The other boychoir

Another boychoir came through town on tour, the American Boychoir, and selected members of the Northwest Boychoir (including Jordan) opened for them. The American Boychoir has a great reputation; they have been regarded as the United States' premier concert boys' choir. It's a residential program, meaning the boys are in choir-centered boarding school, with about 15 hours of rehearsal a week and 100 performances a year. They have fallen on hard times in recent years (financially) and have been struggling as an organization. Our boys welcomed theirs with a social dinner, and then sang a twenty-minute opener to their ninety-minute concert, with all the proceeds benefiting their choir. I was super curious, because I don't think I've ever heard any boychoir in person other than ours, and this is supposed to be such a good one.

Their opening number was very beautiful and magical, delivered in a surround-sound kind of thing with boys arrayed around the perimeter of the room. And they had an entertainingly diverse repertoire: they did not only classical boychoir music but also Nigerian highlife music, a crazy Amazonian-jungle-noises kind of thing including an a capella passing storm, and other global vocal things. But I thought our boys' vocal quality was in another league from theirs. Ours have this incredibly rich, full sound, as pure as a diamond bell, yet filling the whole space in the church so fully that it vibrates your whole body along with it. I think that kind of sonorous perfection comes partly from getting every tiny little thing exactly right - every vowel shape, every rhythmic detail - and partly from having a kind of vocal training in which your voice becomes a beautiful instrument, so that listening is like being inside a concert violin. I think the other choir does not have either of these things, at least not at the level that we do. Their voices seemed thin and tense and reedy in comparison. They slumped their shoulders and shifted their feet. Their diverse repertoire was more about being fun than about being perfect (e.g., jungle sounds). And also I just think it might be impossible to pull off singing Nigerian highlife music in a tuxedo shirts and bow tie in a church without looking a little ridiculous. Jordan's director stays strictly within genre, and I am all for it. They should sing the music that showcases their extraordinary, specific talents. 

I came away feeling extremely impressed with our boychoir, and especially with Jordan's director, who knows how to bring out such amazing musicianship from these middle-school kids. They've got a truly great thing going.

First week of 6th grade

Jordan is off to a great start in his first week of middle school. I don't know a lot about it, but he says his teachers are energetic and friendly, and the other kids are welcoming and fun. I did find this piece of reflective writing in his folder (posted with his cheerful permission):

Sounds pretty darned good. And also it's just a nice piece of writing, compared to the old days when he had to work so hard to eke out a few sentences.

He has a complex schedule of classes in various buildings that changes every day and every week, because none of the classes meet every day, and they move things around so that specific subjects happen at different times of day. He carries a printed copy of that week's schedule around with him to tell him where to go. He explained to me that if he was to lose that, he could consult the copy posted on the wall in the main building; if that was not available he could ask another student, or if necessary a teacher. He seems very clear on everything. He has a planner, and a study skills class at which they organize their materials and learn how to manage everything.

Their study skills teacher shared with them that he is dyslexic, and explained what that has meant for him as a learner as well as how he used to be treated in school (he was not accommodated). He also explained how people that have special needs in one area often develop special strengths to go with it, such as persistence and creativity. Jordan liked this idea. When Jordan reported all this to me, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to tell him that he himself has some signs of dyslexia, including that it was harder for him to learn to write, and spelling is more difficult for him than for some people. We have never used the term with him before. Jordan was rather pleased with it and said, "That means I have other strengths." I agreed, and said his talents in building and music might be related.

Today was a service learning day, for the whole school: instead of regular classes, they bused the kids out to Lake Sammamish State Park to clear invasive blackberry brambles. He said, "At our school we will not only be learning things for our ongoing lives, but also we will be solving problems. They might be small problems like how to fix your own computer or big problems like some problem in the world. Today we are helping solve the blackberry problem." It rained a lot today and Jordan did not bring either a raincoat or a spoon for his yogurt; parent that I am, I worried that he would be miserable. But no: He had a blast. He used pruning shears and shovels and rakes, he learned that the plant grows back unless you excavate and chop up the root ball, he formed "Operation Kill It Here And Now" with a group of other kids, and he had the satisfaction of seeing a thicket of brambles cleared to nothing by the effort of his own team. It did not rain much and when it did he didn't care. He ate his yogurt with his fingers. He can't wait to do it again.

Dungeness Spit

One of the great places to visit on the Olympic Peninsula is the Dungeness Spit, a National Wildlife Refuge particularly known for seabirds. My aunt and uncle visiting from Maine are notorious birders so we were eager to take them there. Unfortunately I guess we were out of season; there was hardly a bird to be seen. But we still had a good time. 

The Dungeness Spit is a strip of sand sticking out into the Strait of Juan de Fuca on the north side of the Olympic Peninsula, 5.5 miles long and so narrow you could throw a rock from one side to the other. Aaron saw a picture of it on a map and declared that it makes perfect sense to call it a Spit because it looks like a long piece of drool. Well, okay.

The weather was gorgeous. Unfortunately that means sunscreen, which Jordan hates with a passion and resists by all possible means. 

The kids played in the sand, and all of us hiked along the long long beach.

We looked for birds.

We took a ride on a hilarious seesaw that someone made out of driftwood.

On the leeward side of the spit, we discovered a large pond surrounded by very squishy muck. Then we realized it was crab-filled muck! Little muck-colored crabs scuttling from one muck-hole to another everywhere we looked. Fun stuff!

Almost as much fun as the kelp trumpets. Just cut off the end of the bulb and however much stem, and there you are.

But nothing can be taken off the beach, so at the end of the visit, we returned them to the sea.

Port Townsend

My delightful aunt and uncle, Fred and Linda, came to Port Townsend for reasons of their own, and since Port Townsend is a heck of a lot closer than Pembroke, Maine (where they live), we were very happy to pop over and meet them. It's just a ferry ride away. 

Port Townsend is a pretty sweet little spot. They had a big building boom in the railroad era that filled the place with lovely Victorian architecture; then that all dried up, and not much happened after that economically so the buildings are still there. 

Here we are enjoying the company of the family.

We stayed in a charming vacation rental home, with a living room and parlor and many bedrooms, all entertainingly furnished. Here are the boys indulging in screen time at the dining room table. 

We took walks around town to admire the old buildings; here is the courthouse.

But a lot of the attraction is the water's edge. The kids can dig in the sand for any amount of time.

Aaron loooves sand, loves it all over, cares not what crevices it might enter or how much of it he takes home in his hair; he just loves it. Jordan buried him thoroughly, to both of their delight.

Dale discovered a couple years ago that if you cut off the end of a kelp bulb, it makes a terrific trumpet.

One night we attended a crab feast. Aaron was a complete natural: he cheerfully accepted instructions from me, became a terrific little crab picker in no time at all, and declared the whole operation delicious and fun. Jordan absolutely hated it and had to be taken somewhere else to eat.

Summer writing

Jordan has a summer writing assignment stemming from his birthday party: part of the charge for the party is that he write a 3000-word story, which the dungeonmaster will edit with him and submit to a youth writing contest. This is more than twice as long as anything else he has written. Awesome, right? When we agreed to this, we had all of summer before us... and then Jordan went out of town for upwards of six weeks. (Three weeks of Boychoir tour, one week of Boychoir overnight camp, and a week each of Aunt Kari camp and Grandma camp.) So hello, middle of August, and let's get started. 

The first time Jordan was invited to work on this he was pretty irritated. He felt like he was being punished for his birthday party! But he managed to give it a go, and found out a couple of things: (1) He can't write when he's mad, only when he has a positive attitude. Fortunately he is skilled at making this happen. (2) When he writes with a positive attitude, writing is fun and rewarding. These are excellent things to learn. Every day he tries to write a little more than the day before; he started out producing maybe 100 words in 30-40 minutes, then gradually got up to 150, then 200, and this morning wrote a killer 350 words in about that time. Wow! He is very impressed with himself and rightly so. 

He has encountered some obstacles. Some days he does not want to do it, and then gets mad, and then is really not in the space to do it, but still has to. This morning he solved the problem by writing in bed, under a blanket. It totally worked! He is up to 2400 words now.

First day of third grade

Aaron's first day of third grade was a hit! Here we all are on the way in. Jordan doesn't start until next week, so he was free to join the fun.

Third graders are upstairs, which is a big promotion, and get lockers instead of cubbies. Jordan enjoyed showing various kids (and their parents) how the lockers work.

In the classroom, Aaron's first task was to make a nametag for his locker. That is, after posing with his big brother.

Aaron is very happy with things so far. His Hebrew teacher told a joke in Hebrew, which was a great pleasure for those who were able to appreciate it (including Aaron). His PE teacher was formerly in the NFL. And one of his after-school clubs is Dungeons & Dragons, which he is eagerly learning. Looking forward to a great year!

Pleasant surprises

Jordan had to get a shot yesterday, and while no one enjoys that, the anticipation was the worst part. Afterwards, we had a treat at a café and talked about what might have made it go more smoothly. A friend of his was with us.

Rachel: I noticed you started to get more upset when the doctor said that the shot makes some people faint. Would you rather she had not told you that?
Jordan: Yes. I did not want to hear that. She could have just given me the shot and it would not have been so bad.
Friend: I would want to hear it. I want to know the truth ahead of time.
Jordan: I don't want to know. I prefer to be surprised.

Ain't that the way? Some people are anxious if they don't know what's going to happen -- probably because they imagine something bad possibly happening, and find it reassuring to be able to prepare. (Myself, I always want to know what the plan is for lunch, because I worry about lunch being late or insufficient.) Other people, like Jordan, are not anxious about the future, so hearing about negative possibilities tends to add stress.

Later that same day, there was a middle school information session, and the friend definitely wanted to go. Jordan did not, saying again that he prefers to be surprised. He said, "Usually when we do something new it's great with me. I don't need to know about it ahead of time. In fact I kind of like to just discover it right then and there. I think at Billings they're going to say, 'Today we are trying this sport,' and even if I never heard of it before, I'm going to say, 'Cool! Let's do it!' " He likes novelty, and his experience is that most of life's surprises are pleasant.