Winter Art

Living in Manitoba, we're used to whatever winter throws at us: snow, sleet, blizzards, ice and extreme cold, -40 degrees C cold! This year we had a long stretch where the extreme cold conditions just didn't want to let up. There were even a few days when the schools were closed due to the weather. However, we do not have a lot of snow, at least not in our area. We're usually able to make a big snow pile for the children to play on. So far, we've not been able to do that.

So, we planned a field trip and took the students to Valley View Bible Camp, where they have a huge hill for sliding. (More on that in a later post.)

Still embracing winter, throughout the last few months our art teacher, Elma did some neat art work with her students. There are too many to post all pictures, so here are a few samples for you to enjoy:

Walking in the Snow

 #1

 

#2

 

 #3

Winter Trees - Water Colour

#4

#5

#6

Symmetry

 

#7

 #8

 #9

I've numbered the pieces just for the purpose of identifying them, as the students didn't choose a title for them. I like all of the winter pictures posted on our hall bulletin board at the moment, but there's always one or two that stand out, or speak to me. Of all things winter, snow covered bare trees always show COLD the best. And my favorite piece is #6; five trees huddling together, trying to stay warm. 

What is your favourite? Feel free to share why you like that one best.

The Joys of Wooden Toys

One of the toy tubs at our school holds an old wooden train, that a former teacher brought while she taught here. It's probably the oldest toy we have. It's amazing, though, how much love this train has been shown over the years. Each year, new children come to school and many of them, especially the boys, love to play with that train. Even though the children sometimes get rough with it, it's never once needed repairs. There's not even a comparison with many of the cheap plastic toys we can buy nowadays. Best of all, it needs no batteries, so no incessant irritating beeps and whistles. Just the natural and delightful sounds of imaginative kids at play.

Hence my excitement when someone offered to send us some wooden toys.

I know I've said this a number of times, but I'm still amazed how after reading Hutterite Diaries, people feel compelled to contact me. Some years ago a Mennonite family from Wisconsin contacted me. They were traveling in Manitoba and asked to come for a visit.We loved having them. Another time, a lady in Latvia who got an Amazon gift certificate from her son, and bought my book with it. I gladly answered her questions about our Hutterite way of life. Some even offer to do something nice for me or our community. A few years ago, a teacher from South Dakota invited me to come share my book at their conference. I couldn't make it that year, so she offered to sell Hutterite Diaries for me, if I'd send her some. I sent her a box, and she sold quite a few copies. Last June I was able to attend the conference myself and it was well worth the trip.

If you're one of those people who've read Hutterite Diaries, and took the time to let me know. Thank You! Which doesn't mean I'm not grateful to everybody who's read it. Indeed, I am; even if I never hear from you.

Recently a man from New Jersey emailed me:  "Good Morning Linda, I just finished reading your book and wanted to let you know that I thoroughly enjoyed every page!  I've had a strong admiration for the Hutterite culture for years and I hope one day to make a visit to a colony.  You're such wonderful people!"

We exchanged a few emails, then he asked if he could send our students some wooden toys, that he had built and which his children had outgrown. Needless to say, I was surprised by this unexpected offer, and grateful to get more wooden toys for our school, and told him so.
They almost didn't make it, when at some point during the trip, UPS temporarily lost track of the box, after they had handed it over to Canada Post. Main thing is, the box finally arrived, to the joy of our excited children. Yes, even the girls were excited. I did take some pictures. However, out of respect for the parents who don't want their children posted online, I can't add them here. You'll have to imagine the big smiles and squeals.

Our new wooden toys remind me of the ones my cousin, Alvin builds. But his are more ornamental, so sadly, nobody gets to play with them. Read more about those toys here.

Further to this story, the same guy who sent those toys, also offered to give another beautiful wooden gift to our community. For that story, you will have to wait for some future post.

In the meantime, if you have some old wooden toys tucked away somewhere, give yourselves and your children the joy of playing with them. They're tactile and natural, fun and durable, promote imaginative play and best of all, they have no batteries and no screens! What's not to love?

And do tell me your own wooden toys stories.

Why Doesn't Our Church Have Windows Like This?

Last spring my nephew, Jakobi won first place in the Kindergarten category of a poetry festival. Each child
who entered, recited a poem for an adjudicator, and if chosen as top in his/her class was asked to come to perform the piece at the Gala Performance, and received a prize. This is always an exciting time for students, parents and teachers alike.


The Gala event was held at the Trinity United Church in Portage la Prairie; an older building with beautiful stained glass windows. After the performances the students all gathered on stage so that everybody who wanted to, could capture the moment on camera. I took a few... well OK, a lot of pictures myself. Most turned out well; however, there's this rather blurry one, where Jakobi's comical expression seems to say he's done with this photo op. Nevertheless he dutifully stayed until everybody was done. Jakobi's five-year old mind usually has a lot of questions and one of them that night was, "Why doesn't our church have windows like this?"

Indeed. Why doesn't our church have stained glass windows? The answer can probably be traced back to our forefather's time in Europe when they bravely stood up against many aspects of the Catholic church of the day. One of the things the Anabaptists were opposed to, was elaborate cathedrals. Living in an era where peasants had an extremely hard life, with barely enough to feed their families, they were appalled how money that could have helped the poor, was used to build expensive churches. For the peasants fancy churches signified the injustices that were part of their daily existence. Some of the twelve Articles put forth by the peasants during the 1524 German Peasant Revolt were points that today fall under human rights:

• to be freed from serfdom
• to be permitted to hunt, fish and cut wood as needed
• fair rent
• to be treated with respect 
• to have the right to do their own work besides the work of the Lords

Today Hutterite churches are in some ways still simple. However, upholstered pews, surrounded by vaulted ceilings and arched windows, and illuminated with decorative light fixtures strongly suggest that we're leaning towards luxurious. I know some would argue that we have the right to enjoy big beautiful buildings, after all we worked for them. However, is it right to live lavishly, while millions of "the least of these" suffer injustices in many areas of the world? What do our "cathedrals" signify for people who don't know where their next meal will come from? 

Jakobi's question regarding stained glass windows also reminded me of one section in Hutterite Diaries. While I was working on my book, my editor suggested a frequently asked questions chapter. I wasn't overly excited about that, because I wasn't convinced that readers would find such a chapter interesting or helpful. Even though I knew that's a personal preference, and other people may feel entirely different, I still felt reluctant about adding such a section to my book. However, my editor strongly, but kindly kept pointing out that people really do see value in this part of a book. Furthermore, since Hutterite Diaries is part of a series, Herald Press wanted to stay consistent with the format used in the other books. Thus, I agreed and with the help of my editor, and some Hutterite friends, came up with questions, and then wrote answers for them. I've since changed my mind about FAQ. Through feedback from readers I've learned that they not only enjoyed this section, but learned from it as well.

I started out writing this post about the FAQ in Hutterite Diaries, but then it morphed into something I wasn't expecting. Like my mind was meandering in many different directions as I was writing. While revising the post I clearly heard Valerie, my Herald Press editor saying, "I think this chapter is trying to do too much." But I decided I'd leave it as is, because having a post take on a life of its own, so to speak, doesn't happen to me very often. My apologies if indeed it's just too confusing.

But back to the topic which inspired this post, FAQ: If you had been given the chance to ask me a question regarding Hutterites, to add to my book, what would you have asked? Please respond to this question, even if you're a Hutterite. Perhaps you can share questions that you have been asked by tourists or non-Hutterite friends and acquaintances. I'm hoping your questions will inspire future posts. In any case, I will answer your questions, either in the comments or, as I've said, in a future post.

Feel free to comment on anything I've said in this trying-to-do-too-much post, even that you agree with Valerie. (:

Agriculture in a Hutterite Classroom

During the last school year we, here at Brennan School were part of a program called, Agriculture in the Classroom. It's an excellent opportunity for students to learn about the various aspects of farming. Even though we live on a farm, and see things first hand, almost on a daily basis, our students found it interesting to visit other farms and learn from them. Some of our older students got to plant and take care of plants in our greenhouse.

My sister Elma Maendel, the principal at our school, wrote an article about our experiences with this amazing program, which was recently published in the Manitoba Cooperator. You can read it here.

The Cutest Graduates of 2016

Ava, Kandra, Dorothea, Jakobi

There will most likely be hundreds of graduates this month, but in my humble (just a bit biased) opinion, none will be cuter than this group graduating from Kindergarten at our school.  Notice how much they loved posing for their grad pictures? They love school and are a joy to teach! They're ready for summer holidays, though. But aren't we all?

                                                                                    

Last week Jakobi announced, "Can we just stop working already. The work here is never done, anyway."

Yup, and more waiting for you in grades 1, 2, 3, 4......................

Congratulations! Have a fabulous summer!