Sunday, May 13, 2018

The Jumping Mice build shelter and community on the Fragrance Lake trail; 5/5/18

As we met in the Lost Lake parking lot for the Jumping Mice's latest outing, an exciting discovery in a nearby salal patch got everyone's blood pumping: garter snakes! Lots of them! The boys immediately tapped into their hunter's instincts and immersed themselves in stalking and catching every snake they could see. 

To the untrained eye, the scene may have looked chaotic and disruptive: boys trampling plants and disturbing wildlife. But in Wild Whatcom, we see something else: focused engagement of body and mind, hands-on learning, kids motivated and inspired by the natural world. In other words, nature connection! Before we had even started our outing, the Jumping Mice showed us their ability to Be Here Now, and gave us mentors wonderful teachable moments about respecting and doing no harm to wildlife.


After putting the snakes back where we found them, we gathered for opening circle, introduced two joiners from other Explorers groups, and discussed our plan for the day. A ways up the trail we circled up to make a decision about how to proceed, and within moments were besieged by tons of gnats. Annoyed and distracted, the boys had strong opinions on which they didn't want to compromise: thus, they struggled to come to a consensus. Brian and I let them struggle, trusting the process to teach and trusting the boys to learn, but offered a few tidbits of guidance that helped them come to a decision.

Our next and final destination at the lookout point was, thankfully, bug-free. As we broke for lunch and some carving time, our motto Widen The Circle was in full display as your Explorers shared tools, materials, inspiration, stories, and time together.




After lunch we tasked the boys with building an earth shelter that would support a mentor’s weight. Some took to the task while others were distracted, and the shelter remained skeletal due to the lack of focus. So it goes! 



While the boys took down the shelter, Brian set up his camp stove in order to introduce next year’s skill focuses: art of water and wilderness travel. They were inspired and excited to learn more, and we are inspired and excited to go on that journey with them. A quick game of Spider’s Web and a heartfelt circle of thanks closed out our day with teamwork and respectful listening, a welcome glimpse of the Jumping Mice’s growing maturity.


Tuesday, April 17, 2018

JM carve and explore Clayton Beach 4/15/18


I know I’m not telling you anything when I say that raising a child is a two-steps forward, one-step backward process (on a good day!). From our perspective at Wild Whatcom, the Jumping Mice are making great progress toward self-reliance, resilience and independence in the outdoors. Of late, we see it especially in their respect, focus and discipline as they learn to use knives safely. They once again performed admirably as they started their projects on Sunday. Ask your Explorer about the product on which he’s working. Two significant steps forward.


As you would expect, as they demonstrate that they’re able to handle more, the mentors relax the constraints we place on other activities. For example, on this outing, we gave them more freedom to try that difficult rock face on the beach. And this is where we ran up against their edge on our outing. In the balance between perceived and actual risk, mentor Ellen and I saw several instances where Explorers failed to employ our STOP (Stop, Think, Observe, Plan) process for assessing the prudence of an action. One step backward. 


The great news — the arithmetic results in growth (net one step forward). The Jumping Mice are behaving better during our opening and closing circles as well as when we pause to make a decision as a group. In fact, our consensus decision making was also quite good on Sunday.


We first explored the creek just across Chuckanut Drive from the Lost Lake trailhead. With the “wiggles” calmed, the Explorers got to choose their projects — chopsticks, a digging stick or a butter knife — and proceeded to whittle away for better than a half hour. If you’re so inclined, check out your Explorer’s incomplete work and ask “how do you know it (chopsticks, digging stick, knife) is in there”. I told them a story about a young boy who watched a sculptor create a statue of a person out of a block of granite. When it was complete, the boy asked how he knew it was in there. We’re teaching them to envision the end result before starting.


On to Clayton Beach where their improved decision making created an agenda of three short bursts of free exploration followed by a game and our closing meeting. 


A note before I sign off. During our closing meeting, we heard the sound of breaking glass come from a rock above us and were quickly showered with broken glass. Fortunately, we all escaped physical harm, although adults and kids alike were a bit shaken. We found the perpetrators who claimed to have dropped the bottle accidentally. I suspect it was thrown without intent to harm us and without STOPping to consider the possible consequences.



The Jumping Mice have a busy spring. We meet again on May 5 for an exploration of the Fragrance Lake trail and work on shelter building. The boys are welcome to pack their knives. They might want to work on their projects during breaks.







Thursday, March 1, 2018

Jumping Mice "carve" through Lookout Mountain 2/25/18


Excellent work!

The Jumping Mice outdid themselves at Lookout Mountain on Sunday. We started a new skill (check here for a look at our Skills Progression) for the group — carving. As with any skill or any venture worth pursuing in life, learning to carve is about more than just knife against wood. There’s the attempt to create something of value, of course: in our case the boys worked on tent pegs, chopsticks and butter knives. Before we can expect a usable finished product, however, many personal characteristics come into play.

Mentor Brian began on Sunday by telling a story about a young boy who watched a sculptor etch the statue of a man from a block of granite. The process took months, during which the boy said little. When the figure was complete, the sculptor asked the boy for his impressions. He responded, “How did you know that was in there?”


The first thing we encouraged your Explorers to do was envision what was in their cedar blank. Did the size, shape or grain of the wood hint as to what was inside? Did the Explorer have a hankering for a certain product? Start with an end in mind to increase your odds of success.

Other important traits that we didn’t explicitly mention (for fear of putting them all to sleep!) include the ability to focus intently, to follow instructions, to overcome frustration and persist through failure, to exercise self-control and more.



And, critically, as expressed in the Boys Explorers Club motto - Safety first! Here's our introduction to the skill of carving (background and video) for more information. The boys learned the importance of balance and of another Boys Explorers Club motto, Slow if Fast; Fast is Slow to producing a quality outcome and to avoiding injury.


Bottom line — the Jumping Mice did very well. This is a group that has had trouble focusing in circle; Glen and I saw none of that impatience during our guided, closely monitored carving session. Rather, the boys, some of whom were somewhat cold and wet, zeroed in on this task and made noticeable progress. See if you notice signs that your Explorer has improved attention at home. 


Once we’d packed up our knives, we headed down to the creek to play a game with the Ospreys, a Girls Explorers Club group who happened to also be at Lookout Mountain that day. When we met up with them, however, they were learning the basics of starting a fire, so we observed their attempts to light damp twigs. Both the girls and the boys now have a greater appreciation of just how difficult that can be!


We next meet on Saturday, March 17 for a service outing. More on that as we get closer. In the meantime, check out Sunday’s photo gallery.