July 12, 2012 - Oregon

Jack and Polycarp in our garden

"So divinely is the world organized that every one of us, 

in our place and time, 

is in balance with everything else."

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Leaving Jack always weighs heaviest on my heart.  He doesn't understand when I'll return, but we have developed a routine, which I believe lets him know that I will return.  About a week prior to departure, the green backpack surfaces.  It's at this point Jack tracks my every move.  Once the pack is placed in the car, Jack will climb onto the bag, forcefully smash it with his body weight, while digging his claws into the sides.  However, after the 90 minute drive to Mimi and Papa's (my parents) house, he resigns himself to my leaving and appears to find gloomy peace.  

This summer, the Goethe Institut Transatlantic Teacher Study Tour to Germany.

My historical Germany learning-curve skyrocketed in March due to participation in the U.S. Holocaust Museum Western States Workshop for Educators.  Teaching Holocaust propaganda in my 6th grade class came through reading Friedrich, by Hans Peter Richter, in literature circles.  Setting the 1920's rise of Nazi Germany scene, the book opens and closes in a garden, where the gnome, Polycarp, was perched.  Having only the Expedia mascot as context, my students were fascinated that gnomes are placed in gardens to ward-off evil spirits.  The rootword "poly" (many) and "carp" (fruit) are current themes in my life.  My Germany traveling companion, and deflector of evil sprits, is my very own Polycarp.