Weeks 19 & 20 2025-2026
Our time together over these past couple of weeks has been shaped largely by two guiding forces: inspiration and tradition. Our strokes of inspiration included a conversation about embroidery turning into an Embroidery Stitches offering series the next day, an idea for a costume competition evolving into two days of ingeniously crafting paper animals, brewing up topics for episodes of our eventual podcast, and trying something brand new and literally frying up some donuts.
As for tradition, the young people have built one of pulling together a (very secular, reimagined) “Valentine's Day” celebration each year (we love any opportunity to throw a party!). They bake tasty treats, they make each other cards and write one another affirmations, and then share and enjoy the fruits of their efforts and creativity. This year's celebration came together in record time, with plans made and executed all in the same week. The menu included: no-bake peanut butter cookies, courtesy of A and E; chocolate cake and cake balls, confected by H and R; cheese and crackers artfully displayed by A; pineapple and strawberries, carefully washed & arranged by a few different folks; and pink lemonade, an annual staple. The young people dressed the table with a tablecloth, asked for silver serving platters, and lit a vintage candelabra for extra pizazz.
Our celebration that day was oddly punctuated by a delivery driver curious about the project of TCC - kids everywhere, running and giggling, not in any place that looks like "school."
What is this place?
When we shared a bit about what we do, the person listened intently, and then asked, with seriousness, if we "take bad kids here.” He was asking after one of his own children, who is struggling with "bad grades" in conventional school. This interaction gave us all…pause (insert the sound of a needle scratching across a record…). The question of what a "bad kid" might be has occupied all of our attention lately, and is sure to continue to be one we revisit.
How is it that adults so casually throw words like this around?
Is there any such thing as a bad kid?
How could that be?
Other stuff we did: fermenting "Carroled Pickets." Making music in the ever-expanding studio. Fine-tuning the electronic drum set. Updating our GoFundMe & planning more additions to our studio. Meeting for World Events Processing. Tinkering with Geometry. Splitting firewood. Book club. Hide and Seek on the Land. Resting and daydreaming in the hammocks under the trees. Gorging on delicious homemade donuts and dreaming of the next batch - and beyond.
Embracing lovely little moments of connection.
Laughing together in the sunshine.
Watching bald eagles soar overhead.
So much processing of so many Big Things.
Taking care of one another in that processing.
Getting ever clearer on who we are and how we want to be together.
With gratitude, care, and hope for the future,
Emily, Sarah, and Zoey