In These Hills: June 2010

Knitting on the Road

>> Wednesday, June 23, 2010 – Crafts, Summer

Helen and I are on the road for the next few weeks and we have knitting projects to bring along. I am leading a group of teachers on a Civil Rights tour in Alabama. We will have lots of time on the bus when knitting will be perfect. I decided to make a scarf out of a bamboo silk blend yarn, knit on circular needles. I cast it all on yesterday so I wouldn't have to do any thinking about knitting while on the go. Wonder if I'll finish it :)

Helen is going on a three-week concert tour through Canada and Vermont where she will be singing and fiddling. They begin at a lakeside retreat in Ontario where they learn the music, then they travel to Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, then down into boring VT. She will be with 20 teens and three conductors/leaders --a Quebecois musician, a Bulgarian musician who now lives in London, and a musician from Georgia (as in the country). Much of the music will be in French. I have heard this group perform and they are phenomenal. I can't believe she got in.

She's a bit nervous about all this. It's her first big trip without us and her first big experience with a group of teens. I suggested she bring along some knitting as it is always a conversation starter and she can retreat into it if she's feeling shy --better than into her ipod :) She's also making a scarf (but out of "cool" yarn).

Of course, after we got her all packed, she informed me that her friend found a boyfriend because she was able to knit and he got talking to her. Hmm. Maybe I should reconsider this knitting thing for her.

On other crafting news...I made my first Ipad case. I am going to use my Ipad to show slides of "now and then" images on our Civil Rights tour. I used a piece of quilted upholstery material from my stash to give it some padding.

So, Helen and I are both off tomorrow--one of us south, one north. Poor Lou and Nels. They are feeling bereft. I have to say that I'm really glad I don't have to drop off Helen and say "goodbye." I know I'd cry. Thankfully, I leave before her.

The Great Sock Knit-Off

>> – Crafts, Knitting with Jane Austen, waldorf

Do you remember the great sock knit-off challenge I had with Lou? I have been working on this one sad sock for about three years. She was going slow with her own sock-knitting project so I challenged her to a knit-off.

Well, you may have guessed at the result...

She's wearing...um...two completed socks.

I won't even show you my one sock. I hang my head in shame.
More knitting knews to come though.

Welcome Summer!

>> Sunday, June 20, 2010 – Summer

We welcomed summer in a big way this weekend. It all began with a little dinner party on Friday night --a long, lazy night on the porch after watching.....

this....the annual balloon festival launch. There were around a dozen balloons that night. This winds rarely bring the balloons over our house, but they are still fun to watch in the distance.

Saturday brought us down off our hill and onto a nearby river.

We were out for about three hours. Our goal was to get deep into the Quechee Gorge -- after about 1.5 miles, we had to turn around because of some strong headwinds.

We found a sweet
little waterfall.

And snuck up
on many turtles!
The final count
was 9!

We rafted up for
a nice lunch.

It was a long journey
back. Chips Ahoy and
lots of songs helped
us make it back. We sang songs from
Godspell, The Sound
of Music, old
American tunes, and
songs we haven't
sung in years and
years such as "Over
in the Meadow".

My paddle's clean and bright
flashing with silver
follow the wild goose flight
dip dip and swing
dip dip and swing

We sang the song round and round as we paddled back.

Meet Simba

Poor Calvin has had to get a "lion cut" because he had terrible mats in his fur. He was a little confused yesterday but is back to his normal self today.

Here he is on the porch looking very longingly at the birds.

8th Grade Exhibition

>> Saturday, June 12, 2010 – waldorf

Choose something like a star

>> Friday, June 11, 2010 – waldorf

"Finding my star" has been an ongoing theme for the past two years. It is a lovely theme that has involved poetry, main lessons on adolescence and human development, and art.

I made this needle-felted Starry Night for Helen and another for her friend as a graduation gift.

Choose Something Like a Star

O Star (the fairest one in sight),
We grant your loftiness the right
To some obscurity of cloud-
It will not do to say of night,
Since dark is what brings out your light.
Some mystery becomes the proud.
But to the wholly taciturn
In your reserve is not allowed.
Say something to us we can learn
By heart and when alone repeat.
Say something! And it says, 'I burn.'
But say with what degree of heat.
Talk Fahrenheit, talk Centigrade.
Use Language we can comprehend.
Tell us what elements you blend.
It gives us strangely little aid,
But does tell something in the end
And steadfast as Keats' Eremite,
Not even stooping from its sphere,
It asks a little of us here.
It asks of us a certain height,
So when at times the mob is swayed
To carry praise or blame too far,
We may choose something like a star
To stay our minds on and be staid.

-Robert Frost (1874-1963)

My girl is graduating

>> Thursday, June 10, 2010 – waldorf

Helen graduates from the Waldorf school on Saturday. I know it is only an 8th grade graduation, but it feels like so much more. It is the end of her Waldorf education and she has been there for 11 years. Maybe I should say "we." The school is so much more than a school--it is a community and we have become close to many families. As parents we have celebrated festivals, shared meals, gone on field trips, studied, and done handwork together.

Here she is with her nursery teacher
(who has since passed away which makes it even more poignant)

It has been an interesting week listening to Helen talk about her Waldorf experience and where it has led her. Academically, a spark has been ignited in her for English history and literature. She has also fallen in love with art history and modern art. She has a deep love for her school and is happy that Lou will still be there so she has an excuse to come back!

Here is her third grade class. She is on the bottom right in the bandana getting ready to perform a harvest play.

I can't say that the years have always been easy, but they have been full of beauty, wisdom, and growth. For the past two years, her class has been just four girls. While it isn't what we wished for her, she has had very special opportunities --home stays in Montreal, overnight art trips to Boston, in-depth community service experiences. The connections to the curriculum and her teachers have been deep.

Here they are after an overnight canoe trip on the Connecticut River last fall.

She has also had challenges that she would not have had in a larger group. The girls have had to learn tolerance for each others differences, they have had to hold their own musically in a quartet, and they have learned that one can't hide in the back with a small class--everyone contributes, every day, in every subject.

This year they joined a transition town committee to build a community garden using the principles of permaculture.

This week has been so full of memories and preparation. Helen has written a speech (connected to her favorite poet), practiced songs, brushed up her favorite Vivaldi piece, finished her final main lesson book, is finishing a stool (ack, running a bit late), and is mounting an exhibition of her work today which will be on view through Saturday. The event on Saturday will be filled with all their accomplishments.

Here they are finishing up clay busts for art class.

The first set of grandparents have arrived. The house is clean. The graduation dress has been purchased. Tomorrow is the rose ceremony where each of the first grade buddies bids them farewell. Tomorrow night we barbecue with our dearest friends from her class.

I keep saying....it's only an 8th grade graduation.....but it truly is a big turning point in her life. I know I'm going to cry!

Summer Planning

>> Monday, June 7, 2010 – Summer

We have rented an old house by the sea in Nova Scotia for a week this summer. Recently I ordered Nova Scotia's tourism materials and they have arrived.

Each girl has been assigned the task of planning a day trip. Lou has become completely engrossed in planning. She has a big pack of sticky notes and has been carefully labeling each activity or restaurant with the grid coordinate on the map, figuring out distance, driving route and location.

So far she has chosen an Acadian festival, a lobster supper, a self-guided history tour, the Firefighters' Museum of Nova Scotia -- "high drama and heroism", a bike loop, a modern art gallery, and THREE yarn shops. It will be a busy day :)

She is very excited to lead us on "her" day. She has also completely solidified her mapping skills.

The Hills are Allive....

>> Thursday, June 3, 2010 – waldorf

Helen went on my dream field trip today with her German class.....

She met Rosemarie and Johannes von Trapp and heard the story of their lives --how the family fled Austria, life in Vermont, all about their music.