October 14, 2023
On a misty new moon that coincided with a solar eclipse, we embraced our first day together.
We arrived by playing mushroom tag, observing tanned hides and working with our hands to make iris cordage until the time for us to have our morning circle.
Read MoreDecember 9th 2023
What a wild and wet day we had this time! And maybe especially because of the rain, the day was indeed an honoring and celebration of fire and the gifts fire shares with us. The colder temperatures and rain made us appreciate the gifts of fire even more than usual.
Read MoreNovember 11, 2023
The winds were blowing strong, as we traveled down, down, down, to the beach. The big leaf maples near the road scattered bright yellow leaves, actively falling down and blanketing below. The beach is a wonderful mentor, calling each into activities that inspire.
Read MoreOctober 13, 2023
Coming together in a scotch broom clearing prepared last year by many in our group we were greeted by Boletes, Puffballs, and many more mushrooms as well as a lovely Yew.
Three groups set off to wander throughout Camp Sealth, our 400 acre home!
Read MoreOctober 14, 2023
The forests and meadow edges of our island are showing us mushrooms everywhere this season. Children have a special affinity with these plant friends that is a joy to be around!
We heard a story this month about a young girl named Keiko whose grandmother is Japanese. Oba-san loves to come from Japan to visit Keiko in her home near the Salish Sea during the Fall rains when mushrooms grow.
Read MoreOctober 14, 2023
On a misty new moon that coincided with a solar eclipse, we embraced our first day together.
We arrived by playing mushroom tag, observing tanned hides and working with our hands to make iris cordage until the time for us to have our morning circle.
Read MoreOctober 6, 2023
We shared another bright and sunny day together. hawadubš (thank you in Lushootseed) for those helped us carry wood for the many fires to come!
We gathered in our morning circle and heard a silly story about the bəlups (racoon) who inspired one of our mentors to get creative with one precious tomato she grew to court the bəlups out and away from the chickens she tends.
Read MoreSeptember 29, 2023
Blue skies, crisp cool air, and sunshine greeted us all last Friday as we gathered the wind for the second time this program year. At our home base, Toads Crossy Roads, we heard a story about Skywoman and the birth of Turtle Island in a story from oral tradition, reimagined by Robin Wall Kimmerer of the Potowatomi Tribe.
Read MoreSeptember 29, 2023
As the full moon worked their magic on the waters and land of this island, we dropped deeper into the land and our relationships with each other. One of our hopes for the children is that they might feel a sense of belonging, of home, amongst Hemlock, Song Sparrow, and our other wild kin. As a group we spent a large part of our day place-making - setting up our tarp to keep us dry through the winter, tending our hearth where fire will warm us, and harvesting hemlock and bracken fern so that even on the wettest of days we might call in fire.
Read MoreSeptember 22, 2023
We shared such a sweet and sunny first day together on the autumn equinox!
During morning circle, we greeted the land in the Twulshootseed language that has been interwoven in the land/Vashon since time immemorial by saying "hello taču!" (Sounds like: touch-oh). VWP staff learned this phrase from David Turnipseed, a Puyallup tribal member and teacher for the Puyallup Tribal Language program.
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