There are Ocean's in The Ocean State?! And Bamboo, too!

We've been in Rhode Island since the 15th (or something) of August. Maybe some of those of you who have been following along are beginning to think we've stalled out. I wouldn't be surprised! I've thought that a few times myself! After our debacle getting down to RI (that's Rhode Island and you can read about the debacle ----> here) we decided to assess the weight of the things we were carrying and come up with some lighter alternatives. After many orders, returns and more orders from Amazon and other such sites (plus countless visits to good old fashioned, brick and mortar shops) for things including but not limited to: rain flies, battery chargers, camping plates, sleeping bags, shoes, coats, glasses (ok, this had nothing to do with weight but me and Ezaias are looking fly in our new specs and looking fly is important too!), school supplies and so on we are getting close to being able to head out. Which is great news because I had to put my thick socks on during the last night we spent in The Lightning Bug and just yesterday we all went digging around for out long sleeve sweaters! The north east is getting cold and that's our cue to say, "sayonara!" (That's goodbye in Japanese, which Ezaias has been studying as part of his unschooling schooling.)

Though I'm loath to admit it, Rhode Island has a pretty significant place in my history. I'm not from here but I did grow up in part here and my family is all here. I spent 15 years, in all total, of my life here. I'm 37, so that's not quite half. I'm not sure what the formula is for figuring if you are from a place? 

For some time we were staying in the south of the state, which I have normally considered a world away from the north (culturally speaking) from where my family lives. Then we came up north to stay with my mother and nephew. My nephew got a full scholarship to a ritzy, all-boys high school. So it was fun to be here to chauffeur him to his first day of school, his first HIGH SCHOOL DANCE, and spend some concentrated time with my family (even though we drive them crazy) before heading out for quite some time. I had the unusual luxury of taking a drive by myself the other day. I was traveling down old familiar roads and noticed a car off to the side. The car was blocking other drivers from getting around and slowing traffic down. From where I sat, I could see the driver looking stressed but what I could also see was that most of the drivers passing by them were stopping briefly to ask if they were ok. The driver said thank you but waved each one of them onward. As I watched I thought to myself, this place isn't so bad. It's rough around the edges but everyone I know here has a heart of gold and, if I'm honest, I always do feel at home and safe here (even though I happened to read that my town is 95% less safe than other US towns, regardless of size). So, at that moment, I decided to try to see RI differently. I thought about the things I love about the area (art, food, ocean, etc.) and decided to share them with my kids and Travis. We've also been trying to take part in some RI traditions that I am not familiar with (most of them include food). 

What will follow, in a few separate posts because we took LOTS, is a photographic chronicle of our time (so far) in RI, with special guest appearances by my beautiful family!

Let's start with the ocean:

TLB, at home in the "woods".

Up early to the beach, baby! The sun won't wait for us. 

Kid: Mom, are we allowed to go into the water?
Mom: No, I would rather you didn't..... 

A cloudy sunrise at East Beach (while we are on the east coast of the country).

Sunrise on the left and the Moon on the right! How lucky were we? So beautiful!

This beautiful show happens every single day!!

We literally stood in more or less one place. These were the colours to the left (sunrise).  

These were the colours to the right (where the moon was). 

To the left.  

Baby isn't happy to be up this early. He hardly noticed the beautiful things happening around us! 

Hugs from Mama help some.  

I don't know why I expected them not to jump into the ocean at 5am??

The waves were pretty incredible though. (That's my nephew Maison on the left.)

Slowly warming up to it, right before we headed back for breakfast. 

I got wet. Now what do I do? 

Seaweed! Like for real seaweed! (I realized that my kids have like zero experience with a real ocean. Vermont has a pleasant lake (it's pretty big) but they were blown away by the waves and the salt and the seaweed and the crabs! I grew up around the ocean but I've never been really drawn back to it but I do love it. I felt a little guilty that my whim and fancy have likely kept them from experiencing this natural marvel until now. Side note: they have been to the ocean but they don't have great memories of it.) 

Wet kids: I'm wet! The sand is sticking to me! There is sand in my pants!
Dry kid: I'm having so much fun!
Mom: (does not say I told you so...)

The Fantastical Umbrella Factory! 

It's a collection of hippy shops (think nag champa and petchuli) surrounded by lovely gardens. 

With big grass. 

And big flowers. 

And chickens to remind us of home...

And bamboo!

A massive bamboo forest, in fact!!  

So, of course, this happened!

Then this happened. 

So we (the parents) said that couldn't happen.... 

So then this happened....

Hey, Pantene, we are looking for a sponsor... 

Up he goes.

Look Ma, no shoes! 

Then they all joined in. 

Let your monkey out, my children. 

No paternity test needed. 

Run for your life!! (Unschooling opportunity #1 This is a grizzly bear. They don't live in RI. Neither do black bears. We were practicing for Yellowstone.)

We climbed a tower in the forest that looks out to the ocean. See that straight line between the forest and the sky? That's the ocean. 

Micaiah found this massive plant. Can you identify it?

We played "Name that Skull!" That giant one on the right is a horse!

Kai is our resident turtle lover and expert. 

He got up each morning and rode his bike to the Naturalist's "House" to help place the turtles in their outdoor tank for the day. 

This one was called Speckles. Micaiah was great at teaching other kids how to properly hold them. 

Simeon needed a little time to warm up to the turtles. (The parents were thankful about that.)

Fishing for bros = hours of fun! 
The pine cone, seen in the littlest brothers mouth, served as their "hook". 

Back to the beach! (This time with swimsuits and towels!) 

This time we visited the southern and western most tip of Rhode Island at sunset.
To the east there was a massive storm (still hours off) rolling in. To the west the sun was going down.

Both of which made for more incredible colours.

Sea shells, sea shells, everywhere.
Do you know what our kids do when they see sea shells?
They collect them! Pockets and pockets of sea shells! 

We walked the 1.5 mile stretch of beach and watched the sunset. (Sunsets don't really lend well to our novice camera, so here is one of the last ones we got.)
Then we walked back in the dark. 

It was great fun checking out southern Rhode Island. Next time we'll tell you all about our more urban adventures in the north of the state. 

                                                                                         ~ <3 The Wanderlings

From Ezaias' Travel Journal - Rhode Island

August 22, 2019

Today my family and I went to Napatree Point. It is the southern and western most point of RI. It is also a peninsula (a peninsula is a piece of land that is mostly surrounded by water but is also connected to the main land). Florida is a peninsula. I loved looking for the crabs! I did not like the sandy waves. We saw Piping Plovers looking for food when a wave washed out.  When the wave came back in, they would run like the wind, their feet moving so fast you would not be able to see them! Piping Plovers are endangered! (More on that later.)

September 8, 2019

My family and I went to the RISD museum. We visited the largest wooden Japanese statue in the USA. It was recovered from a temple that was burned down hundreds of years ago! The buddhas name is Dainichi, which means great sun. They believe that he is the generative force* of all life.

*generative - having the power or function of generating, originating, producing or reproducing.
*force - (noun) strength or energy exerted: cause of motion or change: active power. 


Here are some other facts I learned about Rhode Island:

• There is 400 miles of coastline in RI!
• There are 5 Native American tribes from Rhode Island (Narragansett, Niantic Eastern, Nipmuc, Pequot, and Wampanoag).
• There are 11 endangered and threatened species in Rhode Island, including:
• *from the US Fish and Wildlife website
• The Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia Mydas) has a heart-shaped shell, small head and single-clawed flippers. Generally found in fairly shallow waters inside reefs, bays and inlets, except when migrating, green sea turtles eat sea grasses and marine algae. They can reach up to 400 pounds and reach 43 inches in length. Juvenile green sea turtles are omnivorous and are found in southern tropical waters. A major factor contributing to their decline worldwide is commercial harvest for eggs and meat. 

• The Piping Plover (Charadrius Melodus) is a small, stocky, sandy-colored bird resembling a sandpiper. Piping Plovers are found along the entire Atlantic coast in open, sandy habitat on outer beaches, where they feed and nest. Its current decline is attributed to increased development and recreational use of beaches. The most recent surveys place the Atlantic population at less than 2,000 pairs. In a recent survey in the Bahamas, biologists counted more than 1,000 individual Piping Plovers, distinguishing the Bahamas as hosting the second-highest wintering population in the world. 

• The New England Cottontail (Sylvilagus Transitionalis) population numbers are declining. As recently as 1960, New England Cottontails were found east of the Hudson River in New York, across all of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, north to southern Vermont and New Hampshire and into southern Maine. Today, this rabbit's range has shrunk by about 86 percent. Its number are so greatly diminished that it can no loner be found in Vermont and has been reduced to only five small populations throughout its historic range. 

Napatree Point is a Conversation Area, which explains why we saw endangered animals here. 

To get to the beach we had to go over big dune-ish things. 

I found some kind of crab. 

It was kind of weird. 

The sticks look like tentacles. 

It's us three sitting on a tree! (That's a song I made up.) There was a lot of driftwood on the beach. 

Simeon looks really excited about that crazy wave behind him.

That's my hair on my head, not seaweed! 

We thought the tide was going out but Mama told us it was coming in. We've been learning about ocean tides recently, it's a little bit confusing. 

This is the western most point on Rhode Island and we were there at sunset!

This is the Dainichi statue I mentioned. 

It looked like it had been chewed up by termites. It's bigger than it looks in this picture. 

~ <3 Ezaias