Along the Merry Way....

The wildlife here is prolific. First, the deer are extremely presumptious, wandering onto people's lawns and gazing boredly at your car after they leisurely trot off the road. There are rumours of cougars in the neighborhood, and twice now a black bear has lumbered right into our back yard. The children were beside themselves with excitement. These are children who, for the most part, have never even seen the stars before! After the second bear-sighting, Jaeho ran out with a camera and I ran out with a big stick (just in case :) and we tried to hunt the bear down, but it had disappeared. Our neighbors found this tiny, amazing creature on their lawn. It was only a few days old and the mother deer was grazing nearby. I can't tell you how cool it was to see! Bambi's way cuter in real life than in the cartoon :) The mother deer, grazing at a distance:

Then there is Seymin (His name is a bit of a joke among the teachers, poor little fellow). His mother is living with us and helping to cook. He is the most incredible child I have ever encountered. He is only one, but he wears the clothes of a four year old. He is gigantic but still has the muscle control of a baby, so he lumbers awkwardly about like a big wooden puppet. He has wandered around ever since arriving from Korea with a rather stunned and upset look on his face, saying all the time, "Boi? Boi?" (This literally means, What the Hell? What the Hell? ) Even in church, during a quieter moment, you'll hear, "Boi?" echo from the back. Like a walking tank or machine of destruction, he lunges for the weakest and most breakable things. I've seen the child attach himself to the cane of a wobbling old man and try to rip away his only support. I've seen him charge the sun-glasses stand in a store. He springs again and again at drinking glasses, knives, po...

These guys always look hilarious--the bangs on the brown one especially! Emperor Kuzco: Ahh! My face! My beautiful, beautiful face! I'm an ugly, stinky llama! Wah-hah-hah! Llama face!

Valemount is a small town in a valley of extraordinary beauty where three different mountain ranges converge: the Caribou, the Monashees, and the Rockies. Getting up each morning, you feel like a little ant dwarfed by the monstrous crags of the surrounding white peaks. The McKirdy clan is the original family to settle the area, and several families of relatives live at different heights on the side of McKirdy mountain. They have built their houses from the logs of the mountainside, and each home is connected to a damn that catches the glacial streams and provides a source of water and electricity. The Carson family in particular have created an almost Lord of the Ringsian palace partway up the mountain, embedding twisted tree limbs into their staircase and great soaring and knobbly trunks as pillars in their home. At the very top, they have an observatory from which you can gaze down on the valley stretching out below you. They are the highest home on the mountainside, and the air is n...

Hello friends! Yes, people, this is exactly what it looks like.......Spring! Hurray. That time of the year when the weather awakens those primieval urges to romp about in the mud and build things out of sticks and sail boats down the river. The buds coming out on the trees make it look like a faint green mist is hanging in the air about the branches. Melting river..... And more melting!

So I've given notice at the two different music studios where I work. In one, my bosses kindly said they understood and would be sorry to see me go but would take me back any time. In the other, there was a good deal of crazy, dramatic upset, and words to the effect of "You don't care about your students...." and "You're leaving them in the middle of the term (I gave months notice for a part-time job I had no contract with)," and "I won't give you a reference". I was ready to walk out several times after hearing this. All these hilarious little people (I have over 30) have frusterated and entertained me for almost 2 years now. I've seen very tiny ones learn not to fall off the bench, others learn to have rhythmn, and others get excited about their songs. I will not miss it although I will miss them. There is a vaaaaaaast difference between being a musician and teaching music, and I learned that I prefer the "being" part. It...

Gertrude is one of the sweetest little girls I've ever taught. However, I don't know how, but she frequently manages to play the piano with her mouth hanging wide open. It's as though she is still sitting in amazement at the last story that I've told her.