A Quiet Week
by Sarah Sivright
I thought you might like to know what goes on when the school goes “quiet,” between the school year and summer camps. You’ll find, like I did, that the spirit of the All Seasons community has lingered--left behind by all of you--albeit with a bit less energy and noise.
A river was created; friendly, exacting workers came to lay new tile over cracks in our floor. We now have a beautiful blue river flowing the length of the school. Steve, our rock star maintenance man, checked on the progress every day. Fritzie and Mary charmed and serenaded the workers, and when they had their outdoor time, were definitely missed.
A new outdoor pen; a couple years ago, Steve erected a fence in the corner of our lower playground for the chickens, so they could have a protected outdoor space. It didn’t take long before they figured out how to escape, and the enclosure had gone unused for over a year. After Fritzie’s near-fatal hawk encounter, we’ve been reluctant to leave them outside alone. But this week was going to be tough on the chickens with just me here. (After the hawk attack, we only kept them outside with the children). So I made a list of tasks I could accomplish outside so I could keep an eye out for hawks--addressing and stuffing envelopes for our parent survey (sent to grads only), sewing up pillowcases, labeling folders, etc.—but that wasn’t going to be enough outdoor time to keep Fritzie and Mary happy. So I put them in their little outdoor pen while I sewed, watching to see how they had been escaping. After about 15 minutes I watched Fritzie squeeze under the gate, looking just like Peter Rabbit escaping from Farmer MacGregor! I tied some fencing to the bottom of the gate, put her back in, and that solved the problem for the rest of the week. We’ll see how long this solution lasts, because…
Fritzie flies again and hosts a sleepover; a collection of chicken poop on Fritzie’s upper ledge and under her perch were evidence that she has recovered from her hawk injuries and taken flight once again—hooray! Also, in an unintended experiment, I left the chickens together in the same cage from Wednesday night until Friday morning, planning on trying this new arrangement only for one afternoon, but forgot to separate them at the end of the day. All was cozy when I returned, so we've turned another corner and our chickens are good enough friends to be housed together when needed.
Dull tasks were accomplished like…Store room organized and swept“Office”/second store room organizedClassroom pets and plants cared forPhone calls answered, tours scheduled, mail picked up and sentWonderful visits from our senior friends...Grandpa Al brought down a cartoon (he does this often)Grandma LaRue brought down some blank greeting cards that our senior art class can colorMany folks came by to admire the new blue riverSue, our Activities Director, loaned me her sewing supplies for the pillowcasesJulie Kelly, Inver Glen’s director, had some packages UPS had dropped for us and wanted to tell me about the new staff appreciation program (more about that later)Grandpa Jack and Norm were spotted taking in the lovely late afternoon air on the front porch, and said how much they missed the kidsA couple grandmas asked if it was alright to clip some herbs from our new herb garden (yes!)Dar told me the rabbits were eating our corn. I brought my “Liquid Fence” from home and sprayed the vegetable garden, probably to no avail. Grandma Faye and Lavera were having tea in the Café and then going to the Community Room to hear music. They said it was way too quiet without us. Dar and Shirley asked when we’d be back as did the grandmas getting manicures, as did Sally and Bonnie and Rose.Without the children, Inver Glen is a quiet place.Time to come back!