Wow! What a day of connection for the Baldies. Our day began with the creation of our Group Agreements Banner. Each girl drew a symbol to represent herself on our banner, which varied from flower, to sunshine, to fierce mask. From there, we decided upon some group agreements such as "Listen and Learn", "Empathy", "Respect" and "Be Who You Are (Because everyone else is already taken". This flag will join us on all of our future outings, and these guiding agreements will help continue to shape Bald Eagle culture as the girls move through adolescence together. Speaking of which, autumn is the turning time, where we welcome and explore transitions, in GEC and otherwise! The girls spent their flag-doodling time also checking in with the group about transitions in their life, and we welcomed some fascinating conversations to the table about adolescence, change and choices.
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| Lightning holding up our Group Agreements Banner- Let it wave! |
Although, it hardly felt like fall. The sun shone bright for us amongst the breeze and storm clouds to provide a lovely day of exploring for above, amongst and through the varied terrain of Tennant Lake. Nestled into the Nooksack River delta, Tennant Lake park provides a biodiverse ecosystem for all of the creatures that inhabit it. We began our day talking about this concept, and why biodiversity is essential for happy, thriving animals and plants. We learned about the vital importance of wetlands as habitat to birds, mammals, fish, insects, plants and so much more; as flood storage; places of recreation; and water revitalizers. We discussed human's history of interface with wetlands, and the steady decline of these important ecosystems. Though it seems these older girls want little information on our outings (likely due to information overload during the week), they came to understand the the way to protect wetlands is to understand why they're important. And to connect with them.
So we did just that. We walked on the boardwalk, spotting hunting blinds, tall grasses, pulling apart cattails. We told jokes and giggled in the sunshine. We stumbled through the uneven ground of the wetland, jumping (some headfirst) into tall grasses, allowing the softness of the plant to catch our fall. The girls especially connected to each other in these grasses-- sharing stories of all topical matters, laughing, and enjoying their time with each other.
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| Gallavanting through the tall grasses of Tennant Lake |
From the tall grasses, we moved back to the Scent Garden, where the girls blindfolded a partner, and walked her around, helping her guess, touch and experience the different plant smells in the magnificent garden. The girls moved slowly, enjoying their time with their buddies, and learning about new plants. Who knew that there were cosmos that smell like chocolate, "curry plant" or uncanny pineapple sage?! Be sure to ask her daughter which smells tickled her nose hairs, and which ones might have singed them...
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| Bald Eagles losing their dominant sense and trusting their group members with new, wild smells! |
Our day ended with a quick round of the Adaptation Game, where we each took on the role of an organism in the Tennant Lake ecosystem. Our goal.... to stay alive! By using our adaptations as a "block", we ran around and avoided being caught without our adaptation in front of our predator. Many of us died, some lived, and each of us learned the value of adaptations on all creatures of the Earth. In closing our day with our Attitude of Gratitude, we acknowledged each other for our kindness, ability to compromise, quiet voices, keen eyesight, and silly stories. Excited for the Bald Eagles to continue their formation of relationships next outing at their sleepover!
Gratitude for the peace of the day, the adventure that was found, and the honesty and integrity of this special group of girls!
-Hannah
Want more photos of the day? Click here to find our Google slideshow of the day!
