Spring Clean-up & Us

David and I are doing a huge spring cleaning on the land. Yay! But really, what took us so long? If you ever roamed the woods of Aquinnah, you know that “old stuff’ is everywhere. Cars, boats, trailers, fishing gear, appliances, wood stoves, mowers, and lots of it has been there for several generations. David can tell you exactly why that is so. He is from a generation that had to make due, “up island due” that is. Every trip down island, meant resources that may have been tight. I give David a ton of credit for all the times I watched him fix a piece of equipment, with something he found right here on the land. That’s old school recycling! For every piece of old rusty equipment, he saw a potential future problem solved. Honestly, I just saw ‘ugly’, but then, I began to understand. It took us about 20 years of marriage, to get on the same page. Yup, our baby girl Nanauwe is graduating from highschoolthis weekend. So we decided to keep the trailer for storage, a few old boats, an extra mowers for parts. Dead cars are gone, and so is nearly all of the rusty metal… I think that right now, we choose other problems. Big problems for sure, that fix things “beyond self”. Like how to bring our Sassafras practices to more youth, and how to bring about more caring future leaders. How to truly co-exist with the wild, valuing earth over ‘stuff’, and how to prioritize real-time connection over internet. How to grow a solid community support system, that is vital to our succes as a non profit. Up next, is base-camp. The old yurt has to go, and we need a new shelter for starters. This spring already produced so much space, it’s also taking up an enormous amount of effort and resources from both David and myself. Still we aim high for our best summer yet! Saskia Vanderhoop (Common Yellowthroat) If you like what we do, here is how you can help in different, fun ways:

• COME VISIT: See what’s so special about Sassafras, after you schedule a visit with yours truly.

• CELEBRATE our YOUTH: End of Year Celebration Sat June 9, 3-4pm

• ADVOCATE: Back us, support our programs, and help spread the word, if you already know what Nature Connection Mentoring is about.

• DONATE: As your wallet allows – all donations are tax deductible. SASSFRAS SUMMER FUNDRAISER 2018 will be launched on June 21, on the Summer Solstice!

Sassafras, Creating a Culture of Continuous Improvement, with Nature at the Heart.