Service along Whatcom Creek: 4-24-16

The Fiddleheads jumped into high gear this past Sunday for their second outing of the week! The girls showed impressive collaboration, enthusiasm, and Owl Eye vision while cleaning up the litter along Whatcom Creek Trail.

We gathered in front of the totem pole for Opening Circle and shared how each of us felt connected to something in the totem pole that day (the carved eagle, the colors, the shapes, the people who created it). Rebecca then led a round of "on the bus", a fun game that showed the diversity of interests within our group. We then discussed the plan for the day and talked about the importance of the three R's- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! Although recycling is better than throwing everything in a landfill, the reality is that much of our waste as humans ends up there anyways if it's not properly sorted. How can we minimize our trash and reduce/reuse? How can we teach others to practice this in their daily lives?  

Before setting off to pick up litter, we revisited the EC service philosophy explained at our first service project: Our Cups Overflow. To demonstrate this motto, girls called out different basic needs, such as water, food and shelter, while I poured a splash of water into a cup for each basic need. When all of our basic needs were accounted for, I asked the girls to share some things we have in our lives that we don’t necessarily need. The list grew quickly, overflowing the cup as girls shouted out everything from toys, candy, sports, and books to vacation, pets, and electronics. We witnessed just how much our cups overflow, leaving room for us to give back. We discussed how today we would be taking some of our own overflowing cups and pouring them into the cups of Whatcom Creek, the City of Bellingham, and all the animals, plants, and people who enjoy or live in the beautiful area.  

Our amazing EMA, Claire, helped review the Explorers Club mottos “You See It, You Own It” and “Leave No Trace” with the group. We enthusiastically agreed that we would practice these mottos as litter detectives & earth-keepers all day long. As we worked, we talked about how these things get left behind, and how this effects the water, the plants, the animals, and the other people that use this land. What would happen if no one picked this trash up? Where does it all end up after we gather it? Much of it in a landfill. Reduce and Reuse! 

We took a break for lunch after a morning of hard work and trash-hauling. The girls worked on their group collaboration skills during a game of "where's my egg?", transforming into weasels attempting to steal a blue egg from the robins nest without being caught in the action. After some fun play and running around, it was back to work for the litter detectives!

Girls ducked and climbed through the underbrush along the path to pick out things that didn’t belong. These girls worked with exuberance and passion to find and carry heavy and cumbersome trash out of the woods. They cooperated beautifully and consistently with each other to reach difficult-to-get-to items and to carry items together. The girls helped collect a truck-full of trash for the City of Bellingham to haul away!

We ended our day with a meaningful closing circle, offering acknowledgements and gratitude to each other, this place, the plants, animals, and our overflowing cups. 

Motto's especially alive today: Walk your Talk, You See it, You Own it! Leave No Trace, Our Cups Overflow, Collaborate and Compromise, Connect to Protect. 

Words of the Day: Litter scavenger hunt and overflowing cups!

For our full album of the day, click here. 

Exploration at Scudder's Pond & Whatcom Falls Park: 4/21/16

We enjoyed a sunny afternoon of exploration and new connections this past Thursday for the Fiddlehead's first outing of the spring season! Before coming together for Opening Circle, we played a round of "All my friends who...", an energizing getting-to-know-you game to reconnect with one another and discover the common interests we share.

During Opening Circle, we reviewed some of the motto's that we would put into practice throughout the day. For our Safety First motto, a couple of girls helped teach and act out our S.T.O.P. safety principals (Stop, Think, Observe, Plan). We mapped out our travel plan for the day and discussed our motto, It's About the Journey, Not the Destination! This outing would be about the journey, but we also did have a destination (Whatcom Falls!), so collaboration and compromise would be an important tool to get us to our pick-up spot.

 The girls Stretched their Edge by pairing with someone they didn't know well in the group to be their trail buddy for the day before we set off. The day unfolded with new discoveries, sharing of nature knowledge, free exploration, and connections made within our group and with the many different places, plants, and animals we saw along the way. Read on for some highlights of our day. You can find our words of the day, the mottos that guided us, and the full photo album below.

* We stopped to admire the wonders of wetlands at Scudder's Pond: redwing blackbird's brilliant markings and song, beaver's chew marks on trees, cattails' many talents (food, shelter, insulation, medicine, multiple uses in every season), and wetland plants' skill at removing toxins from water before releasing it beyond...

* We observed trailside plants, such as nettle, oregon grape, and lady fern. We smelled the sweet blossoms of thimbleberry and tasted the leaves of indian plum.

* We played the nature game Metamorphosis where we mimicked the lifecycle of the butterfly, first wobbling as eggs and finishing as "Supreme Beings", rock, paper, scissoring our way through the cycle. Some girls stayed in a chrysalis, while others broke their wings free, but all enjoyed time to act, dance and play on the busy trail. 

* We learned how to identify cottonwood trees, with their curvy branches and heart-shaped leaves. We stopped at a particularly large cottonwood tree and saw how many girls it took joining hands to wrap around the trunk. We thanked the cottonwoods for providing us with yellow sticky sap, which can be used as an antibacterial remedy for the skin. Some glued their hands together, while others simply enjoyed the sweet smell.

*The girls used their Collaborate and Compromise skills to navigate their way towards Whatcom Falls Park, stopping to make a group decision whenever we reached a fork in the trail.  

* We meandered down "Lichen Lane", discovering the variety of dust, crust, scale, leaf, club, shrub, hair and other types of algae/fungus relationships! So green and hairy, and lots to observe with our Owl Eyes.

* Played the nature game What Does Redwing Blackbird Need?, trying to meet our bird needs for food, water, and shelter while surviving in the wetland ecosystem. Oil spills, cold winters, and overpopulation served as teaching tools for our play time.

* Found serenity in Whatcom Creek, and sat along the slow calm edges for Peaceful Place, watching waterfowl, writing, sketching, imagining, sitting still...

*Made it to "Licorice Fern Bridge" near the main falls where we watched the  churning water below.

*In closing circle, we followed the EC Motto "Attitude of Gratitude" by giving thanks. We were thankful for sunshine, trees, sticks, cattails, wetlands, clean water, redwinged blackbird, and each other.

Enjoy our full album of the day here.

Our words of the day? Water, Trails, and Redwinged Blackbird Sticks

Mottos that guided our day together: 
Be Prepared, Widen the Circle, Collaborate & Compromise, All things are Connected, Make sure you Meet before you Eat, Leave No Trace, Attitude of Gratitude, and Stretch Your Edge!