Fiddleheads Service at Connelly Creek 4-28-17

It was a warm surprise to have the sun shining down on us all afternoon this past Friday as the Fiddleheads worked hard to save the banks of Connelly Creek from invasive reed canary grass and blackberries. We enjoyed a collaborative afternoon of service, games, and new connections as the girls worked alongside the Spotted Owls and two BEC groups. Some highlights from our day together included:

• Gathering for a check-in and snacks in the parking lot before heading to Connelly Creek for a brief opening circle before getting to work.

• Using lopers, shovels, and our own woman power to pull out invasive blackberry, stomp down reed canary grass, set up fencing around planted areas, and mulch a new designated site for native plantings. 

• Connecting with the Spotted Owls and BEC groups through teamwork, collaborative stewardship, and games!

The Fiddleheads set a great example of how to Walk Your Talk as they worked hard right up until the end of the day.  Morale remained high at the work site- A LOT of silly songs were sung and hilarious plant-related jokes were told.  We ended our day with a giant collaborative closing circle with the Spotted Owls during which many thanks were given for each other and opportunities to serve the beautiful place we live in.  Check out more photos from day here!

Mottos especially alive today:

We're All Teachers

Walk Your Talk

Safety First

All Things Are Connected

Connect and Protect

Our Cups Overflow

Widen the Circle

Attitude of Gratitude

Many Hands Make Light Work

Baking for Bellingham Community Meals 3-4-17

The Fiddleheads reunited this past Saturday for a unique outing: we spent much of a blustery afternoon inside, aprons donned, to bake up a storm for Bellingham Community Meals. BCM is a group of volunteers that comes together once a month to prepare and serve a warm meal free to the community. The only thing that isn't prepared onsite is… DESSERT! This is where we put our energy, and the girls collaboratively counted, measured, stirred, whipped, beat, melted, poured…and cleaned! 

After an introduction to our project, we explored questions like: Whose "cups" are we filling today with this project? What other needs are we meeting by helping with this community meal? What impact do acts of kindness and service have on our community? How else can we carry out acts of kindness and "fill cups" beyond this project? The girls responded with thoughtfulness and genuine compassion. We all agreed that filling others’ cups makes our cups more full. Today our goal was to help people meet the basic need of food. But going a step beyond this, the girls discussed how community meals meet other basic needs as well, like love, community, and connection.

The girls split into three groups, with determination to stir lots of love into the batter along with the other ingredients. The kitchen was a-flurry with egg cracking, whirling beaters and recipe checking. We remembered to go one step at a time, implementing our motto, “Think It Through Before You Do.” Soon our treats were baking and our mouths were watering, and we began a serious Leave No Trace kitchen clean-up.

After our hard work we ate lunch, played some indoor games, and then geared up and headed out for a mini-exploration of the grounds outside of the Cordata Co-op. We stopped for a nice surprise downstairs- a local band playing irish folk music to spread St. Patricks Day spirit! After dancing and listening to the music for a while. we headed outside for some fresh air! We explored, got a little muddy, and played games in a park just beyond the Co-op parking lot as we waited for our baked treats to cool. Our time outside was quick, yet very refreshing, and our treats were ready to bag by the time we made it back indoors. 

We enjoyed a final Attitude of Gratitude in our closing circle, expressing thanks for our group, for filling up our "cups" even more, and for the humans who will enjoy our baked treats. 





Our words of the day? "Baking, Fun, Chocolate, Music!"

Mottos especially in use today: Our Cups Overflow, Leave No Trace, Everybody Helps, All Things Are Connected, Widen Our Circle

Check out our photo album of the day here!

Art in Nature Day at Whatcom Falls Park 2-11-17

The Fiddleheads gathered again for the second half of an awesome 2016-17 season on a brisk and busy day at Whatcom Falls Park! Amongst the chaos of a running race, our Fiddleheads found each other slowly but surely. Once we were all together, off on our adventure we went!

We began our day with an Opening Circle. As we had a new Explorer joining our group (welcome Shea!), we all explained what it was like to be a Fiddlehead. We talked a lot about the Mottos that guide our time in Explorers Club. See if your Fiddlehead can name a few! Our group also weighed in on our comfort of art. The girls acknowledged that the day wasn't about being "good" or "bad" at art, but about exploring our creativity! It was encouraging to watch the Fiddleheads stick to this all day, never belittling their or anothers' work, and always finding ways to support others in their journeys.

Speaking of journeys, we then headed out on ours! It was fish feeding time at the hatchery at Whatcom Falls Park, and the generous Parks workers allowed for us to spend some time feeding the rainbow trout. How fun to watch the fish swim and squirm at feeding time, knowing exactly where to go for their morsels of breakfast!

From there, we found an incredibly diverse and magical set of rocks that the Fiddleheads were immediately ready to climb. We completed an S.T.O.P Risk Assessment to ensure that we would be safe, and proceeded to spend a signficant amount of time scampering up and sliding down this mini rock face. The Fiddleheads lent helping hands, pushes, boots, and pulls to get each girl up the rock, which provided them with a sense of accomplishment. Sometimes on cold days, moving your body is just what you need, and it was clear that helped keep our bodies and hearts warm and happy!

We celebrated our climbing success with a snack, and shared another decision-making circle about what to do and where to go next! As the Fiddleheads will likely let you know, decision-making in a group of 14 is HARD! We're learning how to hear everyone's voice, how to Collaborate and Compromise, and how to do this as efficiently as possible so we can get going and move! Meeting everyone's needs is always a challenge, but I was proud to see Fiddleheads asking regularly if people were in agreement, if there were any dissenting thoughts, and taking this feedback gracefully. I am excited to see how the problem solving skills of these girls develops in the months and years to come!

From this decision circle, we moved to do some art and play some games. We "caterpillar walked" our way into a nice thicket of trees and set up a little basecamp where we would stay for the rest of the day. We started our time in the thicket with an art activity called "Zoom, Zoom, Zoom!", where we focused on perspective drawing. The girls chose to draw a larger scape and drew all that they could, then they zoomed in on maybe on tree in the scene, then zoomed in again and drew a close up detail of the bark and lichen on that same tree. It was a great exercise in understanding the scope of our observation skills in addition to practice in drawing in a variety of ways. Some chose to spend this quiet time drawing their own sketches, which also provided many girls with the space to just CREATE!

We finished our day with a few rousing games that got us moving and kept us warm. Some girls chose to keep sketching, and others took to using natural materials and built fairy and bug homes on the forest floor. We shared a Peaceful Place surrounded by the faint whoooossshhhh of Whatcom Creek, and closed our day with a Circle of Thanks. We felt gratitude for the practice of art, for water, for each other, and for the park that we called home for the day! Another fantastic adventure with the Fiddleheads!

Our Words of the Day? : "Art, friends, and resources at Whatcom Falls Park!"

To view a slideshow of our day, click here!