What a jam-packed day for the Bald Eagles. As mentors, we come into a day with a plan. Some days, this plan is thinner with room for nature to teach us what she'd like that day, and others, it is FULL of ideas that mentors carefully choose and weave into the day. Sunday was one of the full-plan days... Though we only tackled some of the activities we'd like to do with the girls, we have faith that we'll be able to fit in more team-building, talking time, and skills days in the Bald Eagles' future seasons.
We gathered with a refresher on how to make cordage, an ancient skill in patience. The girls sat and watched others, before describing the process and receiving their own cordage material to work with (raffia today, since our nettles were used by other groups). We twisted and folded in a calm state while remembering this place that we'd been to before: Whuh-I-kwal-luh-whum ("Dog Salmon Place"), the name for Little Squalicum Beach Park back when it was a fishing village site for Coast Salish people. We talked through the fascinating history of this park, from thriving village, to creosote factory, to Superfund site, and ultimately to the restoration-in-process place we know today. We acknowledged those in the community who have Turned Problems into Possibilities by helping to transform the contaminated soil/water, massively overgrown invasives and loss of wildlife into a healthier park for all.
We set out to explore the park, and immediately saw the big Oeser Corporation smokestack looming above the hill of this lush, green park. We paused here to engage in a great team-building game that works on collaboration and communication: Toxic River! The Bald Eagles worked hard to cross the "toxic river" (a gravel path) without touching the ground. They made it successfully under different constraints, and learned lots about their group's communication during the activity.
Listening to instructions for the Toxic River
We then headed down under the bridge to the beach, and bundled up in the wind as we took out our baskets and learned from Aimee how to finish them off. For the next hour and 45 minutes, the Bald Eagles were in a state of Flow, focused on working diligently and present-mindedly to create beautifully and carefully woven baskets, all unique. When finished with their basketry, the girls spent some solid time talking about climate change. The Bald Eagles talked about the merit of not shying away from talking about tough stuff, and honoring the scariness and sometimes depressiveness of the world's reality. We came to no real conclusions, other than understanding how deeply rooted we are in these issues, and how this topic is obviously one to return to.
Goofy basket girls!
We finished our time on the beach with an all-too-short Peaceful Place, and then gathered our many belongings and walked back up to the parking lot for a quick Closing Circle.
Our Words of the Day? "Windy basketry by the beach"
To see a slideshow of the day, click here!
