"My Mind Is Not Loose Enough For Ms. Pacman"

Last night I played my best game of Ms. Pacman ever, on the 1980 machine at the Video Saloon (a local bar). I advanced to the third pink level after the stork brought a second baby. Tracey Trance was witness to this epic performance, and we were both shocked to find that eating the "energy dots" no longer had any effect on the ghosts in this new and strange pink world of the Ms. Pacman universe, a world we could only guess about before last night.

After that game I asked myself, "why do I love playing this silly video game so much?"

Today I can think of 2 reasons:

1)The Practical reason -- I realized that playing the game actually provides training for my job. During last night's game Tracey Trance kept saying things to me like "you gotta maintain field vision" and "know where every ghost is at all times." The children in kindergarten are like the ghosts in the game, running wild and loose through the labyrinth of their imagination or all around the playground. My role is to remain aware of each one, know where they are, maintain field vision, and not get in their way. The Ms. Pacman game trains me in this way.

2)The Mythological reason -- The backstory tells the universal tale, and from a woman's perspective: Woman runs from ghosts seeking fruit and "dots" for nourishment, meets a suitable male and falls in love, then gives birth by way of a stork. She is Isis falling for Osiris and giving birth to Horus.

And why oh why is it called "Ms. PacMAN" and not just "PacWOMAN?" We will have to consult Hanz Bronze for the answer to that question, methinks.

Building A Box Maze

We built a box maze last week with about a dozen giant boxes that were in the school's recycling. We covered it with paint, chalk, tape, fabric, and reflective mylar paper.

It was used as a dog house, a spaceship, and a dog spaceship.

One of the children said today, "I wish we could build a box maze everyday."

I do to -- but they just take up so much space. We will do it again sometime though. There are always big boxes lying around.

Fairy Garden

Reading some other great teacher blogs turned me on to the concept of the "Fairy Garden." We worked on ours today, using a rickety old wooden chest I found laying around the school garden. I planted some thyme and we added various stones, wooden craft rounds, fake ferns and flowers, soil and sand. Some of the children started making little tipis and fairy homes as well.

Tomorrow we'll add some acorn jewels and write a "message" for the fairies and see if they respond...

If Porcupines Grew Poppies...

Ode To Winslow Woods

You are a miracle oh Forest
Left alone to die and grow
For many years in the neighborhood
They call "Little Appalachia"

Towering Tulip Poplars
Old Oaks standing over
Sinkholes and patches of Paw Paw
Mature enough to fruit

Huge vines climbing over everything
Some half dead half alive
Beech trees carved with the initials
Of young kids wild and in love

A home to Pileated Woodpecker

A place to walk the dog

A family of deer passing through

Children learn to build a shelter
Learn the names of trees
Mushrooms and wildflowers
While playing at "Wonderspot"

Families grill out on the edge
Celebrating birthdays and they are
Aware of you and your mystery
Even if they never enter

You are an unlikely gift oh Forest
In these foul times of waste and
Nature hating - you and your 30 acres
Are the heart of our community.