Last weekend, I squeezed in an extra big dose of autumn fun.
First, I took Christian to Oak Glen to get a bushel of delicious fresh-picked Jonagold apples and to pick a pumpkin from a patch. I love getting a pumpkin from a real pumpkin patch. Christian loved it too and ran from one perfect beautiful pumpkin to the next, until he found one with a scar on it. A scar like Christian has, and Darth Vader, and Harry Potter. His Aunt Corrina joined us for the day and willingly played “star wars” by ducking around giant old oaks, chestnuts, and cedars and aiming pretend guns (sticks) at the enemies.
Then, we drove to Ganma and Ganpy’s house in Joshua Tree. The next morning was “Apple Days” at Darlene’s house, which was several hours of singing, story-telling, and apple turnover-making. YUM.
Directly from Apple Days, we went to Joshua Tree National Park to meet some friends who were camping. We ended up staying to hike the 2-mile Split Rock trail and having a delicious BBQ chicken dinner. We saw our first wild tarantula of the season.
Saturday was Open Studios Tour and then the Zircon Wish Circus at night! Corrina stitched all my little videos of the circus into one longer one – the circus was next-door to Ganma and Gampy’s house, so we could walk right over.
The next morning I rolled out of bed to drive down to San Bernardino to pick up Chad – he’d taken the opportunity to bike 73 miles.
On the way home we stopped to do a Trader Joe’s shop in Irvine. Dinner was at the famous Berkely Dog (fancy hot dogs) and dessert was pumpkin pie-flavored Yogurtland.
Yup. That was one busy weekend. Lots of calories too.
Thx everybody for always asking about Bella. I’m happy to give updates. She seems to be adjusting well and having fun. She has been home twice for the weekend; Bella as guest rather than resident is a novel experience. We’re adjusting to her absence too.
Here are some pictures she sent me recently. And an email string between her and my brother, who gave her a pair of noise-canceling Bose headphones as a gift last year. That was a great gift idea for a student as serious as Bella. As it’s an email string, start from the bottom and read up.
Begin forwarded message:
From: Songbae
Date: October 24, 2011 6:12:55 AM PDT
To: Bella
Subject: Re: bose headphones
So you’re the cool kid with the cool uncle!
Business and public health would be good combo. But business and econ are pretty different. Are they combined as one major there? You take a couple econ classes in business but econ itself is considered liberal arts (like history) while business is considered professional (like engineering).
I like business but if I went back to school I would major in history or English. The most important thing is to learn critical thinking and the most helpful thing is learning to write well. You can learn all that finance and accounting stuff later.
On Mon, Oct 24, 2011 at 3:14 AM, Bella wrote:
I haven’t actually seen any other kids using them.
By the way, I’m considering majoring in business/economics and minoring in public health! I’m going to sit through an econ lecture before i sign for any classes though!
On Oct 23, 2011, at 1:29 AM, Songbae wrote:
Haha, that’s great! Are they popular there?
On Sun, Oct 23, 2011 at 1:23 AM, Bella wrote:
I just wanted to tell you how much i LOVE my bose headphones! I seriously use them everyday. They are a necessity in college!
It appears that every letter I ever write to you will begin with the words, “You crack me up…”
You crack me up.
Lately, you’ve been moving into a bigger boy mode. While we anxious parents had trike and balance bike out and available when you turned two (you know, just in case you were one of those kids who were agile early) you have only discovered the pleasures of triking this past month. Now, you’re unstoppable and nothing pleases you more than a good trike ride around the whole neighborhood. It’s a shame that we don’t have a dog at the moment.
You have also become a bone fide lego addict aided and abetted by your co-dependent lego-addicted father. I mean seriously? How many lego sets does one family need?! (I better not pursue that line of thought, lest somebody think to criticize my closet-sized stash of yarn). Let’s just say, that it’s lego time in the morning, in the afternoon, and every night too. And every week means another trip to some lego outlet (vis. target, toy-r-us, the mall, even COSTCO) and another kit home. My three-year old son is getting THE MILLENNIUM FALCON LEGO KIT FROM SANTA THIS YEAR.
This is a set that contains 1,250 separate pieces and costs $139 and it’s been purchased for a THREE-YEAR OLD. It’s in the garage already! Chad has already has a pdf of the directions downloaded on his iPad. (And he’s already strategized the building plan – it’s built in two parts! The first 88 pages is just about building the base of the ship!)
So, FYI folks, no need to get Christian anymore Legos. His dad is doing a perfectly good job of keeping him stocked up. And let’s face it folks, Chad has already purchased every “good” set under $50.
Needless to say, the grand opening of the Lego store at our local mall, had a prominent place on our calendar for months. And when it opened, we went twice in the same weekend. And Chad’s been back twice since. I’m not even kidding when I say that there are Lego excursions every week.
The video below is of Christian helping build the giant SpongeBob figure on the opening day.
Christian and his friend Kyla even made it into the online version of the OC Register in a story on the event.
You can check it out here.
Other than that, hmmm… well, hand-in-hand with the Lego love affair is the Star Wars obsession. If your dad has anything to do with it, you will have seen the entire saga in 3-minute youtube clips by the time you are four years old.
I try to balance things out with Forest Kindergarten twice a week.
The video at the Kimberton Waldorf School website is the best description of Waldorf education I’ve ever come across. If you’re interested in Waldorf education, have a watch. You’ll wish you could go to school there.
Much of the buzz around Gajin Fujita these past eleven years (his first solo show was in Vegas in 1999, with an LA opening shortly after in 2002) has been gleeful gambling about whether this new-comer was burning too brightly to last. With his excessively desirable East-West mash-ups of erotic imagery overlaid with the graffiti street aesthetic and backed with a prodigious technical skill and bravado, Fujita excited more slavering than a Kogi truck kimchi quesadilla. His first show in Los Angeles in five years does not disappoint. As one might have hoped, Fujita has gone beyond facile dabbling of combining glossy decorative screen painting and graffiti to a place where the anger-fueled tagging ethic meets hell-bent samurai warrior and writhing sea serpent. Gone are the static, careful compositions of love-making; in its place are the forceful, messy contortions of struggle. In “High Voltage,†the dragon nearly thrashes off the panel with stylized blood spurting in at least two spots. The images too, have ripped free from context and float on exuberantly tagged backgrounds (LA Louver, Venice).
High Voltage, 2011
An older work for comparison. The work above is called CA (California), 2006-2007. The sexier ones are often more interesting, but I didn’t want to risk being censored.
I know everybody thinks I’m exaggerating when say how much creativity and talent there is floating around camp, but it’s TRUE! These are teenagers, 12-19, and they are really getting on with their lives.
The video below has one of my advisees from camp this year. His nick name is Dooble, and dancing is only one of his many, many talents. For the talent show, for instance, he recited the first 100 digits of pi. In under 1 1/2 minutes. He is also an accomplished “card flourisher.”
He’s the one in black. Go Dooble!
Coincidentally, there were three camp kids this year - and they were all three years old and had been born within one month of each other.
One of the cuter scenes from camp: Four buff teenage boys learning a karate form from one of the girls.
My sock-making workshop.
Organic, vegetarian food for every meal. Here, Christian is biting into his nori roll.
The Kiosk. This is where we slept. Notice to the right there is an ariel silk hanging from a tree branch.
There were often amazing arial acrobatics going on just outside the cabin door.
Hair cutting workshop. Each advisor was asked to teach a minimum of three workshops on topics of their choice. They often taught more than that. Also, campers and other staffers taught workshops.
One workshop was on making a bubble house. It generated a lot of excitment, and then ended up being used for both the staff party and prom.
One of the campers brought piles and piles of wool roving and taught a workshop on needle felting.
Christian and I often went for walks in the forest over the bridge.
Would you be surprised if I told you that I had my advisee group meet in the woods every day? At our last advisee meeting, we spent 20 minutes sitting and writing love letters home to ourselves - and it wasn
Banana slugs were always a cause for delight.
We even caught two banana slugs in the act. They made a love mandela.
I organized an art show with classical music.
One of the art pieces was a dress made entirely out of circles cut out of gift cards and jump rings. (Did I mention that one of the campers showed me how to make chain maille?)
Christian's favorite piece at the art show was the handmade sword (not made at camp). His contribution was painting the paper mache turtle blue.
There was such a surfeit of creative energy at camp it was unreal. Check out Christian's stegosaurus pancake.
Christian having a chat with the camp therapist, "So how do you FEEL about that?" (just kidding - Nathen just happened to be one of Christian's favorite people at camp.)
My plant-dying workshop (which included embroidery and crochet).
Of course, some of the campers just totally RAN with the embroidery.
Turmeric made lovely yellow hankies. The campers were quite adept with the embroidery and several made gifts for friends.
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During one of the camp meetings, we played a huge game of "Haha" (lay your head on a friend's belly, laugh once, your friends laughs twice and so on).
We made it up to Vista Peak only once. I was impressed with how many other people made the trek to the top.
All of this year's "graduates." Some of these campers had been coming to camp for SIX YEARS! This is a tight-knit community.
Back porch behind the kitchen - there is a hot game of Settlers of Catan going on. Notice Christian is there, in the lap of one of his favorite campers.
There was a beautiful swimming hole that we tried to visit every day. There were crayfish and newts. Here is a short video of some of the kids trying to WALK ON WATER. Hilarity abounded.
And here’s another video of two of my advisees during show-and-tell. It was hooping and harping.
Forest Kindergarten is going great! Both the Monday and Wednesday classes are completely booked with families on the waiting list. We are having fun and finding our groove. Terrific families participate in Earthroots’ programs and I am making new friends.
I’ve listed all the songs, handplays, and poems below for the month of October. Each month I switch out 4-6 of the songs in the opening circle – which is really keeping me on my toes. I always have something new to memorize.
The bookclub discussion is about Jon Young’s Coyote Guide. Chapter 3 lists and describes 13 core routines for developing nature awareness. I was gratified to be reminded that quiet sitting outdoors is the most essential routine of all thirteen. Sitting quietly for 15 minutes under the same oak tree has been the unlikely favorite part of my class.
Note that there is a new poem to transition into quiet sit time. We say the poem out loud together call and response before we find a quiet spot to sit. Caroline, my co-instructor, wrote that poem and I love it.
Caroline and Jodi are telling stories each week that relate to the natural history of Orange County, and to a letter of the alphabet. Last week when we did “A” (the story was about Thalia’s arrowhead) I emphasized that that two vertical lines of the “A” needed to touch at the top. One observant student said, “Oh, not like train tracks, but like my track splitter piece.”
Here are the songs, transitions, and blessings for October 2011. Follow, Follow Me
Follow, follow me
To the ring of the fairies
Follow, follow me,
Where the fairies dance and sing.
Gather with you now
All the magic you can carry,
As we circle ‘round the dancing fairy ring.
Now Look Around
Now look around
We’ve made a ring
By holding hands you see.
Yes, here I am,
And there you are,
Together we are we.
Four Directions Chant
Good morning to the East where the sun rises in the morning.
Good morning to the West where the sun sets at night.
Good morning to the South where the land is warm.
Good morning to the North where the land is cold.
And good morning to the Earth which is my home.
Morning Song from Betty Jones’s A Child’s Seasonal Treasury
Good morning dear earth. (Crouch, touch ground)
Good morning dear sun. (Rise and extend arms to sky)
Good morning dear rocks and the flowers every one. (Crouch and knock fists on ground, then wave fingers and sway hands for flowers)
Good morning dear beasts. (Remain crouching, put hands on head for horns)
And the birds in the trees. (Flap arms while rising to stand)
Good morning to you and good morning to me. (Bow to others twice, then stand upright and cross arms over chest.)
Goodbye Summer
Yellow the bracken,
Golden the sheaves,
Rosy the apples,
Crimson the leaves;
Mist on the hillside,
Clouds grey and white.
Autumn, good morning!
Summer, goodnight!
Woodchoppers
We are working, working hard
Chopping firewood in the yard
Chopping, chopping, chop, chop, chop!
Merrily the pieces drop!
Hands up high, that is right,
We must hold the chopper tight
Chopping, chopping, chop, chop, chop!
It’s the finest game we know,
It makes us warm from head to toe.
Chopping, chopping, chop, chop, chop!
Now a bundle we will tie
We’ll put it in the shed to dry
Chopping, chopping, chop, chop, chop!
Standing in a circle, the children grasp imaginary axes and “chop†in rhythm. At “bundle,†all stoop to pick up “heavy†bundle, trudge to center of circle to dump the load of wood.
The Squirrel Song
Autumn time is busy time for little Mister Squirrel
I see him working in my yard in his coat of soft brown fur.
He holds an acorn in his mouth and digs a hole with his front feet in wintertime
when he is hungry he will dig it up to eat.
And if he has not eaten it when winter turns to spring
A little tree will grow from it so straight and strong and green.
Five Little Pumpkins
Here’s five little pumpkins sitting on a gate
The first one said, “Oh my, it’s getting late!â€
The second one said, “Oh, I don’t care.â€
The third one said, “There’s something in the air!â€
The fourth one said, “ Let’s run, run, run!â€
The fifth one said, “It’s only Halloween fun!â€
Then WHOOSH goes the wind and OUT goes the light,
And five little pumpkins roll out of sight!
Scary by Betty Jones
Scary scarecrows? Ha ha ha! (Make menacing scarecrow gesture)
Crows just laugh at them! Caw, caw, caw! (Flap arms like crows)
Scary ghosties? Boo, boo, boo! (Float arms up and down while turning in place.)
Not as scary as you, you, you! (Point to somebody else and make scary face.)
Scary witches? Hee, hee, hee! (Fly on imaginary broomstick around circle.)
Not as scary as me, me ,me! (Stop in place and make scary sound/gesture.)
The Back Song
Dot, dot, dot
And a big question mark.
Little spiders crawl up your back
Little spiders crawl down your back
Little spiders crawl up your arms
Little spiders crawl down your arms
Cool breeze, tight squeeze.
Egg on the head and the yolk drips down.
Creepy crawlies, creepy crawlies…
Gotcha.
TRANSITION SONGS AND BLESSINGS
The Story Song
Anything can happen
In a fairy tale or rhyme
When you say the magic words
Once a upon a time
Handwashing Song
Time to wash our hands,
Time to wash our hands
Welcome, welcome
Welcome to our table
Welcome, welcome
We all join hands together. (We sing this until every one is at the table)
Snack Time Blessing
Earth who gives to us this food.
Sun who makes it ripe and good.
Sun above and earth below,
Our loving thanks to you we show.
Blessings on our meal.
Quiet Time Poem
Sitting, sitting quietly
I wonder what I may see-
What sound or smell the wind may bring…
I stop to notice everything.
Breathing, breathing calm and slow,
I let myself get in the flow
Of what is happening in this place
When I keep a slower pace.
Lunch Gratitude
Bless this food and everyone who made this meal possible. Let it remind us of our connection to the Earth, the Sun, the Water, the Air, all those who came before us and those who are yet to be born. May we keep them in mind in all we do.
CLOSING CIRCLE
Who will come to my wee ring?
My wee ring
My wee ring
Who will come to my wee ring?
And make it a little bit bigger?
The earth stands firm beneath my feet. The sun shines high above. Here I stand, so straight and strong – all things to know and love
I can turn myself and turn myself and stop me when I will. I can reach high on my tippy toes and hold myself quite still.
The Earthroots Tree Song
Standing like a tree with my roots down deep,
Branches wide and open.
Come down the rain,
Come down the sun,
Come down the fruits to the heart that is open.
Rainbow Bridge Song
Goodbye, goodbye
Blessings on your way.
May the sun shine bright
In your hearts today.
I took a CPR/First Aid class last weekend, as part of the stuff I have to do to be officially employed by Earthroots. Yesterday, I went to the Orange County Sheriff’s office on 11 Journey and got my live scan fingerprints. The sheriff’s office was so Orange County: clean-cut office building and friendly older, but boy-ish officers. It cost $12 and they sprayed my hands with Windex before scanning my hands. He said that sometimes a spritz of water was provided enough moisture for a good scan, but that Windex was always better. We laughed a little over the Big Fat Greek wedding joke about how Windex can be used for everything.
The CPR/First Aid class was excellent and I really felt much more confident after refreshing my memory and skills. I recommend everybody take one. In Orange County there are classes offered every day by several different companies (in Joshua Tree you might find one class a month…), and I was able to sign up for a Sunday class in Laguna Hills with only two days notice. You can take CPR and First Aid separately, but it’s the same price for the combination plus AED. $59 through Surefire CPR.
Our instructor was an EMT from Los Angeles County and he peppered the lecture (4 hours) with real-life anecdotes.
My notes:
Universal Precaution: Even if you don’t suspect infected blood, treat ALL BODILY FLUIDS as infected. Use rubber gloves. Always have rubber gloves.
The order of approach:
Check the scene for safety before approaching
Check for response (thump shoulder, yell loudly – paramedic says be loud)
Call for help – which means, send somebody, or call 911 yourself. Also grab AED kit if there is one (the machine that gives you a shock if you are unconscious from a heart attack)
Look for breathing. (Used to be Look, listen, feel, but as been streamlined.) Take no longer than 10 seconds. No need to check for pulse.
Start CPR.
CPR in ADULTS
30 compressions/2 breaths at a rate of 100 compressions a minute. This is fast. It is described as hard, fast, and interrupted as little as possible. The paramedic says that you pretty much break ribs every time you administer CPR, and to get over it. It will sound like your knuckles cracking and then you’ll feel a little grinding. : (
Place the heel of one hand just under the breast bone. Place the other hand on top and interlock fingers. Compress about two inches.
To prevent fatigue, lock your elbows straight while doing the compressions. 100/minute is pretty fast, pretty much as fast as I could compress with any degree of control.
You are likely to be out of breath and get tired. Because you’re supposed to do CPR until help arrives. Remember to tip the head back (to clear airway) and pinch the nose when you give breaths. Watch for the chest rising to know if you’re blowing hard enough. When we inhale air, it is composed of about 21% oxygen. When we exhale it is still composed of about 18% oxygen, which is enough for somebody else to breathe and survive. Use a barrier mask and wear gloves.
Christian is sleeping and I’m tearing myself away from my book (A Clash of Kings – the second in the Game of Thrones series) to write a happy birthday post for my brother. Especially seeing as how I never got a card in the mail.
Unsuspecting Songbae arriving at the Bishkek airport.
I maintain that time and energy are the best gifts. Anyway, I already gave him a paddleboarding session this summer as an early birthday gift, and even bought his favorite pens to send in a care package (but now that I’ve learned that my mother already sent him the same Zebra F-301’s, I’m keeping this set for myself).
Songbae's delighted face when he realizes that his entire department has come out to meet him.
Songbae is doing well; it is no surprise to our family that he is well-loved by his department at his micro-finance non-profit company, Kompanion. He is the chief financial officer (CFO) there, and when he returned to Bishkek from his 2-month summer holiday, not only did his entire department come out to the airport to greet him, but one of the interns had made a 15-minute Songbae documentary!
The sign they made for him - check the descriptive words under each letter.
Last weekend, I squeezed in an extra big dose of autumn fun.
Then, we drove to Ganma and Ganpy’s house in Joshua Tree. The next morning was “Apple Days” at Darlene’s house, which was several hours of singing, story-telling, and apple turnover-making. YUM.
Directly from Apple Days, we went to Joshua Tree National Park to meet some friends who were camping. We ended up staying to hike the 2-mile Split Rock trail and having a delicious BBQ chicken dinner. We saw our first wild tarantula of the season.
Saturday was Open Studios Tour and then the Zircon Wish Circus at night! Corrina stitched all my little videos of the circus into one longer one – the circus was next-door to Ganma and Gampy’s house, so we could walk right over.
