Climate Action Figures

Season 2, Episode 21: Hailey and Ashton

• John Whidden • Season 2 • Episode 21

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In this episode, John introduces young environmentalists, Hailey and Ashton, who share their experiences with growing plants, outdoor adventures, and learning about nature. Highlighted topics include their gardening projects, hiking trips, and their observations of local wildlife.

00:00 Introduction and Welcome

00:35 QuickFix: I Love My Planet Cards

01:22 Meet Hailey and Ashton

01:29 Growing Plants and Outdoor Adventures

03:13 Salmon Run and Backyard Fun

06:48 Winter Activities and Wildlife Encounters

09:05 Picnics and Climate Action

10:27 Final Thoughts and Goodbye

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Michelle and Kids:

Hi, I'm Hailey. Hi, I'm Ashton. We're on.

John:

Hello and welcome to a brand new edition of Climate Action Figures. My name is John Whidden, and this week on the show, you get to meet five year old Hailey and seven year old Ashton, assisted by their Grammy, Michelle. For this week's QuickFix, we are digging back into Twila's kind gift of I love my planet cards. But before we do that, we love to hear from you so please send us your QuickFixes or comments on anything you hear on the program. You can fire those in to us at climateactionfigures@gmail.com or via Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube. So the card we chose for this week that Twila sent in is this, Grow Your Own Plants. And it says, planting apple or watermelon seeds in soil or watching an avocado stone sprout using the water and toothpick trick is a neat way to learn about how to grow foods. Well, welcome to Hailey and Ashton.

Michelle and Kids:

Good morning! Good morning!

John:

Let's talk to Hailey first. Have you ever grown something, Hailey?

Michelle and Kids:

Yeah,

John:

tell us what you've grown.

Michelle and Kids:

raspberries and, uh, blueberries and strawberries.

John:

You've grown blueberries and strawberries? In your yard, do you get to pick them and eat them when you're done?

Michelle and Kids:

Yeah.

John:

Oh, that sounds delicious. How about you, Ashton? What do you like to grow?

Michelle and Kids:

I like to grow blueberries and tomatoes and cucumbers.

John:

That's pretty cool. And I've heard, Ashton, that you grow some bigger things too. Do you grow trees by any chance?

Michelle and Kids:

No. Well, you plant in the yard sometimes, hey? No, we don't actually. you mean Nana does that, right? No. Oh.

John:

you two go on adventures outdoors all the time with your mom and dad. I would like you, Hailey, to tell me about one of those adventures. What do you do?

Michelle and Kids:

I do going walking.

John:

And where do you walk?

Michelle and Kids:

on the roads.

John:

Okay, so you like to walk outdoors with your mom and dad. And how about you, Ashton? What kind of adventures do you like to go on with your mom and dad?

Michelle and Kids:

I like to go hiking.

John:

and where have you been hiking lately that you really loved?

Michelle and Kids:

Um, in Palm Springs.

John:

Oh, so is that kind of like desert hiking?

Michelle and Kids:

Yeah, it

John:

Wow, did you see different plants in Palm Springs than you do around your house?

Michelle and Kids:

Yeah,

John:

Ashton, what's a plant that you saw there that you're not used to seeing around your house?

Michelle and Kids:

Poison Ivy, but Hailey got Poison Ivy one day.

John:

Hailey, did you see any plants in Palm Springs that you never see around your house?

Michelle and Kids:

yeah,

John:

Oh, what did you see?

Michelle and Kids:

like the bushes.

John:

Okay, very cool. Now, you, I've heard, have seen the Salmon Run in Mission Creek. So, Ashton, what can you tell us about the Salmon Run in Mission Creek?

Michelle and Kids:

Oh, there's lots of salmon, and in my school, like, Ms. Feiland gave a lot, like, salmon eggs right in, like, when it was snowing.

John:

Oh, wow. And Hailey, when you went to the Salmon Run, what do you remember about seeing there?

Michelle and Kids:

some rocks.

John:

You saw some rocks. Now Ashton, can you tell me what the salmon are doing there when there's, there's so many salmon. Why are there so many salmon there?

Michelle and Kids:

Um, because the ducks, um, don't eat them, but sometimes in summer the ducks eat The dead ones. um, the river is too fast because it's going the other way like, the river's going that way and the salmon are swimming this way. So he's staying in the same spot.

John:

So it's a hard trip for them to make do you know why they're doing that? Why, why do they bother doing that? Swimming all that way?

Michelle and Kids:

Oh, because they want to get away from the ducks, because the ducks are that way. But where the rocks are, they jump. They jump a lot,

John:

they jump a lot. And are they, are they doing something about having more salmon? Are they, are they doing something about their eggs?

Michelle and Kids:

salmon are protecting, uh, the, the eggs.

John:

Well, that's very cool. Thanks for telling us about that. Now I want you to tell me about something else you have a walking loop in your backyard. Hailey, what can you tell us about your walking loop in your backyard?

Michelle and Kids:

there's, um, there's gems, um, on the paths and the,

John:

Hold on, did you say gems? you describe the gems you find on your walking loop?

Michelle and Kids:

we find them not that often in winter. when do you find the gems? summer and fall.

John:

Hailey, tell us what the gems look like.

Michelle and Kids:

Some look like circles, and the other ones looks like it has, um, like a circle on the bottom and then two lines and then a pokey on the top.

John:

Wow, are they beautiful?

Michelle and Kids:

Yeah.

John:

And Ashton, where do the gems come from? How do they get there?

Michelle and Kids:

When I got older, when I was six, um, I found out it was the Gem Fairy, but then there was ten Gem Fairies when I

John:

seven. Oh, wow. HHailey you like to look at plants and flowers, right? What is your favorite plant or flower to look at?

Michelle and Kids:

Sunflowers.

John:

Sunflowers. Do you have some of those around your house?

Michelle and Kids:

Yeah.

John:

And how do those get there?

Michelle and Kids:

Um, we grow them.

John:

Wow, who plants those?

Michelle and Kids:

me and my mama.

John:

And your mom?

Michelle and Kids:

Yeah, they plant lots of them, don't they? Yeah.

John:

And I hear that your Nana lives very near you, and Ashton, I would love to hear what you learned about Nana from being outside, or about plants, maybe.

Michelle and Kids:

I think She plants like flowers like tomatoes and stuff like in winter and then Nana likes to plant new ones in summer, plant new plants. She plants, she's outside a lot isn't she? She is. Yeah.

John:

And Hailey, what do you love about being outside with your Nana?

Michelle and Kids:

me and my Nana like um, pulling out carrots.

John:

Oh, very good. when it's warm outside, do you like to spend time in the water?

Michelle and Kids:

Swimming and kayaking. when we get in the warm spot in Okanagan Lake.

John:

Now, would you go swimming at this time of year?

Michelle and Kids:

No.

John:

Ashton's gone off for a little, uh, bathroom break, I think.

Michelle and Kids:

Yeah, a little bathroom break.

John:

Let's, uh, let's ask Hailey, if your weather is not great to be swimming and it's nice outside with snow and cold. What do you like to do in the snow and cold?

Michelle and Kids:

I like, um, building snowmans. Oh,

John:

Oh, Do you ever go up to the mountain in the winter

Michelle and Kids:

Yeah.

John:

and what do you do up there?

Michelle and Kids:

I go snowboarding.

John:

Wait, do you know how to snowboard?

Michelle and Kids:

Yeah.

John:

Wow. I think we're going to have to put a picture of that up on the screen for people to see. So you can snowboard. And does Ashton snowboard too?

Michelle and Kids:

Yeah.

John:

what do you like best about snowboarding?

Michelle and Kids:

when we go around the corner we get to have a break and like, um, eat and like have the

John:

Eating is a big part of being on the mountain. That's for sure. Now, Hailey, I have a question for you it could be in the winter, it could be in the summer, but when you're out, Hiking. Do you ever see any animals?

Michelle and Kids:

yeah.

John:

What kind of animals have you seen outside?

Michelle and Kids:

Um, I saw an eagle.

John:

Ooh, Eagle. was that the most exciting animal you've ever seen outside?

Michelle and Kids:

Yeah.

John:

Are there any animals that you have to be a bit careful about outside?

Michelle and Kids:

Yeah.

John:

What's that?

Michelle and Kids:

the eagle because, um, the eagle always follows us. Um, when we, um, go on a lake.

John:

And have you ever seen any big furry animals outside?

Michelle and Kids:

the deer and the bear.

John:

You've seen a deer and a bear outside?

Michelle and Kids:

Yeah.

John:

Where did you see a bear?

Michelle and Kids:

at Mission Creek.

John:

Oh, wow. And were you hiking or were you in your car or where were you?

Michelle and Kids:

I was on the bridge,

John:

Oh, and you saw the bear. do you know what kind? Was it a black bear or a grizzly bear?

Michelle and Kids:

it was like a, a black bear.

John:

Very good. Now, Hailey, you love to go on picnics. So I heard that you, for your climate action today, have chosen something about picnics. What do you do that's special on picnics?

Michelle and Kids:

picking up garbage and putting the garbage in the, uh, garbage bin.

John:

if you see garbage, even if it's not your own garbage, you pick it up and you put it in the bin.

Michelle and Kids:

Yeah.

John:

When you go to picnics, do you take special containers for your food?

Michelle and Kids:

Yeah,

John:

What kind of containers do you take?

Michelle and Kids:

I take like, reusable ones,

John:

Reusable ones. Why do you do that?

Michelle and Kids:

so I don't like waste the stuff.

John:

that's a pretty smart idea. And the last question we always ask, Hailey, is what gives you hope? So what makes you hopeful about the future and excited about the future?

Michelle and Kids:

I like, um, I like when the sun wakes It helps the birds to get stuff.

John:

Oh, good. And what else does the sun do that's so important for us?

Michelle and Kids:

Um, the sun like helps the plants grow.

John:

So you love to see the sun. That gives you hope? Great. Well, I think we have lost Ashton,

Michelle and Kids:

he disappeared.

John:

That's okay. He answered a lot of good questions, and I just want to say to both of you, thank you very much for being with us today. Do you want to say goodbye to the people?

Michelle and Kids:

Yeah. Goodbye. Goodbye.

John:

And thank you, dear listener. We will be back again next week, same time, same place, to hear from another climate action figure. Until then,

Michelle and Kids:

Go Figures!