We had a nice little bevy of activities going on while students were arriving for Wild Ways today—the beginnings of trap making alongside a nature table display of fire-making implements, and a game of Mumblypeg to one side! The traps we worked on today, which some students continued pursuing throughout the day, are called Figure-Four traps, and their construction involves relatively precise carving work, and the fitting of three sticks into a stable configuration that will stand under the tension of, say, a heavy rock, yet fall at the slightest touch on the lowest stick. Quite a skill! Mumblypeg, for those who’ve yet to hear of it from students, is a group game requiring precise throwing skill, balance and coordination, leg strength, and cunning!
Our morning circle brought a quick review of names and nature names; a movement activity involving opening up our shoulder range of motion and partnering up to throw and catch lightweight, medium-length sticks while standing, walking, and lightly jogging; a song for and about Coyote, the Trickster; and a group game of Monarch.
We hiked up to Red Pine camp for snack, before which a couple of our students took a first shot at one of the group leadership roles and coordinated two teams: one to gather firewood, and one to build a fire lay. With a fire going, another student shared a brief game with the group, which looked like Red Light, Green Light, in a circle—some quick students made the most of blind spots in this game!
Our main activity up until lunch was to continue work on our camp log cabin. One team began by measuring and laying out line for the foundation beams, another began knocking off the remains of branches from trunks with hatchets/axes (conveniently, these remains were saturated with pine pitch and saved as fatwood for firestarter), and another began to lay the first beams in place and saw notches into them to begin stacking up the walls. We peeled bark off as we went, switched up roles as we went, and worked hard! Lunch was well deserved after this, and we’d worked up an appetite.
There was a bit of free time after lunch, with some students continuing on traps, others relaxing and conversing, others learning and practicing axe-throwing. Students then went out to select a Sit Spot, which they’ll revisit throughout the semester, to be alone, to expand their senses, to take in what’s around them that isn’t human, to experience quietude.
We then hiked down from camp to the field, and played Odawa baseball, which would likely appear to an observer as a cross between kickball and dodgeball. Our day wrapped up with a closing circle of Rose and Thorn, and we all headed home just before some rain swept in!
In community,
Red Oak, Queenfisher, Black Walnut (Matthew, Olivia, Raven), Sep 26, 2022