So much beauty everywhere

Friday is Zoey and my day. That is, after we drop Stella off at school, (in some awesome getups):

On the way to school the other day as we were zipping along a country road, Stella said, 'this view would make a beautiful painting. A landscape.'
So true.

Not my photo, but this is what she's talking about.

And thus began a conversation about landscapes, and Theibaud and Diebenkorn, of San Francisco fame.

Theibaud's Ripley Street Ridge, just next to our house.

Diebenkorn's SF Streetscape.

 

 We decided that there is so much beauty everywhere.


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Meanwhile, back to the Friday routine.  For Zoey and I, Fridays are not school or workdays, nor are they part of the weekend; they're a free, catch-our-breath time, a secret time with no pressure or expectation. We like to lounge a bit and relax. Or hike. This Friday, we made applesauce. And then Zoey delved into some streaming cartoon Netflix while I got a little work done.

We took it especially easy because we had a long day ahead of us: Stella's school was hosting a movie night fundraiser in their outdoor amphitheater, and the kids were fired up. Our plan was to pick Stella up at 3:30 and just hang out and help until the event started.

Stella's school

The school barn

It's nice to not have to rush somewhere, which I do less than I have in years, but still more than I'd like. With nothing but time on Friday afternoon, we played in Stella's classroom and were treated to a lesson (lead by Stella,) on the Montessori counting system, and the word drawers. I know very little about how Montessori education works, but it sure is working for Stella. There seems to be a lot of autonomy, (the children decide which lessons to do and when they want to do them, though eventually they must do them all) a lot of responsibility, (they check their own work against a key to confirm what they've gotten right and wrong,) and a great deal of respect, for each other and the world around them.

Number beads

Word towers

After a while in the classroom and a brief trip to the Coffee Pot Cafe for some delicious carrot cake, it was time for movie night.

The weather was ideal. (And cold!)

Everybody bundled up.

Stella wore the hat that she just finished knitting.

Even the goats got excited.

Shadow puppets entertained for hours.

First came the hot dogs, then, late in the evening after the movie concluded,  the marshmallows. (PS - there are no veggie dogs in Montana!)

The trees along Middle Creek.

The movie, Nim's Island, was good. Zoey lasted about 20 minutes before Chris had to take her home. But out here in the middle of the continent, in a new place that's growing less foreign by the day, Stella and I snuggled down in our hats and sleeping bags under the dark night sky, surrounded by the distant sound of the creek, the bright stars, and the clear, cold air. I held her tight.