Friday, April 23

Learning more about Cedar in Kenya: A Video and Conversation

Departing Washington, DC during a snow storm, Cedar and her family arrived in Kenya 14 hours later. Their time was shared with many friends, cousins, and of course animals from desert to water, where Kenya meets the Indian Ocean. 

"Where did you go for the water?" -Giacomo

​Jecca: So Kenya also has a coastline. It's on the Indian Ocean. And it's really beautiful. And it has big long white beaches and really pretty water. So fun to swim in. Cedar bug was so excited when she got into that water because...there are no waves in Kenya. And when Cedar got in and her legs were kicking so hard with excitement. 

"Where is Cedar's house?" -Janie

Giacomo: It looked like the desert
Cedar: It doesn't look like a desert if you come inside you will see only flowers. It is sunny outside that will look like the desert.
Giacomo: I, I think Kenya is close to the desert.
Cedar: Kenya is very hot, but the desert... Some camels live in Kenya but not so much. Camels live in the desert.
Maxon: ...It's really far away in Africa.
Janie: Where's Kenya?
Cedar: The desert. It's next to the desert.
​
Jecca: It's on a continent called Africa. Which is about a whole night and a bit of a day's flight from here. And part of Africa is a desert; it has a big desert called the Sahara. And it's sort of northern part of it and we are in the part that is less desert as you come out of the desert but it's dry and it's hot.

"There's so much salty." -Cedar

Cedar: There's so much salty.
Giacomo: Did she see some sharks?
Jecca: We saw some baby sharks playing in the water...
Cedar: They were like fish.
Maxon: Did Cedar scuba dive and see some angler fish?
Jonathan: Not deep enough.
Cedar: We saw some zebra fish in the sea. ... I saw a big blue whale jumping.
Janie: My question is, my question is, did she find a hermit crab?
Cedar: Lots of crabs! And we found a big crab.
Sylvie: Did you see any frogs?
​Janie: I have a question. Did you find any jellyfish.
Cedar: We did here (in Florida). ... We did see a manta ray.
Jecca: Not a manta ray, a sting, a small one.
Janie: Did you find an octopus?
Sylvie: I have a question! Did you see a mermaid?
Janie: Did you see any dolphins?
Jecca: That's a good question.
Cedar: Only Florida.

---

Clay Play 

"Here, Janie. I'm cutting some up for you!" -Cedar 

"Thanks!" -Janie

"When Sylvie says she wants some clay I will give it to her, and when Janie wants some clay, I will give it to her," Cedar said as half of us gathered around the round table to play with clay, for a second day of clay work since last year. Poking, cutting, pinching, pulling, smooshing, building, rolling, and scoring were all part of our clay play this morning. "I'm making a tree house," Sylvie and Maxon said, but by the end of their work, they chose to take apart their clay to try again next week. Janie made a house with no walls or roof and has plans to add these structural elements on Monday. Cedar enjoyed her time by cutting and distributing the clay to others in a helpful manner while Audrey, Jane and Giacomo added small twigs to their clay pieces, giving depth and meaning to their work. 

Giacomo made a house with walls and a roof along with a centipede with two stick antennae. "The sticks are walls. It's a stick house," said Jane about her clay creation, and Audrey's undefined clay work was skillfully rolled and carefully decorated with a single stick. ​

Painting Flowers... literally

Who wants to paint the flowers?

The original intention, as set up, was to paint images of flowers on watercolor paper. But when asked to paint flowers, why not paint the actual flower? ​

​In an innovative and creative fashion (and a bit of an Amelia Bedelia manner) Jane and Audrey painted petals and leaves carefully selected from the flower bouquets set on the table for a watercolor tube painting provocation. 

Enjoy the weekend and the flowers!