I love looking out my classroom open window.  I feel a lightness of being even though things are crazy right now...outside of our magical world.  Fall leaves blow through the windows and we do a good bit of sweeping at the end of the day.  Every week that provides us the blessisng of meeting in person is a thing of wonder.  It is a treasure box to unpack.  We have a classroom pet named Delbert.  It is a damselfly.           

Monday was Monday Math Trail Morning.  They are estimating and measuring  girth in Peace Circle Woods

This one was 100", but the biggest tree at the Palace of the Pecan King had a girth of 180".  It took 4 people to hold the measuring tapes.  We had our first music class...drumsticks, 5 gallon buckets and rhythm (one of our spelling words. with silent h.)  
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And now the latest update from today...landscaping.  The sweet smell of cedar mulch welcomes you to the lunchroom.  Plants are set in groups where they will go into the soil.  So many people to thank for all this...Henry and Jamie, Willie, Brian, Mike, Peter, Suzanne, Ruchi, Manish, Donna, Sonia, Van, Ian and Gillian, Brent, Alphonso...I know there are many more.  Thank you all.  For Katie, Sonia and Brian and all the cast of "The Case of the Missing Dragon Kittens," another radical recognition, if I may...it was more than magical...it was so real!  The whole experience spotlighted our community's Human Greatness in action.  

Due to Covid-19 we were online having Zoom school for the first 8 weeks of this 20-21 school year.  We have been constructing 2 outside classrooms for our return, and we are back.  For now we have alternating half school pod groups meeting on campus.  Since the outside classrooms are downhill, we are getting a lot of exercise to make up for sitting in front of screens for weeks.  This is our first week back, so we are working out the finer details of how to run campus chores, like who will be feeding the chickens.  We have a new rooster, Fluffers.  Fluffers likes to crow.  Fluffers lives near the back porch where the Purple math group meets.  Math is interesting.  Fluffers sounds like he is begging in desperation for help.  This morning there was a deer running through the woods.  I've never seen a deer on the campus in our 9 years here.  Turtles have moved into an area of the creek that has some downed trees.  As soon as they hear humans they dive in, but if you are really quiet you can spot them sunning.  They are big!  
As I write, the 5th graders are sweeping the back porch and wiping down tables with their colorful masks on.  It is a strange world we live in.  It is November 4th.  We are in limbo today, not having final election results yet.  Everyone seemed very chill about that. It is good to have important work to do.   4 years ago it was a different world the day after the election.  It's an interesting life.  

This weekend is our Woodland Faire, "The Case of the Missing Dragon Kittens."  We have enjoyed some wonderful faires together, but I don't know if I was ever quite so excited about the faire.  We have the magic!  I hope you have some magic, too!