This first full weekend in June brought together an eclectic group of students who were both interesting and interested.

“Interesting” because they represented a variety of ages, experiences, and abilities. We had 4 parent/child pairs, 3 educators, a medical professional, marketing director, retired nuclear chemist, and more. Ages ranged from 10 to ??? The combined curiosity, knowledge, and experience of the group fostered great questions, great input, and great fun.

“Interested”, each of them, in absorbing as much from the Ancient Skills Workshop and from each other as they possibly could. Fire by friction was a main area of interest for most, but it was by no means the dominant one. Plant and tree identification and their uses fascinated everyone as Nancy described the medicinal properties of plantain (the “weed” that is abhorred in suburban lawns) and David instructed in the many benefits of the white cedar–from tea to bowdrill material. Cork and Ellen handled the “softer” topics, teaching the students vision, listening, and intuitive skills. Tom as usual mesmerized the audience with his knowledge of tracks & tracking, and also with stories of his experiences tracking both animals and humans. And Ron used stories to bring home important lessons through his What 2 Know B4 You Go! wilderness preparedness and safety presentation.

Judging by the comments of all of the students on Sunday afternoon, the weekend had been a huge success for each of them. It certainly was for each of our instructors.