Autumn Traditions
>> Saturday, November 9, 2013 –
autumn,
martinmas,
michaelmas,
waldorf
For our family, there are certain autumn traditions that continue no matter how busy we are or how old we get. It is fun to see how the impulses behind Michaelmas and Martinmas activities from the past such as three-legged races, playing with dragon puppets, and crafting lanterns have matured into activities with the same energies and intent underpinning them.
Michaelmas brought a return to the Waldorf school for Liz and her friends to enjoy the harvest festival. There was a very fun contradance and at one point I turned around, startled to hear a familiar voice come over the microphone, and there was Liz calling a dance to a very large crowd. She looked so confident and happy with many, many children doing exactly what she told them to do :). " Here comes Sally, walkin' down the alley" --she sang to them all too--totally spur of the moment.
We enjoyed the lovely foliage of Vermont as we drove to a Maker Faire and saw this amazing dragon puffing steam.
And, we contemplated the splendor of Xu Bing's Phoenix.
We all responded in some deep way to these mythical creatures this season as we are all on new journeys whether it be beginning high school, finishing high school, or challenging ourselves with new opportunities.
I wondered if there would be trick-or-treating this year, but both Helen and Liz headed out on their own while we joined a fun open house full of parents waiting for their teens.
We had our traditional Martinmas potluck a little early due to a busy upcoming November. The parents may have had more fun than the kids this year. It was fun to reunite with our Waldorf parent friends. You can see a few Martinmas lanterns mixed in with the wine and food :) Among the people standing around our kitchen island were a wine merchant, architect, poet, alpaca farmer, and a librarian. This made for some pretty fun conversation.
Autumn is Shakespeare season at the high school. Helen is the stage manager for this show and is loving it. The kids all got to school at 6:00 a.m. one morning just so they could take this photo in the misty woods. I love it!
Our young people are growing up, but it's good to see the traditions still speak to them.
I loved seeing your family's autumn traditions in words and photos. The photo on the playbill is fabulous--it hardly looks real! Your Martinmas potluck looks like a wonderful way to connect with old friends.
And, those dragons--wow!
Enjoy your updates as always! I applaud you for keeping traditions through the teen years. Tonight I am wondering how Martinmas will fit in around 4:45 - 8pm ballet. I suppose the eldest will have to miss out and the youngers will still enjoy our little tradition.
Its all wonderful! My daughter-19 wants to continue all the traditions and does the 13.5 year old but my 17 old boy- no way. It rather interrupts the flow of family things and we have not really found a middle ground. Usually if the right food is involved, then he is in . . . but its a new stage and I am not sure what the roles are any more.