I Am A Docent - My Baptism of Fire!

Aging is good news and bad news!  The bad news is that I am more aware of the fact that I have an expiration date.  I check the obituaries to see if any names are familiar.  I don’t recognize my arm when wearing a short sleeved shirt and I reach for a coffee cup on a high shelf.  That said, as I age and find my life continually expanding, growing richer and more rewarding.  My normal state is…”HAPPY!”

I just read the book Women Rowing North: Navigating Life’s Currents and Flourishing As We Age written by psychologist Mary Pipher and I felt like she was taking notes inside my head.  She clearly states the challenges and losses that accompany aging but she finds that most older women are deeply happy and filled with gratitude for the gifts of life. Their struggles help them grow into the authentic, empathetic, and wise people they have always wanted to be. YES!!

I just celebrated my 77^th birthday…my son, Marc, said it is my “hockey birthday”…two hockey sticks!  I am blessed with good health, a loving husband, children who “invite me in” and let me share in their lives, little grandchildren to keep me getting up and down from the floor, good friends who keep me honest, beautiful surroundings that keep in touch with nature, and opportunities to continually redefine myself.

One such opportunity was to complete my training as a Los Serenos Docent at our local Palos Verdes Interpretive Center.  After 6 months of deliciously informative classes on everything from ocean currents to sea life to geology to whales to native plants to Tongva Indians, I received my official Docent shirt and badge.  Now I get to shadow other veteran docents and decide where I would like to donate my time and energies.

My first activity was to help with a class of 5^th graders who were on a field trip to visit our tidepools on Abalone Cove.  The day was sunny, the children were eager, and off I went sweeping up the tail of a group of 7 students.  It was a success in that it made me aware that as much as I enjoyed the beauty, the air, the children…this activity was NOT FOR ME.  I am not as steady on my feet as I thought I would be. Navigating the steep trail down to the tidepools and crossing the distance of large smooth rocks was too much of a challenge.  I need to stay up on dry land.

The second activity was yesterday where I was going to “shadow” other experienced docents conduct a tour of our Interpretive Center, taking groups of 2^nd graders to various stations and talking about the whales, the native plants, the three habitats of our area and ocean pollution.  I was going to learn from watching.

But as fate would have it, one of the experienced docents didn’t show up and I was thrust into his position!  “You will do fine” the others said to me.  I looked down at the 10 little faces surrounding me, eager smiles, dancing eyes and all of a sudden I was thrown back about 40 years and I was a teacher again.  “Follow me in a single file” and we were off!  I had a wonderful time showing them all the things I have come to love. 

“What do you think the Tongvas ate?  There was no Von’s market!  Do you see this prickly pear?” 

“Did you know there were fish living millions of years ago? How do we know? Who knows what a fossil is?  Can anyone find a fossil on these stones?”

“Who knows what the word ‘migration’ means? (They ALL knew that word…that someone lives in one place and wants to move to another place!)  Whales migrate from way up north in cold Alaska, swimming right by us here, to get down to Baja Mexico. Do you know how long it takes them to swim that far?  How do you spot a whale in the water?  Look there…is that a spout?”

2 ½ hours later, I was driving home feeling tired but feeling so ALIVE.  Mary Pipher is correct as far as I am concerned when she writes: “If we can keep our wits about us, think clearly, and manage our emotions skillfully, we will experience a joyous time of our lives.”

p.s. Point Vicente Interpretive Center will hold its annual event, Whale of a Day, on April 13 from 10 am to 4 pm.  It is a free day of fun for all ages!

I Am A Naturalist - Experiencing Nature at PVS

Most of my family and friends know that Jay and I live in Palos Verdes Shores, a community of residents, 55 years or older, who live in manufactured homes on the bluffs of the Palos Verdes Peninsula.  

Nestled between the town of San Pedro and the Trump Golf course, our little piece of paradise provides us with expansive views of the Pacific Ocean, Catalina Island, 

the Port of Los Angeles, tanker ships, fishing boats, and an occasional whale or dolphin. We enjoy daily ocean breezes, mornings with marine layers, 

hummingbirds visiting our deck feeders, monarch butterflies visiting our milkweed plants, 

the evening serenades of local coyotes and once in a while an uninvited raccoon trying to get into the trash bins.  

While we have the moving parking lot of the 405 freeway just a few miles away, it is easy to forget the hustle of the city and submerge ourselves into the natural world that surrounds us.  Separating us from the Trump Golf course is the Ocean Trails section of the Palos Verdes Nature Preserve, areas of the peninsula that are protected by the Land Conservancy from development and provides hiking trails while preserving the natural setting.  After our wonderful rains, the Preserve was lush and green and later, filled with golden flowers of the wild mustard plants.  

But like all living things (ourselves included!), these plants age, and dry, and wither away…creating a disaster like a brush fire just waiting to happen.

But the city of Palos Verdes is on the ball and as well as employing various persons to comb the hillsides with weed-whackers, each year they also bring in goats to eat the invasive plants.  The Conservancy says goat grazing is considered environmentally friendly and economically efficient.

So, today Jay and I decide to take a walk over to the trail head and looked down on the busy baa-ing goats.  On our way we passed this sign that reminded us that there are other living creatures that also share our surroundings!

Except for the goats and one other man ahead of us on the trail, we felt like we were alone in this magical place.  

To the left were the rooftops of our community homes, and before us was hillside filled with goats.  

Some were chomping away, some were fighting over who was going to stand on top of the big rocks, 

and some were just resting while they digested!  

Later we walked over to the tall trees adjacent to our golf course to check out the red-tailed hawk nest and see if we could get a glimpse of mama hawk and her one little “hawklet!” 

Jay and I look at each other and say…”We live in paradise! 

Being surrounded by the beauty and the peacefulness of nature is restorative.  It gives us a chance to remove ourselves from the "noise" and be reminded of the essence of life.  All we have to do is turn on the television or pick up the newspaper and we realize that we don’t recognize our world anymore.  The “new normal” is frightening to us.  We feel assaulted by dissent, anger, disrespect, chest-thumping.  We don’t know what to believe or who to trust. We don’t understand our modern world and the urge is strong to assume the fetal position, to withdraw and hide.  But what we find ourselves doing instead is reaching for those behaviors that are constant and remind us of who we are at our core.  

We are currently taking an Omnilore course that is studying the ancient philosophies of China and we are reminded of mindfulness and all the wonderful tools that help us practice warm-heartedness, presence and goodness and that contribute positively to our well-being and our surroundings.  Being aware of nature that surrounds us contributes to that little bit of serenity.  

As Confucius say..."Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated."  I think I'll go take a walk!