Category Archives: light

May9

be the guy with the bic.

Posted on May 9, 2023 by beth

pandora cued up a classic ccr song for me on the way home

windows down sun shining warm spring air

thinking of this quote that i just love:

“We were ready to rock out and we waited and waited and finally it was our turn … there were a half million people asleep. These people were out. It was sort of like a painting of a Dante scene, just bodies from hell, all intertwined and asleep, covered with mud. And this is the moment I will never forget as long as I live: A quarter mile away in the darkness, on the other edge of this bowl, there was some guy flicking his Bic, and in the night I hear, “Don’t worry about it, John. We’re with you.” I played the rest of the show for that guy.

—John Fogerty recalling Creedence Clearwater Revival’s 3:30 a.m. start time at Woodstock.”

-hank bordowitz, bad moon rising: the unofficial history of credence clearwater revival

Dec21

essence of life.

Posted on December 21, 2022 by beth

Standard

picture from a past solstice celebration

—

every year

one of my favorite things to teach and share with my class

is the story and traditions of the winter solstice

i get to play the sun

the children play the tilting earth and the seasons

who spin and dance and throw snow

as the season changes

the sun stays in the middle

offering extra light

to the other side of the earth now tilting toward it

knowing it will always return to them

even as our days grow shorter

they quietly rest on the ground

waiting, waiting

only to emerge

when the time is right

happy to dance once more

in the light of the warm spring sun.

—

*notes: here is my recipe for the winter solstice, and many thanks to all for your low-tech special effects support of this performance: torn paper snowflakes made by the children, many smiles, a bit of dizziness, a sun doing an interpretive dance, a person to turn off and on the classroom lights at just the right moment, a flashlight, a yellow paper sun, a dj to play the music (‘carol of the bells’ by george winston, and ‘here comes the sun’ by the beatles) at just the right time, and a class full of kinder/whirling twirling planets throwing snow, lying down, and awakening as emerging new life in the spring when the sun returns. somehow it all falls into place, each year a bit differently, as is the way of the world.

—

“spiritually, life is a festival, a celebration. joy is the essence of life.”

-agnivesh