Betsy

Hi, Tuck --

All I can think of for teaching about "beauty" is looking past the
superficial. So maybe something with masks?

Betsy

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In a message dated 1/10/2003 6:02:53 PM Central Standard Time,
ecsamhill@... writes:

> All I can think of for teaching about "beauty" is looking past the
> superficial. So maybe something with masks?
>
>

Thanks for all your ideas, everyone! I'm going to file them away for next
year. :) I wish I had seen the mask idea earlier, because I made a
gajillion masks for Will when he was 3, 4 and 5, and so I have lots of
experience!

We had a lot of business to conduct at this meeting, so I had a shorter time
than usual. I really wanted them to get that everyone can have different
ideas of beauty; that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". I took Sister
Wendy's book _My Favorite Things_ and emphasized that these were *her*
favorite things, and we talked about the things each of us thought were
beautiful. I did want them to get they idea that beauty exists outside of
what we can see as well. We didn't spend too much time discussing it
(because that's boring!), but I didn't have time for a craft.

The church where we meet has a labrynth for meditation painted on the parking
lot and so we went out to walk it. On the way, some people were working in
the sanctuary, taking down the Christmas backdrop, and putting up a new one.
Fortunately, one of the members saw us and asked if we were the ones looking
for "the beauty in Camp Fire". (Will had written on the whiteboard outside
our door "CamP FiRE USA" and I had written above it "Seek Beauty in". We try
to put the theme of the meeting on the whiteboard every week.) He invited us
into the sanctuary and showed us the old backdrop with stars and lights and
the kids were awed by its mass and the partially disassembled view of it.
The new backdrop was of some doves on a huge canvas, and the guy explained it
to us. He was so forthcoming and enthusiastic about the art and what we were
doing. We talked about the other art in the sanctuary and the architecture
and the 50 yo stained glass windows that were starting to droop at the
bottom.

Then we went out and walked (and ran) the labrynth, and enjoyed the BEAUTIFUL
blue sky and 35 degree weather. :) The guy told us a little about what the
labrynth was for (to help you meditate and pray and why it does help--he was
so great!) and one of the kids in the group who attends the church told us
about how long it took to paint it. We talked about more beautiful things
and ideas when we got to the center of the labrynth.

I have learned to trust my instincts and intuition with this group, and not
overplan the meetings. There's no way it could have been better if I had
orchestrated and asked the guy to come and meet us in the sanctuary! I think
my unschooling ideas and experience have made me much more attuned to the
natural flow of learning and being together and not having "standards of
learning" and being in relationship with the kids and just having fun. I
just try to be relaxed and trust the children. The kids keep wanting to come
back, so that's a good thing, right?

And I played my ukulele when we sang the Camp Fire Law song and they all said
I should get a bead for that! :) Good day. Thanks again!

Tuck


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In a message dated 1/12/2003 11:44:14 AM Eastern Standard Time,
tuckervill@... writes:
> We talked about the other art in the sanctuary and the architecture
> and the 50 yo stained glass windows that were starting to droop at the
> bottom.

I didn't know they did this. Why?
Can anything be done to prevent it?


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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In a message dated 1/12/03 10:03:51 AM, kbcdlovejo@... writes:

<< I didn't know they did this. Why?
Can anything be done to prevent it? >>

Glass is liquid. That's why old mirrors get wavy and sometimes the top isn't
as reflective any more. We had a built-in mirror in an old adobe house I
grew up in and it was a perfect example of an aged mirror. <g> And (part
of) why old windows sometimes rattle at the top and the caulk or wood break
at the bottom, because gradually over 80 years the glass gets fatter at the
bottom than the top.

It's slow liquid, but it's liquid.

Sometimes old windows are just wavy because they were blown (obvious) or
poured "in the wild" (not in a factory) but even sometimes factory glass will
show waves or distortion over time.

Sandra

marji

At 12:28 1/12/03 -0500, you wrote:
>Glass is liquid. That's why old mirrors get wavy and sometimes the top
>isn't as reflective any more. We had a built-in mirror in an old adobe
>house I grew up in and it was a perfect example of an aged mirror.
><g> And (part of) why old windows sometimes rattle at the top and the
>caulk or wood break at the bottom, because gradually over 80 years the
>glass gets fatter at the bottom than the top.

I LOVE that effect! I have a dresser mirror that my folks had when they
got married 53 years ago. It's streaked and funny at the top, and I just
think it's so beautiful (not so easy to see myself in, but that's not
entirely a bad thing ;) ).

>It's slow liquid, but it's liquid.

'Slower than molasses in January.' (Liam and I had a lot of fun with that
expression the other day.)

Okay, back to work for me.

Marji

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In a message dated 1/12/2003 12:28:48 PM Eastern Standard Time,
SandraDodd@... writes:

Glass is liquid. That's why old mirrors get wavy and sometimes the top isn't

> as reflective any more. We had a built-in mirror in an old adobe house I
> grew up in and it was a perfect example of an aged mirror. <g> And (part
> of) why old windows sometimes rattle at the top and the caulk or wood break
>
> at the bottom, because gradually over 80 years the glass gets fatter at the
>
> bottom than the top.

COOL!

>
> It's slow liquid, but it's liquid.


COOLER!

> Sometimes old windows are just wavy because they were blown (obvious) or
> poured "in the wild" (not in a factory) but even sometimes factory glass
> will
> show waves or distortion over time.

We had an old house in Illinois. Beautiful, wavy windows. They called them
"depression windows". I thought they were supposed to look like that. I used
to get calls all the time from window companies that wanted me to upgrade my
windows with some new-fangled, easy-to-wash windows. Mine were irreplaceable!
It gave an eerily beautiful look to everything outside.

~Kelly


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In a message dated 1/12/2003 11:03:44 AM Central Standard Time,
kbcdlovejo@... writes:

> We talked about the other art in the sanctuary and the architecture
> >and the 50 yo stained glass windows that were starting to droop at the
> >bottom.
>
> I didn't know they did this. Why?
> Can anything be done to prevent it?
>

I don't know. Maybe they're all so old or made cheaply or the building
wasn't heated for sometime or something like that? But most of the windows
lining the sanctuary on either side are perfectly fine until you get to the
bottom, where they are curved inwards a little. It's not be design, that's
for sure.

Tuck


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