yowsa.

This Josh Ritter video was made using 12,000 pieces of construction paper. so good.

The Wheels of the World

When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race.
-H.G. Wells

get some air

I worry - really worry - about the kids I take care of at school falling out of trees, and breaking their arms. I don't let them run with sticks because I don't want them gouging out any eyeballs. Not even one.

I happily let them fall in puddles, and get hit in the face with soccer balls because it teaches them so much, [when to - ahem - duck; the importance of paying attention; why a good pair of boots is invaluable; how/why to stop a game and make sure your friend and/or classmate who drives you nuts isn't hurt] but I would never notinamillionyears let them hang out of a train like this.

But the girl in this photo looks like she knows how not to fall out of that train, and there are probably a world of things things that have prepared her for that. I don't think I'm too strict with the kids. I don't think I hover. But thank goodness they do things - at home, far away from me, and sometimes under my care - that push their limits. They're learning real risks and rewards while they're young and their bones (though probably not their eyeballs) mend quickly.

advencha

A billion years ago (...december of last year...) I e-mailed the photographer that took this knock-ya-back photo to ask his permission to use it on this here blog. He sad yes. I found that e-mail today. Thanks, Nich. It really is something. I'm ready for a snowstorm. Or a Friday working with 30 three-year-olds. same-same.

Photo by Nich McElroy. Go buy some of his art already.

flowers

by Sara Cwynar

Smells like Spring

via Piero Fissore