Hot August Days

In many parts of the world the winter days descend with such a bitter cold that the children must remain indoors. In California we enjoy the freedom to frolic out of doors without interruption for the better part of each Fall, Winter, and Spring day; but, those Hot August Days require that we seek shelter. No, we do not seek the roar of a cozy fire, but rather the roar of an icy air-conditioner. With many days near (or above) the 100-degree-F mark one must find entertainment suitable for the great indoors. As a home without broadcast tv or cable and plenty of restrictions on movies and other video entertainment, our kids must find other ways to fill the gap between awake and asleep. Since we school year-round and take music lessons as well, we keep pretty busy. We all fill up on a steady diet of books, writing, drawing, building, creating, and anything else that catches one's fancy on those looooong afternoons of sheltered play.

Lydia said it best the other day:

"With a little imagination you can go anywhere."

Thus she and Rachel set out for a day at the beach. Sunglasses, sunscreen, a picnic on the "sand" complete with shells, rocks, and a bright Pacific blue "ocean" provided much fun.

Later when I went past Rachel's room I caught sight of a lot of litter that just screamed "I'm creating!" Not known for tidiness, this child regularly creates order and beauty out of chaos.
(Sometimes she merely raises chaos to an art form -- fortunately the Lord blessed us with a house adequate to provide each his own room.) Recently paper art has captured her fancy. "Mom, do you need ALL of these index cards?" or "Do we have any more tape?" regularly spill from the eager artist. Too many times the "reading time" before bed gets "exchanged" for art time. It may not be conventional, but then few would label us as such. And so, the sight of this mess brought back memories of other notable paper creations.

Like the cute octopus with "eyeballs that really work," according to the artist ...

Or some freehand cutting that resulted in some pretty adorable characters.

These days, however, Miss Rachel has taken her art 3-D. This cast of creatures entertained us with their zoological specifics.

This Hawaiian surfer (note the lei) exhibited some pretty daring athletics with the "wave in motion."

But nothing prepared me for the details of this piano sculpture Rachel presented to her piano teacher. Rachel chose this "self-portrait" complete with many details to match her own piano. (You may notice that all of the "faces" belong to Rachel. She loves to supply a portrait of the artist.)

After depicting her Piano, Rachel went on to explore her dreams of a grander piano. She has been known to change her favorite color on a weekly basis, which may explain the rainbow assortment of grand beauties. In honor of her teacher's warning that a performer should strive to be comfortable on many types of pianos, she has included one upright ... a red one. (I think piano shopping with Rachel will prove to be a bit more interesting than we experienced while harp shopping with the other girls.)

I think Rachel appreciates her freedom, and thanks us for it artfully.