Starfish Hands

In his section on the preservation of marine animals, Daniel beard suggests securing a starfish to a board and leaving it in the open air till it dies.  The result of this would be a dried starfish that is perfectly flat.  I am fairly certain that Seth would be mortified by this procedure and vehemently object.  Here’s why…

It all started a few years ago at the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve.  One sunny winter day Seth and I arrived early and enjoyed a morning of rich tidepooling.  While waiting for Chas and Ford to show up for lunch, Seth was idly fiddling in the sand.  Suddenly, he thrust out his sandy palms with his fingers spread wide and said, “look mommy, starfish hands!”  I was floored.  What a connection!

Based on nature and nurture you can kind of predict what your kids will or won’t be interested in.  However, most of the time they surprise you, and it’s one of the great joys of parenting.  Never in a million years would I have pinned Seth for a starfish guy.  Marine biology yes, but starfish evangelist – now that’s cool!

Starfish Steward

“Mother Earth met us at the picnic spot with her spindle, wool and a crunchy rendition of Peter Rabbit that involved lots of lovely audience participation. At the end she asked all the children to line up in front of her and she would tell them what they are in charge of taking care of on the earth for the coming year. You stayed behind and listened from my lap. The first girl in line was asked if she liked the beach. She said, “yes”. So she was appointed to take care of the waves. You turned to me and said in a very solemn voice that you were going to take care of the starfish. You stood patiently in line, with the most serious look on your face. When it was your turn, Mother Earth tried to pawn the care giving of kitties on you. You were shy but stood your ground. After several attempts by Mother Earth to read your lips you finally looked up and firmly said, “STARFISH”. I was so proud of you. You had the inner resolve to ask a complete stranger to grant you the most obtuse of care taking jobs. Seth Whitman you are now the official Starfish Steward.”

It’s been interesting to watch Seth and his starfish affinity grow.  Even two years after his first starfish discovery he remains a loyal and discriminating starfish fanatic.  On a recent trip to Natural Bridges State Beach Seth and I were standing on the tide pool rocks.  Seth announced in a rather scholarly manner that he was only interested in looking at starfish and crabs in tide pools, and if there were none here then he was going to hang back.  Wow I thought, such a definitive stance must mean he is serious about his science.  Of course I thought that because being scientific is a very adult way to go about discerning nature.  Apparently I was not really listening.

Natural Bridges Renaissance Day

“At the hands on area Seth kept taking starfish from this girl. I thought he was just throwing his weight around, but I was wrong. When I went over he gave me a long starfish stewarding lecture on how the starfish did not want to be out of water for too long or they would die. Every time I held one, he was anxious to get it back in the water lest it expire ~ snarf!”

The reason Seth has not picked up more scientific knowledge about starfish is because that is simply not his agenda.  Seth has verbally told me over and over again.  He is passionate about preserving starfish!  It’s that simple, he likes them, perhaps finds them interesting or beautiful and does not want them to die.  Passion mommy!  I’m passionate!  How many more times could he whack me over the head with that rolled up newspaper?

I found out last night when I attended a lecture by James Vollbracht that one of the best ways to empower your child is to tap into thier passion.   Vollbracht then presented several success stories of children whose passions manifested as community service.  This was the spark I needed. The time has come for me to take action and find a way for  Seth to get involved in marine preservation!  I need to help Seth put his starfish hands to work for the greater good!  I only came to this realization 24 hours ago, so you will have to wait a bit for the next installment of the starfish adventure.  Perhaps it will be sort of a life long, ever evolving eagle project ~ I guess we’ll see!