During the logging kerfuffle, did you happen upon any bumper stickers or posters created by the so-called Bowen Forest Kids? The design of these items was utterly charming, as was the idea of an un-named group of kids organizing in some random treehouse.
We could in fact credit the forest with helping us to raise so many fabulous kids in this place. Our kids enjoy freedom, experimentation and adventure in Bowen’s woods – all of which can be hard to come by in other places. From this they learn competence and confidence. If they spend enough time out there, they seem to develop a sort of internal compass and learn their territory pretty quick.
The community itself bares some resemblance to a forest, too – we are all connected. Us adults come to know one another, and many children who are not our own, through the process Ron Woodall calls “funneling.” How it works is this: there are only so many places to go, so you go there and meet the same people over and over, eventually you just know them. Well, stuck in that funnel, our kids are “seen.” They often grow into teenagers who can look adults in the eye, talk to them, even.
It’s not perfect, this place we call home… but it’s got a few things going for it. The forest, for sure, and the kids that grow up in it are pretty great too.
