June. Rain. And all our young plants are in the ground, soaking up the water, waiting for the sun. Behind the fence that defines our protected zone, the garden is starting to look organized, beans and potatoes are up, and there have been greens for weeks. Still negotiating with the red clay that holds up the trees on our place in Virginia, we pushed and pulled and dug and hoed and carried and tilled and spread, again this year. Three years now, since the deer fence went up, and, Spring! We have been working in the garden. Chores follow weather. We planted early greens in our most developed bed and started chiseling out the clay, marking a clear trail while adding height to the bed itself. Bed excavation paused when mowing began, and after that we tilled in weeds and opened the ground, revealing again the possibility of garden beds that lives in our …READ MORE >
Point of View
This young painting, showing the interaction of the colors brown and blue on a white ground, looks like this viewed vertically, with the brown on the left. Rotate the painting 45 degrees; images seen in the painting change. Rotate another 45 degrees. New images appear, old ones disappear. One more turn…READ MORE >
Wednesday, a New Painting Takes Wings
I worked for many years in Waldorf schools, where observations Rudolf Steiner made in the early twentieth century continue to inspire and challenge school communities. Not only the teachers but also the staff, organizational board, parents, students and visitors who come to a Waldorf school quickly feel that something different, and powerful, is happening…READ MORE >
The Hens
Looking back, I see that not all the data was fully in when Michael and I decided to move to Virginia. We had factored in a lot of things as we considered the move, with water and garden spot two important considerations. People, of course. What we hadn’t anticipated was the ticks, the wood ticks…READ MORE >
From An Educator’s Notebook
TEN — Playing to improve confidence and familiarity with number facts. In arithmetic, complete familiarity and accuracy with basic number facts is important, so as an early grades teacher I played number games with students whenever there was a spare moment. The children studied number relationships while they had fun with each other, and…READ MORE >
