Class Engaged!

Today, I had the honor and pleasure to be invited to give a Zentangle lesson at a local elementary school by a friend and neighbor who teaches there.  She had taken my very first Zentangle class a few weeks ago and wanted to share it with her fifth graders.  This was the perfect time, as school is winding down and kids are getting antsy to be indoors.

And it went wonderfully well.


I gave them each a kit with tiles, a pen, pencil, and a special Zentangle bookmark.  And then I began drawing on my easel.

We started with the word "Zentangle"--a combination of Zen (which refers to Japanese meditation--I didn't mention Buddhism) and art, or a tangle of lines.  Zentangle drawing is an art in which you can elicit meditative feelings of calm and focus by creating repetitive patterns in beautiful works of art.

I started with some questions:
Have you ever felt angry, sad, scared, nervous, tired, bored, frustrated?  How did your body feel when you felt those emotions?  How is it different when you are happy or satisfied or excited?  I told them that meditation was a way to transcend some of those emotions, especially the negative ones, a way to rest and calm their bodies and minds--by using their breath!  Everyone breathes, you can do it anywhere, without any supplies, like when you're tired of waiting in line or scared to go into the doctor's office.  And so we tried a short breath meditation--in through your nose, out through your mouth.  Feel the change in temperature, the breath over your lips, the rise and fall of your chest.  A few of them giggled, some huffed and snorted and sighed, but they tried it for several moments.   I tried to stay away from cliches like "being grounded" and "center yourself."

And then we started.  They pulled out their kits, with the tiles, pen, pencil, and bookmark.   I worked through the steps at my post-it flip pad and easel (with big black marker and gray shading marker)--gratitude and appreciation, corner dots, border, string, tangle shade, initial and sign, and appreciate again--while they followed along on their tiles.  We did a pretty typical first tile--z-shaped tile with basic strings crescent moon, hollibaugh, florz, and printemps.  I told them about a lot of variations (which only make sense if you know Zentangle)--drawing squiggles or loops in their borders, putting dots between auras in crescent moon, shading the spaces behind the lines in hollibaugh, shading the lines of hollibaugh, putting dots in the spaces behind the lines of hollibaugh, drawing printemps or crescent moons in the spaces of hollibaugh, putting other shapes at the intersections of florz, making big and little spirals in printemps, connecting the lines of hollibaugh to the lines of florz, putting a few printemps in the spaces of hollibaugh or florz.  Several of the kids gave the variations a try.  It's a lot like the first tile I ever did in my own first Zentangle class last year on retreat.  While they drew, I kept a somewhat constant Zentangle narrative going, while I walked around the room:

• If they can write "iSCO," they can do most of the strokes in Zentangle patterns
• No eraser = no mistakes (but, just in case, I pretended to mess up and then showed them Bronx Cheer to cover it  up)
• What does a "hollibaugh" really look like?  Nobody knows!  There is no right or real in Zentangle.    The names are non-descriptive, just a way to give us a shorthand for talking about the art and to each other
• Shade as part of the design (not trying to create consistent internal light source)
• Look at tile at arm's length
• Turn it around to look at it from several angles--no right side up!
• Go your own pace
• Everyone is different so make it your own
• Go back to your breath meditation if you get frustrated
• Borders are made to be crossed
• Lines don't have to be straight 

While they finished up their first tile and placed it on my tablecloth for the class mosaic, I  showed them the Apprentice video chapter 6 of Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas talking about how they were inspired to create the steps of Zentangle.  I then explained that Maria and Rick didn't invent patterns (those are everywhere--in nature and human-made items), that they came up with the list of steps to access meditation through art.  We looked at the class mosaic and saw how the tiles were all different, all creative and all individual--with same instructions!  Then I distributed Apprentice letter to parents and announced that they were all Zentangle Apprentices.  Harkening back to the beginning, I asked them how they felt now.  "Good," they yelled.  I told them they could tap into this feeling, creativity, and beauty whenever they needed or wanted to.

      

I was there about an hour and they were so focused, curious, and excited.  I even gave them two extra tangles (zander and pokeroot) because they wanted to learn more, even though I had to rush them.  I pointed to the tangled border of their Apprentice letter to parents and said there were so many patterns--they could even make up some!  (If they'd name them after me.)

I was surprised with how hesitant they already were at 10 - 11 years old to make a mistake; most of them admitted being very hesitant when looking at a blank piece of paper and asked to create something.  But once we got the dots, borders, and strings on the tiles, they settled in.  Still, at each step, they wanted reassurance that they weren't "wrong" and that their designs were "good."  Both the teacher and I kept reiterating that there were no mistakes, that they made the creative choices, that different was okay.  Even still, at the end, a couple of students wouldn't join their tiles to the mosaic. 

But they begged the teacher to do more Zentangle patterns.  I left the Apprentice DVD with the teacher and two extra tiles for each kid (plus some extra pens in case some broke.)  I told them they could look up Zentangle online and find all kinds of patterns, that they could make greeting cards or pencil cases or whatever they wanted.  The teacher said it was the most focused her class had ever been all year.

Maybe next year, we should offer the lesson in the beginning of the year, and then the teacher can introduce new tangles as they go and the students can add them to projects at Valentine's Day or Mother's Day; they can tangle when they are anxious about a test or done with their work.  I know I would have loved it when I was a student, just like these kids did.  Just like I love it now.

Summer Fun: Final List

Summer has just about drawn to a close.  And it's been a pretty good one.  Here's our final Summer Fun 2015 list of completed activities.

My sketch of our summer of fun

• Have a lemonade stand (cookies for cancer?):  helped the local cat shelter
• Party/activity in honor of Aunt Sis:  planted two memorial hydrangeas, which aren't happy with the heat
• Go swimming at Y with friends:  Well, we went swimming by ourselves at the Y.  We'll go with Gommie
• *Go to nature center:  for camp!
• *Go to aquarium:  for camp!
• *Go to bird festvial:  Such fun!  Loved the Eastern Screech Owl
• Host a sleepover with friends:  went to a sleepover with several friends; had one sleepover last week and stayed up watching Minecraft videos and making fudge

• *Beach trip in city--in August--they even went boogie boarding!
• Mario kart-athon--Well, they did a few Splatfest-athons!
• Movie night--lots of these, most recently with Back to the Future
• Learn to cook weekly dinners--they did another favorite-meal cooking lesson with Mama, with steamed mussels for Bud and fried chicken for Sis
• Hang pictures--we filled the wall in our bedroom.
• Learn a new game
• Do nothing special
• Meet friends at ice rink:  Yep, it's now a weekly event.
• *Attend town festival in June/volunteer at historic house:  we did this before school was even out!
• Family book club (we're reading Menagerie and also Redwall):  I started Menagerie over 4th of July weekend.  It was pretty good.  The kids haven't started Redwall yet.
• Eat Dole Whip:  first night of summer, we got Dole Whip and Fluffernutter sundaes!
• Make ice cream:  Strawberry Soda is great.  Peaches and Cream is great, too.
• Picnic:  we had a deli picnic, but I hope to do something more sophisticated soon.
• Watch some movie musicals:  we started by watching "Lost Broadway Treasures" and other compilations of famous songs.
• Play in sprinkler:  and used it to make a slippery water slide!
• *Go to culture festival (Scottish, Irish, Greek, etc.):  we loved the Greek festival food, as always!  
• Decorate chalkboard for summer:  we started our own mini-drawings of Awesome Summer Things.
• Celebrate 4th of July:  Yes, we did!
• Celebrate Solstice:  they stayed up "all night," which was midnight for Sis and about an hour later for Bud.  I even played Mario Kart with them at midnight.
• Celebrate Mama's birthday:  a weekend of take-out meals and movies!
• Birthday party for kids:   Minions movie birthday party, with decorate-your-own-Minion jars and Minion cupcakes.
• Learn how to clean bathrooms:  Bud earned a ticket for this already--on his own initiative!
• Learn an ASL sign a day (or more)
• Learn some computer coding using Scratch:  they have started making a cat draw stars around the earth.
• Make shrub for 4th of July:  Bud and I really like it
• Photos with public art around town ("benching," Bud called it)  We're about a third of the way done.

• Attend friends' Friday Night Dance Party:  for first one, the kids swam and tried "kiddy crack" (butter-cinnamon-sugar spread on graham crackers); they also like badminton, or "chaosminton" with several shuttlecocks.
• Explore new music genres together ("Music Mondays"):  we started with the 80s, then Celtic (Secret of Roan Inish soundtrack), Broadway, jazz, and patriotic.  Not sure what this week will be.
• Research places to go in England, etc:  I'm reading Susan Branch's book about falling in love with the English countryside
• Purge and donate toys and books:  doing really well with this; lots of donations.  Kids prepping to have room makeovers.
• Do a 1000 piece puzzle:  Bud and Mama are our puzzlers--they've done cupcakes, Broadway, London, New York, among others.
• We also made or ate the following foods, which I totally forgot to blog about:

FODMAPS Rice Pudding

1 litre of lactose-free milk

100g of raw rice (Arborio, white, basmati)

1 tablespoon of raw sugar

Cinnamon

1.     Pour lactose-free milk into a medium-large sized saucepan.

2.     Place saucepan onto a stove top and allow lactose-free milk to almost reach boiling point. Then reduce the heat, add in the rice and allow to simmer.

3.     Add in 1 tablespoon of raw sugar to the milk-rice mixture and stir through. Continue stirring frequently for approximately 20 minutes until the rice is tender and the mixture has thickened to your liking.  If mixture is too thick you can add more milk. If mixture is too runny continue cooking – it will thicken up.

4.     Keep stirring frequently so that the milk doesn’t burn and to avoid rice pudding sticking to the bottom.

5.     Once cooked, remove rice pudding from saucepan.

TRADITIONAL SERVING SUGGESTIONS

·       Serve it hot with a sprinkle of cinnamon on top.

·       Serve it cold by cooling it in the fridge first, then a sprinkle of cinnamon on top 

OTHER SUGGESTED TOPPING

·         Grated dark chocolate

·         Maple syrup

·         Blueberries and strawberries

·         Banana and passionfruit

·         Grated chocolate, strawberries and a drizzle of maple syrup

·         Add zest of an orange or lemon while cooking, for a taste of citrus

One-Bowl Chocolate Cake from Melissa Clark

FOR THE CAKE:

 Butter for greasing baking pans
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
⅓ cup best-quality cocoa powder
6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
¾ cup sour cream, at room temperature

FOR THE FROSTING:

6 ounces good-quality semisweet chocolate, broken into small pieces
3 ounces ( 3/4 stick) unsalted butter
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
½ cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ½ cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

1. For cake: heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter sides of two 8-inch cake pans, and line bottoms with parchment paper. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a knife blade, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, butter, eggs, vanilla and sour cream. Process to make a smooth, thick batter.
2. Using a rubber spatula, divide batter between pans, and smooth tops. Bake until a cake tester inserted in center comes out clean, 25 to 35 minutes; do not overbake. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes before removing from cake pans.
3. For frosting: Combine chocolate and butter in a large heat-proof bowl, and heat until melted in a microwave oven or over a pan of simmering water. Remove from heat, and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Stir in corn syrup, sour cream, and vanilla. Whisk in confectioners' sugar until very smooth. Frosting should be thick and spreadable. If necessary, add a teaspoon or two of boiling water to thin it, or additional sifted confectioners' sugar to thicken.
4. Cut four strips of waxed or parchment paper, and place them side by side on a cake plate, covering the surface. Place one cake layer domed-side down on plate.
5. Spoon about a third of the frosting onto center of cake, and use a knife or a spatula to spread it evenly. Place the other cake on top, domed side up. Spoon another third of frosting on top of cake, spreading to make swirls or a smooth finish. Spread sides of cake with remaining frosting, and allow to sit for a few minutes until set. Carefully remove paper strips. Place cake under glass or in an airtight container, and set aside in a cool place until serving.

FROM BOOK CLUB CAKE PARTY (we just sampled--delicious!)

 Toby’s (Not Quite Perfect) Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting, from Lisa Graff, A Tangle of Knots

FOR THE CAKE:
2 1/2 cups flour (plus extra for preparing the pan)
 

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
 

1/4 teaspoon baking soda
 

1/2 teaspoon salt
 

1 cup butter, at room temperature (plus extra for the pan)
 

1 1/2 cups sugar
 

2 teaspoons vanilla
 

3 large eggs, at room temperature
 

1 cup milk, at room temperature
 
           FOR THE FROSTING:

2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
 

3/4 cup butter, at room temperature

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
 

1/2 cup milk, at room temperature
 

1 tablespoon vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease the bottoms of two 8-inch round cake pans with butter. Using the cake pans as a template, trace two circles onto wax paper and cut them out, placing one wax circle in the bottom of each pan. Grease both pans with butter again, covering the wax paper as well as the sides of the pan. Sprinkle the inside of the pans lightly with flour, and tap the pans to distribute it evenly. 

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. 

3. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the vanilla, then the eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined.

4. Reducing the speed on the mixer to low, add about a third of the flour mixture to the batter, combining well. Add about half of the milk and combine. Then add another third of the flour mixture, the last of the milk, and then the last of the flour, combining well each time.

5. Pour the batter into the pans and smooth the tops. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

6. While the cake is cooling, make the frosting: In a double boiler or a heatproof bowl fitted into a saucepan of simmering water, carefully melt the chocolate chips. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

7. In a large bowl, cream the butter with a mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Gradually add about half of the powdered sugar, blending well. Beat in 2 tbsp of the milk and all of the vanilla, then beat in the remaining powdered sugar, followed by the remaining milk. Add the cooled melted chocolate to the butter mixture and beat until smooth.

8. When the cakes are completely cooled, place one cake layer on a plate and spread a thin layer of frosting on top. Repeat with the second cake layer, and cover the whole cake with frosting.

*recipes adapted from Real Simple's Yellow Cake with Strawberry Filling recipe and Betty Crocker's Cookbook, Ninth Edition.

The Owner’s Peanut Butter Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting,  from Lisa Graff, A Tangle of Knots

What you'll need:

         FOR THE CAKE:

small sliver of butter (for greasing the cake pan)

2 1/4 cups flour (plus extra for preparing the pan)

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter, at room temperature

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cups milk, at room temperature

         FOR THE FROSTING:
3 cups powdered sugar

2/3 cup creamy peanut butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

1/2 to 2/3 cup milk

What to do:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease the bottoms of two 8-inch round cake pans with butter. Using the cake pans as a template, trace two circles onto wax paper and cut them out, placing one wax circle in the bottom of each pan. Grease both pans with butter again, covering the wax paper as well as the sides of the pan. Sprinkle the inside of the pans lightly with flour, and tap the pans to distribute it evenly. 

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt, and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, beat the peanut butter and eggs with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Beat in vanilla and milk until well combined. 

4. Gradually add the flour mixture into the peanut butter mixture and beat until combined. Divide the batter between the two cake pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool cakes completely before frosting. 

5. While the cakes are cooling, make the frosting: In a medium bowl, cream the powdered sugar and peanut butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth, about 2 or 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and 1/4 cup of milk, and beat until well combined. Gradually add more milk, one teaspoon at a time, until the frosting is smooth and spreadable.

6. When the cakes are completely cooled, place one cake layer on a plate and spread a thin layer of frosting on top. Repeat with the second cake layer, and cover the whole cake with frosting.

*recipes adapted from Betty Crocker's Cookbook, Ninth Edition 

Marigold’s Lime Pound Cake,  from Lisa Graff, A Tangle of Knots

 FOR THE CAKE:

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1/2 teaspoon vanilla 

2 teaspoons grated lime zest (from approximately 2 limes)

2 tablespoons lime juice (from approximately 1 lime)

1 cup butter, at room temperature (plus extra for greasing the pan)

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups flour

What to do:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with butter. 

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla, lime zest, and lime juice. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, beat the butter with an electric mixer on medium-high speed, until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and the salt and beat, starting on low speed and then increasing to medium-high, until well combined, about 2 minutes more. Slowly add the egg mixture and beat until well combined, about 3 minutes.

4. Reducing the speed on the mixer to low, gradually add the flour to the batter, and beat until just combined.

5. Pour the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Bake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely before serving.

*recipe adapted from Real Simple's Citrus Pound Cake with Cranberry Syrup     

24-Hour Sleepover Special

1:30 p.m.  We arrived at our hotel in Sturbridge, MA.  It's close to Old Sturbridge Village, where Sis and I would be overnighting with the Girl Scouts, and has a cute poster of OSV in reception.  Mama took the kids to the Village to look around; I stayed back and stretch and rest.  It's going to be a long night.

While they're out, I got several emails with photos, particularly of them sledding down the hill and of the woolly sheep in the barnyard.  

Mama even gave it a whirl!

4:00 p.m.   We head to dinner at the Publick House nearby, which is an eighteenth-century tavern turned restaurant, inn, and banqueting facility.  A reception was ending as we arrived; a wedding ceremony was being set up as we left!  We ate next to the hearth in the tavern room and had traditional New England fare:  sweet buns, yeast rolls, pumpkin bread, lobster pie, chicken pot pie, poached salmon, turkey dinner with all the trimmings, Grape Nut pudding, Indian pudding, apple pie, and an almond raspberry tart.  Delicious!  And the historical ambience made it even better.  

Oh, and Sis lost a tooth while eating her pot pie!  That girl, teeth coming left and right these days (which is overwhelming our forgetful Tooth Fairy, named Meadow Larkspur.)

5:30 p.m.   We took a quick break before the evening activities, and then . . . 

6:30 p.m.   Our Hop Into History sleepover at Old Sturbridge Village began!  We had 13 girls and six chaperones, which is almost our full troop sans three.  We got our gear settled into our sleeping space (eventually because we changed places once) and started our evening activities.  I have to say that I loved the education building.  It was an open, airy, light space with dozens of semi-divided "classrooms."  Some had old-time kitchens with wooden tables for prep and hearths for cooking; some had looms, others had printing presses.  Everywhere there were hutches, redware pottery, tin utensils, and other period details.  Definitely an educator's paradise.  (Our sleeping space was in one of these homey kitchens.

7:30 p.m.  Our first activity was making Jumbles, or cookies.  They mixed them in a redware bowl with a birch whisk, using rosewater for flavoring (there wasn't any vanilla in the States in the 1830s, I believe.)  Then we baked them on cookie sheets in reflecting ovens placed before a burning fire.  They also made lemonade using powdery sour citric acid, lemon juice, sugar, and water.  All the girls tasted the citric acid and made pucker faces!  These two treats would form our late night snack. 

Next the girls moved to the painting area, where they outlined dogwood flowers on acetate with Sharpies and then colored them in with paints.  Meanwhile, the guide touched delicately on labor issues and had the girls commute how quickly they would have to work to make a dollar a day.  Sis did the math--one painting every twelve minutes for 10 hours at 2 cents each would earn the dollar.  And the girls didn't work anywhere near that fast!

After baking and painting, the group went on a one-hour tour of the village by lantern light.  I stayed back because it was uneven and icy (apparently it was also speedy and I would have had trouble keeping up regardless.)  I've seen the village by candlelight at Christmas so I didn't feel like I was missing much.  

9:00 p.m. Instead, I lay on my little mat and stretched and drew this mandala inspired by some of the early American art around me. See the 9 square and flying geese and Celtic rope?

10:00 p.m.  When they returned from their hike, we had our snack (I couldn't taste the rosewater) and got ready for bed.  This was the part that made me nervous, both for my own ability to sleep on the floor without messing up my back and also for the girls actually getting some sleep.  The former was easier than the latter!  I set up my mat near the entrance to our little area, with my chair nearby. Sis was on the other side of the chimney near her friends. The girls played cards for awhile and then giggled a lot longer.  They stayed chatty after lights out and the lead staff member reprimanded us a few times.  Of course, I'm such a rule follower that I was bothered by the noise--I would have been one of the quiet girls--but in the end, there's not much you can do to shush a bunch of ten-year-olds!  

11:30 p.m.  They fell asleep eventually (though we had one girl who got ill, but she got better quickly--and luckily her mom was with us)--and it was the girls from the other groups who were playing flashlight wars and running around in the dark back and forth to the bathroom (their chaperones were asleep in another section--not very smart, but then I guess it meant the chaperones got to sleep!)  Of course, I didn't sleep much at all.  I imagine I slept in fifteen-minute chunks, or so, listening to all the unusual noises and worrying about the sick girl (and the threat of more sick girls, ugh.  But no one else threw up.)  My bed was as comfortable as it could be and I moved back and forth between it and the chair, which is super comfortable.

6:00 a.m.  By the way, those noisy, wandering girls from the other group?  They woke up and started talking--loudly--an hour before wake-up time!!  The Tooth Fairy had visited Sis in the night, though she needed some help finding Sis, and then Sis didn't find the money.  I knew it had been delivered--how do you say that, though?  So I said I thought I'd seen the Fairy, digging deeper. . . . but it was only very much later that we found the money in her bedding.  I think, though, the proverbial cat is out of the sleeping bag.  (Though, I think it had been for awhile.)  On an up note:  I think all the short naps overnight kept my back from tightening up too much because I was pretty unharmed and barely even stiff after a night on the floor.  Not sure if it was preparation or a miracle, but I'll take it!

7:30 a.m.  We had breakfast--bagels, cereal, and Hasty Pudding (made in a crock pot with white cornmeal, salt, and water) served with craisins and sugar.  Kinda like grits, I thought it needed butter and cream!  No wonder it is a "hasty" meal.

8:15 a.m.  We hiked into the snow-covered village that morning to see a storytelling performance in the lovely old meeting houses.  The kids sat quiet and interested in stories about an old wise magic fish and another about a contest with Old Man Winter.  

 9:15 a.m.  We're packed and ready to go.  Al the girls return to their folks, many head into the village.  Mama and Bud pick us up and I get a quick shower before we head back to the Village.  Bud and Mama had driven around doing some Ingress tracking and then played some games in the hotel.  So not as exciting as our night, but they had a good time.

10:00 a.m.  We wandered around OSV, eventually running into our GS friends.  Sis and Bud enjoyed hanging out with them.  I liked watching the cooking demos, as usual--apple pie in the Parsonage and maple cookies in the Fitch House.  We also picked up some beer bread and maple soda in the little shop.

Then we went to the craft center, where Mama made a spile (the little wooden pegs you use to tap trees for maple sugar time) and I hand-sewed a little seed bag.

12:00 p.m.  For lunch, we went to BT's Smokehouse across the street from the Village.  The line was long, as was the wait.  And it was amazing barbecue!  We had brisket sandwiches, St. Louis ribs, pastrami on rye, smoked salmon, and all the fixin's--the very best collards ever, Texas caviar, mac and cheese, cornbread, cole slaw, and more.  Even Tagalong bread pudding.

And thus, at 3:00 p.m., a little over 24 hours later, we returned home from our special sleepover.  Exhausted, excited, stuffed to the gills.  Sis has already asked where we're overnighting next!

Doodling during the Snow

On Retreat

My weekend was marvelous.  And I'm not even sure where to begin, knowing that the typing up of it might dull the glow that I've carried with me.  I'd actually never been on an overnight retreat before--it's not quite like an academic conference because it's totally lacking in "political" networking or posturing.  It was 48 hours of being completely cut off--I even deinstalled various apps from my phone, so that I only connected with Mama a couple of times a day to check in.  Otherwise, the only part of the outside world I knew about was the snow I could watch falling from inside!


Monastery
Held at one of the largest Catholic retreats in the world, the retreat--sponsored by Copper Beech Institute, a mindfulness non-profit--was surrounded by symbols of Catholicism.  Bud even worried as they dropped me off, "Mom, it looks so religious!"  Yes, indeed, in that post-war, wood paneling, 50s sort of way.  I've stayed in another monastery--one in Rome that ran a hostel that housed my summer school abroad--but that was less-dated looking, though probably older.  The monks were rather the same, though--robed, friendly, very quiet.  No surprise that Rome would have more ambiance than Connecticut!

My room itself reminded me of Agnes of God--a bed, a desk, a chair, a nightstand, and that all-important waste-paper basket.  Whites, browns, red curtain and bedspread.  No Bible, though.  Only a print with a Wendell Berry poem for decoration and a gorgeous view of a snow-covered landscape with gumball tree and statues.

The hall, with numerous other doors leading to replicas of my own room, had that old-college dorm feel, especially with the communal showers and toilets.   Though, there was art on display made by local artists, including one mixed media canvas entitled Silent Weavers by Elisabeth Moss, which became my especial favorite.  I would intentionally pass by it so that I could study it every chance I got.  I saw a veiled woman, possibly an angel with wings, and a little owl (with beak and wing); I emailed a photo to Mama, who saw the Host and Chalice, given its Catholic context.  One of my co-retreatants saw the Virgin Mary.

The rest of the center was huge--three big buildings and practically two of everything (chapels, dining rooms, elevators).  In fact, there was another retreat of about 80+ Catholic men and we rarely ever saw them!  But it was all inside so we never got snowed upon.  I especially enjoyed the little bookshop with sweets, gifts, and books, where I picked up a few things for the family.  I also liked the Solarium, a long thin hallway with seats and cushions  . . . and potted pink geraniums on the sill overlooking a snowy expanse.  There is a labyrinth on the grounds, with a beautiful rock sculpture in the center but, alas, it was under two feet of snow.  No one ventured out to find it.  I'll go back on another retreat and walk the path.

Food
It's a rare place that focuses on vegetarian food, with an animal protein as an after-thought, but such was the case with this retreat.  Lentil salad, porcini risotto, arugula salad, spinach salad, parmesan cheese grits, broccoli frittata, chickpea stew, kale and white bean soup, potato pancakes, scrambled eggs.  So much goodness to eat at every meal.  And it was local and sustainable when possible.  The baked goods were a treat too:  pb cookies, this rich sweet zucchini bread/cake, and these fabulous lemon poundcakes. Snack one day was bowls of sunflower and pumpkin seeds and marcona almonds.  Mmmmmm.  Plus abundant tea and coffee.  And I bought chocolate at the little shop.  What more could I want?  There were some retreatants who snuck over to the buffet line of the Catholic men's retreat--they had meat and potatoes; and it was all okay to choose what you wanted to eat!






Drawing
Of course, the purpose of this retreat was something called Zentangle, a meditative drawing technique that focuses on process as much as output.  Before it was copyrighted, you would've just called it doodling.  I had discovered Zentangle officially some months back when I noticed various drawing pins on Pinterest and also an article in UU World about a doodling minister.  I started playing around with it myself, as you've seen in several posts, and this retreat was my chance to learn more techniques.

We had a whole room to ourselves, stocked with an Art Bar full of materials and tools, numerous displays of the teachers' own work, reference books, and snacks!!!  It was a grown-up candy store.  We even each got a lot of our own goodies--pens, papers, a sketch book, various project materials, and a door prize--mine was a wooden frame that I can decorate.

The initial session was a basic intro to Zentangle--the dots, the tile, the strings, the tangle patterns.  We also discussed embellishments, etc., and some of the concepts--childlike curiosity, awareness of breath and body, staying present, lack of judgement, no erasure, nothing is a "mistake" (just an opportunity!)  I'm more into it for fun, but some of the people are obsessed Zentanglers, who hold meetings and complete weekly challenges.  One woman even flew in from Ohio to take a class with a specific teacher.

Some of the other sessions were beyond me--I wasn't quite ready to design my own unique Tangle pattern and I wasn't that interested in making several paper books to be platforms for my own tangleations (yep, there's this whole lingo.)

In fact, the last session was my favorite:  we learned how to Tangle labyrinths.  We drew four types--basic, the interior of Chartres, the labyrinth at the retreat center, and a concentric circle labyrinth--and discussed all the various patterns that lended themselves to labyrinths.  I had enjoyed drawing labyrinths way before I knew of Zentangle; we used to make them out of painters' tape on the floor!  I hadn't thought to Tangle them before.  I know I'll be filling those little books with labyrinths.

Other Offerings
When I wasn't drawing, I was taking advantage of other retreat offerings.  The first night, I had a thirty minute Reflexology session.  While I've had my chakras cleansed, accupressure, accupuncture, and fascial release, I've never had reflexology, which is focused on energy conduits in the feet (same system as accupressure/puncture, but different "entry" point.  The whole thing was relaxing--dim lights, soft music, sweet lotions and oils--but I couldn't say if the effects were from the qi manipulation or just the rest.  And I'm not sure it really matters.  (Yes, I have become much more open to alternative healings since my back injury, which was mostly helped by Integrative Manual Therapy not traditional meds, injections, etc.)

I also attended an early morning mindfulness meditation session, just like a few I've attended before.  The director (who is the husband of a new friend of mine) led the meditation and has one of those soft, NPR voices and such a calm manner; it reminded me of everything that I love about mindfulness meditation.  (Even though I was down on my mat on a very cold tile floor!)  I liked his metta phrases at the end, "May all beings be happy.  May all beings be peaceful.  May all beings be free from suffering.  May all beings be healed."  I really liked the "healed" part.

I also went to a yoga class!  I don't have much yoga experience, mainly prenatal at home alone with a DVD a decade ago.  Again with my mat on a cold floor, I listened to the soothing voice of the teacher, who chanted beautifully, and followed gently each of her moves to the best of my ability.  I of course especially liked the long rest and then meditation at the end.  I'm not sure yoga will be my thing--stretching is fraught with the possibility of injury for me--but I'm glad I got the chance to try.  I also liked chatting with her and the other students over tea (Big Y's "calming" blend of chamomile and lavender--organic, even--who knew.)

I also went to a music concert the second night, a couple playing guitar, flutes, and singing bowls.  Nice music of a type, but I was so exhausted from sitting all day that I didn't last long.  I wish I could've though; it was tranquil.


I was ready when the weekend ended, even with the good food and opportunities for learning and relaxing.  I wondered how Mama and the kiddos were--with their gaming (mainly Disney's Infinity, and trip to the Winter Festival for ice fishing (they didn't catch anything but got to eat some of the fish someone did catch!  They said the ice was a foot thick.)   Mama's grandfather is dying, which is hard for the whole family (we're getting updates from her parents, who are other in Thailand with him.)

And so, with a snowstorm on the way, I headed back to reality and the grocery store and home, which needed some attention, and now today's snow day from school.  Re-entry is never really smooth.  But I'm glad to be back with the family . . . and I can always take a mini-mental retreat with my sketchbook when I need to.  All told, it was a marvelous experience.

And the painting of the woman with wings hangs in our living room as a reminder.

The Art of the Draw

We went to an art demo and book signing by Jan Brett this morning . . . at the IKEA, of all places (I guess it was the Scandinavian tie-in.)  Organized by RJ Julia Bookstore to benefit Read to Grow, the event was well-organized and fun.  There was a huge Hedgie character walking around, two Santa Lucia maids, books for sale--and even her painted rock-star travel bus outside that we posed in front of!  

Brett herself spoke and drew for upwards of 45 minutes, encouraging all of the children there to embrace their individual creativity, as unique as their own fingerprints.  And she gave a lesson on how to draw a bunny--basketball body, egg-shaped head, almond eyes, not a cotton tail, shading the edges, using prismacolor markers for blending; she takes an hour an inch, I think she said, and finds inspiration all over the place.  The resulting work is that bunny above.  Sis was ecstatic, especially when Brett brought out her own "bun-bun" and showed the audience.  

We waited awhile, in orderly and calm fashion, to have our copy of The Animal's Santa signed.  It went faster because we ran into our friend Miss M who works for Read to Grow.  She used to play with the kids when they were very little--puppet shows and fairy houses at the beach, baking cookies at her house; we've even been to a concert or two of her band.  We don't see her as often anymore--we changed churches and she's had a long run-in with cancer--so it was especially good to chat today.

And eventually it was our turn.  Sis very happily chatted with Brett about wanting a bunny.  Brett told her she had wanted a horse when she was young and finally got one when she grew up.  They posed for a picture and then we were off. . . . to buy foodstuffs in the IKEA marketplace

A delightful, inspiring morning.

Love the Doodles

Mug Shot

Bud's new cartoon character, called, I think, Mugs.  He's even done a few comic strips.  

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