Finding Their Way at Cranberry Lake

The question which lingered on my mind during our walk today was, "what do kids really need?" I was thinking not in terms of their general care, but in terms of their play. I am amazed by the way children are targeted by marketing efforts and by the sheer volume of products that exist in order to entertain, many of which are linked in some way to electronic media. A large number of mainstream toys seem to do the playing for the kids, thus leaving no space for simple make-believe, imaginative exploration, learning about cause and effect relationships, healthy risk taking, or cooperating with others. Numerous playthings are directly connected to some television or movie character thus scripting the kids' play to remain within the realm of a particular character's story line. And oftentimes, a toy or even a play structure in a playground, serves one purpose only--is to be played with or on in a predetermined way--again leaving no room for kids' to create the play on their own terms.

So, while not in so many words, this was what was on my mind during our Cranberry Lake hike. Because the kids were completely engaged. Sans bells and whistles, plastic or plugs. With sticks and maps and a sense of courageous adventure, they headed out on the trail, pushing ahead of the adults the entire time.

A man-made cave was encountered. They went about exploring the cave, tentatively at first, watching to see who would be the brave one to cross the threshold and then following her in. They wondered why it was there, the ground strewn with fresh straw. Whose home was it? Bears maybe? Or snakes? There was an opening in the back and they quickly discovered the clever escape hatch, hoisting themselves through while others boosted from within.

Around a bend stood a woodland waterfall; a brook cascading down a hill. Rock bridges to cross, moss to examine, slippery slopes to navigate successfully and unsuccessfully. One of them landed in a pool of cold brook water, socks soaked, morale temporarily doused. She chose the stepping stone decorated with an icy sheen. Empathic parents offered fresh socks. Mama hugged the wet, grumpy girl. Swapped damp mittens for dry ones.

They watched us, the semi-floundering adults, as we struggled to read the trail map, searching for corresponding blazes. They poured over their own maps, looked around at the terrain and proclaimed that we were indeed on the blue trail, and confidently led the way.

And they wasted not a moment upon reaching the quarry site, scrambling up the rock outcroppings of an old quarry wall. Here the parents swung into action, spotting kids as they climbed, giving them room to find their footing on their own, to figure out the safe, secure path to the top. Dads positioned themselves strategically, lowering kids down the wall's backside, where they could amble back down safely only to run around and climb it again.

Make-believe, imaginative exploration, cause and effect relationships, healthy risk taking, and cooperating with others. It's all happening on the trail.

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Not to be overlooked was our very special visit to Hilltop Hanover Farm in Yorktown today. What a wonderful place. An organization called Something Good in the World has its Children's Environmental Education Center in residence at the Farm and offers a multitude of enriching, quality experiences for children and families. Today we joined them for their Sounds Good program for an Irish music and dance celebration. Everyone enjoyed the great music and the beautiful farm grounds. It was great meeting new Kids Unplugged supporters at the event this afternoon!







Note: The fantastic rock climbing title shot was provided by Emilia Monteforte. I said at the end of the hike that I was sure someone got a great shot at the quarry, and that's it! Thanks, Emilia.

Wacky Wednesday Woodfrogs

This time the alliterative title really could not be avoided. Really.





We went to the Greenburgh Nature Center this past week for a great, after school romp. One of the things I've realized since starting this group is just how much kids like to climb and slide and find little cozy spots to climb into and make themselves at home.

Have you ever noticed how much rock there is in Westchester? Huge, glacial boulder configurations loom large in the woods; surfaces of others appear in fields and on hillsides. And the kids flock just naturally flock to them. Climbing up, sliding down, finding the hidey-holes and shelves in between and carved into the boulders. Holding reign on the ones with the flattest tops.

Fallen trees, log piles, and just about any body of water (even a puddle will do) are other favorite attractions. Balancing, scrambling, splashing, and squishing. The trail to Woodfrog Pond at Greenburgh Nature Center offered all of these diversions on Wednesday, with the added bonus of quacking woodfrogs splishing about on the cusp of the vernal equinox.

Mmmm. Spring.


Note: Today's beautiful title shot is by Anik McGrory. The reflections are very cool.

The Off-Season

Past Kiddyland, the Gondola Wheel, and the Dragon Coaster lies a peaceful retreat on the Long Island Sound. Rye Playland, with its lights and flash and candy-coated vice is the big draw at the end of Playland Parkway, but in the quiet of a warm, early March Saturday, as the maintenance guys scale the heights of the wonder wheel to be sure it's in sound working order, you can drive through the parking lot past all the big attractions. And there, at the very end, lies the Edith Read Sanctuary.

Read Sanctuary is a 179-acre county park and is recognized by the National Audubon Society as an important bird area by virtue of its location along a major migratory flyway. There is a small nature center with a well-stocked bird watching area replete with pairs of binos and lots of field guides right in front of a large window overlooking the feeder area. Behind the center is a short (3 miles) network of trails which travel through woods and along the sanctuary's 85-acre pond. There is also a 1/2 mile section of shore accessible by a short path across from the nature center.

After I became a parent it occurred to me that the ultimate place for kids to play is on the beach. What could be better? They can splash, pour, dig, build, collect and be wet and filthy until their heart's content. And no grown up would tell them to stop.

We headed first, after a visit to the nature center, out for a hike on the trails. The running joke among the parents was that although we were in an important bird area, we certainly wouldn't be viewing any, as our children's gleeful shrieks might make them feel leery about being spotted by humans.

We walked through the woods and along the pond, but there was a sense of purpose today among the hikers, rather than our usual take-our-time-and-explore vibe. One of the moms even said, "how much longer until we get there?" I had to laugh when she asked that. Because the fact was that everyone was looking forward to the beach.

After collecting the lunches from our cars, we crossed over to the Sound side of the sanctuary and headed to the beach. On the rocky stretch of shore, the mica glittered in the sunshine and the kids were delighted. Everything they picked up became either a treasure to collect or a vessel to launch into the water. We picnicked, strolled, gabbed and admired the beach tchotchkes our kids delivered for our viewing. But most importantly, we started to hang back. And the kids just did their thing. They played. They collected rocks and shells, waded along the shore in their rubber boots, watched things float and sink, and built elaborate sculptures out of shells and stones, seaweed and driftwood. One mom told me that her son had asked her if she had any sand toys and she’d told him, no. “And that was it,” she went on to say, “off he went and I haven’t heard from him since. I didn’t really even bring enough for lunch and they haven’t complained about being hungry.” So this is what’s starting to emerge. Kids aren’t whining. They aren’t begging us to engage them. They’re engaging. On their own and with each other. Creating, imagining, exploring.

When we left, my eldest said, "I really loved that beach. There was so much to do there."

Stones to throw and gather. Sand fleas to unearth from beneath the larger rocks. A horseshoe crab carcass to examine. Castles to build. There was so much to do there.

Richard Louv Friday!

Just a reminder, folks, about this talk at Sarah Lawrence College Friday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. Have I mentioned that I really recommend it?

Details and info. in the Parent Resources section WAY at the bottom of the page.

Good night,
Gina

Marching Toward Spring at Pinecliff

Spring is coming. Spotting this sweet clump of snowdrops peeking through the brown leaves on the woodland floor, I felt a little jolt of joy at the prospect. It's been a long, albeit happily cold, winter and the longer days and signs of returning life tempt thoughts of the warm spring days that are soon to arrive. But before they do arrive in full force, let's take the slow road while watching the season unfold in little bits and spats over the next few weeks.

Wacky Wednesday this afternoon was spent hiking at Pinecliff Sanctuary in Chappaqua. Pinecliff is one of the properties maintained by the Saw Mill River Audubon. It's 7-acres were donated to the New Castle Land Conservancy in 1969 and has been a part of the Audubon since 1975. Pinecliff Sanctuary has 1/4 mile boardwalk which traverses a swamp, passes by a pond, and links up with a couple of short woodland trails which leave and then reconnect the boardwalk at varying points. A gentleman who is a neighbor of the sanctuary greeted us as we arrived with a report about some of the wildlife he'd spotted recently. "We heard the peepers the past few days," he began, "but it's gotten colder again, so you may not hear them today." He went on to tell us that the muskrats had been very active lately and that there were several mallards in the pond. His care and enthusiasm for the Sanctuary were obvious, and during our visit, he was the only other person we saw, later, walking his dog along the boardwalk.

The kids lead the way down the boardwalk where we watched a quad of mallards doing the dating dance on the pond--or at least, that's what it appeared to be. The chirrup of the spring peepers penetrated the woods when we stopped and listened quietly. Bits of purple skunk cabbage could be seen pushing its way up through the mud around the swamp's edge and various types of spongy mosses carpeted the ground around the bases of the trees and along the woodland trails. The active muskrats did not grace us with a visit, but the damp, humus-y smell of the woods following the rain was reward enough.

As a sidebar, my eldest daughter, Stella, wanted me to title this post Wacky Wednesday Lookout because we found a tick attached to my middle one's ear this morning. It occurred to me yesterday afternoon at some point that it was getting to be time to start checking my girls again, but the thought got away. Always trust those parenting instincts. I don't know if i was a deer tick--it was much larger than those teensy, flesh colored creeps that I've tweezed off during the summer, and it was dark brown--though it probably was. In any case, I guess that they're waking up, too.

Sugar House Saturday

Ward Pound Ridge Reservation, all 4,315-acres of it, is Westchester County's largest park. And it is truly enormous.

First off I want to say that the kids are really growing to be terrific hikers. When we got home this afternoon, the girls and I took a piece of mason's line, traced our morning's route on the map and then measured it on scale. We hiked two miles! That may not sound like much, but for a group of kids whose average age is probably somewhere around 5 1/3, it's impressive. Equally impressive is the general absence of whining on our hikes, and though my middle one began to struggle near the end leaving me to schlep her up the hill with the babe on my back, they all did very well for such a long hike.

And we had another great turn out today, which was again a happy surprise given that Ward Pound Ridge is Westchester County's northernmost park. Three cheers for all the families who joined us!

The Reservation (not a Native American reservation, but an area 'reserved' for plants and animals) was named after the pound that the Indians kept on the land for animals. The Indians built an enclosure of saplings and drove the game into the pound. According to NYNJCT botony online, the name Ward comes from the powerful Westchester politician William "Boss" Ward. In 1925, through his foresight, forty-one hundred acres were acquired by the Westchester County Park Commission. He is also credited for creating, with the park commission, an overall plan for recreational ares in Westchester County. So there you have it, Craig!

The reserve hosts 35-miles of hiking trails, some of them self-guided nature walks, a nature museum and a wildflower garden. The varied terrain takes visitors through woodlands and meadows, past streams, caves and Native American petroglyphs, over open fields and through the woods. It is also a habitat for myriad breeding birds and the premier butterfly watching area in NY State. Who knew?

We set out along a portion of the Fox Hill trail that connects to the Brown Trail along the Cross River. Aside from the beautiful landscape and tranquility that comes from hiking along a rushing stream, we encountered MUD. Lots of mud and puddles good for stomping and general sploogery. We paused frequently along the trail to toss sticks and stones into the stream, to explore the thawing beds of ice alongside the stream, and to gape a bit at the remains of a deer in a wooded portion of the trail. The adults had varying theories about the demise of said deer, and earlier tonight I read that folks don't see as many deer in the reservation as they might in their own backyards because of the quantity of predators, namely coyote and bobcat, making the reservation their home.

I also noticed today how our kids are learning to read trail maps and blazes. They were all really into their maps today, watching for the numbered trail junctions telling us when we needed to change course. Their enthusiasm was good, because I myself am a bit cartographically-challenged. It seems that honing up on my map reading will be a beneficial take-away for me to!

About 3/4 of the way through our hike, a group of us spotted a playground just off the trail, and the kids took a break from the walking to romp and slide and swing and play. They discovered a teepee-like arrangement of branches in the woods, and quickly took up residence on the log stools left inside by the previous owners.

Just outside of the Trailside Nature Museum, where we congregated for the morning's hike, there is an ampitheater of sorts made up of log benches. After the hike our group sat together to eat a picnic lunch, revel in joy of the warm, warm weather, and listen to a story about making maple syrup. Just off to the side stood the reservation's sugar house, where the sap that we saw being collected from maples at the beginning of our hike was boiling away to be turned into syrup. We learned that it takes nearly 40-gallons of sap to produce only a single gallon of syrup. We also learned through a taste test given to us by one of the reserve's naturalists, that we prefer real maple sugar to the Aunt Jemima, non-food sort!

And so, our long morning ended with sweetness on our palates and a hankering for the next hike.

Wacky Wednesday Sleigh Ride

Our Wacky Wednesday Walk yesterday was along the Pocantico River Trail in Rockefeller State Park. The trail follows the Pocantico River through woods and meadows though we didn't make it much past the first bridge. I love this walk. It was the location of the first Kids Unplugged hike back in January, and I thought we'd return this week. When I planned the walk, I hadn't planned on Monday's snow, but I knew there were a couple of decent hills along the trail so I figured sleds were in order.

We started along the trail and stopped, where the kids always want to stop, on a nice sized, little beach-like bank along the river. Just beside the bank is a small, short hill. The kids hit the slope, sleds in hand, with the enthusiasm of Shaun White at Laax. We didn't go any further to the hills I'd had in mind. The little slope kept them happy for an hour!

As the grown-ups began to feel their toes getting frozen, we encouraged the kids to hike a bit around the loop and over the big stone bridge back toward the trailhead. It wasn't warm, but the sun certainly helped and it felt like a welcome reprieve after the chilling weather of preceeding days. And a good run around- slide down a hill-make snow angels-afternoon can warm anyone up!

Note: today's photos (with the exception of the snow angel) are the courtesy of Debbie Allan, Kids Unplugged enthusiast and Mom of two. Thanks, Debbie!