Small Circles

And so the end begins...

It has begun.  I am really present to the sadness today, and so is Albie.  Mama, I am really going to miss my friends, he says.  I know, I know.

So many goodbyes, still saying goodbye.  In 36 years, so many goodbyes.

The tears are flowing, there's no stopping them now.  Just the other day I was praying for my heart to burst open with love, longing to feel that bliss....  I suppose tears are a great vehicle for that love.  I am feeling the love.  And it is beautiful.  And it hurts.

Passing the torch ~ letting go ~ the story of a circle

When I first arrived in Argentina, I searched high and low for a woman's circle.  I think I wrote about this before...  using google to search for a circle in BA...  I called up a woman whose site I had found on the internet, and asked her if she had a circle.  She didn't.  Lots of workshops and classes, but no regular circles.  We spoke for a while, sharing our stories, and at some point she says, "Wait a minute...  why don't you start a circle?"  "What are you waiting for," she said, "the goddess herself to come knocking on your door?"   I responded like a little girl.  I think for her I tried to keep my cool, uh yeah, perhaps I'll do that...  but inside I thought, no way, not me, where would I do it, I'm just a visitor, for pete's sake they speak spanish here.

Fast forward a few months:  I had been sending out monthly emails to a group of women I'd met in a class, all saying, in short: whoops, sorry, not this month, I still can't find a space.  Weird huh?  How in this huge, gigantuous city, I could not find a space to host a circle.  So convenient.

Fast forward to June-ish, and a young woman writes back to me, I have a space, let's do it...  I say ok, great, yup, Friday it is.  Then the internal critic, (those gosh darn vermicious knids of the mind,) starts in... blah, blah, yuck, yuck, you suck.  This woman, Jaz, is somewhat of a flake, and we don't really confirm that we are doing a circle until Friday morning.  The circle is supposed to take place that evening.  I run around like a mad woman all day, gathering supplies, fighting the critic.  She's telling me all day to just blow it off...  run away!  You're better off alone!  I share my sentiments with Chris, who knows a thing or two about Jen, and he says, "You're going to go and then come home and tell me, 'Oh Chris it was so beautiful and so wonderful and the women are so amazing.'"

I facilitated the circle that night, there were five of us at its birth, and I came home and said, "Oh Chris it was so beautiful and so wonderful and the women were so amazing."  And it really was...  it was a beautiful birth. We sang, we danced, we released, we made magic candles.  I realized that first night that this circle was not about me teaching, it was about me learning.  As we held more circles, it became clearer and clearer:  there was so much I could learn from these women.  I had been nervous that they would think some of the rituals goofy, and I had thought I'd go slow...  slowly bring them into the fold.  Well, poop on me -- it was them who brought me in, fast and furious.  They were/are so open, so ready for this kind of sacred play, so ready to release and act and participate and howl at the moon.  Goofy?  That was my thing...

By the fourth circle, I felt as though my vision for the circle had been fulfilled.  Three of the women were so enthusiastic, they asked if they could participate in the creation of the circle each month.  Of course, I said yes.  It was a great opportunity for my ego to let go:  this is my circle, these are my rituals, this is mine!  It actually wasn't all that hard -- I saw that by letting go, I could ensure that this circle would continue on, long past my short stay here in Buenos Aires.  And so, by the forth circle, I felt complete:  this circle would grow and flourish...  and my role was in birthing the circle.  The sustenance of the circle was perhaps not my role...

Well, on Friday, I officially passed the torch.  Even though the circle was sometimes created communally, I had been doing the facilitating.  Well, this month I asked the other women to take charge.  Actually, I was so extreme that I almost didn't go to the circle.  (Must have been my critic again:  run away!)  But that would be like teaching someone to swim by throwing them in the middle of a pool -- doesn't feel all that safe when you're the one being thrown in...  So, of course, I went, as a participant, and just to help embrace these women...  give them something to lean up against.  I bought the circle a cauldron, and officially passed on the fire.  It was a beautiful circle, and they completely took on creating it for themselves, and with their vision.  Even so there were sparks of me, sparks of Susan and the NY circle, sparks of the Spiral, sparks of Vishnu and ascension and my first circle of way back when...  So full...

And so it is complete.  I feel a lot of pride, but in a "look what came through me" kind of way.  Perhaps it is more honor than pride actually, honored that somehow this little spark, ignited in NY (and before and since time immemorial), came with me to BA, and I could pass it on, and they will pass it on, and on, and on...  It's like what I feel about Albie and his amazingness...  I can't take credit for him, his greatness -- I am just touched and mystified that he came through me...  Stevie says it best:  "I can't believe what god has done, through us he's given life to one, isn't she lovely, made from love..."

So you know, well done me, well done us, thanks to the spirits for seeing to it that our sparks connected to ignite the great fire of this circle.  For this last gathering one of the women's partners created a flier.  I post it here, like a proud mama, showing off pictures of her one year old...  Happiness and hugs all around...

Woof, woof

Yesterday, at around 7:30 pm, Albie and I were heading to La Juvenil to buy some homemade ravioli for dinner.  As we were walking by a cafe with a television, I caught a news report out of the corner of my eye:  38.8 en la sombra.  38.8 degrees -- in the shade -- at 7:30 pm.  Put that into google's handy conversion gadget, and google will tell you:  It's sweltering, and we are meltering. 

It is official then, in spite of today's rain -- the dogs days of summer are upon us.  Summer vacation is winding down, the city is filling up again, school starts on March 4th, and we will have to wake up a bit earlier than 10am...  And go to bed before 11pm...  I am looking forward to the rhythm and organization of the autumn, and grateful that we had ourselves a lovely summer vacation.  (And that our school year only goes until May, when we begin summer vacation all over again.)

We spent a couple weeks in Cordoba, one of the province of Argentina.  Cordoba has some seriously good vibes -- perhaps due to all the running water and the quartz crystals underfoot.  We stayed in a teeny town, and enjoyed the clean air and the quietness.  I was struck with (again) just how beautiful this country is, and how it will take a long time to really get to know Argentina.  We barely made a dent this past year... 

We played in rivers...


And got caught in a hail storm whilst playing in the mountains (notice ominous clouds behind my mom and Albie)...


We made gnome houses...


And Chris and Albie enjoyed the golf, while I enjoyed the views from the golf course...

When we returned from Cordoba we moved right in to our new apartment.  Truly, the apartment is lovely, and twice the size of our old place.  What a lesson, this little move was...  wonder if I have learned it well for the last time?  I was so sad to leave our old place, so upset to move, I just was so Veruca Salt -- I did not want to move!  Not now!  Not ever!  Well, duh, of course the move worked out great, perfect, better than I could have imagined.  I am thrilled to complete our Argentine adventure here in this house. 

Here we are watching the inauguration...

The rest of the summer has been quite peaceful.  Albie turned six!  (I'll have to do a post once I'm done catching you up...)  We go to bed late, wake up late, and lounge around until we are inspired to get up and go.  We've spent a lot of time with friends, family, and in my mom's rooftop pool.  Buenos Aires is bursting with different shows suitable for kids and families so we've also seen our fair share of clowns, acrobats, musicians and drummers.  Albie has been attending a once a week "camp" called d-Spacito.  The founder comes from the slow-food movement, and so this space is a sort of slow-activities hang out for kids...  In the four hours he's there, Albie does yoga, puppets, theater, cooking...  I think it's a fairly fabulous idea, and someone should copy it state-side.

Every time I walk Albie to d-Spacito...

we take a different tree-lined route...

so that I can admire some of the newer, renovated houses...


and some of the older classics...

Buenos Aires has so many beautiful little corners, it's really a lovely city in so many ways...   Well, I think I'm fairly caught up...  Hope your summer or winter was as splendid as mine.

A man, a plan, a canal, Colorado!

Well, we have the makings of a plan.  On Sunday May 31st, we leave Argentina and fly to NY.  Of course, a full, detailed itinerary would be too out of character, so the rest of the plan is:  move to Boulder sometime after that, but before school starts.

Oh the ambivalence!  Back when we lived in NY, and I was not too happy, Boulder gleamed like the Emerald City (well, in a muted, sagebrush version)...  Argentina was just a stop on our yellow brick road.  And now?  I am really going to miss BA.  I really like so much about my life here, I like the people I've met, the things I've seen, the projects I've accomplished.  I have been feeling recently that if it were just me, I could stay in South America indefinitely...  There is still so much to see, do, explore, uncover.  There are still so many parts of my body/mind/soul that want to be filled with the energy of the South.  I am so grateful we came here, so grateful for the connections I've made -- feeling like this connection will last (must last) for a good long while.  A bridge is what I see, what I want to be -- helping the flow of South to North to South to North.

When I first arrived here, I was struck by how much the flow (of info, culture, etc...) seemed to be from North to South.  And I think this is true around the world -- the northern hemisphere, with all it's "first world" countries, is well, on top.  And as I was thinking about leading women's circles here, or doing rituals, I was really clear that I did not want to continue that -- bringing all my better, faster, new-and-improved, efficient ideas and ways of being to the South.  No, I wanted to listen to this land, to hear it's messages, to hear it's authentic voice.  What does the earth say to me here?  Is there a way for me to help reverse the flow?  South America feels so heart-based:  here, the men kiss each other hello.   I felt/feel like we could use some of that heart up North...  I wanted to fill myself up with this energy, and bring it back with me.  Anyhow, I have immersed myself into this land (via the city of Buenos Aires, at least), to hear it's voice...  but...  But!  Oh, there is so much more to hear...  And I will be sad to leave it...

One lovely symbolic act of bringing the South to the North is my blessed tarot project.  Dear bloggy, I haven't even mentioned this to you yet.  Nutshell:  serendipitously met a wonderful woman, who has become a friend, and who created a gloriously feminine sort of tarot deck.  Not convention tarot, more of an oracle...  she calls it the menstrual tarot, among other things.  El Oraculo de la Mujer Sagrada -- The Oracle of the Sacred Woman.  I have been, since August, translating this tarot and associated writings, and now I am working more intensely with Monica to develop a greater understanding/connection with the deck.  The thought is, I will bring these cards to the states with me -- to sell, to do readings, etc...  Very magnificent.  Perhaps one of the reasons I came here in the first place.  Really thrilled to be sharing this piece of S. America...

On another hand.  I am tired of the city.  I'd like some air, space, airspace.  I like Albie to run, free, runfree.  I'd like a home.  I'd like Whole Foods.  I'd like to circle in english.  I am ready to go, looking forward to, even.

And so, back to Boulder.  Really?  I cannot even visualize it, in spite of all the Mork and Mindy I've been watching lately.  It's good, I am glad for our plan, I am...  I am glad to settle, to unpack, to create a solid base from which I can offer more.  I am glad to give Albie a settled primary school experience.  I looooove Colorado, the immensity of the plains, the purple mountains majesty, the call to my soul.  Vuelo de Mujer -- Flight of Woman, visioning.  Perhaps I am caught on the word "back."  Can we go back?  Did we ever leave? 

This is where I sit right now, on the cusp of 2009.  Visited by the Goddess Ambivalencia.  Off to Cordoba for a couple of weeks, where I can sink into the land directly, rather than through layers of concrete.  Then we come back.  Then we move to another apartment.  Then....  I drink up us much Argentina/Buenos Aires/South America as my vessel can hold. 

May 2009 bring us closer to love, peace...  closer to ourselves.  Happiest of New Years!

Freedom, everybody

Last Friday was Albie's last day of school, the parents were invited in to celebrate, and the children were able to play one last time. 

It was very emotional -- thinking of Albie's struggles at the beginning of the year...  saying goodbye to parents and teachers who would not be returning...  Also, another opportunity to see that my child just really isn't like all the other children.  As we were about to go into the classroom, Albie had an upset with his dad, and well, the levee broke.  He was just so upset, didn't want to go into the classroom, didn't want to sit in his chair for "la ronda" -- he just could not be with it.  And of course, he was the only one...  I mean, it's not like the other kids weren't sad, it's just that Albie, well yeah, he was the only one who just couldn't participate.  He really goes inside himself...  really emotional and uncomfortable.  His teacher is wonderful, and neither she nor I forced anything on him, an soon enough he was playing and laughing and bossing around.   And this has been this way for as long as I can remember...  he is an observer, he stays a bit outside the circle.  Eventually, he warms up, and if you are lucky enough to be in his inner circle, he gets deeply attached.  We once did a music class when he was 2 or 3 -- and again, he was the only kid who didn't prance and sing and dance.  I pranced and sung and danced, trying to show him, "Wow!  Look how cool it is to participate!"  But no, he just sat and watched.  Happily, and with a smile, but watching nonetheless.  Remember the spring festival?  Or the bring show and tell wrapped in a box?

Not sure this means anything at all, just you know, knowing my child...  Want to help him feel ok opening his heart.  I had a laugh at myself when I remember a class here I took recently.  It was a class about gods and goddesses and archetypes and Jung over at the local fancy shmancy yoga center.  At the end of the class, the teacher passed around a "which goddess are you quiz."  Multiple choice, it was a way of discovering what drives you.  Just a little fun after a serious lecture.  Anyhow, I get the quiz, and it just drives me crazy.  I'm not sure if I'm answering from the truth about me, or what I'd like the truth to be at this point.  And i just can't complete the damn thing.  I figure, it's cool, I'm a bit Hestia, a bit Aphrodite...  this much I know.  So then, much to my embarrassment, the teacher proceeds to ask everyone in the room about their quizzes, and what they found out.  And wouldn't you know it, out of the 30-40 people in the room, I was the only one to say, "Uhh, I didn't do it."  Which probably says a lot more about me than filling out the quiz would have.  Like mother, like son?

Anyhow, shit, we were talking about the last day of school.  Here's some pics that Albie took:

 

 

It was another stupendous glimpse of my son in action, actually...  Albie had all his friends following his orders:  stand here, smile, make a funny face, get together, go here, go there, etc...  Parents had been trying and trying to get the kids together for group shots, but it was only Albie who was able to do so. 

Here's Albie saying, "Woohoo!  Summer vacation!"

 

And how's this for a mind bender for all you Northern Hemisphere-ites?  On the last day of school, beginning of summer vacation, we went shopping for a christmas tree.  And set it up -- lights, ornaments, garland. 

 

We have quickly transformed from freaks who eat at 6pm and sleep at 8pm into super cool Argentines who eat whenever and sleep whenever.  Today we woke up at 10.  Dinner at 8 will be an early dinner, we finally get to go out eat or gee whiz!  Order in!  We're living la vida loca. 

It sure as heck doesn't feel like thanksgiving...

Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I am in Buenos Aires, and we'll be having ravioli for dinner, and the high today will be 88 degrees.  Not quite ti's the season of being grateful for the harvest, more like ti's the season to be grateful for all the growing things, as in, juicy peaches that drip down your chin.  Here, I have to flip things around and turn them inside out and reach across latitudinal cords to come up with some sort of semblance of following rhythms:  yours, mine, theirs.

Sitting here, thinking about thanksgivings past...  Memory flood.  As a young child, thanksgiving was always held at my grandparents house, cousins, aunts, uncles.  Even though my grandparents and their three children were all born in Argentina, and there was no turkey to found on the table come harvest, they sure did learn how to throw a mean thanksgiving upon their arrival to the US.  It was very special, a very special growing up I did, so close to my cousins...  my family.  All of our parents managed find partners whose families lived far, far away.  So really, there was none of the crazy holiday "which way do we go" shenanigans -- we were always, year after year, together.  Even when thanksgiving moved on over to my mother's house, still we were always together.  There is such warmth as I am filled with the images, us, the cousins, young...  laughing...  playing constantly.  The image of this stunningly beautiful family, Nona, my great-grandmother, Ama & Daddy and my mom and aunts and uncles looking like movie stars...  Funny, how memories just creep up.  How right now, on this thanksgiving that I am very thankfully skipping, being filled with All Memory of Every Thanksgiving.   What a life.

And so jeez, didn't know where I was going when I came on here today, I thought I'd come on and be all flippant, thanksgiving whatever...  but now I am feeling the spirit.   Feeling really grateful for every moment of my life.  I know, cliche, but so nice to feel.  Feeling grateful for my dearest friends -- and if you are reading this, you are one of them.  You, my friends, the family I chose...  so grateful that I keep finding you, no matter where we go. Feeling grateful for my amazing family of birth, the Camelot they created for us growing up, the friendship and love they continue to give.  Feeling this magical moment in our life -- this being in BA, where 5 of the 6 siblings are living together, sharing our lives...  never before has that happened, and perhaps never again.  Feeling grateful and proud of my woman's circle here -- tomorrow night we gather for the 5th time.   Overwhelmed with love for Albie, who is finishing school next week.  He made it, he thrived.  A huge challenge for a five year old boy... 
Feeling grateful and proud of Chris, who continues to be the rock steady foundation of this family, loving us fully, creating a successful business...   All of it, just all of it -- Thank you.

Doing the dance of life

Does your body ever tell you what it wants, what it needs, but your response is "yeah, right, whatever?" Not like when your body says, "I want dulce de leche ice cream," and you walk, no run, to the nearest Freddo to satisfy your needs.  Not like that.  More like, you've been thinking for years, 5 years maybe, that what you really need to do is dance, but for one reason or another you don't dance.  Has that happened? 

My intention this lunation was to sharpen my perception, listening for messages from the depths, from wherever...  And two messages came in loud and clear, the first being, "Move your body.  Now.  Fool."  I know I have been saying this for years, the need to dance -- and maybe I'd go to a concert or a wedding and dance a bit and temporarily fill that space.  I think that dancing really connects me to my body, (duh) and that body connection is essential for me, otherwise it is too darn easy to get lost in the clouds, in my head.  For years I didn't have to manage dancing, I just went to dead show after dead show after phish show etc., and in those spaces, was able to ecstatically dance my ass off.  But then there were not so many shows any more...  and I stopped dancing as much.  Perhaps Nia helped fill the space for a time while I was in Boulder.  But yeah, since Albie came along, there have not been that many opportunities for that ecstatic release that is dancing. 

I have also been feeling that I have been ignoring my body while here in Argentina.  I have taken for granted that I live in a city, and that I am walking everywhere, and that that is enough.  But it is not enough -- my back aches, I feel stiff.  I dance in my house and feel like an hardened fossil.  Mindful movement then, seems to be an important piece of my pie...

So, I saw this 5 rhythms dance class offered locally, and I only blew it off twice before finally going there yesterday.  Allow me to state the obvious:  it was fabulous.  It was more authentic movement than structured dance...  basically, we moved for 2 hours.  A tremendous release.  For the first half hour, the instructor does not say a thing, you just move, dance if you want, waking your body up...  Slowly, slowly, the class explodes into a joyous throbbing luminous body...  Dancing.  There is something about dancing in a group -- while I have had many mind altering moments dancing by myself in my kitchen, the group brings the experience of ecstasy...  That's what I got out of dead shows too -- ritual experiences of ecstasy (as Joseph Campbell said). 

And all that brings me to the other message that keeps ringing my bell -- that of love, big love, universal love.  I won't flesh out the whole thing, but I had been thinking about the sacred marriage, hieros gamos, the yin yang, the jewish star...  Wondering about getting beyond seeing the duality, and really seeing the totality.  Getting that it is our language that creates black/white, that this is a bit yin and this is a bit yang.  But really the yin yang is so much more than the yin side and the yang side -- it's yinyang, the whole thing....  Ok, yeah, words aren't working so well.  Skip ahead.  I started feeling, hearing, sensing that the glue is love.  Universal love.  Running through it all, making the all one...  I share this not like truth, or some brand new revelation tha no one has thought of before -- more like a 'believe-ish' that's been following me around.

But wondering, how to sink that love deep in, deep in, to be present daily, in my most mundane moments...  In the dance class, one of the last songs was Queen's epic anthem.  And we were all so high, so ecstatic as we were moving, singing, "We are the champions..."  And I felt so much love, unity...  That sense of universal love -- albeit perhaps watered down, so my little human heart can hold it...  But after class, as I floated down the streets of Buenos Aires just like post election day, I was thinking, "why am I not present to this love all the time?   Why am I so human?"  Wondering if perhaps that is why these ritual experiences of ecstasy are so essential, in whatever form you choose to partake.  They bring us to those moments of One, of Love, of Moment and Light, and Goddess, and God, and Mystery.  These experiences remind us perhaps, remind us of the bigness...  which then maybe trickles down into our little lives.  When we lived a bit more tribally, a bit more connected, we probably managed incorporating these moments of ecstatic ritual quite well.  Now, these days, I think we really have to seek out these experiences.  I know, for me, I must seek out.

So, that's what tomorrow's full moon is bringing me...  Dance.  Love.  Dance.  Love.  Dance.

And I'm really sore.

Opposite and allright

It is fully, beautifully, explosively, the peak of spring here in the city of Buenos Aires.  The pink and red trees are in full bloom, and it looks as if the purples will arrive this week.  The air almost smells fresh...  The streets once again have their green canopies, and the old men are half naked, sunning themselves in the plazas.  People are out, people are playing.

In spite of the feverish spring energy, last Friday we connected with our brethren up north, and celebrated Halloween.  For the first time in a long long long long time, I actually dressed up.  And it was fun by golly!  I think I looked quite good, though of course, I bow down before the original, because no one does Frida like Frida. 

Northern, Southern Patagonia

We just got back from a lovely trip to Puerto Madryn and vicinity.  What?  Where?  Right here:

So, yes Puerto Madryn is in Patagonia, on the Atlantic Ocean, an about a 16 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires.  The bus was actually quite lovely, with nice wide seats that reclined to flat, pillows and blankets included, and decent dinners to boot.  All at a third of the price of flying!  Albie was fabulous on the bus, he really is a great traveler.  It was divine to be on a road trip with someone else doing the driving...

Puerto Madryn and vicinity is home to lots and lots of animals.  Chris and I went about 15 years ago, but this time, we decided to go when the whales were in town.  We arrived, took a cab to our hotel, and as soon as I got out of the cab I could see whales in the ocean.  Blew my mind.  And you know, the whole time I was there I just could not believe that people were going about their daily lives as if whales frolicking on your shores is the most natural thing in the world.  I figured everything should pause, utter stillness and silliness for the 6 months or so that the whales are there...  Also, what a cool way to reckon the passing of time, the passing of the seasons:  "The whales are here, the seals are here, the penguins came, the whales left..."  I imagine there are some lovely native myths and legends associated with the arrival and departure of these majestic animals.

Peninsula Valdes:

We spent a day on Peninsula Valdes, first to go visit the Elephant Seals, and then to take a boat ride to get a bit closer to the whales (if they should choose to have us.)  Elephant Seals are fabulous, enormous creatures, who lumber awkwardly on the shore, but swim divinely out at sea.  When we got to the beach where they like to hang, they were all just dozing on the beach, mostly mamas with their babes.  A baby started well, whining and yapping at his mama, and then she sort of snaps back at him, all while rolling over to offer her breast.  I felt very connected -- like, me too!  I've been there!  Was there for three years!

And then it was time to see the whales.  Let's see, first off, if I went back, I don't think I'd do the boat ride again.  Although it was obviously amazing to see the whales that close, it also felt really intrusive and I just felt uncomfortable.  Perhaps if I were in a kayak, or a little rubber boat...  Also, there's a beach just 15k outside of Puerto Madryn called Playa Doradillo where the whales hang out.  During high tide, they are literally just meters away from the coast, and I liked that better.  I guess it felt more respectful.  There was lots of whale sex going on, and watching from a boat just felt obnoxious. 

Patti and Albie J ready for the boat ride:

OK -- before we get to more pics, lets talk about whales, and whale sex specifically.  First off, and yeah duh, but whales are amazing.  I know some say that yes, whales and dolphins are quite advanced, but not as much as humans.  I'm not so sure I buy that.  I think they are way beyond us...  Just watching them play all day, they just swim, splash, tails in the air like they don't care.  Really, it just looks like their purpose is fun, happiness.  And whale sex?  Get this:  There will be one female to three or four males.  There is no fighting between the males, none of that competition that seems to normal in the natural kingdom.  (We saw some penguins going after each other with rage, fury.)  No, whale sex is cooperative sex.  It looks like a mess of whale bodies, and the female tries to roll over, onto her back, so that a male can insert his two meter penis.  (I had to add that, of course.)  The other males, the non inserting males, all then work to help the happy couple copulate.  They get under the female, holding her up, just generally being helpful, working to keep the two whales together.  They all copulate with her, and in a miracle of evolution, her body keeps the sperm that it deems to be the strongest.  She swims away, happy as a, well, as a whale in water, and returns a year later to have her baby.  Chris has had to remind me numerous times since our return that I am not a whale.  One can only dream...

I don't think I've ever posted a photo of anyone having sex on this blog, and my apologies to the whales, but here they are:

Pure whale joy:

And the lone sea lion, posing:

We spent another day at Punta Tombo, one of the largest penguin colonies in the world.  Really, it is a hoot.  There are about 1,000,000 penguins that come here, returning every spring to mate and have their babies.  Oh yes, more animal sex.  But like I said, not quite as enlightened as whale sex...  Another beautiful spot on the ocean, and the lunar landscape (due to the penguin nests) is just covered in penguins.  And guanacos too, making it feel very South America.

Lots of penguins!

This mama had just laid an egg.  The penguin couples seemed to be very sweet with each other.  They just didn't like to share.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip.  This is a beautiful country, and we are really really really blessed to be having this experience.  Thank you.

For more pics, go to: http://www.roachsinger.com/albert/Patagonia.html

Fiesta de la Primavera

One of the things I love best about Waldorf schools is their celebrations of the wheel of the year.  Full of ritual and magic, all suited for 3-6 year olds -- a beautiful addition to our lives.  Last Friday was the spring celebration.  The kids prepared for a couple weeks beforehand:  they planted seeds, they made bunnies, and they learned new spring songs...

On Friday morning, the children were meant to go to school with their flower crowns.  Guess who was the only child out of 50 that didn't want to wear his crown?  Here he is, with his class.

Apparently, a little while later in the big ronda in the patio, the elder, tougher teacher sent him right back to the classroom to fetch that crown.  And fetch it he did.  (Never, never works for me...)

And then they sang and danced and made much springtime merriment...

And collected their eggs and bunnies in the grasses when all was said and done...