DRYAD — The next time Holly Lansidel wants a salad, she can just head for the woods.
The Yelm 10-year-old was surprised to learn Saturday during a slew of nature activities at Rainbow Falls State Park that some of the plants she can find in local woods are edible — although a bit of greenery known as “Indian candy” didn’t taste particularly sweet to her.
“It tasted like lettuce,” she said.
She and her brother Tommy, 8, were two of the many people who took part in a day-long set of activities known as the “River of Words in the Park.” The event focused on the work of John Muir, the Scottish-born naturalist who started the Sierra Club and successfully campaigned for creation of Yosemite National Park.
Paid for with a grant called “No Child Left Inside,” the River of Words program continues next weekend at Millersylvania State Park near Maytown with an homage to nature photographer Ansel Adams.
Campers and park visitors documented their experiences in full color, creating field guides with pictures of frogs, leaves and their impressions of the Chehalis River and the famous falls that give the park its name.
One of their guides for the day, park aide Wayne Fuiten, gave the Lansidels and other visitors a quick guided tour, touching on the highlights of the hundreds of species and millions of years of geologic activity around them.
The eponymous Rainbow Falls at the park were created 17 million years ago by a lava flow that originated in northeast Oregon and flowed out as far as Aberdeen, Fuiten said.
That lava covered sandstone created even further back in time, when the area now known as West Lewis County was underwater.
“Fifty million years ago, this land was under the ocean,” said Fuiten, explaining ancient history in a park that itself was covered with water during the December 2007 flood. “It was a subtropical inland sea, for all practical purposes.”
How to Expand Your Awareness of Nature
By The Chronicle
As any animal knows, it pays to be aware of your surroundings. Modern humans who spend much of their day looking at rectangular screens can expand their awareness through some simple techniques, according to Julie Tennis, an environmental education specialist with the Washington State Parks Commission. She taught these methods Saturday at Rainbow Falls State Park. The methods come from the Wilderness Awareness School in Duvall.
DEER EARS — To expand auditory senses
You hear a lot more than you realize, but you filter most of it out.
Try to pay attention and listen to everything 500 feet away from you, then a thousand feet.
How far away can you hear something? How close?
A game called Fire Keeper enhances the skill of listening. Get a group together in a circle. One person in the center is blindfolded and has a set of car keys in front of them.
People from the circle try to sneak into the center to steal the keys, while the blindfolded person listens and tries to catch them in the act.
OWL EYES — To expand visual perception
You are able to see much more out of your eyes, particularly your peripheral vision, than you might realize. To see just how far the “corner of your eyes” extends, try this exercise.
Relax your eyes, staring out into space. Put your hands in front of you, arms outstretched, wiggling your fingers. Move your hands outward, continuing to wiggle. See how far you can expand your outstretched arms and still see a sense of movement from your fingers.
RACCOON TOUCH — To expand sense of touch
Your skin is able to sense much more than you normally pay attention to — you can feel your clothes against your body, for instance, and the ground beneath your feet.
To concentrate on your sense of touch, get in a group together in a circle and have everyone pick up a similar rock. Spend one minute feeling your rock. Everyone pass the rocks behind from hand to hand, and try to pick out your rock.
Final River of Words in the Park Event Coming to Millersylvania
Ansel Adams Family Day at Millersylvania State Park will offer a look at the life and photography of Ansel Adams while exploring the park with a ranger.
Date: Saturday, June 27
Time: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Where: Picnic Shelter 3
For park directions, pre-registration for groups larger than six, or more information on the River of Words in the Park program, contact Kathy Jacobson at Educational Service District 113, (360) 464-6722.
Brian Mittge: (360) 807-8234
