"Mud" by The Bean

Nana and Pap like to take me for walks on Sunday afternoon. 
Nana thinks its funny when I'm on Pap's shoulders,
'cause it looks like I have a tail.

My Pap knows a lot about plants and teaches me 'bout ones I can eat
and ones I shouldn't touch.  
Here he's teachin' me 'bout pois'nivy.  "Leaves of three, let them be" he says.

We like to go down to the river and walk on this one tree that goes
waaaaay out over the water. It's a little scary but I like it.
Pap almost fell out of the tree once and Nana laughed real hard.

Sassy our Pug always comes with us on walks.

Nana says she's a "cream puff" but she's part of the family, too.
I never saw a dog climb a tree before.

Pap likes to hold me and talk about what we see like
clouds and water and birds and stuff.
Nana calls him "flosofer". 

I love my Pap.  Nana says he's "earfy" and "grounding".
  I don't know what that means but I feel safe when he holds me.

Nana wanted to get closer to the water for pitchers (she's always takin' pitchers!)
She took off her shoes and walked in the mud.

This made Pap and me laugh.

I wanted to get in the mud too.

And the water.

It feels funny when it squishes 'tween my toes.

Sassy went kinda nuts in the water and Nana kept calling her "mudball"

I fell down.  Then I fell down again.
Falling down was fun!  I was swimmin' in the river!

Nana told Pap "that's enough he'll get 'monia".
She made me get out of my wet clothes and told Pap to take off his shirt and wrap me up.
It was warm and smelled good, like Pap.

I like having adventures with Nana and Pap.
You never know what's gonna happen.

How to Bring a Hallozebra to Life

Bringing a Hallozebra to life is not easy.
  It takes patience and humor.

First you have to catch it, then you have to avoid its escape.
  They're very quick.

You contain it by placing it on a high surface so it can't run off.

It will wiggle, squirm and lower it's head but you musn't give up.

It helps if you can make it laugh

and let it admire its own reflection

Hang in there and you will be rewarded.
Viola!  A Hallozebra is born!

Now that you have a Hallozebra, how do you feed it?

First you take it out on a dark moonlit night...
(Dressing like the world's oldest high school grad is optional)

 You keep your eyes open for specialized Hallozebra feeders
who wait behind closed doors with special food.
They lure them in with unique outdoor features called "porch lights"

Sometimes the Hallozebra feeders are too lazy busy to come out
so they leave their food on the front door for self-feeding. 
Our Hallozebra was polite and took only one.  
The handler had to try a few to make sure they were okay.

This is what Hallozebra food looks like.

We set our Hallowzebra free after it's feeding frenzy.  
Goodbye Hallozebra!


I wonder what exciting Hallocreatures
we will bring to life next year??

The Therapy of Throwing Stones

My husband and I have always felt that regular contact with our natural environment is essential to emotional health, and as our boys were growing up we made a concerted effort to take them camping in our tipi and exposing them to the outside world.   Now we are doing the same with our grandson, the Bean. 

Because the Bean lives in a city, he doesn't receive the powerful effect of nature on a regular basis, so whenever he stays with us - about two weekends each month - we make at least one play date with Mother Nature.

In his important book The Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder, Richard Louv explains the crucial role nature plays in the lives of children.    He says:  The outdoors is as essential to a child's health and well being as good nutrition and plenty of sleep.   Every parent has likely noticed the powerful effect of nature on children: an anxious child will relax and forget her worries as she rolls in the grass; sibling arguments -- fought so bitterly in the car -- quickly dissipate on a windy beach; and the darkest mood of a teenager can be washed away by a plunge in the lake.

This is true for adults as well which was affirmed recently when we introduced the Bean to the Susquehanna River which runs alongside our town.

 For the Bean, throwing rocks is as natural as breathing.  It must be a boy thing.
What do you think was the first thing he did at the river?

 

At first he was tentative.
  Throwing rocks at home usually results in being told to stop.

Then he got more confident

and thought it was hilarious when his stones hit the water

There was no stopping him after that.
He started tossing bigger stones

and watched with fascination at the concentric rings that formed

He began to use his whole body when throwing
and soon discovered he could make the stones go farther

 

I couldn't let him have all the fun, so I had to try

 

 Then my husband and I began a game.
One of us would throw a stone and the other would photograph it
the minute it hit the water.  It wasn't so easy.

In this picture I threw a hunk of wood.

Not bad.

Now here's my photographic attempt of my husband's rock throwing.

I wanted to throw the Bean in,  but hubby said no.

Being in nature is good for the soul,
but throwing stones in nature is even better.

 

Wishcasting Wednesday: What do I want to share?Happy Birthday Bean!

Each week when Jamie Ridler presents her Wishcasting prompt, I pause and ponder a bit before posting; sometimes I need an hour, sometimes a whole day. 

Not today.  Today the words breezed in without hesitation.

What do you wish to share?

Today is the birthday of my grandson, the Bean.  He is two-years-old.  

The Bean is unquestionably one of the greatest gifts in my life and my Master Teacher.  In the two years that my life has been graced with his presence, he has taught me to exercise patience, gentleness, unconditional love and the joy of being in the moment.   He has taught me to take better care of myself so that we will have many many years together. 

My wish today is that I may share with my grandson the gifts that I have been given, enriching his life as he has enriched mine.

I wish to share my love of essential oils and the healing therapies that come from Mother Nature.

I wish to share my sense of humor and love of laughter so that he may find his own funny bone and retain his inner monkey. 

I wish to share the natural world by taking him on trips to the woods with his Pap and I where he can learn to appreciate its peace and beauty.

 I wish to share my creativity and give him a place where he can safely explore his own inner artist.

I wish to share my cockeyed optimism and enthusiasm for life so that he may learn to see that there is something good in every situation, no matter how painful. 

 I wish to share my life's story as well as that of his Nonno (my ex), his Pap (my husband) and his father (my son) so that he may embrace a sense of history within his own identity.

Happy Birthday my precious Bean. 
I love you and wish to share with you
all that I have,
all that I know,
and all that I am.