Day in the woods

Today our Permie class went to the woods, and had a wonderful time.

To begin with, we each took a mirror, and held it at roughly chest height - so as we walked into the woods we were were looking up into the canopy. It's amazing what a change in perspective you get by doing that!

After that we played a few games - listening to the forest, finding lots of different colours, and so on. Following these quiet games was one called "Bat and Moth" - the whole group made a circle, and three people stepped into the middle - one Bat, blindfolded (actually, with a large hat covering their eyes!), and two Moths.

The bat calls "bat" to which the moths must reply "moth"; the bat must attempt to catch a moth by echo-location. The moths may run around, but if they get tagged or touch the edge of the circle, they lose. Everyone had a go as either bat or moth, and it was great fun.

In the afternoon we did our first Permaculture design and build - in groups of 6 or so, we created a pixie house in the woods, from whatever was available to us. We had a good range of properties, but I feel the current financial situation may cause difficulties on the retail market!

It was great to be outside for a full day (well, 11-ish to 4-ish) with the whole class. Both being outside, and group bonding, are so important - and things that are so lacking in an office job!

This evening was completely different - a follow up meeting on an Open Space session last week, discussing what the students want to get out of this academic year. Our college is amazing - 225 or so students, all bursting with creative potential and individuality! Hopefully we can add a bit of structure into the mix, to allow everyone to show what they are capable of!