In Autumn St Michael

Summer has passed and school is now back. The class has grown by two! so now we are 11 once again! I dropped Oisin off to the school and heard the class singing the verse - the St Michael's song. There is something plaintive and sweet about it - it perfectly captures the passing of summer and the arrival of autumn - and all the glory and ambivalence of the seasons' changes.

This year of course they do house building and farming, but also creation, and Donna sent me these wonderful pictures.

To see the gentle growth that has taken place over the summer reflected in their writings - it was like visiting a lush rain swept garden.

The rainbow of creation.

When i saw this photo, i wanted to cry - because firstly it was so beautiful - the light just captured the wee story which they had worked with. And then i saw all of Oisin's watercolour paintings from the day he went to Kindergarten till now. To see it slowly appear, not forced or learnt, but gently grown from seed and nurtured and nourished... it seems as if i have been waiting for this and not even known about it. What a blessing...

Donna did this beautiful drawing of the recorders!

The backdrop to the nightsky...hints of advent already in the air...

Animals, houses and farms will feature heavily in this year's work. I can't wait.

Here's some of the written work over the week...

And the lyrics to the St Michael's song...

In autumn Saint Michael with sword and with shield
Passes over meadow and orchard and field
He’s on the path of 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 meadows are bare
We’ll don Saint Michael’s armour and onward will fare

We are Saint Michael’s warriors with strong heart and mind,
We forge our way through darkness Saint Michaels to find
And there he stands in glory, Saint Michael we pray,
Lead us on to battle and show us thy way.