Crouton Pie

Which school supply are you?

Just a quick interruption of "what we did last summer" to give an update on our wonderful Stella Rondo Elementary School.  Bronson's sixth grade teacher, Miss Chenille, new this year, is fabulous.  Her web site included not only a detailed list of school supplies to bring on the first day, but a writing assignment as well.  The kids were assigned to write a paragraph with the following creative prompt:  "If I were one of these classroom supplies, I would be..."

Fortunately, after visiting several stores, we were able to find all the supplies.  Then Bronson chose the box of 16 crayons to write about, saying, "there are hundreds of boxes of 8, 24, 64, and 96, but I am that rare box of 16 that has all the colors any sixth grader needs."  Obviously, he feels ready for sixth grade! 

Stella Rondo Elementary is K-6, so Hailey and Bronson are in the same school again, so thankfully during this stressful time Bronson does not need to be ready for a new school.

Hailey has already decided that if she gets the assignment next year she will be a glue stick.  "I go on purple (my favorite color), and then I disappear, but I'm still there."   Amber is our green highlighter, her big green eyes reflecting and amplifying our family's every mood. I am the three-ring binder, with one ring for each child, keeping us together and organized!

The only problem we had was choosing a school supply for Purcell.  Hailey suggested hand sanitizer.  "For someone who caught one of the most contagious diseases anywhere?" said Bronson, both bitter and proud.

Hailey objected that that was unfair.  "As we speak, he is protecting the world from contagious chronic fatigue," she said, sounding much older than a fifth grader.  I decided it was time to serve an early dinner of crouton pie, then cuddle up with the kids and dogs to watch one of our favorite movies, maybe The Five Little Peppers and How they Grew.

Poutine dreams

Another fortunate thing is that while we were still in Canada I realized that Purcell's safety and efficiency consulting business would be put on hold for at least a few months, and naturally no income would be coming in.  Over the walkie talkie and through the more private mode of notes held up to the window, I was able to assure him that we would be fine.  (I did try to suggest that when he gets home he will be wonderfully positioned to add Quarantine Management to his specialties, but he fell asleep every time I brought up that topic.) 

As you can imagine, the whole experience of being suddenly separated from dear Purcell was quite a shock.  And when we got home Bronson had to deal with another, admittedly smaller, loss as well.  Even before we finished unpacking, he started to miss his favorite Canadian food: poutine.  What the dish lacks in healthful qualities, it more than makes up as a comfort food.  So it seemed only natural that when Hailey suggested selling lemonade to earn money, Bronson suggested we cook and sell poutine!  And then we actually got kind of excited about managing on our own...

Camp Nodoze

The disease struck in late May--hence no posts after that, while we got over the shock.  By the time the kids and I got to Canada, Purcell had fallen ill and was quarantined with his parents and another elderly couple, their best friends.  Fortunately, we got to participate in the science fair and almost finish the school year before we left, but those adventures will have to wait for later.

Instead of the long summer visit with the grandparents that we had originally planned, the kids and I stayed in Canada for a short visit only.  The whole quarantine had become quite a media sensation; in fact the news helicopters circling overhead were often so loud that we had to resort to semaphore flags to communicate with the people inside the clubhouse.  Although Bronson had to miss summer camp, I had to tell him that he could really take consolation in that many aspects of our trip were better than any camp could be!

The kids and I kayaked every day on the very water that freezes into an ideal curling surface each winter.  Hailey became an expert at communicating with semaphore flags, which Purcell translated for his parents as they looked out from their beds--another one of my wonderful husband's skills!  Hailey and I predict a resurgence of this wonderful form of communication, which virtually eliminates any type of ecological impact, including noise pollution! The inmates' condition at that point was already improving, because they could stay awake about as long as Hailey could stand to spell out words with the flags while kneeling in a kayak.

Bronson experimented with communicating via smoke signals, until the local authorities very politely said his actions constituted a fire hazard.  After that he had a fabulous time hanging out with the Royal Canadian Mounties, who arrived in force to keep order around the lake.  Many of the visitors to the area were quite wonderful of course, and Hailey learned a buffalo wellness dance from the local shaman who showed up to cast a blessing on the clubhouse.