Wander & Root Nature School

I just felt a breeze inside my boot, squeezing in through a slash along the side.

These boots are only 8 months old and it’s time for a new pair. Not because they’re low quality (they’re great)… but because I beat the absolute heck out of them every day. I’m out here setting up for school, teary eyed over it being the last week of the school year, planning summer camps in my mind, with 4,500 steps already logged in my iPhone. What a gift it is to move, be in community, and give children joy every day. I am thankful, delighted, dirty and ready for the day. In a world of desks, and internet, and screens, and incessant information onslaught… what a gift to wear out shoes. Highly recommend it.

Y’all. I’ve been delighting so hard during these beautiful spring days, that I forgot I write daily delight posts. 😆

One overarching DELIGHT 📢 that I’m delighting in lately is seeing children understand, at a young age, far more than most adults would give them credit for. They might not grasp every detail, but exposure to big, real ideas matters. Intellectual spaces and rich, complex conversations belong to them, too. I don’t care if a kid is 4 or 12… I encourage them to wrestle with ideas long before they can explain it. I never throw away a question or idea because they aren’t yet ready to fully “master” it. That’s just not the point here.

Case in point. A few weeks back, one of my students presented on his aunt’s very important job of stream restoration and ecological/systems engineering. Kids had a bunch of questions about her job. What she might be doing in a day. How do you help a river? And… the lightbulb questions that I overheard and grabbed on to… Do we need her here? Is our creek okay?

Time for big, actual work akin to that of real scientists, because they ARE real scientists.

Turbidity testing. Calculations of how much “stuff” is floating in the water using a rubric, followed by measuring the depth at which our targets disappeared. How does erosion affect these results? How does the drought play into this? Are our creek banks prepared for fast moving water and runoff?

pH testing, of our creek and a whole variety of liquids. What is it? What do the numbers mean? What does that have to do with our creek? What does this motivate to keep OUT of our creek?

Water quality testing. Ecosystem design. Testing creek water verses creek water runoff verses “raw pollution” verses polluted runoff. What do all these colors on the strip mean? Why should we care????

Real work and real science for real people who deserve big words and big questions and big inspirations. 💡

Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy. I choose joy over despair. Not because I have my head in the sand, but because joy is what the earth gives me daily and I must return the gift. -Robin Wall Kimmerer

I’m on an adventure today, with my babies and my husband. Reading my book by the shore while they fish. Thinking on my motherhood. I write a lot of love notes on nature and childhood and education. But really, the whole point of this is to design a life alongside my partner that brings joy to our worlds so that our children see a path forward that fills their (and others) hearts with joy. One that appreciates and loves and gives back.

When the world screams at them TAKE, BE THE BEST, BUY MORE, BUILD BIGGER, COMPETE, LOOK THE BEST, DRIVE THE BEST, GET THOSE SCORES, HUSTLE BABY HUSTLE… I sure hope they remember the whispers of me and their daddy. To find strength and joy and meaning in their day, in their work, in their relationships. To hustle for a purpose greater than earning to consume. To love each other well with time and attention, the greatest currencies. And to remember that the real world is amongst humans and trees and water and birds.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the women in my life. This day is loaded. We are all doing our best. Even a wounded world can hold us. ❤️🌸🪻☀️

Until Thursday, I’d only seen little tiny worm snakes. To my happy, giddy DELIGHT 📣, the last 36 hours have gifted me three interactions with huge 🐍 beauties.

First, the chonky, chill black rat snake I posted about Thursday and laid with in the grass.

Then, the biggest red cornsnake I’ve ever seen, non-venomous, also chill, happy to have me pull him out of the road.

Then, this northern watersnake, non-venomous, absolutely NOT chill. Ms. Erin and I used a combo of a snake hook and a bucket to take her out of our play area because we know these tend to be super spicy. She never struck at us and seemed mostly unbothered by our presence… but I’ve met her kind before, and I know her deal. 😅

To be clear… snakes are not “mean” and “nice.” They’re adapted to their environment and their temperaments reflect their survival strategies. Rat snakes and corn snakes both avoid conflict.. they hide, climb, escape quietly into the grassy meadows and lurky hidden areas that they love.

Water snakes enjoy tougher spots… sunlit, bare creek banks. Skimming across the water’s surface. Basking on rocks. All these places are glaringly obvious to birds, raccoons, and other grabby predators. Their strategy (rightfully so) needs to be to make themselves a PROBLEM… IMMEDIATELY. I’ve never been bitten, but I’ve learned my lesson multiple times getting too close and they’ve given me a quick strikey vibe check.

If snakes could talk, I imagine a rat says “where is the exit?” A corn says “uh oh please don’t get closer.” A water snake says “🖕off. I don’t have venom that hurts you but I sure am going to act like I do.”

Hope that helps or gives a giggle. Happy herping.

Our Natural Leaders Clubs students took the lead this week with a project that stretched all of them... they chose a personal hero, designed a project that celebrates and teaches about them and their mission, and shared it in front of our class.

Public speaking is consistently reported as the #1 anxiety inducing fear amongst adults… more than spiders, snakes, and heights. This project wasn’t about NOT being afraid (many were); instead, it was about doing it anyway, in the presence of people who support and love them. At its core, a fear of public speaking is rooted in fear of judgment, fear of making a mistake, fear of getting a negative evaluation. All of those fears are valid.

AND… exposure softens those fears.

Losing your words midway, then locking eyes with a supportive face reminds you that you’ve got this. Noticing your hands are shaking a bit, then picking up a prop gives you practice regulating your body. Finishing your speech and immediately having your buddies stand up and surround you with applause and silly faces rewires the brain a bit. Replaces some of the anticipatory anxiety with a memory of friendship.

These young people spoke off the cuff about someone interesting to them, navigated unpredictable questions from their classmates, and shared their excitement for something IMPORTANT.

I’m so proud of them I can’t find the words… and not just because they stood up there and spoke. I’m just so indescribably amazed at who they are as people and who I know they’ll be one day.

I delight in THEM. These are the good ol’ days. I know it. ❤️

It’s rare that I get to see any photos of me doing my thing.

When I do get to see me doing my thing, I usually look like a total weirdo. 🤪I think that’s a good thing and hope it encourages the kids in my orbit to learn to love the weird parts of themselves, too. 🎶I am enough. You are enough.🎶

Thankful to Ms. Erin and a sweet school mama for texting me these moments of me “delighting” today. Kids and snakes and rain dumping on my head all day. Living the weirdo’s dream. 🥰😆👏