Garden School Tattler

I wish we could trade these last few days for this Friday weather wise. It's supposed to be in the 90s for our trip to St. Louis.

This past Friday we went to Hemlock Cliffs. It was incredible - very primordial and very cool and beautiful in that primitive sort of "Are there still dinosaurs?" kind of natural beauty.

The picture is of our two summer helpers: Devon and Mateo. They are excellent young men and we are proud to have them.

When we arrived at the start of the Hemlock Cliffs trail, we discovered, after a very long bus ride, that there were no facilities. And after dividing our group into the obvious, we took off in two directions!!!

Finally ready for hiking, we discovered quickly that the trail either went down sharply across large boulders to the base of the stream bank, or up to the edge of a cliff. Prudence had us climb down to the bank and we took the trail for about 25 minutes and it was just gorgeous.

We ate a really good lunch and then decided that facilities were in order so we left the park for St. Meinrad and their facilities. Lots of our folks had not been there, so we took a brief tour of the church. This is Bill playing Archabbot.

The trip home was uneventful. It seemed long, but country traveling always seems long. I think the kids had a good time.

This Friday, we will be leaving early - 7:30. We will be stopping at a rest stop for 30 minutes and we hope to be at the park by 11:00. We will break into groups depending on who wants to see what, and then meet back at the entrance at 2:00 and try to be home by 5:30 with a 30 minute potty break along the way.

I've heard parents say, "Why all the rush rush rush to another city for only 3 hours?" What a lot of parents don't realize is this will be the only summer adventure some of our children will have this year or for years to come. Kids love to travel, and some families simply don't have the finances to do it, so we're combining a day at school with a trip to remember.

Is this something a school should do? It depends on the school and it depends on the families who support the school. Some schools couldn't do it because of staffing. Some couldn't do it because of the board of overseers, and some wouldn't do it because they wouldn't know where to begin to put it into their curriculum. It's not a regular part of most very young child places simply because it never has been, and that's a shame.

Over the years, Edith and I have wondered what the limits are. They seem to be 3 hours in any direction. It's what the children can bear. That means the places in Indy are out of range. It means Chattanooga is out of range. It means Nashville is a possible. We'll pray about it.

There is such a drive to put more money into childcare, and yet you will never ever hear a single word that in anyway says "do" with the kids. Field trips are expensive, but what children see now as their minds are developing is what will help a child to understand the world as "their place" more than a long nap in the afternoon in a stuffy windowless room.

We are still trying to fill the following week's adventure. Any ideas? The sheep sheering place didn't have a program, so they backed out. We're thinking of New Harmony. Does someone have a map of the Hoosier National Forest?