With Family

STORYLAND VALLEY ZOO
Nice shot, isn't it? I took it during a raptor demonstration at the zoo, on a magical day with daughters Rose & Laura, Rose's sweetie Ze'ev, and grandbabies Kaliana & Kai. Here's another one:

So proud to be riding on a pony!

A whole family life greeted me in Edmonton, in August, including days at the lake with Rose, Laura, and the two little 'Ks.' I got my nails done, got my hair done, and SCHOOL began to happen big time! (Is it obvious that I'm trying to catch up on my blog posts?) Meetings, home visits, watching with admiration as the WESE worker-women scrape and paint, saw and hammer, scrape and sew and transform three ordinary old classrooms into Waldorf places of wonder. Lesson planning, you may wonder? Mmm . . . I'm well behind in that department. And then, last weekend, a glorious mother/daughter retreat with my beloved singing sisters at Labyrinth Lake Lodge. (Oh! I didn't go as a grandmother, or even as a mother--I went as a DAUGHTER, with Kay as my other mother!) I was honoured with a ceremony (surprise!) recognizing my year away and my role in launching this new Waldorf program into the world.

My new students came to school yesterday afternoon to check out our new classroom, in preparation for their Big Day on Wednesday--so wonderful to see the classroom come alive with children!

Hey, today is watermelon day, in the French Republican Calendar--reminds me to be sure and enjoy summer's last juicy treats during these last few days of August!

This week Rudolf Steiner tells us:

I feel strange power, bearing fruit
And gaining strength to give myself to me.
I sense the seed maturing
And expectation, light-filled, weaving
Within me on my selfhood's power.

Yellowstone National Park

ONCE IN EVERY LIFETIME . . .
Everyone should visit Yellowstone National Park at least once--it is truly spectacular. Roaring, howling steam vents, boiling bubbling springs, and shooting fire-hose geysers are other-worldly surprises in the otherwise glorious mountain landscape. I had the honour of being (slightly) splashed with boiling white mud! Yellowstone was the climax of the road trip from New Hampshire to Alberta, for Ken & me. Yup, my sweetie drove 2700 miles across the continent to be there for me at my graduation in Wilton, and fetch me back home! August 1st, we 'did' New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York State, and enjoyed dinner at the Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca! August 2nd, we left New York State and 'did' Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa. That night we spent in the town of LeClaire, Iowa, on the Mississippi River. August 3rd and 4th were South Dakota--we loved the Black Hills, the Missouri River, and Badlands National Park. We shared the road with bikers everywhere, in the area for the big rally in Sturgis. August 5th and 6th were Wyoming, Montana, and the fabulous Yellowstone Park--you go there! By August 7th we (and especially Ken) were thoroughly tired of motels and motel breakfasts (even cook-your-own waffles can wear thin after awhile), and we pushed on home to Alberta.

So happy to be home!

Closing a Chapter

WILTON IN JULY
singing; juggling; cycling in the dark; fireflies; drawing; clay modeling; javelin; discus; flowers; gymnastics; eurythmy; games; science demonstrations; essays; skits on adolescence; rain & heat; coyote spotting; thunder & lightning; the art of speech; hummingbirds; Gregorian chant; lectures & readings; GRADUATION; good-byes; great food; great friends; great fun