International Coastal Clean-up 9-17-16

Wow! Saturday's coastal clean-up came and went in a flurry of rain, wind, fog, sleet...you name it! The Fiddleseal Salishheads truly lived out our motto Walk your Talk, joining thousands of volunteers in a world-wide effort to clean up our coastlines! Instead of complaints and "no-can-do's", we heard sing-songy voices yelling "it's raining, it's pouring, let's go exploring!" and watched the group jump into gear (literally, as trash-bags became dresses...) to clean up Bakerview Beach. While most people (for good reason) probably snuggled up with a warm blanket and cup of tea on this stormy Saturday morning, this group of young stewards braved the weather, setting a truly inspiring example of how we can Connect and Protect the natural spaces and habitats that surround us.

Some highlights of our day included...

Gathering like a group of ducks in our bright and oversized rain gear, smiles on faces despite the downpour. As girls gathered, we played a warm-up game of Rabbit Hole to get our bodies moving!

Welcoming in a few new faces to the group during our Opening Circle and discussing ways in which we could help keep our spirits high for the duration of our service project. The girls were eager to voice their thoughts on correct layering, shelter-building, and eating food for fuel to stay safe and have fun throughout the day!

Painting our faces and transforming into Trash Tigers. The girls then scattered along the beach with big garbage bags and gloves, hunting for their prey...in this case trash!



Discovering and disecting a large dead salmon on the beach.

Sipping hot apple cider under the protection of our shelter and singing rain songs into the wind during lunch.





Dressing up Holly, a.k.a. Queen Trashola, with a soggy towel, trash crown, and plastic shield.

















Splashing along the shore and building hot tubs to put our feet and hands in. They actually felt warm!

Shlepping our soggy selves and full bags of trash back up to the somewhat sheltered yard. Here we enjoyed some nice warm hot cocoa and rolled up in a cinnamon bun hug to warm each other up!

Playing games in the yard until it was time for closing circle and goodbyes. Our cups were all overflowing with gratitude for the warm houses, beds, and showers that awaited us. But more than that-despite our soggy clothing and cold feet-there was much gratitude shared for the rain, the ocean, the mud, and the friends around us on this day of service.

We ended with our words of the day: Trash Tigers, rain, and service on the beach!

To view the full album of the day, click here.