​From EverWildLA
December brings the shortest days and long dark nights.  This December for a lot of southern Californians we both saw and felt the effects of the fires seasons extended rein.  Mother Nature is full of wonder and her power is great.  We see this in the "huge" formations of rock, we feel this as our toes clutch the littlest crevice and our hands grab for a tree root to hoist ourselvesup along.  We are feeling respect.  We are feeling connection.  

Due to the fires in the North many people were displaced during this month.  We met Shine Rilling and his son Alaeika and invited them to join us on our adventure.  They in turn invited us to join them in learning the ritual of  Peace Sticks  Thank you for this gift to our EverWild tribe. 

"Yeah - my kid likes playing in 'it' but I don't"  says a mom to me yesterday after she had pulled her child out of the stream because she was getting "too dirty"  
I thought about it later as I walked my soaking wet child who just had to catch that one pollywog back up the steps to the fancy wooded restaurant.
I had watched the joy on the young child's face as they lept down the stairs and headed for the sand and stream kicking off her flip flops and jumping on rocks. I had observed as the little toddler brother immediately picked up sand and threw it into the stream watching the way it sprayed as it hit the water.  Kids do love "it" - nature - they love the freedom of knowing and trusting that the rock is going to be strong, the sand is going to be grainy, the water is going to be wet.  They can trust this and they can feel strong in that trust.  

On a hot dusty May morning dragging stuffed toys, carrying their shoes and adujsting their hats the children of EverwildLA come into the shade of a big tree at the Kenneth Hahn State Park.  
It doesn't take long for the kids ages 5 - 11 to get settled and begin poking their hands in the soil Elizabeth has brought to make into a worm farm.  "How many hearts does a worm have" one child asks.  Everyone hmms and hahhs and the magnifying glasses come out in hopes of seeing exactly how many they DO have.  It's national composting month and EverwildLA is taking full advantage of learning more about how to make good rich soil through composting.  
Enough sitting though - time to get out exploring.  What I noticed right away was that the children - although intrigued by the layed out paths and bird feeders made available to them by the park - they were drawn to the underbrush.  They wanted to "see what's over there" and once one child started off into the great unknown the rest seem...

It's one of those late spring days in Southern California where everything that used to be brown is green and all the water ways are bubbling clear down the mountain. "Amanda Panda" as she is refered to by the explorers at EverwildLA gives the call "Ahut Ahut" and those that are joining the group today come scampering down trees or splashing through streams to get to her.  Immediately there are questions "Can we go down to the cave today?"  "Will there be time to make a fort later"  "Owch these oak leaves are picking me"  
Today - like other days Amanda weaves the questions and ideas into an itinerary and once everyone has agreed on a plan they are off and running.