Some of the most memorable moments this week came packaged in the simplest forms. Rolling large balls of wet, heavy snow across the grassy field; cracking layers of ice at the edge of the pond; creating a birthday party with a forest cake and leaf decorations; and of course, sledding! The children show us time and time again how to stay present in the moment and how being able to see things as they really are—both magical and very real—creates precious moments of connection that are easily missed otherwise.
Sledding took precedence today! We found a nice small hillside by Grandmother Maple and quickly realized that we had wiped a lot of the snow clean by going down several times. But sledding down wet, cold leaves seems to work quite well, too!
After many runs and taking turns with our friends in different sleds, we were greeted by our nimble Nina the Ninja—a small chipmunk ready for action. She showed us how to activate our “body radar,” a sense that lives within us that can detect when someone is behind you, even though you didn’t hear anything. Ever have that happen to you? The children took turns leading the group on a wandering hike with their body radar. The purpose of this activity is to allow us to slow down and meander with no particular goal, and also to allow everyone to practice leading the group and trusting their intuition.
We were gifted with some beautiful show-and-tell items and stories, and heard about simple and lovely family traditions, like popping popcorn, and more complex celebrations like winter solstice and Christmas. Our hope with this practice of sharing is too celebrate diversity and to get a glimpse of what the children’s home lives look like. We also started working on bundling grasses for our roof thatching and kept practicing our fire-making and archery skills. Our little campsite is starting to feel larger and so much more alive, thanks to all our hard work and play!