Gratitude has been a practice of Flying Deer’s since its inception; it’s how we begin every staff meeting and morning circles with students. This year, we hold our collective practice of gratitude closer than ever to our hearts. We truly are so fortunate beyond measure for so many things: incredible families that trust us to keep their children safe, caregivers who are nurturing amazing kids, students who surprise and delight us on a daily basis, access to beautiful and vibrant land alive with diverse wildlife and complex ecosystems.
In our short four weeks together, we are noticing in ourselves and the children around the cold and snow. Kids who once approached the cold with trepidation are now doing face plants to lick fresh snowflakes! We have been blessed by snow and ice this winter. This week it allowed us to do a deep dive into tracking! Raei and Julie led us through marsh and meadow and back into the thick forest and helped reveal the secrets embedded in tracks: the drag of a mouse tail, deer looking for food, beaver’s handiwork, bear claw marks on a tree, and some markings that left us with more questions that answers. It’s such a good practice of mindfulness for children, inviting them to slow down, notice, ask questions and observe.
On Tuesday, we had a truly special experience. After tracking a deer trail out of fairy island, as we crested a hill, we stopped in our tracks—there a deer was staring back at us from under a tree where it had bedded down! Needless to say, it was a powerful experience. The children loved using our tracking guides to measure and match footprints. We are excited to continue this practice into the spring. If you’d like to try it at home, Mass Wildlife has an awesome guide to print out.
We also marked our last day of the winter session by tying ribbons around a special treat due in early spring: maple syrup! We learned how to identify sugar maples and the children helped to choose healthy trees that we will tap come spring. We look forward to learning about the maple syrup process together!
—JJ, Julie, Raei, and the counselors
February 13, 2021