Raccoon Kits help restore Connelly Creek

It is so very cool to see. These Raccoon Kits REALLY look forward to their time together. At our last outing, at Lake Padden, the mentor's planned opening game never happened because the boys were too interested in catching up with each other. This time, it was obvious right from the start as they welcomed fellow explorers with great positive energy, calling out their names as their cars pulled up. They carried that energy into our opening meeting, which addressed the important topics of proper tool use and safety.  The mentors emphasis can be captured in our Explorers Club motto "Safety first", through which the boys are trained to identify and mitigate potential hazards through risk assessments and safety checks. 

Contrary to how these service days usually happen, we were the only group working, promising a quieter afternoon.The task at hand - preparation of the Connelly Creek area for the planting of alder trees by giving the Reed Canary Grass a buzz cut and clipping back or uprooting blackberry bushes. Read more about Reed Canary Grass here - Non-native Invasive Freshwater Plants - Reed Canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea) - Technical Information -  We're doing this service work under the guidance of the Bellingham Parks department and using tools on loan from the Nooksack Salmon Enhancement Association. Our thanks to them for their help. When the alders grow, they'll shade out the canary grass to restore a healthy, salmon-friendly environment. 

This is labor in the truest sense. When you're not leaning over clipping the grass, you're digging at those irascible blackberry roots. At times, there were 3 or 4 explorers wrestling with a particularly ornery root ball. Of course, there can be a sense of accomplishment when the root emerges in your muddy hands. The Raccoon Kits did great work, as the 3 or 4 sacks of blackberry vines and roots can attest. Four hours is a long time to clip and dig, clip and dig, however. Truth be known, there were a few periods of lost focus, and I'm not even counting the dead rat that was the subject of intense attention for several minutes. The distractions ranged from innocent horseplay to lapses of attention to the safety measures we had discussed earlier. We experienced no accidents, fortunately, but in Explorers Club, we strive for a higher standard than "no 911 emergency calls"! As the boys mature, they'll learn skills that require great self-discipline, skills like carving and fire-building. So we talked with the boys once again about "blood circles" and safe tool use. You won't be surprised to hear they responded like the leaders they're working to become. 

At Tim's urging, they renewed their focus - with a vengence. In fact, they did more than that, they meshed their efforts to form an awesome, well-oiled grass cutting, root extracting machine. It was exciting, it was productive, it was fun. Ok, the joke about the "sprinkles" falling from the sky being the kind you find on cupcakes won't find its way into the comedy hall of fame, but it got a laugh from the mentors! Many hands truly do make the work lighter, and more enjoyable.

The boys had worked hard; it was time for play. This day, the play came in the form of a raucous game of squirrel tag. It is truly awe-inspiring to see how hard they can run, how willing they are to dive on the ground to tag the "squirrel", how much energy they can keep in reserve after working for several hours. 

Our closing meeting, as usual, was about giving thanks (and eating apples). What was most inspirational about this outing's meeting was the multiple acknowledgements of fellow explorers amid apple crunches. It's another example of how close these boys are becoming as a group. Then, packs on. It was time to go back to meet the parents. One explorer was thrilled to see his out-of-state grandparents there to greet him. He excitedly showed them is "trophy", a gangly, mud-encrusted blackberry root ball.

Raccoon Kits- Wet and Empowered in Whatcom Falls Park

Mentors woke up on Saturday feeling invigorated to have an outing in the rain. Explorers may have felt the same… or perhaps mild trepidation about spending the majority of the daylight hours in the wet and cold. However different our days started, it’s clear that we left the day feeling empowered by our commitment to stick it out together.

Once again, Nick volunteered as a mentor for the Raccoon Kits; he even rode his bike to meet all of us. Thanks for your dedication to this group and to the Boys Explorers Club, Nick!

Our day started off slowly, under the dryness of shelter, until everyone got used to the temperature. We also realized that the rain was not planning to stop, so we had no choice but to embrace it.

Suddenly, Nick transformed into a deer and Explorers channeled their inner cougar energy. Boys were quick to track that Nick-deer, eventually catching him. Then Greg, a mentor new to the Raccoon Kits this season, caught the deer-energy and Explorers soon tracked him down too. Lastly, Dave became a deer and led the boys up and down a hill behind the shelter. During these three rounds of “Cougar Stalks Deer,” boys learned two important lessons about the wet and cold.

The best way to understand the rain is to get in it: To let the drops fall on us. To embrace the weather and celebrate it outside with friends. To accept the grey clouds that keep our Pacific Northwest environment so green and full of life.

Lesson number two is that being active is one way of building up personal heat so that we can prolong our time out-of-walls. And more simply put, it’s fun playing stalking and chasing games regardless of the weather… so let’s play outside all year long!

We trekked deeper into forest and up a hill to a place where Explorers learned the basics of another favorite EC game called, “Spider’s Web.” We explained the rules of the game and began to play with Dave as spider and everyone else as flies. But, one-after-one, boys dropped like flies in a different way. This is when lesson three emerged: Cold. Many of us were soaked through. Our fingers were icicles. It was difficult to play because the elements finally demanded our attention and respect.

Some responded by eating a snack and drinking water. Others drank some hot honey water that mentors brought. And a handful of Explorers were interested in just holding the warm mug. One way to respond in cold weather is to refuel our bodies- they need a lot of energy to keep us warm. We took turns wringing out gloves and hats. Nick taught us the “shakeout” game to get blood moving to our extremities.

Then we hit the trail, knowing that actively hiking would warm us up. Greg led us to a good place for a Sit Spot. In staying quiet and not moving, the sit spot is a very important nature connection practice because we get more used to the flow of life around us… and the natural world gets used to our being there. We can listen to the birds’ teachings as they vie for territory or notice cool fungi growing in hidden crevices in symbiotic relationship with the surrounding trees. The sit spot is a practice we’ll revisit many times in our Explorers Club careers!

We finally reached the shelter and wrang out our clothes. We had closing meeting and ate our snacks. A couple of Explorers found that they were colder in the shelter because in de-layering, they released their body heat. Let’s remember to wring out our wet stuff but to find a balance of maintaining our heat too.

Be proud of your efforts, Raccoon Kits—you got the real story of what Explorers Club is about. This outing was a great foundation for nature connection! From the Sit Spot to Spider’s Web, you now join a legacy of Whatcom county boys who practice nature-connection and play fun forest games. And your ability to be out in the cold rainy autumn weather is a testament to your inner-strength. We mentors were inspired by your efforts and truly look forward to future explorations together!

Parents, thanks for your support of these Raccoon Kits and the BEC community. Please have a look at the photo gallery, but recognize that the pictures are mostly blurred because of the dark and wet :). See you next weekend!