’s data over the previous years with a sharpie. It… kinda worked. It’s hard to focus when they can barely hear me over the thunder of rain falling on the tarp. But we tried, and we’ll try again on a calmer weather day.
There’s been some fun discoveries! Fen found a wasp comb one day by his sit spot and called us all over to examine it.
Nearby was a bald faced hornet, which, we didn’t think fit with the unearthed yellow jacket hive. I was impressed that Sierra was the one to pick the creature up- she’d been stung by a queen yellow jacket that she encountered under her pillow, after lights out, in the loft of the lodge the weekend before. Apparently, according to her and later internet research, queen stings hurt way more than regular worker bee stings. When I asked her why picking ki up with her bare hands didn’t bother her, she just said, “It’s dead mom. It can’t hurt me.” Brave girl!!
We had our first BC sighting of a Northwestern Salamander. Apparently they’re quite common, but it was a first for us.
Tavi found a log with some beautiful blue fungi. I looked it up, and it might be Turquoise Elfcup! What an awesome name.
I found this beautiful mushroom composition on a piece of firewood that had been left in the rain. Nature paints the most beautiful pictures!
It hasn’t been a great year for mushrooms, since we got our two inches of rain and the first hard freeze in the same week. Still, our love of that mysterious kingdom inspired us to revisit some of the basics during one lunch time read aloud.
One of the projects on our to-do list of Village improvements was a safer fire pit. The plan was to dig out a hole, remove any roots, and line the edge with rocks from the creek. Tavi, Sierra and Ani took the lead on this task.
They made two trips all the way from the creek carrying buckets and jackets filled with rocks. And it’s not a short walk!
After finishing the hole and arranging the rocks, they gathered mud and clay from the stream (nearby) to fill in the cracks.
They were tired by the end and had frozen fingers, but it came out great!
Meanwhile, Sam had an idea for a shelter he wanted to build. It didn’t fit great with what we were thinking, but rather than try to compromise we decided to build both structures in parallel. Fen jumped in to help him, and they spent many hours over the last few weeks working together on it.
Another project was relocating the firewood tarp closer to the fire pit, and expanding it to include a place to hang all our backpacks. The covered area gets very tight and cluttered with firewood, nine people and nine backpacks on wet days. Gabriel and Fen made quick work of hunting down a strong, straight standing dead tree that we could use as the main support. Sierra and others helped make stakes and poles.
It took a couple weeks, but we got the new shelter up before the week of hard rain! The packs look so tidy hanging together in a row- off the ground and easy to access.
The fire wood is stored behind the packs, but that part still needs some work.
We’re working on developing the good habit of keeping our knives and hatchets sharp.
There’s usually a couple volunteers when there’s wood to split.
Everyone’s been practicing sparking up their feather sticks- though, some more than others.
One day, once the main tasks were done, Karrie and Cristen wanted to work on their feather stick skills. Gabriel gave his mom some pointers, and soon she was carving her best stick yet.
And then, after a little effort, she had her first fire success from a ferrorod!
Not to be outdone, Cristen got to work and before long she’d sparked up her first feather stick too!
The young adult version of Braiding Sweetgrass finally arrived, and I’ve been reading it each day as the others eat lunch. The original version is one of my favorite books, and the young adult version doesn’t disappoint. One inspiration from the book that I want to work towards- not calling things in the natural world “it.” If you see me using “ki” and “kin” when I’m speaking of bees and flowers it’s because I don’t know their gender but I wholeheartedly agree with Robin Wall Kimmerer that calling them “it” feels wrong.
Everyone worked hard on carving their ferrorod handles. Gabriel wanted to have finger holds like the one I have.
Fen was so enthusiastic that he finished his the first week, including the pin that hold the rod to the handle.
Most people moved more slowly, making some progress each week. Sierra decided to carve Totoro into her handle.
And simple or fancy- last week they were all done!
I love how other projects, not directed by me have started happening. Fen and Gabriel have been working on spoons- here they’re working together to burn out the inside of the spoon with a hot coal.
Sierra and Ani have used their free time to offer services to make some money. One week they were offering tattoos.
Another week they gathered supplies and carved a sign for their “Camas Cafe.”
And the week after that, they brought hot water, tea, instant coffee and cocoa mix, and were selling mochas after lunch around the fire!
I was impressed that they didn’t complain when I reminded them that part of the deal of running a shop is doing the dishes after. I was glad I didn’t have to put my hands in the cold creek!
The last hour of last week we adults were so cozy chatting by the fire. The kids had invented an interactive game that involved a murderer, sheriff and a bunch of innocents. Twice we were called over to assign the rolls as they stood in a circle, with eyes closed and ears plugged, but otherwise they were busy with the game’s elaborate dramas that involved everyone in the group in a complex murder mystery. I don’t know how long the magic can hold, but I’ll say again how grateful I am for this little group and our Wednesdays together in the woods.
