The Red-Tailed Eyas and Gray Wolf Pups serve at Connelly Creek

Clipping Himalayan Blackberries in the Willow grove

The Red-Tailed Eyas appeared excited as they arrived at our new Connelly Creek drop-off location. Their excitement was not for the new location itself, but for the clear skies and warmth of the sun as it crested over the foothills of the Padden Creek Watershed. A lone mentor, Steve Keller, greeted the group and reconnected with these long-term Explorers Club participants. 

Our service outing structure provides an excellent opportunity for our mentors to work with groups who they don’t consistently mentor. Although it is important for the Explorers to have consistency in their mentors, it is just as important that they are connected to many examples of what it means to be a healthy male in the world. 

Our mentors would like to the thank parents for their flexibility with our new drop-off and pick-up location. After getting feedback from parents, it sounds like the new location has a much better flow and was not too far out of the way.

Walking the group over to the site the boys asked why they were not dropped off next to creek. The mentors explained that we had moved our drop-off location based on feedback from the neighborhood. We talked a bit about our EC motto collaborate and compromise and how it is important that we as mentors walk our talk as we live our EC Mottos the same as we ask the Explorers to do.

The Long-toed Salamander – Ambystoma macrodactylum

The boys were eager to start working, but it was important that we had an opening meeting to bring focus to our service. The mentors let the group know that the Gray Wolf Pups would soon be joining us and asked the boys to remember last fall when they had worked together at the site. Being slightly older Explorers, it was important that the Red-Tailed Eyas set a good example for the other Explorers.

With the day frontloaded we revisited tool safety and reminded the group that the equipment was borrowed on the contingency that we used them with intention and treated them with respect. By this point in the Red-Tailed Eyas and Gray Wolf Pups EC journey our mentors expect to not have to police the group, but more so make them aware of their responsibility as tool users.

Our goal for the day was to engage with the tangled mess of Blackberry and Willow on the southern edge of our site next to the creek. Getting to work on that part of the site was very exciting for both the RTE and GWP. Their satisfaction came from previous seasons of being asked not to work on that side of the site. Our Explorers are starting to come to the realization through their service experience that being thorough and going slowly is deeply satisfying.

Making progress on the mulch pile

Grabbing their loppers and bow rakes the boys cut a path into the brambles and started to free the stand of Willows along the creek. After their opening meeting the Gray Wolf Pups joined the Red-Tailed Eyas. Their work started off focused and strong with the entire group working in a very condensed area. The group laughed and joked with one another as they clipped and dug. With their hands engaged the boys minds freely wandered in healthy decompression and reflection. Their topics of conversation ranged from who could tell the cheesiest joke, to their thoughts and opinions on certain presidential candidates. A wise mentor once said, “a mentor should only talk twenty percent of the time when they are with their mentees”.  In this case it was powerful just to work along side the boys and track their conversations.

Amassing a large pile of Blackberry canes the mentors noticed our number of workers were dwindling. Upon further investigation the mentors found a portion of the group playing games in the Reed-Canary Grass and others that had stopped for lunch. Part of the intention that we had set for the day was to clip Blackberries until we filled the six remaining bags we had left, then break for lunch, after which we would spread the pile of mulch adjacent to the Willow grove. The mentors reminded the boys of this and gathered them back together.

Playing Deer oh Deer in the field

Filling the last of the bags the group realized that they had cut much more Blackberry than they had room for. It as important to reiterate our EC motto, slow is fast and fast is slow. The consequence of our actions would be that the next group would have to do the unpleasant work of clipping and bagging the debris. Shifting our focus we started to move mulch.

Out of any task that we preform at our site, this is by far the most beloved by our Explorers. Much like with the Blackberries, we started off with a strong push and eventually lost our focus. This ended up being our biggest challenge of the day. Both GWP and RTE powers in this challenge will be to learn how to hold their group focus. It was not that the boys were lazy of did not want to put forth effort; it had everything to do with the fact that they distracted themselves with games and leisurely lunches.

In the end we did end up spreading all the mulch and made a large dent in the Blackberries. One of the best parts about working with these boys is their comradery and ability to be open and honest with one another. Although they vacillated between working and playing they really showed up for our closing circle and gave a heartfelt round of gratitude.

The boys expressed their thanks for the ability to come out and work on a piece of land that they feel is their own. It is clear that these boys are coming to understand that they hold a real power to influence and give to their community. Although these boys might not be able to articulate it yet, they are coming to realize that restoration of the land is in fact restoration of one’s self. Sitting under the shade of a Cherry tree the boys relaxed back into the grass as they ate their apples.

For more photos from our outing please visit the Red-Tailed Eyas and Gray Wolf Pups joint photo album from the day.