|

21 October ~ 2007

My weekend was a simple one, consisting mostly of my two dogs walking with me in the tall grass, beneath the golden yellow trees of the Greenbelt. I didn't go dancing - was more in the mood for the quiet and serenity of this house in the evenings.

Ben and Maggie are the best companions. They sit beside me at night when I read, listening to peaceful music. When I watch a movie Ben is next to me on the couch and Maggie is on the floor at my feet. I share handfuls of popcorn with them.

A lot of the reason I stayed home was because I have been so busy lately, doing two nature programs at Barr Lake on Wednesday and Thursday, then friday telling my October stories at the elementary school. After that I went to work, often staying until 7pm. You can see why I was in the mood for slowing down near home.

The storytelling went very well on Friday. All my practicing paid off. It made me feel good that the children were happy to see me sitting in the storytelling chair when they came in from recess.

The teachers were appreciative when I was done, probably realizing that I spend a lot of time preparing for my stories. After I find a story that I feel like telling, I practice it out loud one or two times a day, for at least a week. I practice so much so it will be clear in my mind, which then causes it to be clear for my listeners.

I told the story three times, to each third grade class, with just a couple minute break in between. Here is a recording of the third telling on Friday.

On Wednesday and Thursday I again took the children and their teacher out to the lake, then back to the nature center through the woods. The kids get so animated - it is all so mysterious and exciting, like a real adventure. When they asked their teacher which way to go, she said I have no idea, we are so far off trail. I plan it so we come out of the trees and to the high road just a few hundred yards from the nature center.

We came across a Black Swallowtail on our path, which I picked up and moved to a Dogbane shrub, so it wouldn't be stepped on. It was slugglish from the cool night, and likely only has a few more days to live before winter.

Starr and Nelda showed the children birds they were banding as part of the Rocky Mtn Bird Observatory annual studies at Barr Lake. After a bird was measured and banded and ready to be released, Nelda had the children hold their hands together while she carefully placed the bird upside down in their palms. Then Nelda raises up their hands and the bird usually lies still until it realizes it can fly away. The children are thrilled by holding a wild bird in their hands

(to see a 700 pixel wide image of the above collage, click here; to see a 1400 wide pixel image of the above picture, click here.)