Today we have a special guest blog from Kathy Mezger, one of our summer instructors. Take it away Kathy.
In August, I had the wonderful opportunity to work with my daughter Anna as a neophyte Ninja. Spending a week in the woods, playing like the Lost Boys in Neverland, was my idea of a vacation. I’ve watched the birthing of Whole Earth Nature School and was really looking forward to seeing the school and instructors in action.
I grew up in the wilds of Silicon Valley in Cupertino. Well, at that time in the late 50’s and 60’s it was the wilds. I remember my mother saying that we lived in the sticks, in a brand new housing development. The rapidly disappearing orchards provided a rich natural wonderland, with birds, rabbits, and glorious yellow mustard up to my waist. Mum provided more wild lands with her beautiful flower and vegetable gardens, where I was introduced to toads, praying mantis, and big fat tomato worms.
The best place to be was Calabazas Creek, where I roamed as often as I could, dry in summer, raging in winter. It was here I perfected my lizard catching skills, and fantasized about living a life in the wilds.
Growing up, I made it an essential part of my life to be in natural, open places. It was comforting to hear only bird song, the wind in the trees, bees buzzing, and little else. I was fortunate to marry a man who understood this too, so it was easy introduce this way of being to our daughters, Anna and Caitlin.
Being a part of that magical week at Hendricks Park brought back the glorious feeling of being a kid again. My favorite part was stalking. Our clan was always being stalked by either the Cougar or Wolf Clan. Our main goal was to stalk the Wolf Clan, who were the advanced group. Anna and I split the clan, and my group went Fox walking off to stalk the Cougars. We very seldom saw the Wolf Clan, probably because they were so adept at hiding. I had some hesitation about going off the trail into thick fern, blackberries, and kind of big spider webs. That doggone adult thing. But suddenly we all looked at each other and signaled, “Go for it! It was incredible how perfectly we worked together, using the signs we’d learned to communicate, getting down on our bellies to go through negative space and not move branches and ferns. I felt no age difference. We were one, stalking through thick undergrowth, making decisions about which deer trail to follow. The seriousness of the boys was inspiring, and when we finally got within sight of the Cougars eating lunch at their shelter, there was a great sense of accomplishment. During the action-packed week we built a village, faced our fears, compromised, gained each other’s trust, and took one step closer to understanding what it means to be one with nature.
Being a teacher, I always try to find common ground with each of my students in order to find that special connection that opens the way to mutual understanding. This was easy to do at nature camp. The many activities challenged the clan to think in so many different ways, and I had the wonderful experience of watching these young people grapple with a concept and learn it. One afternoon as we were sitting in a circle, Anna placed two sticks together. She announced that this was an old stick counting game and moved the sticks into different positions, each time asking what number they represented. Each time the answer was no, what about this? We couldn’t figure it out. Anna said, “Look at the bigger picture”. As most of us struggled with it, I noticed a couple of boys showing signs of beginning to understand. I knew they were going to take this home for further study.
Every morning before arrival, as the instructors stood in a circle to begin the day, someone would relate a story they’d heard from a parent. Parents were being stalked, a child, hearing a bird outside at breakfast, suggested they all go outside and find a sit spot. This is the hallmark of success – when children take what they’ve learned and apply it. To have these experiences with your own children is priceless. My priceless moment was having the opportunity to play in the woods with Anna again. I had a blast.
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