hunting, tracking, and history

Welcome! Yesterday was our first time in the Barrington Headwaters (or Temposiland). We started out with a scavenger hunt to familarize ourselves with the site. There was so much to see and the more I looked the more questions I had. We saw abandoned homesteads, multiple-trunked trees, frogs the size of my thumbnail, wild flowers, a beaver dam, . . . I could go on for pages. While I was out there, sweating and getting bitten by mosquitos, I couldn't help thinking, this is so much better than working.
Today we met with Dan Gardoqi, the Director of the White Pine Program in Cape Neddick, ME. He led us through the Temposi looking for animal signs and tracks. There were a lot of things that were right in front of me that I totally missed yesterday. I walked right over coyote scat and moose tracks. I learnt what a sassafras tree looks like and how to spot squirrel bites on a tree.
After lunch Rick did his reading facilitation on Wessels, Reading the Forested Landscape. For part of it we went into the woods and sat for 5 minutes with our eyes closed. I can see how with a group of kids this would relax them immediately. I enjoyed listening to the wind move through the tree canopy. It was nice to sit and look after walking around so much.
Next we went to Warren farm where Randy Warren told us the history of the area. It turned into more when he started talking about his experiences as a farmer. It made me want to go to farms more often to buy produce. It also got me thinking about the label "organic". Sometimes it is not what you think and what is more important is actually knowing your farmer and his beliefs.