from 4/24, Wednesday Ecology Club

Amphibians… that was the mantra.

I just passed the first level of the Kamana Naturalist Training Program. Though not too difficult, there was a bit of introductory work to do. And the first steps in any journey are often the hardest… momentum is difficult to create.

Along with my completion certificate came a hand-written note from the program director. She reminded me that the spring brings life, vitality, and energy. She wrote, “In spring, the blood pumps in your body like rivers.” No kidding… we had less snow this year so the rivers are already pumping our tremendous volumes of water. And the spring rains, although recently, short bursts, flood the creeks and saturate the rivers.

She also wrote that this is the time for amphibians. On the heels of the amphibian class I took earlier in the month, this seemed poignant. I decided that we would go amphibian searching during Ecology Club in the pond behind the school. We tested the water quality in terms of pH and temperature… now let’s see what life is there!

 It didn’t take long. We found egg attached to the bottom of rocks. We found frog tadpoles, we found salamander larva (tadpoles with fuzzy “gills” and arms too). We found SIX FROGS too! Though they were brown and green, they were almost certainly all Pacific Chorus Frogs (Pseudacris regilla ).

It was awesome and the boys wanted to go for another round of exploration and dip nets after we took a break. Who am I to say no?!

At the end, one boy told me that he was happy that the girls left because he wouldn’t have done this work (exploration, horsing around, getting wet and dirty, and discovering if the ladies had stayed. When I asked him why, he told me that he likes one of the girls. Ahh…. To be an eighth grader again! Tomorrow, I may tell him that she may even like him more if he shows that he is into doing this work!

Another boy said, “I didn’t think Ecology Club would be this fun. I’m glad I’m here” I’m glad too!

A high school boy also joined us. He does some after-school mentoring and teaching, so it was great that he joined us. I got to mentor him in Stinging Nettle uses and the amphibian stuff while he mentored and was a good role-model for the junior high boys too. Multi-level male mentorship… jeez it’s powerful stuff. I'm thankful for the power of the masculine. But I am especially thankful to the amphibians for making this learning and growing possible. Like you metamorphose from eggs to water to air-breathers, we grow too from babies to boys to men. Thank for for the example!