It is the official last day of the Fall Wilderness Skills session and although there will be extra classes in December for some, others are calling it a day until Spring. Parents were invited to come and share in what our children have learned while they were out in the woods. We met in the parking lot at Great Hollow and began our hike to the campsite. It was longer and more challenging than expected but we all managed to make the trek. On arrival we were greeted by the site of a teepee like shelter that has been the project of the session. But where were our children? Slowly, one by one, they revealed themselves from their hiding places in plain sight.
The shelter is still a work in progress. The goal is to make it last for a very long time and so great care is going into it’s creation. Held together with grapevines softened over fire, there is not a nail in sight. The children have painstakingly built this on their own, with only supervision from their mentors, Broch and Greg, who make sure that everyone stays safe.
These kids are at home out here in the woods and that is as it should be.
They return at the end of the day smelling of burning leaves and wood and the outdoors. They are dirty, tired and happy.
This, along with his COA, is my gift to my son. I hope that he will always have the woods in his soul. Thanks to all at Great Hollow: Ananda, Broch, Greg, Ethan, Melissa and all the others who make this opportunity available and give of themselves so that others can learn and grow. I am blessed that you are part of our “village.”
Kids must bounce back better than us old folks. My head was still in a fog and there was no way I would have gotten up on a horse so soon after being sick like I was, but like I said, I think I was the sickest and so Clare was just fine for her last vaulting lesson of the season.
She has made amazing progress and her confidence has grown by leaps and bounds. I am so very proud of her. I am learning that if I leave her to her own devices, she makes great strides (although sometimes so quietly I have to look hard to notice.)
Can you see what a lovely young woman she is becoming? I think there is magic on the back of a horse.
I know, bad blogger! But I have an excuse. Really. I do. You see, after all the excitement of Nick’s COA ceremonies and celebrations died down, we all got sick. I think I was the sickest of everyone and as the mom, being sick with 2 sick kids isn’t fun or pretty or picture worthy at all.
There was lots of lying around and sleeping on the couch and way too much tv, nose blowing, advil taking and things of that nature. What there wasn’t, was writing, blogging, knitting or much creativity. Just a sick induced fog that took way too long to clear.
But we are better now, thanks for asking! And life goes on.
I am a Unitarian. There. I said it. I’ve been attending the UU Church in Westport, CT since my son Nick was a little shaver of about 18 months old. Early on, when I was still just visiting and exploring my options, I found myself sitting in a Coming of Age service for a group of young men and women who were graduating from the Religious Education program and moving on into the High School Youth Group. They had been through a year long program which began with a course on Human Sexuality and Relationships and ended with the COA: an opportunity to learn about, discuss and articulate their own beliefs. I was so taken with the presence and poise of the young people who shared their understandings with the church community that I knew then and there this was a gift I wanted to be able to give to my own children. When the time came to make a commitment to be a part of this special program, Nick began his journey, along with about 29 other young people to participate in this year’s Coming of Age.
As with most of the others in his group, Nick was reluctant to make the year long commitment. A Sex Ed class every Sunday? Are you kidding me? I guess I put it in terms he could understand. As homeschoolers, we have a lot of choices and very few obligations with our time. I told him that this was a commitment we were going to make and it was not optional. He grudgingly agreed. And so for the last 14 months (excluding the summer,) we barely missed a Sunday service. There were days that I’m sure Nick would have preferred to miss but like a trooper he went. There were assignments I’m sure Nick would have preferred to ignore but again, like a trooper, he forged on. The 30-some kids, who, I’m sure, like Nick, would have preferred to spend their Sundays otherwise engaged, came together and with the help and guidance of teachers and mentors who are worth their weight in gold, became this amazing group.
The festivities began on Saturday evening with a pot luck dinner. After sharing a lovely meal, we all gathered in the Sanctuary to light candles and read our Gratitude statements. I cannot tell you how moving and powerful it was to hear each of the youth addressing their families and loved ones, verbalizing their gratitude and appreciation and hear their families expressing gratitude and love for them in return. It’s one thing to think about all the things for which you are grateful. I’ve heard that there is power in writing those things down. But looking someone in the eye and saying words of thanks out loud makes them a part of your being and must indelibly mark them somewhere in the Universe. Having Nick read his gratitude statement and respond with my own was something I know I will never forget. I am truly sorry that his dad was unable to be there to hear it.
Each of the COAers read their belief statements. Here is Nick’s: (stay tuned for video)
“I believe in Knowledge. Knowledge is what helps us act. Without knowledge we would not be able to advance. But I think we start without knowledge and gain it through trying. As we gain knowledge, we get better and better at our topic of choice to the point that we can teach it. As one of my instructors said, “You don’t really know something until you can teach it.”
Listening to each of the Coming of Age participants read their statements was inspiring and filled me with hope for the future. This is truly a group worthy of taking on the world.
The celebration continued the next day at the Coming of Age service at church. Again, the group had the opportunity to read their belief statements, this time in front of the Church community that they will be a part of. At the end of the service, the High School Youth Group participants joined to welcome them into the fold. Now they are Youth Group members and the journey continues with opportunities to grow and serve the community of their church and hopefully, the world.
Here’s Nick, reading his statement, as promised:
This is Mocha. He belongs to Monica, the lovely lady who runs the Great Hollow Wilderness program where we have our Homeschool Coop and take classes that teach us to love and respect the earth and survive out in the woods. I thought Mocha (despite the fact that he fits right into my fall color theme for the day) was so darn cute that he deserved his own post.
Just how can one small little dachshund pup contain all that cuteness?
Lucky for us, Monica was kind enough to share him for a little while. Can’t wait to see him again and get some puppy sugar! Thanks, Monica, for letting us meet and fall in love with your little guy!
This has been a particularly lovely fall. The weather has been blessedly mild and the leaves have been spectacular. However, due to time constraints and lots of rushing here and there, the opportunities to take pictures of the lovely foliage have been few and far between. So today, in celebration of the glorious light and the copper and gold leaves that are left on the trees, I grabbed my camera and took a few shots around Great Hollow.
Admittedly, there’s not much left of the leaves to shoot but I thought the bareness of the trees against the coppers and burnished golds of the leaves that are left made a lovely contrast against the blue of the sky and the fluffy white clouds.
And while inside, I’m cringing to think of the winter to come, I’m also celebrating the beauty of the New England Fall.
But who am I kidding? I will be out here as soon as the first snow falls, taking pictures of the winter landscape and loving it every bit as much.
I am knitting again. I thought I would take the time to mention it. It may not be such a big deal for you, but it is for me. There was a time when I wouldn’t go out of the house without a knitting project tucked into a bag in case I had a few minutes to spare with nothing else to do but knit. I made weekly trips to several local yarn stores and all the shopkeepers knew me by name. I always had more than one project going at once (how boring is it to only be working on one thing at a time?) I spent the time I wasn’t knitting, surfing the net, reading up on my knitting forums, and checking out the new patterns on knitty.com. Then I started blogging.
When I started my 365 Project almost 2 years ago, I was committed to photographing and posting at least one new picture every day for a year. Taking pictures, editing them and writing about them started to get in the way of my knitting. My needles started to gather dust and my yarn stash was getting lonely. My closet was littered with UFOs (unfinished objects.) I hadn’t started anything new, perused a knitting magazine or even realized that I hadn’t been getting any emails alerting me to the new edition of knitty in more than a year. Things were looking bad.
Funny, because after not having knit in more than a year (gasp!) I finally made it to the NYS Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, NY. At the festival, I allowed myself to become giddy with the smell of yarn and the feel of knitting needles in my hands. I wandered through aisle after aisle of yarn, needles, roving, sweaters, hats, and all other manner of knitting accoutréments. After the initial moments of hyperventilation had passed, I purchased a few skeins of sock yarn in the hopes of getting my knitting mojo back and maybe — just maybe — picking up my needles again and knitting something from start to finish. It had been so long!
When I got home, I headed for my closet, organized my yarn stash, ripped out the few forlorn UFOs, went through my needle sets and started perusing books and magazines for patterns. Ah, the rush of starting out fresh!
This week, I finished a lovely cowl made of a hand dyed silk wool blend I had gotten at the CT Sheep and Wool Festival way back when and started on a pair of 2-at-a-time, toe-up socks for Clare with some of the newly purchased sock yarn. I’m going to have to rip out a few rows (no biggie) because I was a little to quick to begin work on the heel but despite that minor set-back, things are going swimmingly. I am already planning for what I will cast on next. This is a good sign that things are going well.
Here are my mostly companions sitting nearby as I take some early morning quiet time in front of the computer.
They’ve been out, breakfasted and treated at least a time or two and so they are willing to let me be for at least a little while.
No one else is awake just yet and I’m getting my brains ready for the week ahead.
There is school work to be done, chores, and Clare has a vaulting lesson and musical theater in the afternoon. Can I please use “Because it’s Monday” as an excuse to not get much done?
I can’t complain one iota about the weather we are having. Being at the barn in the crisp, cool fall air is a delight. It’s still warm enough to ride without frozen noses, fingers and toes and that’s all right by me.
Clare joins in with her vaulting class and I take some time to visit the horses. This is Archie, a Hafflinger cross. He’s a sweet old boy and loves to lick your hands.
The Friesians have their heavy winter coats and stare longingly into the pasture. Grazing time is over until the spring. I bet they miss the grass. I wonder what the horses think of Winter.
Clare was asked to help tell a story about Peace at our church along with a couple of other girls from her Religious Education class. She’s in her Halloween costume because the kids got to go through the annual Haunted House even though it was the day after Halloween and All Saints Day to boot. We Unitarians are a wacky bunch, aren’t we?
Then it was on to vaulting class. I thought it was our last class but it looks as though we will keep on going until it’s too cold and people stop showing up. Ok, I’m game!
Today we used 2 of the Friesians, Jorritt and Tammi. We’ve used Jorritt for vaulting but I’ve never ridden Tammi before. She is not the biggest Friesian at the barn but she is bigger than Jorritt. Just so you know, even though Clare is riding her with a saddle on, there are no reins and no stirrups. In order to mount, you have to jump up, throw your leg over and get on while another person helps you up. I admit it: I stressed out about whether or not I could get my fat old self up high enough without embarrassing the hell out of myself or killing the person who was helping me mount. But I managed to get on without too much fuss or injury to anyone involved.
I don’t know if you can tell from the picture, but Clare wasn’t thrilled with the ride. Tammi is a bit challenging for a beginning rider. She’s huge and her trot is bouncy and while her canter is much smoother, it is pretty fast. But it was a thrill. I hope I get to do it again. I got right on Jorrit to do some vaulting exercises right after being on Tammi and my legs felt like such jello, I declined to stand this time around.
I am so very glad I got my chance to learn to ride and to be around horses before it was too late.
Lucky us! We got to celebrate Halloween twice this year and we had twice the fun. Our usual plans of heading into Norwalk fell through because poor Molly was feeling rather ill and not fit for company. Instead we watched old horror movies and had a quick dinner before heading into Newtown, the Halloween capital of Fairfield County. Those Newtown residents really know how to put on Halloween. The whole street gets into it; houses are decorated and ordinary citizens are magically transformed into creatures of the night. It is a sight both frightful and delightful all at the same time.
Ghosts and goblins peeped around corners and though upstairs windows.
Plenty of grinning pumpkins (some friendly and some scary) lit up the paths to people’s porches.
There was a spider on the loose and one poor family seems to have become it’s dinner.
Houses, once warm and welcoming, warned of dangers within.
While all the tricking and treating was going on all around, some old lazy bones chose to spend the night just hanging around.
Others preferred to party on well into the night.
When we had visited every single house open to us on the street, we put our masks away and rode homeward into the night to do as we were bid and Rest In Peace.
