Welcome to the fifth post of my 13 Grandmother Moons journey! The land feels inviting and brimming with secrets.
My children are joining me this moon as I visit my place of land-based learning. The space is even more filled with leaves, some of which are just starting to change colors. As I watch my children, now aged 11, 15, and 18, lope down the path, I am reminded of the many seasons that have passed since I first started to bring them here. The air smells delicious, and the heat is soothing but not overpowering.
As we leave the main path and enter my special place, three things are being communicated to me. The first is stories. There are so many stories that have been told here already - the tree that fell into the water, the pawprints in the sand, the times when they were younger that my children waded confidently into this water to splash and seek and spin with joy. I watch them for a bit, then call to them that I am heading a bit deeper into the woods. I pass by a tree stump and see another story laid out: a squirrel has been here, plucking a pinecone apart to get at the tasty seeds held within its scales.
The second thing that is being communicated to me is secrets. So many things are happening all around me, and only with patience, curiosity, and a keen eye can they be discovered. The secret I find is this bright orange growth emerging from an old dead tree. I later discover that it is called an orange jelly fungus, or orange brain fungus - in Europe thought to be the sign of a witch's curse! I call my children over, and they ooh and awe over the fungus. My oldest pokes at it gently. It feels like jelly, firm and springy but not quite wet.
The secret my children find is the minnows swimming on the far side of the creek! They may have been here for weeks or months already, but this is the first time in this 13-moon journey that my attention has been drawn to them. Children are good at seeing what adult eyes pass over and calling attention to the whispers and quicksilver movements that may otherwise not be noticed. We stand quietly, watching for a while, until the dragonflies distract us. I know that there are many other secrets still hidden, which may or may not be revealed with time. If you don't look, you will never know what you are missing, and even if you do look, some of nature's secrets may remain unknown. It is enough to peek into some of the mysteries of this earth. I don't need to know them all.
The last thing that is being communicated to me is hard to describe. Words that come to mind are waves, or pulses, or tempo, or ... those predictable but ever-changing spikes you see on a heart monitor graph. I see this pulsing and varied tempo all around me. In this land, it is evident in the different rhythms of the plants. Some have already flowered and borne fruit which is now withering away (saskatoons, I'm looking at you!). Other berries are just beginning to ripen. Below on the left is a bright red rosehip; I love to make jam and jelly from these! In the middle is a a Mountain Ash, or Rowan berry. Apparently, you can eat the berries when cooked. On the far side of the creek, when I ventured deeper into the woods, I found one of my favorite berries, which I met like an old friend. It is a rough-fruited fairybell, and I spent many summers gathering them by the shores of Lake Wabamun. They have a furry skin and taste like a peach. They are filled with white hard seeds, but there is a little nourishing moisture within. I like to bite them, savor the skin and taste, then spit out the hard white seeds in rapid-fire style. You can see this special berry on the right below, said to be a sign of the coming fall.
The other, longer, slower pulse or tempo is evident in my children themselves. I realize that the purpose of this blog is land-based learning. But I learned on and with the land as a child, as a parent with my young children, and now again mostly alone as my children venture out into the world. Life cycles ebb and flow. Some are short - dandelions and small plants may not live as humans. Some are longer - a human life. Or much longer - the life cycles of the trees, of the creek, of the very stones I walk along. These tempos and pulses and rhythms are distinct and disparate, yet they weave together like different melodies in a song, different instruments in a symphony. When you look close, if you're lucky, you can pick up on one pulse, tempo, or rhythm. When you step back, and over time, the immense intricacies and layered nature of life as a whole may start to be revealed.
This moon, I am mostly perceiving what is being communicated to me with my eyes and soul. I did feel the sun and air on my skin, and I did indeed taste that berry, but the secrets, stories, tempos, and pulses are mainly communicated through my sight. I only notice this change from other moons as I type away back at home. I wonder if it is because my children are there with me? Even though they are so much older than they once were I still keep a careful eye on them. Years ago, it was to keep them safe. Now, it is to keep them close. Just like so much of nature grows in places and at times I cannot see, so much of my children's lives now happens far and away. This is natural, and right; children should grow up and away from their parents. But I also treasure the times we enjoy the earth together, when they can teach and remind me again that you really have to be curious, patient, and keen-eyed to catch the little things like minnows swimming in the shadows.
My dependable peg dolls will act as the avenue for me to express what is being communicated this moon. I decide to create a pinecone, a leaf, and a fairybell berry. When I was creating them I thought the pinecone would be my favorite, but as the fairybell is so realistic that is the one I would pick as this month's symbol. (My middle son said, "I could tell it's your favorite because of the sparkles!").
Helping children look closely
While most of the time I find that children do not need encouragement to be curious and examine their surroundings closely, sometimes they can benefit from helpful tools. Maybe it is very hot or cold, maybe they are bored with all the outdoor play time, or maybe they need something to activate that spark of wonder and curiosity. Below are three ways to help children look closely and become engaged with the environment while playing outside.
1 - Magnifying glasses
Offering magnifying glasses are a great way to pique children's curiosity. Although they are traditionally seen as an inside-only material, I love having them outdoors! I have found that even magnifying glasses from the dollar store are very tough and hard to break; over the years the lenses never shattered in a single magnifying glass, and just one time the plastic around the lens broke. They are inexpensive, easy to find, and a great way to inspect and explore everything from snowflakes to ladybugs, leaves to raindrops.
2 - Buckets and baskets
There is something about simply going for a walk with a basket in hand that encourages exploration and collection. One of my favorite things to do in the spring, summer, and fall is to go for a neighborhood walk where every child has their own basket. It's amazing to see what draws the children in, and which treasures they think are worthy of belonging in the basket. Please be careful about what they collect; insects should be safely returned to the location they were found in, and I do not allow children to gather pieces of living nature (leaves, flowers, etc.) unless there is a purpose. When you do collect and decide to keep natural materials, rather than having them just collect dust, explore if you can use them in creative art projects or as loose parts - leaves and flower petals are gorgeous in collages or for rubbings, and acorn caps are a wonderful loose part! Here is my day home group from years ago, gathering acorns with our baskets on a neighborhood walk.
3 - Trays for displays
One year I found a metal tea party set which became a dearly beloved outdoor play item. While the children did have tea parties sometimes, the tray and plates were also used to collect and display items found in our yard. Gardening with children and teaching them about growing food is important to me, so I was very proud when my daughter carefully selected beans, chives, and sunflower seeds to offer on the tray. An old baking sheet or cupcake tin is a great way to repurpose baking wear too old to cook with, and can be used as a springboard to so many open-ended, child-led activities!
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