Seeds

It's the time of year for seeds. I had a great discussion with a friend who is studying plants in a university course. We talked all about the seed cycle--well, he spoke and I was glad to listen. Fascinating stuff. The world is such an intricately-wrot web of life. Sometimes we forget just how much is humming with existence around us--from the seemingly minuscule like the tiny seeds clinging to a "hippie on a stick" to the grand curtain of the turning fall leaves. The going on of life is absolutely pervasive if we pause to take notice.

The hibernation of the plants and animals mirrors my own desire for some heavy self-reflection time spent warmed by the wood stove and steaming cups of tea. I've been doing a lot of writing and guitar-playing lately. Lots of thinking about my own role in the world and where I see that going in the future. I think I will be here for at least the remainder of the school year, and then what? It's exciting not knowing, and to consider the multitude of possibilities given my drive and experiences so far in my short career.

At the school we hosted our second monthly tea party with great success. We had about fifteen guests, which is a huge turn-out considering the size of our town, and students gave them a tour of our Haunted Corner and served them the soups we had made--stone soup, in honour of the book by the same title (made with a turkey carcass from my Thanksgiving dinner, and potatoes and carrots we helped harvest from a neighbour's yard) and carrot-giner soup that we made with the shipment of carrots received from the BC Fruit and Vegetable program. A parent and a community member helped us make the stock and the soups, and they were absolutely delicious!

Photo Credit: Michelle Nortje

Photo Credit: Michelle Nortje

After the tea we carved the many pumpkins that were donated to the school, and a number of community members stuck around to help us with this. It has been such a wonderful year getting the community involved with the school. It's a great way for students to show off their learning, and it's so beneficial for them to practice interacting with community members and building relationships that can carry on outside of the school walls. I think the community benefits as well--a meeting place of ideas, and what day is not brightened by a kindergarten student handing you a hand-drawn map inviting you for a tour of the haunted corner. Students had such a great time designing tombstones and coming up with creative stories for how the people had passed away (people dying after being trapped in a haunted house was a popular theme). We also repurposed our space ship, built from a donated refrigerator box after a visit from a retired NASA professional at the start of the year, into a dark and scary coffin filled with a seven year-old vampire waiting to jump out and scare our visitors. Our grade 7 student also wrote up a very spooky legend about the haunted corner and was an absolute star at making sure our guests had full soup bowls.

We never know just how the seeds of days like this will spread through the community. What I do know is that it is such an amazing thing to look around the room and to see people talking with smiles on their faces, watch students who are so proud to show what they have built with their own hands and ideas, and to feel the room abuzz with positive energy. I hope that everyone was able to take away one small seed to plant in their winter garden--one small sentiment of warmth and connection to remember during the long months ahead.