Billy, Scooter, and Mack take a tour along the river after the rainstorm

Riding Along the River

	They had much to record of their journey today and Parmeet was experienced in the workings of observations in science from his high school courses. Scooter pulled himself safely away from the nest, careful not to disrupt it in any way for respect of the creature that was looking over the scene and the habitat in which it is living in and sharing with the friends exploring the riverside. This time it was Billy that was looking through the Audubon Society book about birds reading out loud in a reflective way about the Grebe, “here it says that Grebe’s create floating nests in reeds in marshy freshwater areas”. Look here at the picture, it matches everything that we are observing.

	The now four friends filled the sides of the boat with an ice chest filled with bottled water that Mack’s mom agreed to send her off with, backpacks filled with snacks, and dry clothes. Billy brought a humongous pack of healthy, nutritious snacks, after all, snacks are one of the most important parts of any expedition and his mom enjoyed creating interesting healthy food options, which she tested on Billy and his friends on a regular basis. Scooter placed his backpack filled with guidebooks about birds into a waterproof sack. The kids dragged the boat down to the water’s edge and gingerly stepped inside the canoe in order to keep it from capsizing. 

Capsizing is when a boat flips over and dumps all of its occupants into the water. So you see, it is very important to balance yourself carefully when working together as a team to find some beauty in the world around you. Balance in staying safe, working as a team, and moving forward in such a way as to not rock the boat, and in this case, the boat is not the actual boat they are setting out on the river with but the team that it takes to create an interesting adventure.

&nbsp;“What a beautiful day it is outside, so nice to have the sun come out again,” He told&nbsp; Mack as he hopped back on the phone with her. “Come over, Scooter’s at the door and wants to discuss our next adventure, and get this, he has some really interesting information books about birds and a surprise”. “ I’m there five minutes ago”, said Mack, hanging up the phone and scattering out of her house and out the front gate. Billy ran back to the front porch portal where Scooter was organizing his books, to partake in planning out their next expedition.

	The sandy bank was perfect for open viewing of the river and the friends were able to explore. Here they opened up their snacks and took a moment to take in the expedition so far. “What kind of bird is that over there?”&nbsp; Mack quietly piped out so as to not scare the perching bird from its location. “That is a bald eagle, the markings are so clear, with the white face and neck and dark plumage on the body”, Parmeet explained. This is a treat, as they are rarely seen on the riverway. 

	The three agreed to meet the next day at Scooter’s backyard shed. There the three lifted the canoe out of the shed and onto the sand. Scooter’s brother came out and was going with the three friends as their leader. “Sorry guys, but Mom says I have to go with you, she wants to make sure you are safe.”, “No problem, I hope you enjoy bird watching because we’re going out there to find some interesting birds” Scooter smartly replied to Parmeet, “ I actually enjoy spending time in nature and love bird watching” he replied.

“ Well, I was interested in all the activity that is flying and buzzing around because of the fresh wet soil and clean air from all of the winter’s rain.' 'I brought a few great books on birds” as he set his backpack down on the front step, “and another surprise book”. 	Scooter was cautious not to step inside for fear of having to stay inside when all he wanted to do was explore the great outdoors for birds and other wonders… “Hold on, Mack’s on the phone, let me tell her you’re here, she wants to come over anyways”. Billy hollers over his shoulder as he runs inside to the phone,

“Yes, today was so good for my mind, and we learned so much about nature and working together” Billy managed to say through the clattering of putting all of their gear away. “I would enjoy helping you with your lesson about clouds.” “I would also like to go over the different birds we observed today, including the nest and eggs,” Scooter added.

	“Wow,” Mack let out, “what kind of bird is that?”  Without being able to hear but on cue the man replied out loud to the group, “This is Raymondo, my Peregrine Falcon friend”, they are native birds to the Sacramento River. This one comes to me when I visit here, he knows  to visit because I have food for him.” The kids kept rowing along but slowed down a bit to watch Raymondo, the Peregrine Falcon, soar across the river and back again to his friend with the food. Scooter pulled out his book to read about Peregrine Falcons. He read out loud to his rowing friends, “They are meat eaters, very smart, and can be trained.” The others listened closely and diverted their attention from the currents to look at the photographs and captions in Scooter’s book.

&nbsp;	“I’ll take notes on my phone and help you record your observations.” Scooter was secretly glad that his big brother, Parmeet, was going with them. He was a strong swimmer, had experience boating on the river, and knew how to drive. His brother was a supportive person to his friends and family and had a calm way of handling things, especially when he went camping, thought Scooter. This is going to be good.

	“My brother has a canoe that fits 4 people and we could drag it to the river’s edge”, Scooter started to ramble, “there are 4 life vests that could fit us perfectly in the shed. My brother said it was okay for us to use the boat as long as we read the safety manual he has about boating on the river and wear our life vests while on the water.” “ Hey guys, these books look good”, Mack said, strolling from up the street to meet with her friends on the top step of Billy’s house. Mack started looking through the books and noticed the boat safety manual. “What’s this one about?” she said, holding it up. 

	Scooter explained that he had some books about weather, specifically about clouds that he could bring over to their next porch portal meeting and Parmeet explained that he would take pictures with his phone of the different clouds that have been a part of the weather system lately to share and study. 

	The friends silently watched the beautiful lone Eagle as it was perched on a limb protruding from the rocky side of the river. They watched for a few minutes in awe as it spread its great wings and soared off into the distance. Pointing to a rocky area upstream, Billy whispered, “I believe that’s a Grebe. My friend told me that they nest on the river here in Sacramento. Let’s take a look.” The four friends very silently set off toward the Grebe’s location. They were careful to walk on the trail in such a way as to not disturb the nature and beauty surrounding them in this fresh, crisp, springtime fantasy. 

	Each of the four friends had to row the paddles together through the water in unison to get it to move at a good pace. A pace that was slow enough to enjoy their surroundings which included the beautiful wildlife that they were observing along the river’s bank and quick enough to maneuver around obstacles. Obstacles like a boulder that might be located in the middle of the river and show up at the last minute. Parmeet was a good guide and helped them overcome some strong currents at times. Currents that could easily knock the boat off balance to capsize and leave all of them fleeing for their lives in the cold choppy waters and even with life vests on they would be in danger. 

	“Hmm..” Scooter pulled out another book and examined a few illustrations of flowers and asked Mack if she thought this one matched what she was seeing. “Yes, that’s it, from my observations it looks similar to that. What’s it called?” “They are Lupine, a type of wildflower that commonly grows in springtime in California.” Scooter replied, continuing to read on to himself through the description in his field guide and then out loud “The yellow and orange flowers that are also growing nearby are poppies and are found commonly throughout California and this is why they are California’s state flower”. The four friends were enjoying the boat ride but they had to all make an effort to propel it through the river current.

	This is when a strong current directly in front of them required their immediate attention. They all had to get their oars into the water and work in unison to keep from getting too far into the center rapids, but it was too late, they were heading straight for the rapid and could barely veer away from it, and. “Splashh”, the boat popped up high in the front and smacked down straight into the rapid and over a boulder. A river wave rapidly splashed over the front of the boat and drenched everyone in it, Scooter’s book got drenched. They needed to be more observant of the obstacles that appeared in front of them in order to be safe.

	Here they froze as Scooter stretched his body out to examine the three eggs that were in the nest. Pulling a magnifying glass out of his top vest pocket he looked very closely at the eggs while the others with him observed quietly and waited for his analyses. Mack pulled a sketch pad out of her backpack ever so silently and began to sketch what she observed of the nest. Billy was able to communicate to the others that the adult Grebe in the tree ahead was watching very concernedly as he slid the book about birds out of Scooter’s backpack to read more about their discovery. Parmeet took pictures of the bird and the eggs.

	Parmeet was pointing to the river’s edge and explaining that the abundance of rain and recent flooding had caused erosion along the sides of the riverbank. Scooter settled into the experience a bit more and opened his backpack up to find out what erosion meant. He explained, flipping through some pages, “Erosion is the process of wearing away or displacing the land surface, typically by the action of wind, water, or ice. It is a natural geological process.” Mack noticed some bright purple flowers on the river bank further west as they were boating westward with the river currents on the waterway. “I wonder what kind of flowers those are?” she said, excitement still penetrating the sides of her voice from just the idea of getting to experience this river adventure.

	“Wow! It is so nice to be back home!” “ Yes, and to be back in our own beds. The emergency shelter was nice, but there is no place like home."  "My mom is so happy to be back home too, she’s ready to make some hot cocoa for everyone, come on over and let’s plan our next adventure” Mack and Billy are talking back and forth on the phone about getting together in the neighborhood again when Billy’s doorbell rings. Hold on, let me see who it is, “Hey Scooter, prowling the neighborhood again? Good to see you out and about with your backpack and books. What do you have today?”

	As they were canoeing back to Scooter and Parmeet’s backyard shed to neatly place everything back in an organized way so as to be able to explore the waters again Mack chimed that she needed help in figuring out the different types of clouds that are in the sky, “I need help in understanding them. She explained, “I’ve been silently wondering how to get this assignment done about clouds and I’ve been putting it off...” 

	They were focused on navigating through and around the different obstacles when Mack noticed some movement downstream on the left bank behind some tree branches. There she saw an interesting-looking man wearing khaki shorts, a thick down vest, and a huge glove that ran halfway up his arm. He was holding his arm out and Mack enthusiastically waved. The man waved back with his other hand as a big beautiful bird landed on the outstretched gloved arm. 

“I thought I’d bring the river safety book in case you’d want to explore the river with me” replied Scooter.&nbsp; The three friends sat on the front porch reading all about boat safety.&nbsp; They found that the most important thing to have was the life vest on, knowing how to swim, not panicking if anything goes wrong, and having a supply of water. “You know how to swim?” Scooter spoke to the group. The three put their hands together in a fist bump and agreed that they all learned how to swim when they were younger, after all, they were twelve years old.

	They were successful in working together and finding each other’s strengths in order to internalize the offerings of nature. Mack was silently thanking her friends for working so well together and offering this educational opportunity straight out of their backyard when Scooter, as soft and quiet as a mouse, explained there was a nest a few feet off the trail to their right in the marshy, reed-filled waters edge. Scooter, who was leading the pack of hiking friends was followed closely behind by his big brother Parmeet, who stopped and put his hand out so that the others would also stop.

	The group stashed their observations and memories away into the corners of their belongings and stealthily tracked onto the path back to where their canoe was tied to a tree stump on the shore. Each of the four friends knew they had made a special pact that day and had thoughts, ideas, and observations to share and grow upon in future gatherings to learn and explore the nature around them in ways that are special and interesting to them and to others that they share them with.

Riding the Riverway in Sacramento:&nbsp; Looking for Birds After the Storm

	As the crew was setting off into the waterway they noticed many tree branches and limbs floating by them that came loose during the recent storms. The water was higher than usual as the rains filled the river up to capacity. The air was clean and it felt good to breathe in the cool fresh aroma of the rain-fresh environment. After such a long storm season, it was pleasant to be out on the water with the soft rays of sunshine beating down on their winter skin. 

	“Let’s rest in the sandy area up ahead,” Parmeet said as he was checking up with the others in the boat. He noticed that the friends were tired and soaked. “We could take some notes on what we have observed and have a snack”. Billy, Scooter, and Mack agreed in unison and thought that the sandy beach on the riverside looked like a good rest spot. 