Lacoochee kids

On Thursday evening I took to school the bisque fired clay pieces to be glazed. The kids were thrilled to see their works of art now strong and ready for the glazing. These kids and their parents (this evening there were five dads among the number of moms) were so glad to claim their clay pieces and begin the process of glazing them. They listened to me as I explained how they were to use the glazes. I never had to say anything twice. I was speaking in English, not their first language, and some of the terms were foreign to them. But with good will from us all we figured everything out and the pieces were glazed. The parents and kids finished up and everyone cleaned up and helped me transport the pieces to my car. They know that next week I will appear with their finished clay works. These are not entitled kids, nor are their parents helicopters.

I love this group of kids and parents, and the facilitators, Ben Aguilar and Rachel Kurtz, those wonderful young people who have made this after school program possible. We are already planning to have a celebratory end of the year happening at our farm. We'll have a pot luck of those great hispanic foods, swimming, and my signature exploding volcano cake.

Lots of trips recently for me. We went to NYC for a week of culture, then back to spend a few days with Quincy. A few days later I went for a weekend with my 'girl friends' at a friend's beach house on the Atlantic. This place was certainly a close second to our paradise here in central Florida. I do love the huge beach and the constantly changing colors of the sea. I walked miles, always searching for shells and anything interesting the surf threw up. I went on a long bike ride. (My thighs are huring!) But it's not my paradise!

When I returned this morning from Daytona, I immedately went out with my binoculars to see how the sand hill cranes were doing. Bob and Emily are still on their huge nest on the edge of the pond, but I was alarmed to see buzzards and crows on the trees overhead. Do they know that the hatching will happen at any time? It has been twenty-six days since Bob and Emily settled down on the nest they built. My bird book says that the babies will hatch in twenty eight days. It's been so hot in the middle of the days I really want to set up a shade umbrella over the nest! I think I won't be able to stand it if anything happens to this nest and the two eggs don't survive for one reason or another!

My daughter called to tell me that she is worried about her many monarch butterfly chrysalises now hanging in her butterfly bushes. I guess we are related!