please click this blurry thing - Boise winter
Greetings all
I hope you have passed into this spring with the joyful buoyancy due to such a beautiful time. The equinox for me signaled the end of an annual “fast”, of differing sorts, meant to remind me of scarcity, I guess, humble my desires, maybe, connect? I’m not exactly sure why I do it, but it feels right. There is logic in it, ask the Catholics. Or any of our ancestors who have had to worry every March whether there would be enough to last until the first greens, or the return of the fish. This year, I stopped buying alcohol on the Soltice. Believe me, it was a weak sacrifice at best. I gave myself plenty of outs, like restaurants and social events, and Amy could buy all she wanted. I had plenty of wine stocked up, too. But – I didn’t do it, had to ration and was at least conscious of what I was doing. Now that the Earth has shared an equal night to everyone, I’m going to trot up to Harrison Hollow and get a growler of the good stuff.
I have a couple of important things to announce. I want to introduce you all to Fennel – (Fenn) the newest addition to Scott and Amy’s .. . family? pack? tribe? Here he is on his second day with us, showing off his Egyptian royal white patch in the warm March sun. Spring break is this week, and Amy and I have finally stopped talking about getting another dog, and by-God went and got one. He was not the one we went to see, stemming from an ad in the paper – an Addie type dog, but he’s a sweetheart. Young, black, looks just like our old dog Katie. One week solid with us and then into the daily dog doin’s.
England
I have another important announcement that some of you know about already. For those, and for those who don’t, I want to give you the whole story. Amy got a bug in her ass a couple years ago to apply for a Bates fellowship offered by the school to public school teachers, to pursue some question or objective or experience, in the hope it would benefit the person as a teacher and by extension his/her students, and by extension – all of us. It’s a very generous, thoughtful, and progressive minded gesture. She re-worked the pitch several times, but never applied. Until this year, when the pieces seems to fall into place. Nothing like a collapsing global economic system to really push one to hurry. She got it. Not only got it, she nailed it. I quote here the response of a board trustee:
Bill Hiss wrote:
Leigh and Steve-- Amy Hutchinson '91. Great proposal, one of the best I have seen in years. The overlay of her HS teaching onto several forms of environmentalism as a way of explaining the importance of literature seems inspired. ...in fact it was far more developed and detailed than almost anything I have seen in the Barlow proposals, and she has done far more research than anyone else to be prepared and use her time well.
Amy will, in fact, be using her time well. She’ll be in a class in Totnes (south Devon) for a week. The class, from what I can make of it, looks at ancient cultures and their story via agriculture. I don’t do it justice, I know. She has lined up visits to a cider orchard and artisan cheese maker, and with the author of Transition Towns. Totnes is a transition town. I, however, really got the best deal of anyone. I didn’t have to write this grueling proposal, nor do I have to sit in a class, which I loathe, or write “reflections” which I abhor. I get to, hopefully, borrow a bicycle from the college and pedal away daily to the moors. Dartmoor to be exact. It’s the largest moor left in England and 5 miles away. The southwest of England looks absolutely astonishing. The thought of London is almost too much to think about – I am overwhelmed. It’ll be damned expensive, but we’ve been given a great gift (myself more than anyone) and we’re going to get the most out of it. Alas – we can’t be at Stonehenge on the Soltice. Can you picture that? Also – I’m afraid, Jeremy and Salmonberry, that means no trip to Alaska. I am truly sorry for that.
Did you know that they believe Stonehenge was a place of healing? Evidence confirms that the ancient Britons held great faith in the restorative power of certain blue granites, the very “bluestones” ringing the interior of the structure. They found skeletal evidence in nearby villages of travelers with severe maladies who came from as far away as eastern Europe – a monumental distance away.
So anyway – that’s this July. As for now – we’ve nine weeks left of school and a couple birthdays coming up. The newest birthday will be that of Beck Mueller – due mid April to Kari and Alex. We saw them this morning, along with Jennifer and Jeff Henry, Kari’s and Amy’s sister and brother in law. They came to see Anja before Leslie comes down for “the birthin” and all chaos breaks loose. It’s so exciting. April is such a wonderful time of year for such a lovely thing. Amy and I are looking forward to seeing Leslie, drinking some good summer wine and basking in the flower extravaganza that is April.
I want to leave you all with something I found on line. It’s a great little web page.
http://www.greenmuze.com/animals/wild/611-a-polar-bear-encounter-.html
Enjoy.
Scott
Greetings all
I hope you have passed into this spring with the joyful buoyancy due to such a beautiful time. The equinox for me signaled the end of an annual “fast”, of differing sorts, meant to remind me of scarcity, I guess, humble my desires, maybe, connect? I’m not exactly sure why I do it, but it feels right. There is logic in it, ask the Catholics. Or any of our ancestors who have had to worry every March whether there would be enough to last until the first greens, or the return of the fish. This year, I stopped buying alcohol on the Soltice. Believe me, it was a weak sacrifice at best. I gave myself plenty of outs, like restaurants and social events, and Amy could buy all she wanted. I had plenty of wine stocked up, too. But – I didn’t do it, had to ration and was at least conscious of what I was doing. Now that the Earth has shared an equal night to everyone, I’m going to trot up to Harrison Hollow and get a growler of the good stuff.
Fennel
I have a couple of important things to announce. I want to introduce you all to Fennel – (Fenn) the newest addition to Scott and Amy’s .. . family? pack? tribe? Here he is on his second day with us, showing off his Egyptian royal white patch in the warm March sun. Spring break is this week, and Amy and I have finally stopped talking about getting another dog, and by-God went and got one. He was not the one we went to see, stemming from an ad in the paper – an Addie type dog, but he’s a sweetheart. Young, black, looks just like our old dog Katie. One week solid with us and then into the daily dog doin’s.
England
I have another important announcement that some of you know about already. For those, and for those who don’t, I want to give you the whole story. Amy got a bug in her ass a couple years ago to apply for a Bates fellowship offered by the school to public school teachers, to pursue some question or objective or experience, in the hope it would benefit the person as a teacher and by extension his/her students, and by extension – all of us. It’s a very generous, thoughtful, and progressive minded gesture. She re-worked the pitch several times, but never applied. Until this year, when the pieces seems to fall into place. Nothing like a collapsing global economic system to really push one to hurry. She got it. Not only got it, she nailed it. I quote here the response of a board trustee:
Bill Hiss wrote:
Leigh and Steve-- Amy Hutchinson '91. Great proposal, one of the best I have seen in years. The overlay of her HS teaching onto several forms of environmentalism as a way of explaining the importance of literature seems inspired. ...in fact it was far more developed and detailed than almost anything I have seen in the Barlow proposals, and she has done far more research than anyone else to be prepared and use her time well.
Amy will, in fact, be using her time well. She’ll be in a class in Totnes (south Devon) for a week. The class, from what I can make of it, looks at ancient cultures and their story via agriculture. I don’t do it justice, I know. She has lined up visits to a cider orchard and artisan cheese maker, and with the author of Transition Towns. Totnes is a transition town. I, however, really got the best deal of anyone. I didn’t have to write this grueling proposal, nor do I have to sit in a class, which I loathe, or write “reflections” which I abhor. I get to, hopefully, borrow a bicycle from the college and pedal away daily to the moors. Dartmoor to be exact. It’s the largest moor left in England and 5 miles away. The southwest of England looks absolutely astonishing. The thought of London is almost too much to think about – I am overwhelmed. It’ll be damned expensive, but we’ve been given a great gift (myself more than anyone) and we’re going to get the most out of it. Alas – we can’t be at Stonehenge on the Soltice. Can you picture that? Also – I’m afraid, Jeremy and Salmonberry, that means no trip to Alaska. I am truly sorry for that.
Did you know that they believe Stonehenge was a place of healing? Evidence confirms that the ancient Britons held great faith in the restorative power of certain blue granites, the very “bluestones” ringing the interior of the structure. They found skeletal evidence in nearby villages of travelers with severe maladies who came from as far away as eastern Europe – a monumental distance away.
So anyway – that’s this July. As for now – we’ve nine weeks left of school and a couple birthdays coming up. The newest birthday will be that of Beck Mueller – due mid April to Kari and Alex. We saw them this morning, along with Jennifer and Jeff Henry, Kari’s and Amy’s sister and brother in law. They came to see Anja before Leslie comes down for “the birthin” and all chaos breaks loose. It’s so exciting. April is such a wonderful time of year for such a lovely thing. Amy and I are looking forward to seeing Leslie, drinking some good summer wine and basking in the flower extravaganza that is April.
schooling
A quick update on the house: We have the trim done and will start installing a hickory hardwood floor after the break. I’m putting some real cedar shingles as a front accent, something you don’t see in subdivision homes these days, and am getting plans ready for next year’s project. I’m all go for building a LEED house. As far as I know, it would be the first LEED house built by high school students in the nation. I need to do more research before I make that claim publicly, but I’m going for it. I too will be writing a grant at the end of the year to help cover some of the costs. The photo here is a moment during an essay test I gave my students. It’s hard to know what I think about it. No questions from them, no mis-understandings or dis-belief. Just sat right down. Their “schooling” was effortlessly on display, but their education is harder to display.
Hiking at Wilson Creek
I want to leave you all with something I found on line. It’s a great little web page.
http://www.greenmuze.com/animals/wild/611-a-polar-bear-encounter-.html
Enjoy.
Scott
