A real Docent

For the last 8 months I have been taking the docent training course at the University of California Botanical Garden.  We met each week for 3 hours.  There is a lot to learn, over 11,000 different plants in the garden with plants from all over the world.  The first half of the course was overwhelming: the presentation by the various horticulturists of their different areas followed by walks through their areas with the plants pointed out.  I could never remember all of them.  Then in the second half we began to practice how to lead tours from tours for adults to tours for school children.  The Garden is one of my favorite places on earth.  It is very beautiful in all seasons and as I've grown familiar with all the different paths and nooks and crannies, I've grown to love it even more.  The docents I have discovered are "my tribe", folks who love the garden and love to share it with others.  Yesterday a small group of "new docents" met at the garden to walk around showing each other things we've learned.  As I reflected, I thought that's one of the things I most enjoy doing, walking through nature with people who also enjoy it, looking at different wonders, sharing what we know.  This morning push comes to shove and I'm to help lead my first real tour of kindergarteners.  I'm surprisingly nervous for someone whose taught for so many years.  The day is foggy and drippy and wet.  The flowers will be droopy, the paths soggy, but I'm looking forward tapping into the children's bright enthusiasm and teach them plants are alive!  I love to learn each time I go to the garden and today seems like a big learning opportunity for me.