Grey skies, prophesying autumn’s immanent emergence, greeted
the Pine Martens for our first outing as a Boys Explorers Club group. Our pack
of wild Whatcom weasels quickly rallied from drop-off games to find a suitable
spot for our morning circle. A few pumps of the tire and everyone sat facing
each other for the first time, to learn our names and some of the ecology of
Explorers Club: What does Explore, Serve, Connect even mean anyway, who’s the
#1 person in charge of one’s own safety, what are circles for and how can we
respect everyone in them, and what the heck’s a pine marten? Ask your explorer
what it means to listen with their ears, eyes, body and mind, if you want to water
the seed of those BEC ecological services in your home!
Of course, after all that sitting in circle we needed to
break out across the field and roll down a hill! Duh. An important part of
boyhood connection to place is knowing which are the best hills for rolling
down, and Fairhaven Park has a beautiful example of an ideal prominence for
such purposes. After a few rolls each, we tested how quickly we could circle again,
and our marvelous guest GEC mentor, Hannah and I were very impressed by how
respectful the Pine Martens are already at answering crow calls and giving
their attention to the group. After assigning our very first knowledge keeper,
medicine man, TTTPP, hunter gatherer, and game master their jobs, and
discussing trail etiquette, the Pine Martens were all set on disappearing into
the woods!
Right away our troupe of explorers was immersed in the magic
of the moment, as we discovered spiders webs, squirrels, and a plant who’s
berries we were very curious if we could eat. Out came Plants of the Pacific
Northwest Coast, by Pojar and McKinnon – a fantastic resource for your
explorer and family at home, if you’ve a budding naturalist or two on your
hands – from the backpack of our knowledge keeper, and soon 12 little bodies
were bent around the bent spine and open leaves of our illustrated field guide.
The berries of the black hawthorn it turns out are edible, but was that the
plant we found? Its leaves were darker green on top and lighter on bottom, serrated
and lobed but not quite like the picture. Black hawthorn has thorns up to an
inch long, which were not present on this tree, and the berries were much more
red than purple… hmmm… One important
lesson every explorer learns on his first day; we don’t eat plants unless you
know 100% what it is and which part is edible, and then only after your mentor
has approved you to ID that plant on your own. We passed on the berries, as the
natural mysteries of camouflage drew us on.
What does it mean to camouflage anyway? Do any animals do
that? What’s the difference between camouflaging and hiding? Speaking of which,
“HIDE!”. Play is the highest form of research, and in investigating the Art of
Camouflage, Hide is the first game we learn. See if you can get your explorer
to explain the rules for you, as this can be a fun game you play on the trail
anywhere! Eventually our bodies tell us they need more food to keep on playing
and investigating. We find a magical spot where our imaginations can run wild,
and we perch on fallen logs like we were nesting birds as we eat our lunch. Of
course, this spot was too good not to try our imaginations and test our art at
another game – Eagle Eye! A level up from Hide on the totem pole of camouflage
games, Eagle Eye takes your explorers skills to the next level, as they have
multiple rounds to try and sneak closer and eventually try to touch the eagle
and hide again, to win. Our Pine Martens were very excited about the prospect
of becoming eagle eggs if they were spotted, and were happy to share the nest
with Hannah “eagle mamma”.
After the “eagle daddy” had his turn to spot as many Pine
Martens as he could see, our group circled up again to learn how we make decisions
in BEC – something we call the 4Cs: circle, collaborate, compromise, and
consensus. After everyone shared their ideas about what they wanted to do, we
compromised and reached the consensus that we would move along and practice a
sit spot before our day was done. Reaching a beautiful edge environment, where
the forest of cedar, hemlock, Douglas-fir, and maple was gradually replaced
with grass and sedge, alder and cotton wood, the Pine Martens got the chance to
explore the idea inside the reality, of environmental disturbance and the
different habitats that forest and meadow provide to wildlife. After exploring
the area and questioning our explorers on their observations, we discussed what
a sit spot is – the opportunity to be still, silent, safe, solitary, and
present with their senses, as they engage with the natural world in a more meditatively
reflective way than the games and adventures we engage in for the rest of our
outings – and sat our explorers down on what for some of them was their very
first sit spot!
In our closing circle, the Pine Martens shared their
gratitude for the day’s explorations, and Honeycrisp apples that our hunter
gatherer had been carrying for us all outing. We thanked Hannah Plant for
joining us as our mentor and eagle mamma for this outing, and reminded our
explorers that for their next outing, we will be delving into the magical
camouflage game of Spider’s Web, and they will get to meet their other mentor
for the season. Fortunately for the Pine Martens, we finished with just enough
time to roll down our big hill a few more times on the way back to pick-up, and
to learn the name of the spruce trees crowned the top of the hill. A beautiful
end to a fantastic day in the woods! 
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