Summer Staycation Adventure, Week 1

(Since last Monday was July 4th, Monday, July 11 was the first vacation day I've taken this summer--making it Week 1 of our Staycation Adventure. My plan is to take each Monday off to have a fun and learning adventure with my daughter. More about our summer staycation plans here).

Discovery Pond: My daughter and I had two adventures last week. On Monday, we visited Discovery Pond at the Tacoma Nature Center. Adding to the specialness, my daughter's daycare teacher has decided to join us for each Monday's adventure, so all of her friends are coming along. Discovery Pond is a play area for kids designed as a natural environment that includes rocks to climb, caves to explore, a pond (with fish!) to rock-hop across, a treehouse to hang out in, and an old-fashioned water pump. A staff person told us that they were amazed that the fish have survived since Discovery Pond opened last year. They were sure that either the fish would die or the raccoons would get them, and neither has happened.

The kids had a ball in the play area, followed by a picnic lunch. We also visited a little of the inside of the Nature Center, and the kids got to see frogs, turtles, snakes and lots of bugs! As a follow up, I asked my daughter what she wanted to learn more about, and she said turtles, so we checked out a few books from the library about them.

Tiptoe through the Tidepools: I learned that day that Metro Parks Tacoma and the Nature Center were sponsoring a free "Tiptoe through the Tidepools" event at Titlow Beach on Saturday (yesterday), one of several they've held this summer. My daughter and I visited and it was fascinating. I learned a new word, "estuary," which is an area where salt water and fresh water come together. The Puget Sound is one of the world's most prolific estuaries, replete with sea creatures that are most visible at low tide. Estuaries are also perfect habitat for salmon, which is why this area is known for them.

My daughter and I were able to see and touch a variety of crabs--and watched a poor kid get pinched by one :( -- along with seaweed, barnacles, starfish, and the most amazing 20-legged sunflower sea star (see pic below). We're following up by reading more about tidepools here in the Northwest.


I'm really starting to appreciate the natural environment here in Washington, and probably will even more so after we visit Mt. Rainier, which is the most prominent mountain in the contiguous US (prominence is the measure of the distance from a mountain's lowest point to its summit), and one of the world's potentially deadliest volcanoes.

I never thought anything could compare to the breathtaking beauty of a New England fall, complete with apple picking and scrumptious apple cider donuts. But I'm learning that Washington state has a unique beauty of its own.

When doing your best is not enough

I have blogged before that when it comes to going green, you should do the best you can rather than feeling guilty about what you can't do. I've blogged about the importance of making small steps, and how the small steps of many can make a big impact. I've even ranted about those who would criticize the green steps of others because those steps are less than perfect from an eco-perspective, not considering that that step may be the best the person can do in their circumstances, and may lead to bigger steps if you don't turn them off with smug attitudes.

I still think those things are true. One of the reasons I started this blog was to encourage people who feel left out of the environmental movement because of race, income, time, access, knowledge (both skills and awareness), etc., that green really can be for the rest of us.

But what happens when the best you can do isn't enough? When the small steps don't add up enough to save our world? I read this article today, about the threat of mass extinction of all marine life due to climate change. If that happens, humanity and our planet are screwed. There is so much division, greed and hostility in our nation and world that I fear we might never come together even to address our species' very survivial.

It makes me feel at times as if my green journey is for naught, and my green steps are just useless gestures to make me feel a little more in control and less overwhelmed. Any thoughts? Ideas? Reasons for hope?

Weekly summer staycation adventure!

Mt. Rainier, Washington. Image from publicdomainpictures.net.

Several factors--a lack of funds for vacation travel, my daughter's daycare teacher being short-staffed on Mondays this summer, and the advice of educational experts--led me to plan what I'm calling our "Weekly Summer Staycation Adventure!"

Instead of taking a week or more off from work, I'm going to take every Monday off to do something fun and educational with my daughter. There are tons of low-cost places to visit in the area, many of which we've never been to. And educational experts advise that one of the most effective way to help your children learn during the summer is to reinforce experiences with reading, writing and other learning activities. Having a different experience each week, rather than cramming a bunch of experiences into a short time frame, will give us quality time to do that.

Here are the experiences we have planned (not yet in any set order):

1) The Hands-On Children's Museum in Olympia, WA.

2) A visit to Alaffia's factory in Lacey, WA.

3) Fort Nisqually Living History Museum in Tacoma.

4) Port Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma.

5) The Tacoma Nature Center's Discovery Pond.

6) A trip to Mount Rainier (this may be a weekend event, because I want hubby to join us). Mt. Rainier is the impressive peak that looms over Western Washington, but is only visible when the sun is out. If you're new to Washington State and you arrive when it's overcast as I did three years ago, the first time this huge mountain appears in your vista is indescribable.

7) Stewart Heights Pool and Water Park in Tacoma. (This one is just for fun!)

8) Maybe even blueberry picking at Charlotte's Blueberry Park in Tacoma.

9) Perhaps a visit to a farm in the area.

We may add others as we discover them. For each experience, we will get books from the library to learn more, we will write stories and do art projects, and if I can be creative enough, incorporate math and science. I'll blog more about this throughout the summer.

Each of these locations is relatively low-cost (admission is either free, or less than $10, except for the zoo), I plan to pack our lunches, and for the Tacoma locations, I hope to take the bus.

BTW, all praise to Metro Parks Tacoma, the muncipal corporation that manages every single one of the Tacoma locations above, making available incredible opportunities for recreation, the arts and nature for the people of Greater Tacoma!

It's amazing what you discover in your own yard

Sometimes I wonder if I'm so much of a city kid that it takes a long time for me to notice natural things. Or maybe, just maybe, my yard is changing before my eyes.

Last summer, our friends Johnnie and Michele came over when we were planting our garden in the yard, and pointed out that the two bushes near the garden spot were blueberry bushes. I couldn't figure out how I had missed that the year before, since I love blueberries.

Last year most of the blueberries that grew were eaten by the deer as soon as they started to ripen, and those that weren't eaten by deer were rather bitter in taste. It's possible the deer had eaten them all the year before, so we hadn't noticed.

This year, the deer have oddly left the berries alone (and we've seen them running around the neighborhood, so they're still here). Not only that, but the berries that ripened have been nice and sweet. I've already speculated that the deer dislike the smell of the coffee grounds we used to fertilize the garden--which also may be the reason for the improved berry crop. My daughter found a bush in another part of the yard that still bears a tag reading, "blueberry plant." The latter grew no berries, so I definitely think our cultivation of the general area of the two fruitful bushes has had an effect.

My daughter found something else this year: a tree in our year bearing what my neighbor informs me are Italian plums. Again, how did I miss this the past two years? Unpicked fruit trees usually results in rotten fruit on the ground, and I certainly have done my share of raking and yard work! So far, the plums are hard and bitter, even the purple ones, so we'll see if they improve as fall approaches.

And best of all, my husband discovered a blackberry bush when he was mowing the lawn! It's growing up among the shrubs that border our yard, so he's pretty sure they're wild berries that weren't intentionally planted. He used his garden gloves to pull a bunch of braches out of the shrubs and into the yard. Daughter and I collected enough to make two dozen blackberry tarts!

Discovering all this fruit growing in our yard has been a delight. I think of the words from the movie Jurassic Park (used in an entirely different context, of course, but they can apply here): "Nature always finds a way."

Weekend news and basil-mint pesto

Besides swimming, we had other outdoor experiences this weekend. Our good friends Johnnie and Michele are living on Vashon Island this summer and caretaking at a cottage there. It's a pretty rustic cabin right on the water. We joined them for dinner on Sunday evening.

The last time we were there, on July 4th, my daughter and I picked up seashells off the beach (which the kids painted at my daughter's bubble party). This time, the tide was high and there was no beach.

However, there is a long, thick rope hanging from one of the trees in the yard. Michele said it was once a swing, but the seat broke off at some point. No matter: my daughter used the rope to play Tarzan and swing all over the yard.

They also have wild blackberries growing in the yard. I spent some time picking them (mmm, I love blackberries), and I have scratches all over my arm to prove it!

Johnnie and Michele's dinners are usually open potlucks for their friends. My contribution this time was a basil-mint pesto, made from the basil, spearmint and peppermint growing in our garden. It was a big hit with everyone, "addictive," as one woman called it. Here is the recipe I made (modified from this one at Post Punk Kitchen):

BASIL-MINT PESTO

Ingredients

-1/4 cup each almonds and pine nuts

-2 c. basil and mint leaves (I cut off two tall stalks each of basil and spearmint, and five or six short stalks of peppermint, and pulled the leaves off the stems)

- juice of one lemon (tip: firmly roll the lemon around on a hard surface for about 10-20 seconds, and the juice will squeeze out much more easily)

- 3 T olive oil

- 2 garlic cloves, chopped

- 1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese

- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Directions

- Using my Magic Bullet blender, I chopped up the almonds and pine nuts until they they resembled coarse crumbs and set them aside.

- I added the basil and mint leaves to the blender, along with 1 T of the olive oil, the lemon juice and the garlic, and blended until smooth.

- I added the chopped nuts, the rest of the oil, the parmesan cheese and salt to the basil-mint mixture and blended. The resulting mixture is lumpy.

- I served with whole wheat crackers.

For a vegan variety, you can replace the parmesan cheese with 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast flakes.

Awesome nature in the city moment

My favorite nature in the city moment occurred about a decade ago, when I was taking a walk on the Esplanade, the long stretch of park that runs along the banks of the Charles River in Boston. I spotted a mama duck and about five or six ducklings standing beside the shore. Several people gathered to watch the sight when suddenly a St. Bernard appeared, barking furiously and running toward the ducks. The mother duck started quacking loudly and jumped into the water, with her babies right behind her.

Although his owners were calling for his return, the dog ignored them and jumped into the river after the ducks. The ducks swam as fast as they could behind a rock. Once her ducklings were safe, the mama duck turned and let out what can only be described as a primal scream. She then took off like a low-flying missile aimed right at the dog!

The funniest part was the expression that appeared on the dog's face. You could tell he was thinking, "Oh no, I'm in trouble now!" As if he had just become aware of his owners' calls, he turned and hightailed it back to them as quickly as possible!

By this time, the dozens of people who saw this scene were rolling with laughter and speculating about what would have happened had the duck actually caught the dog. Despite the massive size difference (this was a St. Bernard!), she meant business. As one person pointed out, "This was a wild duck protecting her babies, vs. somebody's pet."

Yesterday I experienced another awesome nature in the city moment, and my daughter was there to see it as well! We attended Tacoma's annual Ethnic Fest held in Wright Park. As we walked along the duck pond in the park, a guy who passed us pointed to an area of the pond where hundreds of half-foot long goldfish were swimming. Just as we arrived at the area with the fish, we heard a whistling sound and saw something drop from the sky so fast we couldn't tell what it was. It landed with an explosive splash in the water. A few seconds later, we saw wet wings emerge and a bird lifted into the air. Not just any bird, either--this was a hawk who had caught a nice, juicy goldfish for lunch!

I remember watching a story on TV a few years ago about a family of hawks nesting on the eaves of a tall building near Central Park in New York City. People came out daily with binoculars to watch as the parents fed their babies, and as the fledglings began to learn to fly. It was an amazing sight, and highly unusual, according to the announcer, to have a family of hawks make its home in the city. Well, it seems that Tacoma has at least one hawk living here! And perhaps I shouldn't be surprised. We seem to have plenty of deer around here, even in the central city, not just the outskirts.

Apple picking!

One of the joys of New England autumns, in addition to the foliage, is apple-picking. Fearing we would miss this, we were excited to discover an orchard near our home in Tacoma. Curran Apple Orchard, now a public park in the city of University Place, has an annual harvest day in September from 1-4 in the afternoon. Last year, daughter was napping at one PM, so we went when she woke up at 3 pm and found all the apples picked clean.

This year, we decided not to repeat that mistake. However, even arriving at 1:05 yesterday, many of the trees were already bare when we got there! Nevertheless, we were able to pick two large bags of apples, and pressed enough to make two half-gallons of cider, with plenty left over to bake a few pies. It was great fun for my daughter, who is now old enough to climb the apple trees and loved being able to crank the cider press.

So a great day! The cider we pressed was fantastic, too. It was made from about four different varieties of apples, and we didn't add anything to it (no spices or sweetners). The only thing lacking was apple cider donuts...

Last Child in the Woods

That's the name of a book by Richard Louw, subtitled, "Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder." The book "bring[s] together a new and growing body of research indicating that direct exposure to nature is essential for healthy childhood development and for the physical and emotional health of children and adults. More than just raising an alarm, Louv offers practical solutions and simple ways to heal the broken bond—and many are right in our own backyard."

I haven't yet read it, but I want to do so. As a lifelong city kid, I really felt this deficit last week, when my mom and sister were visiting. We spent three days staying in a cabin owned by my boss on the Olympic Penninsula here in Washington state that is surrounded by woods.

I went to day camp once as a child, when I was six. I had such a bad allergic reaction to the pollens in the woods that my eyes swelled shut--and my mother never sent me to camp again. As an adult, I've gone camping a few times, but always in campgrounds that had indoor restrooms and showers--no real roughing it. So my knowledge of nature is limited.

I really felt that lack as we walked through the woods around my boss' cabin with my daughter. Curious child that she is, she wanted to look at and touch everything, and I often stopped her. I was afraid of things such as dangerous insects, poisonous berries (since she often puts such things in her mouth), and poison ivy. My problem is, I don't know how to recognize what is safe and what is dangerous in nature, and what to do if I encounter such things. My logical response then, is to overprotect my daughter.

I'd like her to be more free to explore and experience nature, but it will take a lot more knowledge on my part (or that of someone else who can teach her).