Last Friday afternoon, we had a bittersweet send-off for A’s last day at Primitive Pursuits. We celebrated with his request for fire making, banana boats, and exploring Beaver Pond.
The kids worked together to build a campfire using mostly wispy twigs and “pencil and marker-sized” sticks from a fallen tamarack tree, a native deciduous conifer. Before collecting wood, they scratched the bark to check for green underneath, making sure they weren’t breaking off any living branches. They filled their sleds with dry piles of wood to bring to the fire circle.
Once the fire had burned long enough to produce coals, we prepared our banana boats. The bananas were split open and filled with chocolate chips, and then placed on top of the coals. A few minutes later, we had filled our bellies with a warm, melty chocolate banana! It was especially rewarding to eat a treat knowing that the kids had worked hard to create the fire themselves.
We finished the evening by heading out to Beaver Pond. The kids explored together, making snow angels, finding frozen bugs, and playing with cattail fluff. They worked together to remove thick layers of snow, revealing the frozen pond underneath. We ended in a circle where the kids shared their gratitude for the day and for Augustine. It was a perfect goodbye filled with treats, friendship, and practical fire-building skills.
