We had a special visitor come knocking at the schoolhouse today. We will give you three clues to guess who:
1. They could fly
2. They were persistently searching for something in the wood on the outside of the schoolhouse
3. If they were in a band, they would be the drummer
If you guessed a woodpecker, you are correct! After observing the busy worker with binoculars and using our bird books to guide us, we discovered it was a male Downy Woodpecker. Be sure to ask your Chickadee for some more fascinating facts pertaining to woodpeckers (interestingly, Downy Woodpeckers have been observed in mixed flocks with chickadees in the winter…maybe our friend was testing out our flock for the winter!). Woolly bear caterpillars, a lively game of capture the flag and a book club in the fort were other highlights of a sunny Monday at Bygone Days.
Hey Folks! We’ve been busy playing outside. Here’s a recap of the last few weeks!
Paddling
We love exploring our extended backyard and our older students ventured off on a field trip to the Beaver River. We had some amazing weather systems – both warm and wet! – that challenged us along the way. We learned about water/river safety, paddling skills and most importantly had fun connecting with our classmates on the water. Our oldest students had the chance to do some kayaking as well!
Climbing
Speaking of our amazing “backyard”, we also headed out to Metcalfe Rock for our annual Rock Climbing trip with our older groups. Students pushed their limits and reached for the skies as they ascended this ancient rock!
Birds
Bygone days continues to be alive with Birds and we’ve been treated to watching many different species of birds build their nests, defend their territories and raise little babies. As we tune in more to Bird Language, our world is opening up!
Homemade Glue
It’s easier (and stickier) than you think! Some folks had the opportunity to make homemade pine pitch glue (pine resin, beeswax and ground up coals) over the fire. We used it to make some pretty rad arrows and spears!
“Spirit Bear” (aka Bear Bear, AKA Cuddles)
We’ve got a new addition to our crew that you may have heard of. Earlier this Spring we were given a special Bear to take on our journeys and to catch and listen to all our stories. This was passed on by a friend (thanks Lori!) after she received it from a Cree Elder for work she has done with Indigenous youth. Spirit Bear has had a huge impact for some of our students and has paddled the Beaver River, climbed at Metcalfe and followed us just about everywhere. Our students have even outfitted him in complete rain suits on the wetter days!
Reptiles, Amphibians and More!
There’s maybe nothing in the world that gets the kids more excited than heading out net in hand to capture some critters. We’ve seen it all this year, from damselfly nymphs and water scorpions, to frogs, toads and turtles. We’ve even observed/caught a few new-to-us species on our property – spring peepers, gray tree frogs and snapping turtles!
Wild Edibles
As the Spring rolls on, we encounter more and more delicious wonders of the Forest. Stay tuned parents – we’ve got a workshop coming up for you that will help you chow down alongside your nature kids!
And of course, there’s so much more, but too much to sum up in a simple little blog.
Hey Folks!
We’ve been busy enjoying the warmer temperatures and exciting changes that Spring brings! Here’s a few of the highlights over the past weeks.
Carving
Tool-use is a big part of FNS, and with the warmer temps, we are seeing an increased interested in creating wood projects. We love the creativity and the projects we see developing around the campfire during down time. With only a couple months until our Spring Trading Blanket (see here for more info), students are getting busy preparing!
Larping
When our Wednesday students approached us about creating a LARP (Live Action Role Play) we wanted to be supportive and follow their passions – but admittedly we had to look it all up first! A quick google search later on and we were totally on board with them. Over the course of a couple weeks, students developed characters, a whole fantasy world, shelters and stores and mapped the entire area of Mysterious Forest (which became “Indigoweeodd”, a last remaining settlement in a post-apocalyptic world). They developed complex social orders, a monetary system known as wood chips and a whackload of rules and guidelines around play, battle, trading and magic. And while I can’t do it justice in a blog, it was an epic day of uncovering treasure, friendship (and treason!) and solving the clues. And to our pleasant surprise, it ended in a peace treaty signed by all! No doubt if your child was part of this, you’ve heard the stories and know by their excitement just how awesome this day was and why it will go down in Forest School History for us.
BirdinG
Some of our students are taking advantage of the return of the birds and really getting to understand and know them. They are successfully identifying most common species,as well as other not as common ones. As we tap into the bird language, we are learning a lot about what is going on all around all day and gaining a deeper connection with the land.
Geocacheing
Easter hunt… FNS style. We learned how to use a GPS to uncover a treat (Marshmallows) to cook over the fire!
Sowing Seeds
We are getting our gardens ready, making planters and planting seeds!
Wild Edibles
Perhaps one of our favourite times of year is when we start seeing old friends popping up. Our leek colonies are out in full force as we focused this week on sustainable harvesting. Trout lilies make a delicious treat along our hikes and we’ve even sampled some wild carrots (Queen Anne’s Lace)! It’s a tasty time of year.
Catchable Critters
We’ve seen a significant jump in the amount of reptile and amphibian friends over the past little while. So much so that we rarely venture without a net in hand. As the student are getting up close and personal with these folks, they are making respectful and lasting connections with them and uncovering first hand new ideas – including that turtles aren’t as slow and they are made out to be!
April Showers
We’ve had a lot of rain this past while are a so thankful for it! We try and shift perspectives of rainy days and “bad days” at FNS in a effort to minimize the idea that happiness, exploration and fun are contingent on the sun. Some of our favourite days so far have left us soaked! The plants and animals are loving the water and it gives us new, more adventurous routes along our hikes. Levels are up all over the place, with the river higher than we’ve ever seen and some sit spots being totally washed out. We love that with repetitive exposure to the same spots, students get the chance to observe and notice these changes on a weekly basis.
Music
Most groups have gravitated toward really musical days! We’ve got our established weekly songs, and are writing many more together with the classes. Students are even writing and playing their very own using a ukulele!
And there is so much more that I just can’t sum up here! Have a great weekend.
One of our favourite things about the Spring is all the bird action that happens around us. We’ve been really focused on this lately as we try to tap into these messengers of the forest. The abundance of song and chatter has helped our students practice “sneaking” through the woods by minimizing their disturbance while growing their awareness. It’s been great jumping into to animals forms and channeling the energy of some of our forest friends (foxes, lynxes, etc) to really take our time while moving and quieting ourselves.
As we dive into bird languages, we’ve become more focused. Our sensory awareness has increased and we often have moments of total awe as we live fully in the present, quietly connecting with nature. We teach our kids about it, but find it’s so much more rewarding to learn this through observation, games, connection, field guides and simply slowing down.
This week was extra fun! Some groups had the chance to show their dramatic side creating skits for our Crow Theatre based in bird language – with some hilarious results! Others took the time to journal about bird encounters, creating elaborate stories of what birds are actually up to as they personify them at close range. Others jumped into the role of Mama bird feeding and protecting their young to uncover puzzles – or some sort of combo of all these things.
We also have a weekly bird challenge, too, that some folks are eagerly up to trying! This had led to an accumulating long list of identified birds and made us happy birders. Combine all this with the usual core stuff, some awesome storytelling, bow drills, sun/magnifying glass art, new songs and explorations and call it time well spent in nature!
Ah, birds. We love them. They teach us so much – most importantly just to listen and be still.
Our older groups this week geared up for their first field trip of the year – a paddle down the Beaver River. Collectively, the groups paddled anywhere from the Epping put in to the Slabtown Dam. The Fall colours were stunning and seemed to intensify as the week went on. All groups learned basic canoe skills, with our older students having the chance to learn to stern – and they nailed it!
Along the way, we took breaks for moments of silence in hopes of developing the Quiet Mind (one of our indicators of awareness) in our children. Of course we learned quickly that there is a lot of noise in silence. We were rewarded with the soft ripples of the current, wind blowing in the leaves, birds chirping, bugs singing and so much more. We were even visited by a Great Blue Heron, who seemed to travel with us every day – our guardian on the water.
Of course the highlight for many were the salmon running up river. If you have the chance, take your kids and go see them jump at the Slabtown Dam – it’s incredible right now.
Our Chickadee programs spent their days exploring Bygone days. Monday’s group dove into mapping as they created new homes and mapped bridges in hopes the Trolls will move in. Friday’s group was out paddling, building dams and got a sweet intro to fire making!
THanksgiving
It’s the perfect time of year to reflect on Thanksgiving as one of our core routines. At FNS we practice an attitude of gratitude and start everyday with what we are thankful for and we’ve found most students are eager to do so. It’s amazing what the kids come up with and share!
Throughout the day, we also find opportunities to give nods of thanks as we go about exploring. Each day ends with our airing of appreciations where students can thank one another, nature or anything else in our closing circle. It’s all about finding in ourselves a grateful heart.
And with that we’d like to extend a HUGE thanks to Jim, our Beaver River expert and friend for coming along with us this week to help out! And of course all the folks at Free Spirit in Heathcote for the help over the week.
What a hot and beautiful day we had! After our opening circle, we dove into (or rather quietly sat into) a sensory awareness activity that got us using all our senses. After some games and further core routines, we headed out for a lunch out a Grape Valley.
Students spent the day searching for critters in the water, building fairy communities, adding to their shelters and getting stuck in the mud! We headed out to be the first FNS group to explore the new trails in Maple Forest and found a lot of exciting things along the way. Edible trout lillies were everywhere and we took (sustainable) advantage as these delicious treats don’t last long! We meandered our way through the Forest, uncovering places we had never seen before. And before we knew it, it was time to head back. But one more treat on the way – a patch of Garlic Mustard! This is one tasty invasive!
Wednesday
Wednesday’s group was visited by a beautiful male Indigo Bunting during our opening circle. We took the time to just observe and see what he was doing, making note of appearance to identify later. After a sensory awareness activity, we were ready for the day!
After snack, the students took a lead role in our Tick Awareness by creating a student-led natural spray to help deter ticks from coming after us. And while we’ve never had a tick on our students at Forest School, we want to keep in that way and knowledge is power. After covering ourselves in it, we headed out to Grape Valley in Maple Forest for lunch.
While there, imaginations came alive, structures were built and the hunt for new creatures was on. We found some strange looking aquatic bugs we later identified as caddisfly larvae and big beetle known as a Meleo. We hiked all the new trails that have been developed which has opened up some awesome new areas to explore and then something really cool happened – the students self-organized to clean up garbage along it and ended up filling a whole bag. What group of environmental superheroes!
Throw in some delicious wild edibles – trout lily, leeks and garlic mustard – and a huge nesting site of bank swallows on Fossil Mountain, and we’ll call it a successful exploration!
Thursday
Thursday brought forth all sorts of emergent interests in our students. We started the day with some teambuilding by conquering the “chocolate river” by using “marshmallows” to cross it (ask your kids!). After our opening circle we spent some time on sensory awareness with our journals in a quiet place. This led us into our check-in and before we knew it, snack had arrived. After snack, we had a quick lesson on tick prevention and awareness before jumping into the role of Geese and learning firsthand some of the perils they face on their long journeys – not everyone survived! Some of our students were focused on birds throughout the whole day and we were able to identify new ones and wonder what they were up to. We even followed some circling vultures to see if we could find their target.
Another theme throughout the day was plants. We worked to together to get our gardens in place, plant the peas for our living tee-“pea” and students even took the initiative to build their own wild edible garden in their sit spots – complete with some of the plants we foraged: garlic mustard, wild strawberry, wild carrot (Queen Anne’s Lace), leeks and more.
And still we had some students dive into amphibians – frogs and toads to be exact. We found eggs and tadpoles and caught a whole bunch of different critters.
And still some other students were really into to building bug homes and making clay.
It’s awesome when we can all share one space, and follow our passions and interest together and apart!
Friday
We started off the day with a silent lava crossing teambuilding challenge and our students rocked it! After our opening circle and check-ins we spent some time building and playing in our sit spots. As it was a chillier day, some students took on the task of creating a fire with flint and steel and were successful!
Our next adventure began after lunch as we headed west to discover some new trails. Along the way, we caught some frogs and uncovered a mass area of toad eggs (now named Toad Egg Bay). Further along, we spotted a pile of bones that got us wondering what had happened.
As we started along the trails we focused our attention downwards and the many wild edibles that have sprung up. Students tried Garlic Mustard, sampled the ample trout lillies and uncovered big patches of leeks. And though not edible, we found that the trilliums are in bloom (so watched out step!) and even identified some Jack in the Pulpit sprouted up.
FYI: We’ve got an edible plant workshop with Naturalist Brian McLelland-Tuck coming up on Saturday June 2nd with a few spaces remaining. At Forest School, your children will be learning a lot about safe foraging and eating, and this workshop is geared towards parents and educators to help them get involved in this special learning. Email us asap if you’d like to register, we only have a handful of spots remaining ($20/person).
Worms and insects are out. Turtles and Frogs are sunbathing. Birds are singing and making nests. Spring is here and here’s the recap of our week, enjoy!
Tuesday
With emergent interests at the forefront, we were a little all over the place on Tuesday with an overarching theme of Spring – though it felt more like Summer! We began our day with some of our core routines and games, then jumped into plant ID. We set the stage – 8 mystery plants that need to be identified and limited time periods to peek at the master copy! Students did an excellent job of uncovering and naming various plants using just small pieces of them including clover, willow, dogwood and more.
Afterwards, we had to take advantage of the warm sun and headed out on an adventure, nets in hand just in case. We played around the big lake, dammed up our stream, climbed fossil mountain and found and caught an incredible amount of critters! Frogs, tadpoles, a blind fish, some green eggs and 2 Giant Water Bugs aka Lethocerus americanus. In addition, we found a kill site from what we guessed was last fall, and tried to unravel the mystery of what occurred.
In the afternoon, we got crafty and did some painting and made “seed” bombs. Seed bombs (clay, soil and seeds) are meant to be tossed anywhere and make flowers grow. Let us know how yours do! We finished up with a teambuilding initiative – choose the right path – and before we knew our day had flown by!
Wednesday
Similar to Tuesday, our Wednesday group was excited about searching for water creatures – and determined to find a Giant Water Bug. After a thrilling “Ring Toss” Tournament, we were on our way to the West side of the big pond in hopes of capturing some critters. We were able to snag some striders, a tadpole and frog pretty quickly, but as the rain began to roll in our hopes dwindled on catching a Giant Water Bug – until at nearly the last moment, a log was moved and we got one!
We decided to head back as the rain picked up, and along the way were treated to a nesting Morning Dove in a cedar. A big props to the student with the keen eyes! On our way to get dry however, the rain stopped (as was our day: rain, sun, rain, sun) so we stopped too to spend some quality time at our sit spots. It wasn’t long until students were drawn to a huge puddle – a bridge went up, frogs eggs were spotted and inevitably shoes came off to squish in the clay.
After lunch – and a quick thunderstorm that sent us inside for a bit – we dove into a teambuilding initiative (island hopping) and students did extremely well coming through with the fastest time to date!
After our story of the day (debrief) it was to say adieu for another week.
Thursday
The rain didn’t slow us down on Thursday as we lit ourselves a nice big fire to dry off and stay warm. In fact the wet weather actually inspired us to get building on our shelters in our it spots. And who can resist a giant puddle full of clay? And hundreds of striders – so much that our students shoveled out a section, built some walls and created a strider sanctuary. Some students even took on the initiative of building a tee-“pea”: a living garden structure designed to grow peas and provide shelter!
In the afternoon we ventured west with nets in hand. With the cold weather, we were sort of surprised to find a turtle out on shore, but happy nonetheless. And while we didn’t spot any giant water bugs, we did get up close and personal with a mama morning dove sitting on her nest in a cedar. As we ventured more, we uncovered tons of fossils, found that the bank swallows have returned to Fossil Mountain and followed some fresh deer tracks.
On days like this, we’re reminded that rain is a good thing as flowers are starting to bloom!
Friday
The morning clouds gave us a heads up – take advantage of the sun because we’d likely have rain later.
Our students set the stage today when they imagined a mini jungle life playing itself out in the grass – think “Honey I Shrunk the Kids”. Therefore after doing some core routines (smudge, animal forms, quiet time) we headed out to our Sit Spots to play, build and get up close a personal with bugs. Specifically we built a bug hotel! Complete with pine cone rooms, sumac rooms, bark rooms, and mud rooms. Holes were drilled in locks, mini hammocks were made and even a pool was put in for the striders. It turned into more of a 5-star bug resort, and students eagerly sought out bugs to add to it. Worms, Potato Bugs, Striders, Centipedes and even a Wooly Bear caterpillar (named Crawly) all checked in. With lunch looming, we headed back, just in time for the torrential downpour.
The sun made it’s return shortly after, and we continued with our bug theme shifting our focus to bees. After some students made some beeswax chap stick to take home, we chatted about threats to the bee population and the ramifications it could have. We explored pesticide use, habitat loss and other critical issues. And then we dove into the roles of bees in a macro-model we call “Bee-Safe” where bees must retrieve pollen without getting tagged by some of the “threats”.
After a final barefoot walk through the gigantic puddle, we called it a day. Happy May the 4th Star Wars fans!
As what happens often at Forest and Nature School, our teacher plans were totally derailed right away with our Chickadees on Monday. And it was a simple statement by one of our students that did it: “Hey, look at all the birds!” and the tone of the day was set.
We spent some time just observing the birds, listening to their songs, and seeing how close we could get. And then we just had to make some toilet paper roll binoculars to help us see them better! Which naturally led us to a bird hunt, though before we could leave, we had to get into the right mindset – of both bird and birders. Students and teachers took turns being birds and trying to spot each other. We practiced our sneaking and hiding to make sure we could capture the “birds” in their natural arm-flapping, squawking state.
And while playing this game, we came across a real bird’s nest in a maple tree! We all agreed we were such lucky chickadees! So we decided to take a few sample nests out of our Natural Museum, and got to compare the nests of robins, orioles and others. They were all different, but had many similarities, and all of our students picked which one they would like to live in and told us why.
So finally it was time for our bird hunt! And off we were – but along the way were so many other cool things! And though we noticed a few ducks, but inevitably the bird hunt was postponed, as students found other interests to pursue. And that’s our favourite part as teachers – watching the play, discovery and stories unfold, usually in totally unexpected ways.
And all that was done before lunch! In the afternoon, with the hot sunny day, we stayed close to home and dove into some really cool art projects and, of course, mud baking!
We welcomed the warm weather and (mostly) sunshine with open arms this week at FNS! The birds were quite active, insects were out and about, turtles and frogs were sunning, flowers and grasses were growing – Spring is here. Check out the recap below.
Tuesday
After some of our core routines, we dove into our full values contract. If you are unfamiliar with this, essentially we brainstorm of ideas to what it takes to create a safe, happy and welcoming atmosphere for all, write them all down on leaves and pin them to our FS tree. Everyone signs the roots (and taking ownership over it) and these become our norms and guidelines that we were refer when needed.
We then headed out for our camp out lunch to Mysterious Forest to try and unravel some of the mysteries. Children sought to understand the “Mystery” of Mysterious Forest and discovered all sorts of clues to what it could be. And so what is the Mystery? Well, the jury is still out on that. But slowly the puzzle pieces are coming together.
Throughout the day, we took time to develop our quiet minds by being intentional on taking time to listen. A great book we read is The Other Way to Listen by Byrd Baylor which set the tone for some quiet connection time in the Forest. We also spent some time channeling our inner animals (aka Animal Forms) in various games like camouflage and person-hunt.
Oh and we found a great big painted turtle just meandering it’s way across the path!
Wednesday
Wednesday was a student-planned day and after months, perhaps years, of asking we finally decided as teachers that Nerf Mania could happen. (For more information on the “behind the scenes” of this decision, we’ve written a a blog in our Campfire Notes – check it out here.)
After creating comprehensive guidelines, our day started off with a triathlon where students raced around the pond, answered an FNS trivia question and then fired at their homemade target to see how many points they could achieve. From here we moved into target practice by setting up “antique tin cans” (toilet paper rolls) on a fence and trying to knock them over. It’s surprising how accurate they can be.
We had snack and moved into learning about hunting. We talked about skills as a hunter (silence, camouflage, patience, etc) and sustainable practices. The students then became hunters with the goal of shooting the deer before the deer noticed them. They set up their perfect space, and waited. And waited. And waited. Until the deer (teachers) started grazing and moved close enough to be hit! Later on, we finished our day with Capture the Flag with a twist using Nerf.
And did we mention Baby Chicks? 16 to be exact. With all the Nerf excitement, we as teachers were pleasantly surprised when students opted to spend most of their days playing with the chicks (to be clear: Nerf and Baby Chicks were two very separate activities). They gave them names, built huge elaborate homes, and even some amusement parks. We as teachers also learned an important lesson – it’s hard to debrief when everyone in the circle is holding a squawking little chick!
Thursday
Our day started off with the usual routines, but when we headed to our check-in and sit spots we noticed something. There were so many birds! And one thing led to another and before we knew it, we were following some turkey vultures to see what they had found. This led us North to an off-the-map area and we found it! Massive vultures over the remains of Green-Winged Teal (we later identified) which gave us a first-hand look at the food chain. After finding some other interesting things, we all agreed that we need to explore this area in more depth.
After snack we jumped into a new team-building game we like to call Islands. The premise is all students have some sort of ability taken away, and all know a few bits of the puzzle. They rocked this game and came up with some really creative answers. Ask your child about it.
Before lunch, we got out some tools and constructed a giant slingshot with some of our students. After lunch, we just had to try it out and headed out to explore around the lake. With the sun so hot, we inevitably stumbled across a TINY painted turtle. Check out the pictures below!
Friday
Another beautiful day, and we took full advantage. After spending some time in our sit spots and trying our the giant slingshot, it was the Friday groups turn to try out the Island teambuilding game (see Thursday). And they rocked it! It also led to a really powerful debrief for this group about teamwork, cooperation and communication.
After lunch, we slowly headed West with our Willow Crowns, checking for our amphibian and reptile friends along the way (and climbing a mountain). Eventually we made it out to Maple Forest to check out the new trail systems that have been created. This gave us a good chance to reflect on balancing human impacts (including our own) in natural areas. The new trails are beautiful!
Upon arriving to Grape Valley, our campsite, we spent some time getting to know one another better. We broke off into pairs and “interviewed” each other, then reported back to the group to introduce our partners. And before we knew it, it was time to head back.
We focused our attention on our sit spots for the morning, where students were asked to draw from memory a map of their special spot. And then the fun part, as we wondered what these places might look like when we are not there, we channeled our inner sneaky creatures (cheetahs, tigers, chipmunks, snakes, anything!) and quietly made our way to our Sit Spots with a specific task in mind: to listen.
Students remained quiet and still for sometimes more than 15 minutes and came back with many stories to share. Big fat Mama Robins, chirpy little chickadees, Red Tailed Hawks that found a home in the tallest tree of Maple Forest, Geese interrupting the peacefulness and so much more. We visualized and made up stories about what these birds were doing (some with elaborate backstories!), interpreted their bird language and inevitably slowed right down to help instill that sense of not just being a visitor, but belonging in Nature.
Tues-Thurs Groups
Afterwards, teamwork and creation came alive as we spent time constructing and working our sit spots and before we knew it, it was lunch. And of course, we just had to take advantage of of this snow, too. So our afternoon adventures had us headed out to Fossil Mountain (with a keen eye for birds and tracks) to toboggan and tube in Mid-April! And a great place for students to channel their inner penguins!
Friday – Field Trip: Clendennan Dam
After our bird watching, we headed in the van on our first Spring Field Trip to just outside of Clarksburg on the Beaver River. With no set km’s or agenda, a really cool thing happened when we arrived – it took us a full hour to move 100m! We were enticed by the flowing river – first by racing sticks and snowballs down, until we noticed some crayfish hiding and had to try to catch them. A little further along we found an old abandoned stone building which became “Castle Bank” and the epic saga of cops vs bandits ensued. And before we knew it, lunchtime!
After lunch we headed into the woods and got our hike underway. As we progressed, we slipped down slopes, jumped into animal roles during games (camouflage, manhunt) and took some quiet time to listen for the birds. And before we knew it, we had to head back! It’s incredible how fast time flies in Nature.
BEHIND THE SCENES:
This week at Forest School we had a a heavy focus on sensory awareness, quieting the mind and connection with the natural world – the “quiet mind” being an important attribute we hope to help develop in our students. What better way to take a long quiet break than with a focus on birds and their language? It helps our minds calm, become uncluttered and more observant.
As of late, we have been asking our students to share something they’ve noticed in the environment on the way to school or when arriving. And in turn we re-ask this at the end of the day. We’ve seen this turn into a collective view of our world and open our eyes, ears and even our feelings. We challenge you, too, to notice one thing every morning on your way to work or wherever you may be headed.
We also challenged our Thursday students to figure out who’s nest this belongs to:
It’s woven together from slender fibers that can include grass, strips of grapevine bark, wool, and horsehair, as well as artificial fibers.
Our hint to the student’s is that it’s a picture:
Our hint to you: it’s a baseball team.
Why didn’t we tell them what it is? Well we’ve found when you tell someone what something is, the story ends there – it can rob them of the chance to fully understand and know something. By creating this mystery, we’re inviting them into the story in an effort to create an on-going connection.
