Hi Folks,
Here are a few quick and hopefully pleasant notes.
SUN -- What a pleasant time we had at the sunny meadow (the 10 acres we use for festival parking) today! It is so much warmer there than on our playground, and it is warmer in the woods than in our playground. During these colder months, Molly and I will try to start our Monday and Tuesday walks as soon as possible (9:30ish) to get warm. When sunny, we will go to the sunny meadow or other place to warm up. When rainy, we'll appreciate the shelter of Grandmother Rock or Fairy House Grove. On a rare instance (like the WETTEST DAY WHIDBEY HAS EVER SEEN, now confirmed by people who have lived here longer than me), we will go inside and improvise.
GIANTS -- We walked the upper loop today (our usual Monday trek) and continued past Bumberdeen the Giant's playground to get to the sunny meadow. This imaginative way of describing the ropes course came to me via Dyanne (who got it from Chris McFee years ago). I live my life with the pleasant assumption that the creatures of the forest, including giants, are all there to help us, that a stream of well being is always flowing around us if we are just able to notice it. My Bumberdeen is a super friendly guy that I have never seen. He lets us walk through the playground. Out of friendliness, we stay off his giant sized playground (this is the ropes course, which we would participate with trained facilitators).
That said, I also appreciate how children love to explore power and transformation through creating scary stories. There were a few vivid stories told by children of a mean giant who eats many things, who fortunately lives in another country. While endorsing the wonderful power of a story such as this, I always reflect back my full confidence in the friendliness of the creatures of the woods towards us.
FOOD -- We are in pretty good shape with food. Feel free to bring contributions for our soup by Wednesdays. While chickens have slowed down, we almost have a dozen eggs for Thursday; if you have a few to spare, that will get us there. I've switched to scrambled eggs for the winter time; it does not require as many eggs to satisfy the class.
Even though apples are no longer so plentiful on trees, if you can bring a few apples for snacks in the woods and apple sauce, that is wonderful. Several children are doing incredible work and growth through cutting apples in conscientious and artistic ways.
DISMISSAL ON WEDNESDAYS AND THURSDAYS -- Because it might alternate between being relatively nice at 12:20ish to being fairly wet and/or cold, I've decided to switch Wednesday and Thursday mid-day dismissal to in the hallway. I will do my best to have children ready to trickle into the hallway beginning at 12:20 so that you can gather your child and her or his possessions before extended care children from the Sunflower Class move into the hallway. Monday and Tuesday dismissals will remain the same.
CLOTHES BAGS HOME THIS THURSDAY OR FRIDAY -- I think it will bring the most peace of mind to everyone if you bring your child's spare clothes bag and anything and everything from your child's cubby home on Thursday or Friday, leaving the space clear for the Holiday Workshop, and helping you to know with confidence where your child's gear is for next Monday. The little ones who have already come to us will be heading to their own festival and will like to depart on Thursday. Perhaps they'll meet up with little ones yet to manifest in our classroom and tell us stories of them.
With appreciation,
William
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