A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

    On four consecutive mornings, we took a mini-trip down our block.  We headed out in small groups to enjoy our surroundings and search for signs of spring.  As we walked along, we noticed all the daffodils, pansies and tulips.  We were respectful of our neighbors on the block and didn't touch the flowers.  Levi reminded us, "You can't pick them; they're not ours!" 

  Ruthie wondered why the pansies had a "sign" on them.  We looked at the little identification tags, which stated the names of the plants and their care.  She also noticed all the dandelions.  "So soft!" Ruthie told us as she touched one.  Then she asked a question:  Why are there so many different kinds of flowers? 

   Pearl asked if we were allowed to take the flowers.  Izzy noticed different seeds on the ground.   She picked up a few.   "I can use these for arts and crafts.  Do you know you can use nature for arts and crafts?"  The girls asked politely if they could pick the dandelions.  We said that they are weeds, and it's okay to pick them.  Henia and Pearl then blew on some of them.

  Ari E. saw a hopscotch drawing on the sidewalk.  She told us that her sister Ziva knows how to "make hopscotch."

  We noticed our urban environment, as well as the flowers and new plant growth.  Yoni pointed to the garbage truck and the sanitation workers and said, "There's a garbage can!"  We are interested in the trash-removal process.  A regular highlight of our week occurs early Thursday morning, when the commercial sanitation truck comes to take the trash from the Dumpster located in the alley.  We watch from our window, or we head out to the small platform outside the main door, just to get a better view.  On this bright morning, we had the opportunity to witness the neighborhood trash pick-up process.

   We noticed the cracks in the sidewalk.  Yoni called out, "I'm jumping over the crack!"

 Shlomit was wondering if she could see her house.  But no, it wasn't possible:  she said, "I can't see my house.  It's far, far away."  This house reminded the Morahs of an enchanted garden.

  Henia and Pearl take a rest in front of the "Enchanted Garden" house. 

  Sam said, "I'm growing two spaces of daffodils at home."  He then told us he could climb a tree.  He also noticed the Free Library box on the other side of the street.  That was exciting!  He told us that he had taken a book from one of those boxes before.

We looked at all the trees.  Levi looked at one tree and said, "I never saw leaves that big!" 

  Morah Susan pointed out that there was a cactus plant growing in one of the gardens.  Noa told us that woodpeckers peck in cactus plants.  (We didn't know that!)  We saw a palm tree, too.  Ruthie thought the tree might grow coconuts.  Ari S. said it would grow pineapples.   Pearl was excited to tell us that palm trees grow where her Bubbie lives.

  Morah Susan also noticed a cabbage plant growing in a pot on the neighbor's lawn.  Sam told us that he has cabbages growing, too.  Ari E. told us that she loves cabbage. 

  Ari S. was watching a bee and shouted, "There's a honeybee there!" Earlier in the week, we noticed the lazy carpenter bees on our playground.  They seem to fly in slow-motion!  We're not afraid of carpenter bees, we learned that they cannot sting us--but they are very big, so we stay away.  We stayed far away from the bee on the dandelion, too--but it was interesting to see it stay there and rest.

  Henia and Izzy also noticed the carpenter bees.  Henia wondered what do the bees catch.  Izzy said they catch nectar.  Pearl took a look around and called out, "Oh my goodness!  It's getting springtime!"  It was a very, very warm morning!

  Morah Yael pointed out the brickwork in the street. Leiba said, "It's bumpy.  It's a brick road!" 

  We took some pictures of our own.  We're old enough to hold a camera, ready to point and shoot.

   Our nature walk was very productive.  We saw beautiful flowers, big trees, bees and birds.  We enjoyed the warm weather and the camaraderie of traveling in small groups.

  Observing urban life was interesting, too:  the hopscotch games on the pavement, the Free Library Box, the garbage pick-up, people walking their dogs, the cracked pavement, the construction work.  A mail truck came by on our last trip with Henia, Pearl and Izzy.  The driver waved hello to us.

  One of the topics that the Kitah Gimmel children found interesting surprised the Morahs.  The children were amazed by the dandelions.  Some of the dandelions were short, with a yellow flower.  Some of them resembled little white puff-balls.  The Morahs had told the children that the dandelions were weeds and allowed the children to pick them.  Immediately, some of the children plucked the white puff-balls and blew the puffs away.  We saw so many dandelions, we guessed there were one hundred of them!

  Morah Sara Carter had accompanied us for part of one of our trips and she wondered:  did the yellow flower bloom first, or the white puff-ball?  Who could believe that one flower could have two different appearances?  Morah Susan, who grew up in Brooklyn and still regards dandelions as novelties, remembers seeing the weeds on her high school lawn.  The yellow flowers appeared first, then the white puff balls.  When we returned to class, Morah Yael looked up the life cycle of the dandelion.  She will present photos to the class so we can sequence dandelion growth.

  (Below, two photos taken by the children.  It was another beautiful day in the neighborhood!)

  Morah Susan and Morah Yael, with the Kitah Gimmel Yeledim