{life with a curious and crazy 12 yr old}
When we start going for Fall woods walks, Duende dresses like Ronja or Swiss Family Robinson – she’s a fan of both, see – she’s got her knife at the ready to save any tied up rabbits or trim mushrooms, or carve a spoon, and a basket for acorns, leaves, birch paper, snacks, or random ephemera. If we go far enough she can visit the old car in the woods, the quartz ledge, or hone mica from the rocks on Monkey Lane. Many quizzes and conversations happen in the woods about tree identification, birdsong, fungi foraging, and humus soil. The other day she got to see some deer in her path, it was then she understood the delicacy of quietness in the woods (if she ever wanted to see them again). We found coral, ghostpipe, and lobster mushrooms (many amanita – don’t eatya!), mosses and lichens, and patches of lovely down rattlesnake plantain (a woods orchid), and we hunt for galls (ever since we used to go to the Insect festival and she made ink from oak galls, she searches).
And then we went to the treasureland of the Swap Shack and found new (old) bikes! We have a fantasy of rolling down the bike path and Water St of Gardiner (maybe delivering bread?) in our fancy old bikes – so she’s working on bringing hers back to its glory. Many days of caring for fruit trees, snuggling with the pup (and cat), noticing the seasonal changes are happening and are to come – Happy Fall!
Rock Bottom Homestead 