Holiday Weekend

OAK FOLLOWS MAPLE
Two and three weeks ago the maples here were exploding with flaming colour; now those leaves have mostly fallen, and the oaks are a most delicious shade of honey-bronze. We breathed it in as we walked around the reservoir at Robin Hood Park this past weekend--my daughter, Rose, her partner, Ze'ev and yours truly. Rose and Ze'ev drove down from Ottawa on Hallowe'en for a visit, and treated me to a delightful weekend of exploring a bit of New Hampshire by car. We 'touched down' in nearby Roxbury, Monadnock State Park, Peterborough, Portsmouth on the Piscataqua River, and Newcastle, where we glimpsed some of New Hampshire's sixteen miles of seacoast. See all about it by visiting my web album! The three of us were blessed with a brilliantly sunny Sunday for driving about, although it was much chillier than you would guess by viewing the photos. And no wonder, for WINTER begins in two days, according to Liza Dalby in East Wind Melts the Ice. The season of frost peaks around the December solstice, cold strengthens as days begin to lengthen, and early spring follows close upon the heels of Brigid's Day, which is February first.

My Rose and her Ze'ev are the cute couple in the photo on this page. My generous landlady, Jan, welcomed them into her home, and put them up in one of her rooms which is conveniently, temporarily vacant. Jan introduced Rose and Ze'ev to her gentle pups Precious, Safi, Hero and Winnie, and they all seemed to enjoy meeting one another. Jan also treated us to a visit with her ball python, Diablo. You can see by the photo of me that Diablo is a charming fellow. The oak leaves were photographed at Strawbery Banke, an outdoor historical museum of vintage houses and gardens in Portsmouth. The Piscataqua River is nice, but we were hoping to see the Atlantic Ocean in Portsmouth. We drove a little further on to Newcastle, and the scenic view above was shot by Rose, as we admired the late afternoon sunlight at the real, true seacoast. On our way back toward Keene we ogled the multi-million-dollar homes along the sandy beaches of Hampton.

Rose and Ze'ev were intrigued by some of the presidential election preparations here. Saturday morning, there was a rally at Keene's Central Square. Saturday afternoon, we saw crews setting up in Peterborough for John McCain's Sunday visit there. Sunday evening, driving west from the coast back to Keene, there were police cars with flashing lights at regular intervals all along the highway. Some access ramps were blocked off, and we were barred from making a necessary turn toward Keene. Ze'ev drove a little further along the highway; then turned around in time for us to see the black McCain campaign bus make the turn toward Peterborough, followed by a couple of campaign support buses. McCain Blend and Obama Blend coffee beans are offered for sale in Keene, and we were invited to join 'the action' at Obama's campaign headquarters this morning as we drove in search of a downtown parking spot. Tomorrow is voting day for American citizens, and the rest will be history.

I felt just a little sad and lonely to see Rose and Ze'ev head back to Ottawa this afternoon, but oh, what lovely memories! I would NEVER keep track of my time away from home, but I've done nine weeks in Keene since the end of August, and I have seven left to go until my trip to Edmonton for Christmas. I booked my flight home for May 2009 as well, so I can go ahead and write countdown numbers in my daytimer--a number every Friday, to track the weeks until returning to Edmonton. Oh ya, I said I wouldn't track my time away, didn't I?

KEENE PUMPKIN FESTIVAL
Between 1992 and 2003 Keene chalked up eight world records for the most pumpkins appearing at their annual pumpkin festival. I do believe this is the biggest public event that Keene celebrates each year. Riding my bicycle to and from the university the weekend of October 25, I 'participated' in this year's festival by admiring the tall scaffolds loaded with rows of jack-o'-lanterns, and crossing paths with crowds of festival-goers. The Saturday-night fireworks were splendid, viewed from my second-storey bedroom window!

COURSE WORK AND CLASS VISITS
To fulfill our drama requirement, my class of thirteen is learning The Shepherd's Play, a musical play telling the Mary, Joseph and Jesus story, that is traditionally performed in Waldorf schools. We will be presenting it in a nearby community hall in mid-December. I have been cast as the hallowed Angel Gabriel, and I have a glorious solo to sing. I continue to keep up with assigned readings, reports, drawings, and my research paper on Tolstoy. It was my turn to introduce 'my philosopher' in class last Friday. Rather than impersonating the novelist himself, I chose to present myself as Countess Sophie Andreevna Tolstoy introducing my husband. Don't you know, my Lyovochka and I had thirteen children together, ten of whom survived infancy and early childhood. I ran the household, nursed my babies and tutored them myself, transcribed War and Peace and Anna Karenina from Leo's illegible scribbles into my own clear handwriting, felt that I was participating intimately in the lives of his wonderful story characters, organized the publication of the novels, and translated my husband's work into French and German!
. . . just an ordinary housewife . . .
A favourite assignment of my Waldorf instructors is to have students create a 'notebook' or 'journal,' including notes taken during class, personal reflections on the material studied, and in some cases, illustrations or some form of artistic rendering of the course content. For my painting class, my watercolour notebook includes miniatures of our class painting assignments, illustrating the steps along the way to completing each painting. Re-copying my notes makes my arm ache from time to time, but it's an excellent review, and keeps the learning fresh in my mind.

Thanks to classmates willing to drive me to schools in different towns, I have completed my required visits to various Waldorf elementary classrooms, and have come to the conclusion that there are have and have-not teachers. Some teachers have their classes--the children are focused and engaged, and teaching and learning carry on in a lively, interesting fashion. Other teachers have not 'got' their classes. Children fidget and squirm frightfully, rock or jump with or even fall out of their chairs, and receive 'strikes' so that they have to serve penalties by standing motionless beside their desks. The have-not teachers struggle continually to earn the attention of their charges, and this is all quite uncomfortable for the visitor (me) to observe. I would like to offer a single tip to the have-not teachers out there: After making a request of the children, such as, for example, 'Leave the chairs alone,' wait for all hands to come off of the chairs before proceeding with your activity. The waiting is the indication that the behavior is required, in order for the lesson to continue. It is simple and effective.

Here we are, part-way between Michaelmas and Winter Solstice, in the thirty-first week of the soul year that began at Easter. Consider Steiner's seasonal verse for us:

The light from spirit depths

Strives to ray outwards, sun-imbued;

Transformed to forceful will of life

It shines into the senses' dullness

To bring to birth the powers

Whereby creative forces, soul-impelled,

Shall ripen into human deeds.