sunday morning poem

the michaelmas daisy

last smile of the departing year,

thy sister sweets are flown;

thy pensive wreath is far more dear,

from blooming thus alone.

thy tender blush, thy simple frame,

unnoticed might have past;

but now thou contest with softer claim,

the loveliest and the last.

sweet are the charms in thee we find,

emblem of hope's gay wing;

'tis thine to call past bloom to mind,

to promise future spring.

by letitia elizabeth landon (1802-1838)

michaelmas and a dance video, black is beautiful

 

 

 our dear friend daniel from the limon company dances in this beautiful video from folklore urbano nyc. he's the one in the hat dancing in times square with five other dancers.

----

today is michaelmas, when we acknowledge the struggle to vanquish the dragon that seeks to lay waste to our community. every year we make the harvest loaf, symbolizing the transformation of adversity into birth and resurrection with the help of st. michael.

 

st. michael's harvest song

 

in autumn saint michael with sword and with shield

passes over meadow and orchard and field.

he's on the path to battle 'gainst darkness and strife --

he is the heavenly warrior protector of life.

 

the harvest let us gather with michael's aid;

the light he sheddeth fails not nor does it fade,

and when the corn is cut and the meadows are bare

we'll don saint michael's armour and onward we'll fare.

 

we are saint michael's warriors with strong heart and mind,

we forge our way through darkeness saint michael to find.

and there he stands in glory; saint michael we pray,

lead us into battle and show us thy way.

 

anonymous

we had our harvest bread with kale and sausage soup. 

 

these are difficult days and i'm finding strength through faith, family and friends. i read an article from the nyc anthroposophical society which was interesting and helpful in putting the current chaos of this country and the world in perspective and is helping me to persevere. i watched the debate (greg didn't . . though he read along via the twitter accounts he follows) while texting about it with korrina and chanda (who is staying at emily's tonight). the current administration has allowed our government to become a circus, with the school bully running around, unchecked. the rest of us struggle to reinstate balance, logic and love.

baking with kittens and pluto (michaelmas)

 i decided to make a harvest loaf today . . (rather than gingerbread, since it was much too hot and humid, and michaelmas was this past sunday . . )

i was surprised that it turned out so delicious. i was concerned as it seemed too dry when i was kneading it . . and then i realized that this was probably the first time in years that i kneaded it myself (usually there's a grown child around for that task) . .

but this year i had moral support from furry friends . . (their paws weren't quite up to the job of rolling and folding sticky bread dough . .)

 chanda's little child charge came over in the late afternoon with her mom to see the kittens, and to meet pluto.

 helen has two adopted cats of her own, mert and franklin. hmmmm . . . i vaguely remember posting about them one day when chanda was cat sitting . . but what would i label that as? cat sitting, right? however, there is nary a cat sitting label listed on my blog. i'll have to check the photo archives.

 after everyone had admired the furry creatures and had harvest loaf and iced tea (it went up to 90 degrees today! and i had to traipse to the center and back with all three kittens for a vet check up!), finn disappeared and i found her relaxing contentedly on the tree tower in chanda's room.

 "oh! were you looking for me? well, i'm just taking a little catnap, that's all!"

----

 here's morgana's "going to college" post, and here's a post from a busy early september day with kittens and grown children . . (and also a post about sorting through old clothes and toys and memorabilia . . )

michaelmas

michaël, angel bright,

flaming sword is guidng,

sing a song of twinkling stars

as they sparkle in the night.

michaël, angel bright

flaming sword is guiding.

----

story of the harvest loaf from all year round, by ann druitt . . (i have the full story here) . .

 

i gathered the ingredients for our harvest loaf this morning . .

and chanda kneaded it into a loaf before running off to her dance class and rehearsal.

earth who gave to us this food,

sun who made it ripe and good,

dearest earth and stars and sun,

joy and love for all you've done.

----

and in honor of yarndale, here's a pic of me with my yarndale bag (from san!) from last december when we were on our way to the homeschooling craft fair:

michaelmas

we celebrate michaelmas each year by preparing a harvest loaf and telling a story which i found years ago in the book all year round.

 we set out sugar and salt, currants, an egg yolk, sesame seeds, and the warm milk and sugar that is mixed with yeast.

after reading the story together, chanda kneaded the bread and set it in a clean, oiled bowl to rise for about forty minutes. then she punched it down and kneaded one more time. it sat until dinnertime, when i baked it for an hour. we had it with a butternut squash/apple soup (the same one our friend sacha made when we visited her and her family in brooklyn about two weeks ago).

the harvest loaf story talks about having courage to face the dragon, and sharing meals with family and friends to warm our hearts and face the coming cold and dark of winter.

 it's now dark again at night when we sit down to dinner at 7:30 pm. i miss the summer sun . .

but i prefer the cool crisp autumn nights to any heat or humidity that sometimes creeps in. i like the rhythm of the autumn holidays, and it's sometimes difficult when the weather changes so drastically and puts one off balance.

tea and studio time

 breakfast with our delicious harvest bread . . 

 chanda had a private lesson with her ballet teacher in the morning and then i met her for studio time to begin work on ellen's family matters performance piece. she's cleaning up her solo from the spring for a late january show. ellen rents the theatre every year for a special showcase.

she re-worked a middle section that she wasn't happy about and which she'll show ellen on sunday.

it was grey and cool and rainy. we were glad to come home for tea and . . more harvest bread.

(i posted about our return flight home on monday, september 26th . . finally . . )

michaelmas

this morning chanda mixed the ingredients for the michaelmas bread as morgana read the story and then we baked it this afternoon after her dance class.

a michaelmas poem

the autumn wind blows open the gate,

o michael, you, you we await.

we follow you, show us the way.

with joy we greet the autumn day,

good morning, good morning

and i wonder who is this michael? and i hear the wind sing:

michael, god's great knight,

strong and pure and shining bright.

i'll be a knight of michael, too,

and polish my crown to a golden hue.

ask the gnomes the iron to mine,

iron from the stars, from the earth, so fine,

to bring to the blacksmith, who with his might

will make me a sword, so strong, so bright.

and we follow the falling stars to the mountain cave where the gnomes are working.

and the gnomes say:

with fire and stone, we work with a will

with our strength and our skill.

the iron we soften and then we bend

into hammers, swords, and nails to mend.

dear gnomes, may i have some iron?

are  you noble? oh, yes.

are you good? oh, yes.

and do you hear the singing of the stars? oh yes.

then you may have some iron.

thank you little gnomes, in your crystal homes.

oh, bring me a galloping horse to ride,

a crown on y head, the iron by my side.

off to the blacksmith we must go.

galloping, galloping, off we go.

dear blacksmith, will you make me a sword?

of course for,

i am a blacksmith, strong and true, best of work i always do.

all day long my hammers go, slinging, clanging, changing so,

a rickety, tickety, tickety, tick,

a rickety, tickety, tickety, tick.

thank you kind blacksmith, for your might.

i will use it for the right,

not for some silly quarrel or fight,

but to drive away evil, i will try

and protect those who are weaker than i.

oh bring me a galloping horse for to ride,

a crown on my head, my sword by my side,

for it's off to the castle we will go.

galloping, galloping, here we go.

the knights came together and proclaimed: no fear here!

michael, be my guide and stand by my side.

and they know that michael was always ready to help.

michael, god's great knight,

strong and pure and shining bright.

from waldorf homeschoolers

michaelmas

saint michael's harvest song

in autumn saint michael with sword and with shield

passes over meadow and orchard and field.

he's on the path to battle 'gainst darkness and strife -

he is the heavenly warrior protector of life.

the harvest let us gather with michael's aid;

the light he sheddeth fails not nor does it fade,

and when the corn is cut and the meadows are bare

we'll don saint michael's armour and onward we'll fare.

we are saint michael's warriors with strong heart and mind,

we forge our way through darkness saint michael to find.

and there he stands in glory; saint michael we pray,

lead us into battle and show us thy way.

today we made our harvest loaf.

we gathered together three and one half cups of flour (a mix of white and whole wheat pastry), three tablespoons of white sugar and a sprinkling of salt, one half cup of currants, one egg, a few tablespoons of sesame seeds, flax seeds and sunflower seeds.

at the end i added the wet ingredients: one cup of milk warmed with approximately five teaspoons of yeast and three tablespoons of brown sugar and two tablespoons of melted butter (the story and recipe can be found in all year round).

we kneaded it and placed it in an oiled bowl . .


and then we set it on the windowsill to rise.

morgana and sandra got ready for their hike uptown to the cloisters . .

how long did it take them?

three and one half hours. here's their selfie with the cloisters in the background . . 

and a pic of them relaxing on the lawn . . it was also a rather warm and humid day for hiking which i think made it even more tiring.

back to breakfast . . chanda and i had oatmeal this morning . .

and fresh local apples . .

we also started cyrano de bergerac and are enjoying it immensely. it's funny and i have two old movies to watch when we finish; one in french with gerard depardieu, and the other in english with josé ferrer. i've given up on finishing nicholas nickleby with chanda, though i'm continuing to read it on my own. i have many unpleasant memories of reading books during high school that i found too depressing, and chanda has felt the same about this particular dickens book. so cyrano is the replacement. thanks, eva, for the idea!

chanda finally wrote about cahokia for her history of the americas lesson book. eva and her family visited the mound city on their way home from california, which i found exciting. i'm amazed at how i learned nothing about these early americans when i was in public school, but now pre-columbian native american sites have been set aside as national historic parks and unesco world heritage sites. i visited mesa verde, home to the anasazi people, in 1990 and would like to one day visit cahokia in illinois, and also chaco culture national historic site in new mexico.

after lunch it was time to punch down the harvest loaf dough, brush it with egg and set it for a final rise before baking.

we baked it for forty five minutes at 350 degrees . .

and then had buttered slices for afternoon tea before her ballet class. happy michaelmas!

monday pictures and michaelmas

there was such a beautiful sunset this evening . . 

i went to the citibank today on la guardia place, and passed fiorello . . who was mayor of nyc from 1934 to 1945.

i think he was quite a character as mayor. he had a deep love for music and would supposedly spontaneously conduct student and professional orchestras. he helped create la guardia high school which became famous in the movie fame . . and which is still today a prestigious school to attend for acting, dancing and music.

chanda worked on her map of the iroquois nation.

and put in a load of her laundry on the way to a violin lesson and modern dance class.

and in our courtyard are blooming beautiful michaelmas daisies . . it has been very warm all weekend. humid and 82 degrees. i did feel a hint of autumn in the air when a breeze blew in from the river along charles street as i was walking home . .

michael nam buadh, michael the victorious
(patron saint of the seas and of the maritime lands, of boats and boatmen, of horses and horsemen . . long ago farmers would take the new wheat during the last days of harvesting and make a loaf to be presented to the church - a custom which ended when henry viii broke from the church in rome) (a piece of information read from the margate handbook).

thou michael the victorious,
i make my circuit under thy shield.
thou michael of the white steed
and of the bright brilliant blade,
conqueror of the dragon,
be thou at my back.
thou ranger of the heavens,
thou warrior of the king of all,
thou michael the victorious,
my pride and my guide,
thou michael the vicotorious,
the glory of mine eye.
(from our book festivals, family and food).

we'll make our harvest loaf when we return from visiting my cousin and uncle in annapolis on thursday.

medieval faire and michaelmas

we celebrated the medieval faire today, but missed out on our michaelmas cake as our oven is still broken.

 however, we did get to see a few dragons!

i drove uptown in the car with morgana and chanda along with their friends camille and yves, and their cousin alyssa.

checking out the . . swords and daggers!

camille's costume is from the metropolitan opera! i can't remember how they managed to get that one. the dress alyssa is wearing is a dress camille made for the faire a few years ago.

i think the music at the faire is always what i enjoy most. these days, for morgana and chanda, i think it's the jousting. it was always that for korrina too. she used to stage sword fights with friends, which you can see here.

a parade of medieval people . .


it's the bagpipes that got my attention . .

one of the cloister turrets . .

21st century lighting and 13th century style flags . .

fort tryon park has spectacular views of the hudson river and the new jersey palisades . .

at the pageant wagon . .

two sweet butterflies listening to medieval music . .

14th century damsels with lutes . . 

21st century knights!

 . . horses of any century? would these horses have been found in europe in the middle ages? thoroughbred, quarter horse, draft horse, morgan? draft horses and thoroughbreds were from the 16th and 17th centuries i think . . you can read about medieval horses here.

i couldn't resist a trip to one of my favorite cafes . . cafe buunni . . i sat outside on the bench and talked to a few residents. the woman who owned the restaurant next door had her two children handing out flyers . . two people tied their dogs up on the bench next to me . . both dogs were very friendly and struck up conversations with passersby. well, i suppose it was more that the passersby stopped and after saying a few words to the dogs, ended up talking to the dogs' owners . .

it was just a pleasant and warm afternoon. i walked through one of my favorite apartment complexes: the hudson view gardens on pinehurst avenue. it's a complex of tudor buildings with their own garden and children's playground. it's very quaint.

i sat in the garden and knitted for a little while before heading back into the park. janet was there with her parents, sisters, brother and children . . she has everyone visiting her as they are leaving tomorrow for a special family cruise to the bahamas. should be fun! morgana, chanda and i wished them bon voyage and happy trails and drove to a nutcracker rehearsal.