Yesterday’s field trip was an unbelievably bright group of beaver-savvy children who told ME the story of the Martinez Beavers and asked smarter questions than I hear from most adults. They were working on several beaver projects and one boy was even writing a story about beavers from the point of view of another animal that relied on the pond! Cassy (one of this summer’s beaverettes) and her daughter-in-law came to help out and boldly marched children into the center of town to conduct surveys on lunch-goers at Luigis and the Creek Monkey. Sweet-hearted Luigi gave every child a beaver t-shirt!
Even the youngest children were delightful in their precision. Case in point: after my talk about beavers and dams and keystone species, I asked Jon how the tours were going and he said the younger kids were driving him crazy. Pushing? Shoving? Ripping trees? Throwing trash in the creek? I wondered.
No, he explained. They were all making “Beaver noises” while he was trying to talk. Uh-Uh-Uhhh…Uh-uh-uhhhhhh….Uh-uh-uhhhhhhhhhhhh.
My very favorite comment of the day came in response to the above photo, which I showed and asked why they thought his tail was in the air. “Getting ready to slap the water” was a favorite answer, to which I replied wistfully that I was not that good of a photographer. “Signaling the other beavers?” was a close second. But this is the one that got my attention.
“He’s raising his tail up so that his parents can keep track of him when he’s under the water.”
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why you and I aren’t enrolled in a school for gifted children in Palo Alto! Thanks everyone for a great day. Thanks kids for your art and enthusiasm. Thanks teachers and parents for keeping everyone on track and special thanks to Cassy and Jill being the bridge between children and the town of Martinez. Small beaver world fact number 283: When Cassy’s son and daughter-in-law got married a couple years back they wanted a bagpiper for the service and called me to connect with the piper we had at the festival, Jeff Campbell! Apparently he did a dam find job!
Oh and it’s September 20th so remember to celebrate the year by listening to this:
