a tree-mendous fort
Posted: July 5, 2012 Filed under: Child Centered Activities 5 CommentsA couple years ago, at my day job, we built a tree fort. A furnituremaker helped, and the joinery made this something special; we cantilevered two platforms within an apple tree and it was quite beautiful, wrapped in blossoms during the spring flowering, hidden by leaves throughout the summer, ripe red fruit easily grabbed come autumn.
Something told me not to anchor the fort into the apple tree, and that premonition proved true a year later – last year – when we were told to move the fort to a different location. Down came the pieces (and the tree remains pristine) and the platforms were reassembled, this time surrounded by Austrian Pine trees. We added a crow’s nest, tucked high back among the pines.
But even that was not quite right. As children love a spot to hide in, we wanted to add a roof, and enclose the second level. Dimensioned lumber – your basic 4x4s or 2x4s – would not be right so off we went into the woods looking for beech and birch trees, to limb and cut down and use for the ridgepole, rafters and beams. We “beavered” the rafters and notched the cross beams. We used some pine boards for the walls and roof.
“Nice,” we were told, but “how about some old barn boards? And maybe some lobster rope to wrap some of the boards, and maybe a control panel, and maybe some driftwood, and…we need to trick this out.”
Given those marching orders, off we set looking for old barn wood. I put out a call to the network of Maine woodworkers, and found a woman whose husband dismantled a barn and has stored the wood in the loft of another barn on their farm. She wrote, “About 35 years ago, we tore down a barn in Auburn and put the wood in the loft of our barn. It has quite a few antique nails. I’d love to find a good home for this wood, but I don’t know if this is what [you’re] looking for. It is the siding of the barn, what was under the clapboard, and the wood is all different lengths much of it short. It is not “finished” in any way – may be too rough… but I’d be happy to have you take a look.”
Maybe not the wide beams used in fancy floors, but for a tree fort, with an ocean view…this may just be right. Soon I will be driving north in search of those special boards to add just the touch. In the meantime, the fort sure is a nice place from which to watch the lobster boats crossing the Saco Bay homeward with their day’s catch. As E said, as she tested out the fort, “Daddy, two thumbs up!”
“The Owl and the Pussy-cat” by Edward Lear
Posted: July 1, 2012 Filed under: Art & Healing, Child Centered Activities, Gallery - Quotes 2 CommentsRecently, while reading this to little E, she asked me, “Daddy, will you be the Turkey?” Why, yes, indeed, and this classic surely belongs in our summer’s reading list of love.
“Wedding of Andromache and Hektor:” Sappho
Posted: June 27, 2012 Filed under: Art & Healing, Gallery - Quotes 1 CommentSappho’s is the sun-drenched voice of the first female poet in the Western corpus. She lived on Lesbos, an island in the Aegean Sea, a place of grains, grapes, olive groves and orchards.
Her lyric poems, written during the 7th century BCE, largely exist in fragments yet her voice rings bold with passion and candor, an ecstasy of the senses. In this telling of a wedding feast you can feel the excitement, envision the coming together of family and friends, hear the heavenly songs of love.
Wedding of Andromache and Hektor
The translation is by Willis Barnstone.
Summer = Strawberries
Posted: June 23, 2012 Filed under: Farming off the Farm, In the Kitchen 3 CommentsBy the calendar, summer came one day early (the leap year added one day to February). But in truth, summer arrives when the strawberries are ready for picking. 
And go picking today we did!
So now our household is all about whipped cream and shortcake and berries-a-plenty. Alice Waters’ “The Art of Simple Food” has this recipe for Cream Biscuits – a/k/a shortcake; just add strawberries and whipped cream!
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Stir together in a large bowl: 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 4 teaspoons sugar (optional), 2 teaspoons baking powder.
Add 6 Tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces then add the butter into the flour using your fingers or a pastry blender until they are the size of small peas.
Measure 3/4 cup heavy cream then remove 1 tablespoon and set that tablespoon aside. Lightly stir into the flour the remainder of the cream with a fork until the mixture just comes together. Without overworking it, lightly knead the dough a couple of times in the bowl (this is pretty vague and not sure we hit the mark) turn it out onto a lightly floured board, and roll out about 3/4 inch thick (ours was about 1/4″ thick).
Cut into 1 1/2 inch circles or squares (we ended up with three or four times as many, but they worked fine all the same). Reroll the scraps if necessary. Place the biscuits on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and lightly brush the tops with the reserved cream. Bake for 17 minutes, or until cooked through and golden. Let cool, then top with strawberries and whipped cream.
…and we hope you find a field to forage…
One Hundred Love Sonnets: Pablo Neruda
Posted: June 19, 2012 Filed under: Art & Healing, Gallery - Quotes 1 CommentFrom the “Morning” sequence, this is sonnet XVI:
Community Children’s Garden
Posted: June 12, 2012 Filed under: Art & Healing, Child Centered Activities, Little Green Thumbs 3 Comments
Several community garden members and one Board member got together on Saturday to help plot out the Children’s Garden. We planted strawberries, pumpkins, lamb’s ear, mint, a lavender bush, tomatoes, a creeping onion and bean seeds. A small butterfly bush will soon be added. The lay out of the garden and walkway was designed to appeal to children’s senses and create easy interaction as they move throughout the space. Brushing the mint and lavender will release aromas, and the tomatoes, beans and strawberries on the outer edges will let children easily pick from the sides of the bed.
My daughter and I added painted rock critters this morning – two butterflies and one beetle. We will make several more soon.
on the nature of love…
Posted: June 9, 2012 Filed under: Art & Healing, Gallery - Quotes 7 CommentsAh summer! The idyllic time of year, so nice to sit upon the beach or to lay under a large green tree, gazing aloft as clouds drift by, or perhaps we pick fresh berries and eat pie a’la mode, or that time honored tradition, to idle away hours with a really good book.
My summer reading shall be upon the nature of love. (Well, with little E around, I shall also read aloud Dr Seuss, Beatrix Potter, etc. but the point remains…summer is here.)
With the theme of love firm in my mind, off I dashed to the South Portland Library to grab an armload of poetry, from Sappho to Anne Sexton, from Rumi to Pablo Neruda, with all viewpoints in between. How rich this field!!
Throughout the summer, love poetry will adorn our Art Farm.
You see, our dear friends, planning their September wedding, have asked me to help. More precisely, to serve as official for their ceremony, their Notary Public. Now, this is entirely new to me, and at hearing their request I was speechless and without breath. But of course, yes, I do!
And so off I set now to help craft their ceremony and to give voice to the song deep in their hearts. One fine place to start this odyssey might be these lines from Rumi:
I, you, he, she, we
in the garden of mystic loves
these are not true
distinctions
Another starting point, prudent and practical, would be the State of Maine, Department of the Secretary of State, “Notary Public Handbook and Resource Guide”, from which I quote:
“Often, couples want other persons involved in the ceremony. This is not an issue; however, the Notary Public must, without exception, (sic) do the exchanging of the vows and make the pronouncement of marriage in addition to signing the marriage license.
Official: As an expression of your mutual desires and purpose of being joined in marriage, you will please join hands.
(Addressing the man by name): Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, promising to love, honor and cherish her, and in all respects to be a faithful husband so long as you both shall live?
Answer: I do.
Official: (Addressing the woman by name): Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, promising to love, honor and cherish him, and in all respects to be a faithful wife, so long as you both shall live?
Answer: I do.
(Rings may then be placed on the fingers.)
Official: Since you have entered into this honorable estate of matrimony by mutual promises, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the State of Maine, I now pronounce you husband and wife.
Worry Doll Follow-Up
Posted: June 4, 2012 Filed under: Art & Healing, Child Centered Activities 3 CommentsHere are some of the worry dolls created by the elementary school children I worked with in May. Some of the children shared their worries during the art making process. Their ages were reflected in the types of worries they articulated. For example, the younger children talked more about characters from stories which caused them distress while some of the older children talked about getting into trouble at school and having to face their parents. One young girl in particular began group very disorganized and needed much 1:1 attention from me. Once she was able to focus on the doll making, she became lost in the process. She was able to work independently for short spells and seemed to calm down. Another child talked incessently about how she needed a “big doll for my big worries and a small doll for my small worries”. It seemed that she was creating order through the process of separating out her needs and devising a plan.
It was my honor to work with the students and I hope that the dolls continue to bring both joy and relief to their experiences.
Creative Coping and Following Their Lead
Posted: May 29, 2012 Filed under: Art & Healing, Child Centered Activities 4 CommentsA terrible day for our three year old over the weekend. She had talked her father into a ruby red, star-covered, helium balloon from the Memorial Day festivities. We watched many balloons soar into the sky, leaving behind sobbing little ones.
She had her ear-full of “don’t let go of it” and “watch out for …” while carrying it back to the car. Later in the day, her father took her for a bike ride. She wanted to bring the balloon so we tied it to the trailer. Sadly, the balloon untied on it’s own and drifted away shortly after they got to the playground. They came home and Ella was eager to tell me what had happened and how sad she was. She asked if we could make a picture to show what had happened (first time she’s ever asked).
I drew some cartoon boxes and had her tell me frame by frame how the terrible event unfolded. 
She described riding in the trailer, getting to the playground, meeting two girls and then watching the balloon float away. What is interesting about this is the time she then spent swirling glitter paint colors over the emotionally charged image of herself. This was the only box she gave special attention to and made her own marks on. I speculate that she was able to sit with the difficult feelings more easily through the character and the fluid property of the glitter paint allowed her to become lost in the process. She softened while working here, several times asking me to get the glitter out of her character’s eyes. She decided the glitter made the little girl feel better.
This three year old knew exactly what she needed to move through the painful experience. Our job was to listen to what she was asking for and to sit with her through the uncomfortable feelings.
Little Green Thumbs 2012
Posted: May 27, 2012 Filed under: Child Centered Activities, Farming off the Farm, Little Green Thumbs 3 CommentsWe made a late but serious dent in our community garden plot this weekend planting sugar snap peas, arugula, spinach, kale, radish, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers and eggplants. Looking forward to a collective gardening experience this year! 
David found some great wood scraps for stepping stones
HARD WORK PAYS OFF!
an Art Farm 