Natural Connections March

Name: Natural Connections March
Start: 2025-03-29T10:00:00-07:00
Location: 1407 Cedar St, Sandpoint, ID, United States, Idaho 83864

Schedule

Sat, 29 Mar, 2025 at 10:00 am

UTC-07:00

Location

1407 Cedar St, Sandpoint, ID, United States, Idaho 83864 | Sandpoint, ID

ebonnerlibrary.org/events/natural-connections-march-2025
Join us at the Sandpoint Library for one or all of the events, see below for schedule and program details:
10 AM: Heaven is Walking the Camino de Santiago
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to walk 500 miles across Northern Spain meeting Pilgrims from all over the world? Come and find out about the power and inspiration of The Camino. The history of the journey, the motivation to do it and the power of intention will be shared in this PowerPoint presentation. You will learn what is needed to do the walk from Author Stephen Towles who has walked the full Camino twice and written a book called “Heaven is Walking the Camino de Santiago”. The Camino de Santiago or the Way of St James is one of the oldest and most popular pilgrimages.
About the presenter:
Stephen Towles is an Idaho native and a retired Unity Minister having served churches in Missouri, Sacramento, Reno, Seattle, and Coeur d’Alene from 1982 – 2022. He has been on the Camino Frances 3 times and done the first 9 days of the Camino Del Norte.
As a result of publishing two books, Stephen has been doing Camino presentations in libraries and churches for those who are interested in this pilgrimage. He has also been very active on some of the Facebook Camino forums answering questions for people concerning their preparations for their journey. Stephen is available to schedule a phone consult or a Zoom session.
11:30 AM: A Taste of Japanese Culture
Part 1: On a Roll Sushi!
Monty will share the history of Sushi and demonstrate the techniques to prepare, make and cut traditional sushi. Non-fish Sushi rolls prepared while you watch will be offered for your tasting pleasure. Come join us for this fun, lighthearted program.
Part 2: Japanese Calligraphy
Hikari will demonstrate shūji (Japanese calligraphy). Some of you may have experience with calligraphy, but have you ever used an ink stone instead of ink or paint? An ink stone is used to grind solid ink into liquid form. Hikari will begin by showing the process of preparing the ink by grinding it with water. Then, using the ink and brush, she will write on hanshi, a very thin paper used for calligraphy. Sitting upright, focusing on the brush and paper, and writing in a calm, peaceful state helps to soothe the mind. The writing process will be guided slowly, so even those who don’t know Japanese can feel comfortable joining in.
Part 3: The Way of the Ninja
What exactly is a ninja? When and where did ninjas originate? Yuna will introduce you to the world of ninjas. Was the main job of a ninja to gather information or something altogether different? After explaining the shuriken, a weapon used by ninjas, Yuna will demonstrate how to make a shuriken using origami. Everyone, pick your favorite piece of origami paper and join Yuna in folding your own origami!
About the presenters:
Monty Taylor has lived in this area over 25 years. He has been professionally making Sushi around town for ~6 years and trained under Jr. Solise. Although now retired, he still loves making Sushi and his friend Norm Ettinger will assist him for this presentation.
Amy Murphy is a coordinator who helps Japanese who are learning English to experience American culture. Although originally from Japan, she has lived in Sandpoint for 10 years. Even though she lives in America and still struggles with English, Amy believes that learning a language through immersion is helpful and more efficient than learning from a book. That is why she wants more Japanese people to learn English from visiting here. She also wants to give local people a chance to know about another country’s culture. That is why she enjoys being a coordinator to connect people between Japan and America and has arranged this presentation with Hikari and Yuna for the community. Hikari and Yuna, who are here from Japan for the English Skill-up Program, will introduce aspects of Japanese culture.
Hikari is a citizen of Japan, who is very interested in our different cultures and would love to share information about her homeland. She will be presenting on calligraphy because she thinks it is a very beautiful part of Japanese culture. To Hikari it represents a facet of the heart of Japanese thought.
Yuna is visiting from the northern island of Hokkaido in Japan which is a forested snowy region very similar to this area. The winters can be harsh, but the people are kind. She chose Ninja as the topic for her presentation because she likes Japanese history and would like to share a bit of insight beyond the Hollywood interpretation on this subject. She looks forward to coming to beautiful, nature-rich Idaho. Yuna likes swimming and Disney.
2 PM: Living at One with African Nature
One of Africa’s most iconic tribes, the Maasai, captures the imagination of everyone who thinks of Africa. The Maasai’s most remarkable survival achievement is having learned to live WITH Nature, sustainably grazing their animals amongst the world’s most dangerous animals without harming the environment within which they live.
Come on a virtual safari, with safari guide Mat Dry who will explore the culture and natural environment of these preeminent conservationists in Africa—who have protected their nomadic lands from colonizers and other tribes while also preserving the lands upon which they live to ensure their people always have a future. Mat will focus not only on this amazing tribe but also on the dangerous wild animals and topography of where they live.
The Maasai Tribe of East Africa are pastoralists who live with their domestic animals in the Wilds of Africa, having learned over the millennia how to live at one with the nature around them. This tribe is described as Africa’s fiercest warriors and cattle marauders, pastoralists who believe that all cattle on earth are theirs by their god’s original decree, and whose incredible colors and rituals are recognized by everyone.
About the presenter:
Mat Dry, owner of the Africa travel company TIA (This Is Africa) Safaris and author of the books THIS IS AFRICA: True Tales of a Safari Guide I and II, has been a guide in East and Southern Africa for 18 years. Having received all his guiding credentials from FGASA (Field Guide’s Association of Southern Africa) in South Africa in 2007, Mat has led and created custom trips for clients from around the world in over 13 African countries.