This Tuesday morning began with warm coats after a freezing night in the garden, but the sun quickly warmed the space as friends arrived to the circle. L arrived first and headed to the parachute, where our big drum and other musical instruments were ready to play. Even the puppets joined in, bouncing along the top of the drum like a dance floor just their size.
As more friends arrived, they gathered at the table to build with dried grasses and yarn. Mt and N tried out the scissors on the grass and yarn, testing what they could do. Baby H found a dried flower and spent time with it, inspecting where the seeds used to be. She pulled gently at the miniature capsules and they fell away from the stem.
As we built nests together, we thought about migrations and moving from one place to another. We talked about how much work it is to change your life and be in a new place. We returned to our pea plants and our concern for their welfare after the freezing night. We had recently transplanted the seedlings into the dirt, and we wondered together whether that move had been safe. We planned to check on them after our morning snack.
We gathered on the blanket to read How to Hatch: Gosling’s Guide to Breaking Free, with a small surprise waiting at the end. As we read about what a gosling needs to do to come out into the world, we used our bodies to follow along. We used our pipping muscles and our egg teeth and pecked. We pushed with our webbed feet and pretended to break free. Then, from out of a pocket, a new chick puppet appeared.
It peeped to each friend and made its way around the blanket as we sang “Over in the Meadow,” wondering together about the animals who migrate to raise their babies in Edgerton Park.
We headed to the garden plot to check on the peas and garlic. Thankfully, they were growing strong. The peas had small fingers branching out from their tender sprouts, reaching in ways that suggested they would soon need something to climb. We began weeding to give the peas and garlic room to grow. There was a particularly tricky plant crowding the garlic, a broad-leafed dock with large, strong roots. Hen and Mc worked together to dig deep into the soil to unearth it.
Across the garden friends tended to the earth and worked on sharing the garden tools. They made some trades. If one friend wanted the shovel and another wanted a rake, they made sure their were enough tools to go around even though it was not easy. Mt reminded us not to “take” as he said, so we remembered to ask our friends if they wanted to share.
We placed the weeds we gathered into the wheel barrow and brought it to the compost pile before venturing out onto the field. Mt rolled down the hill, trowing his body into the soft grass and careening whichever way the hill took him. Movements like rolling and falling gently seemed to invite a kind of full-bodied joy.
Then some friends headed over to the fountain and some friends played down by the three swing. Baby H was given a choice as she looked out at her friends, fountain or tree swing. She pointed to herself and then the tree swing so we headed down the hill. Baby H laid down on the swing and looked up into the pine needles above her as she swung back and forth.
Eventually, everyone made their way to the fountain. It was still too cold to climb in, but K began “fishing” with a stick. N watched, then joined her. They did not catch anything, but they stayed together in quiet companionship until they noticed Mc climbing a tree and decided to follow. While big body movements make us feel good, taking a calm moment to listen to water pitter-patter is nurturing too.
Soon we returned to the circle to play with the parachute. We pretended to be popcorn, sitting on the fabric as caregivers shook it, sending air bubbles underneath us. Then we held the parachute handles and sang “Love is Circle” before saying goodbye.
Thanks for being part of Brave Nature Collaborative.
Subscribe for free to receive new posts directly in your inbox, revisit our growing archive any time, and support the collective work of our community.
Some of the book links in this post are affiliate links through Bookshop.org. If you make a purchase, we receive a small commission—at no extra cost to you.
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.