Friday...Saturday....and now Sunday....

Friday was a very busy day with my visit to Bexley for their community service day for the 8Th grade classes. We visited the Bronzeville community which is only 15 minutes away from their community. We visited three old church communities ...Shiloh Baptist, Saint Paul's AME and Trinity AME church ....whose name has fled my brain for a moment. We visited the King Arts Complex and the renewed Egyptian Theater...our very own Lincoln Theater built back in 1914 and the heart of Jazz and Dance for the African American community. When we arrived at the King Arts Center we were privileged to the colorful and intimate excitement and music from the DANCEAFRICA Columbus Phase II. This was an educational journey and expression for life long learning and learning the need to respect ourselves, our families a, communities and of course our Mother Earth. I felt the beat of the drums inside my heart and the colors swirling with a kinetic energy across the stage...we could see and feel the passion of our elders modeling the joys of parenthood. At the end of the day I was exhausted but at the same time I wished I could regain my strength from my earlier years and be able to be more active once again in full time teaching. The truth is I think I can...is not enough to be fair with the needs of the students in today's world. But I totally felt at home for one day with a passion I feel for life long learning and the importance of working in outreach in and near our communities. I am grateful for the youthful persons who entered my heart today.

Friday evening we delighted in another culture ...Celtic music and Dance from Ireland and Scotland shared with two special friends Tony and Kathy. We had a wonderful dinner at the Chop House and shared our day's events and the joy we were all looking forward to at the Midland theater. At 8 PM the Tartan Terrors came out on the stage and filled the theater with raucous dancing music and laughter! I could hardly maintain my seat in the theater...I was bouncing up and down and clapping until my hands hurt. I hated for the evening to come to an end...but my fatigue was finally catching up with me and I had a new young man coming for his first lesson on Saturday. I highly recommend you check out these brilliant musicians wearing their kilts in pride on a cold Spring day in Newark, Ohio!

Saturday morning I met a young man Ben who is 14 and eager to explore painting. I explained to him I take a very experimental approach where we would evaluate ...problem solve and experiment on small 8 by 10 inch canvases. Ben has the gentlest spirit and I look forward to next Saturday to work with him. I came home to collect a few more texture lessons and some simple brush experiments and possible mono-printing working into collages. Thank you Ben for your enthusiasm and gentle passage of time. I came home and enjoyed the warmth of the afternoon and clear blue skies. Tonight is the full moon...The Worm Moon...when the cycle of the moon is actually closer to the earth than in the last 18 years. The night sky was brilliant as if the trees were celebrating the beginning of the Spring. I stood on my front porch in the moonlight as I listened for the rustle of the leaves as my deer were rambling through the front hill of our land. I wish I could express the feeling of peace in the solitude caressed by the night 's cloak of velvet gray moonlight shining through the trees.

Sunday was March Madness in this household...Ken was in his glory and surprisingly my sister Donna was really into comparing their brackets. I caught up on my piles of laundry and took several naps...sleeping is good according to Ben Stein on the CBS Sunday Morning show. I already knew this fact of life but it is always great to hear someone else expound on the need to get proper rest after a busy busy week in the ARTS! Imagine and Live in Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart