We spent last week at Mono Hot Springs.  A cozy valley of granite, meadows and Jeffery Pines nestled under the Mono Divide.  The bulk of our time was spent without camera, exploring the hot springs, building new pools, practicing our casting, frolicking with the minnows in the Lake, laying on our backs watching bats at twilight and generally getting our vacation on.  However, Seth and I were not without agenda and the trip proved to be a Boy’s Almanac Bonanza.

Ryder was thoughtful enough to bring along rope and some knot tying books.  Seth wasted no time in utilizing rope and a willing adult to transform the little grove of cedars in our campsite into a full-fledged scout craft play space.  He directed the placement of rope which created a series of rooms that were used for numerous games over the week.  Rather than try to teach Seth specific knots, we had agreed to let him play with the rope to get a feel for how it worked.  As it happens Seth has a natural affinity for ropes and knot tying.  His knots were carefully crafted and held up fairly well.

Seth designed himself a sort of beginning ropes course.  He spent a great deal of time suspended in mid air practicing his balance and pontificating on rope safety, campsite etiquette and numerous other apropos topics.

Although Seth spent a great deal of afternoon time on the high wire, his morning routine consisted of sleeping in, lounging by the fire and sipping hot milk.  Eventually he would get a bee in his bonnet to do some “hard work”.  He would make a big deal of looking for his safety goggles, and lay his tools out for inspection.  He had three tools that he could use with adult supervision:  a rock hammer, a hatchet and a folding saw.  The rock hammer is much more interesting on vacations where there are only rocks (like Death Valley), so it got little use.  The hatchet was used, but revered.  Seth spent more time carefully removing and replacing the sheath than actually chopping wood.  The folding saw turned out to be the tool of the trip.  He narrated the process every time he operated the safety catch, and announced all distances between the blade and his extremities with the utmost scrutiny, “Oops, my knee is too close…better get my hand farther out”.  The external dialog was adorable, and the mounting pile of sawdust under the log was admirable.  I guess it’s good to find the right tool for a little boy on a camping trip so he can feel useful and make a more solid contribution than just hammering in tent stakes and kicking up dust.

Vacation is a perfect time to get in some good reading.  Last week we started two new books.  The first was The Great Brain, by John D. Fitzgerald.  This proved to be a good man distraction for Seth when his own testosterone was just too much for him to manage.  It also offered mommy a glimpse into the inner workings of the boy brain.  I am often at a loss when it comes to understanding boy logic, but The Great Brain offered me insight couched in fiction, which always holds my attention much better than real child psychology literature.

The second book we read from was The Long Ago Lake by Marne Wilkinson.  In her memoirs she talks about the idea of really “seeing”, following the Native American ways of tracking, identifying scat, and observing what events have taken place in the forest, meadow or lake surrounding you.  Just after we read this insight and put the book down to start our day, a blue jay dropping landed on my hand.  Needless to say, we were thrilled.  We examined it closely and saw bits of seeds and plant matter. Later in the morning we were practicing our granite climbing, terrain surveying, and nest building when we happened upon the remains of a recently deceased bird.  This offered us a good chance to speculate on the creature’s demise.  We thought about all the animals that could have eaten the bird for breakfast and settled on “the bear”.  Even though Seth seems to know what bears eat, his imagination gave this bear a special dispensation to eat flying creatures – who am I to contest the myth of the mighty bear!

Our last day there we visited Edison Lake.  I wanted to take the ferry across the lake so we could see some back country scenery and take a boat ride.  Seth nestled himself in next to a PCT hiker at the front of the boat and enjoyed the show.  After we dropped off the hikers and picked some up on the other side we got a special treat.  The boat driver and owner of the Vermilion Valley Resort (Jim) took us for a guided tour of the lake.  We saw the beach where the bears like to congregate, we learned about the Mono Indians, but best of all he showed us each of the Osprey nests on the lake.

We were mildly disappointed not to see the majestic birds in or around the nests.  However, after the boat ride we walked out on a jetty of sand to admire the lake, eat lunch and build a sand castle.  We were surprised to hear “kreeing” above us and looked up to see two Ospreys circling us and chatting back and forth to one another.  Presumably they were considering picking off Mango our 20 lb dog-let.  We hastily put her on a leash and made her nestle in next to us.  This did not deter the birds, they spent a long time strategizing and making their intent known.  If you ask me, it was the perfect event to end our trip.  Birds of prey are fascinating with their higher intelligence and individuality.  It felt exciting that they were paying attention to us, and humbling at the same time.

A good camping trip “keeps it real” for everyone.  It clears our mind of the daily grind and let’s us enjoy our children in the most natural of settings.  Camping forces us to hone our outdoor survival skills.  We get to leverage our ingenuity and we think more carefully about each decision we make.  Immersing children in nature excellerates learning and absorption.  Don’t hesitate to get your kids outside this summer and enjoy nature in “in the flesh”.

ADDENDUM

I forgot to mention that in The Long Ago Lake, Marne Wilkinson includes sweet illustrations of baskets, knots and other outdoor crafts.  She suggests making reed mats for the camping table.  I got inspired and harvested a few of the numerous cat tails and set to work making “reed mats”.  The kids loved them, and they float!

One of my favorite lessons as parent is that a child’s unbridled curiosity is happier than the child on your agenda; early on I learned to kiss the schedule goodbye in his wake. So a fishing trip, no matter how hopeful, is just a trip to the water with poles and tacklebox in the background. The scene’s wide open, this way.

We took the whole family out again down at Moss Landing. Seti at the helm was restless and he bailed around sunset onto an island in the middle of nowhere on the scent of some crab.

Beached flats of dried, matted thalassia makes excellent cover for young crabs (and, as it happens, super-soft emergency toilet paper! Ask Chas).

While Damon and Ford paddled on, Chas and Seti and I lingered on the island.

The breeze, the clicking symphony of crustaceans, the ducks and gulls, the passenger train in the distance heading to Oakland full of waving children, and Chas, singing his own song: that’s a priceless soundtrack for an evening of marsh-walking atop crunchy saltgrass in the sunset.

Sure, we took that handmade net with us fishing last weekend in Elkhorn Slough, just in case we needed it. I took an obligatory photo of it, in fact, just to show that I’d remembered to bring it. But we never got a bite. Turns out, according to the locals, the best fishing here is done during the wee hours, when it’s all black and glassy out on the water.

In preparation for all that fun (night fishing?! Leopard sharks?! Bat rays?! Hello summer!) Ford practiced casting for a few hours and lo, the boy can cast a line. He’s amazing.
And look what another year has given us? A “new” paddler at the helm!

Hope the fishing has been good for you, too!

The spring chapters of the American Boy’s Handy Book consisted of kite pattern after kite pattern.  Naturally I thought we we would make at least one, the very simple diamond shape one, I mean how hard could it be?  Well with a busy four year old it turned out to be impossible.  Every time I asked Seth if he wanted to make a kite he said no.  Every time I suggested we get a kite he said no.  I had almost resigned myself to a flightless spring, when I decided to force the issue.  I am normally a very “good” parent.  I let projects take their natural course, I allow Seth to self direct, and I almost never voluntarily go into a toy store!  All that changed when the check from the IRS came in the mail.   I dragged Seth to the bank, waving the carrot of a lolly pop,and a visit to the local toy store.  I forsook all my parenting vows, and crossed the threshold of Adventure Toys of my own volition.

My dread melted as soon as we discovered cousins Francis and Rosie inside buying a present for cousin Elliot.  Although Seth was not that interested, Francis was really encouraging about kites and kite flying.  He helped enormously with the selection process, which was actually quite short once we discovered that they sold dragon kites.  It was a wrap.  I got my kite, and Seth got  coveted fire equipment.  The two cousins retired to the Thomas section to blow off some steam and escape the hunt for just the right birthday present, and dragon kite mommy with an agenda.

Making a special trip somewhere to fly the kite was not happening.  However, when friends threw a barbecue at Fort Mason in San Francisco there was nothing to do but fly a kite!  It was astounding how into it Seth was when he could feel the wind tugging on the line.  His enthusiasm was boundless, a testament to experiential learning.

Perhaps next spring Seth will be more interested in making his own kite, but for now our purchased dragon kite lives in the boot of the car ready for action at any windy moment.