Fair weather met the Vespula Veterans during their first outing of the fall season. In the first fifteen minutes in Fairhaven Park, Explorers were already practicing the art of climbing trees! We took camouflage to the next level (literally) by playing a round of Hide while some people were still arboreal.
Our first meeting started off as everyone introduced himself to Dave (me). At the end of introductions, Nat surprised us all by saying hello; he had been in the tree for almost 15 minutes! He had kept to hiding well after the game was over.
The skill of the day would be the basics of building shelters. Matt and Steve introduced the topic by reading from Tom Brown’s Field Guide to Wilderness Survival. A major lesson in that chapter was that we should learn from the animals who build shelters.
Tom Brown and his friend had been instructed to learn from the squirrels. And one of the Explorers claimed to seen a probable squirrel’s nest in one of the trees we had just been climbing. So back up the trunk we went to research shelter-building! Upon further inspection the nest may have belonged to one of the resident corvidae in the park but those who climbed the tree to analyze the nest had a good idea of successful strategies for the shelters they would later build.
This Explorer was inspired upon seeing how willing and able Explorers were to explore the natural world for guidance and how they connected with that world. We worked on the motto: All Things Are Connectedand began to understand how we might fit in well in the 100-Acre Woods. As a newcomer in the Vespula Veterans, I was impressed by everyone's “go-getter” attitude to climb the trees, learn from the animals, and practice a new skill.
A couple of name games and more Hideprepared us for the shelter-building task at hand. Some Explorers teamed up and others worked individually to find the right Y-sticks and backbones for their shelters. They considered how and the rain might fall and where water could pool up. Explorers also practiced cutting, breaking, and finding the right wood pieces for their strictures. This was a multi-faceted activity despite seeming so simple at first. A lot of time and energy goes into making a shelter that will stay dry and warm on the inside!
We toured the different shelters and found that each one taught us something. Following the motto: We’re All Teachers Explorers brought valuable insight to the group with their initial creations. I can’t wait to see the next set of shelters to see how much they garnered from this weekend.
Shelter building finished around “Spider’s Wed O-clock”, so we had to playSpider’s Web for the last portion of the day. As spider, Max challenged the group to find new and secret paths to get the flag. To challenge his awareness skills at times he wore noise-canceling headphones that made him rely heavily on his sense of sight. In the end the flies couldn’t capture the flag but were able to quickly navigate around previously uncharted areas with ease. We even used whistles, clicks, and other sounds in order to communicate across vast areas without visual confirmation. One might be tempted to say that the spider won the game, but it seem that everyone won because of the awareness skills that we practiced and honed.
Lastly we hosted a Circle of Thanks to practice our motto: Attitude of Gratitude. And this blog post ends with the same practice. Thank you Explorers for your welcoming attitude and hard work. Thank you parents for your support. As usual, don’t forget to check out pictures in the photo gallery.
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