a return of sorts

it's been...a while since i last wrote here. a lot has changed. the pandemic really took a toll on my enthusiasm for recording just about anything. my mental health deteriorated and whatever energy i had was spent within and for my immediate family.

but i'm back. it feels strange and different and almost new. and - dare i say it - exciting?

so what you, dear reader, may want to catch up on is that artemis graduated homeschool and moved to boston for the carpentry program at north bennet street school. more about that later, but suffice it to say that he is pursuing his dream and i could not be more pleased or proud of him.

ander is homeschooling rather than moving to public high school with his classmates. covid conditions have once again surged with the delta variant, and we can do so much better for him homeschooling than public school can provide, especially under these circumstances.

steve is continuing to work from home (fortunately he has a job that allows him to do so), but i am no longer working for or at monroe street studio. and i think i'm finally okay with that. 

i'm starting a new chapter in my life story. 

also, my word of intention this year? soothe

homeschool philosophy

this lovely post came across my dash this morning and it was too good not to share.

i can incorporate this into metta/lovingkindness:

may i open my loving and courageous heart to myself
may i open my loving and courageous heart to my children
may we listen to each other with open hearts

also:
may i nourish my child's body and mind with the good food and time spent together that we both enjoy

a day off school - with big brother doing something else - sometimes means a pasta date for me and ander

an excerpt from the post:

"I want to open myself to what is, to see my children for who they are and our homeschool for what it is...I can close the plans and curricula and to-do lists for a little while and observe how they tackle something on their own. And I can do this not once or once a year but regularly, every season, so that our homeschool changes as they change. I also need to remind myself of this when we hit a hard patch. Sometimes, yes, there’s something I can change to make things easier or better, but sometimes, the problem is not mine to fix."

i will no longer raise my children to be colorblind

among the things i am working on with artemis this year for homeschooling is racism.

we need to know what it is and how it begins and how it is perpetuated if we want to eliminate it. kind of like studying a disease - to find a cure for smallpox, we had to find out what it was, what causes it, how it's spread, and how it could be eradicated.

racism is bad. on that, i hope we all can agree. we want there to be a world without racism. i think we can similarly look towards that as a goal.

here's where we are looking at things following some sort of structure, making it a little more formal than just discussing the news, which we also do:

11-step guide to understanding race, racism, and white privilege

which has led to finding this series of videos on MTV News, called decoded

curriculum for white americans to educate themselves on race and racism

a site i'll use for reference purposes is blackpast.org

documentary i am not your negro

to be continued . . .

addendum: i've added a resource list on a new page titled social justice

loudounberry farm & garden

late october botany field trip to loudounberry farm & garden near lucketts.

came to inspect the patio vertical gardens. entranced by the animals (especially the japanese quail - such perfectly bird-shaped birds). came home with seeds for indoor herb growing and a jar of locally-made apple butter.

bunny and chickens and sheep, oh, my

homeschool conference

among other reasons, this is why we go:

talent show:

project show:

art show:

it's a time and place to share and learn and see and do within a space that celebrates with us.