Tresca Weinstein, Author at Flying Deer Nature Center

Gratitude for the Oaks

The slow coming of autumn has been such a pleasure! The warm sun filtered through the last of the leaves at our campsite today. The blue skies were very welcoming, as were everyone’s laughter and excitement.

The days are getting shorter, but our focus is getting stronger every week! The walk up the hill is getting easier every time; today we saw a big tree had fallen from the stormy winds blocking the trail and had fun trying to decide whether to go over it or under with our backpacks.

Kindness and creativity

Is it just us, or has this been the most spectacular October? We delighted in the sunshine on our faces as we move deeper into autumn and the daylight shortens. Every day, the landscape is different and changing, and every day, the children too are different and changing. At this point in the semester, as educators, we have been able to get a sense of children—their qualities, curiosities, and affinities. But these aren’t static. Just as plants change form throughout the seasons—some changes obvious and others quite subtle—so too do children evolve. As your children’s teachers, one of the greatest gifts we have is to watch this growth unfold.

Hungry birds

Our April meeting of Saturday Explorers really brought the showers! We began the day with heavy rain but that didn’t spoil our fun. Once we got to our campsite, we got busy with a wet wood fire challenge. Some of our fearless explorers went into the rain to collect lots and lots of “wispies” (very thin sticks), while others stayed under the tarp to strip birch bark. Once we had the sticks and tinder ready to go, one of our instructors gave a brief lesson on building a fire structure while some of the kids worked together on it. Their challenge was not only to get the fire lit and burning using flint and steel, but to also get the fire strong enough to burst balloons suspended above the fire pit. The fire caught quickly and was successful at popping every balloon. With the warmth of a fire to dry us out, we settled into snack and a story about how the humble little Wren or “Hedge King” became king of the birds.

Happy maple Fest!

Today was the FOREST program’s first-ever Maple Fest! And boy, did we celebrate all things sap and syrup. Last week, we made wooden taps for collecting maple sap, and today we reaped the rewards by collecting several gallons of the sweet stuff. Our friends the Woolly Bears also tapped some maple trees this month and brought their haul to the festivities. We even had a few students bring in sap they had collected from home! We set up an evaporator and kept filling it and filling it and filling it. In total, we must have evaporated at least 20 gallons!!!

An Awakening Wild Fire Challenge

We started out in the parking lot with a quick refresher on making cordage using basswood and raffia. A few people made fire kits and gathered tinder materials from the field edge. After a beautiful round of gratitude, we set out into the woods.

Woolly Bears in Wintertime!

We were very pleased to experience milder temperatures today and enjoy the light snowfall speckling the sky and forest. It was absolutely delightful to see our friends come together so ease-fully and welcome in our newest Woolly Bears. Our winter rhythm allows us to spend a bit more time indoors for meal times, which is a true blessing given the colder temperatures ahead of us.