Friends, we are living in an unprecedented time. Schools and libraries are closed. Most businesses are closed. We are all staying at home, doing what we can to minimize the spread of coronavirus. It's a time that is fraught with anxiety. But it is also a fertile time. Although the technology has existed for quite some time, my fellow artists and I are finding that, "Hey, we can get together and write songs, or have a jam session via Zoom. Some friends are posting videos of themselves performing songs, some in their bathrobe even. (Thank you, Robert.). Authors of children's books are doing read-alouds via Facebook Live. My friend and neighbor Tracey West, author of the Dragon Masters series of books, is one such person. Lucky for me, Tracey invited me to sing a little song that is in her book, "Land of the Spring Dragon" from which she will read aloud a few chapters today. I don't know about you, but I LOVE being read to. It's such a sweet gift for one person to give another. Getting to sing this little song is a sweet gift, too. I thank you for that, Tracey.

The blackbird was a fine-looking fellow.
His feathers were black and his bill was yellow.
He flew over the field and over the trees.
He soared and he swooped on the soft spring breeze.

There seems to be no end to the goodness that spring represents...warmed up soil, ready for digging and planting; once bare trees now dressed in green; an amazing array of wildflowers being visited by bees; lengthier & more inviting days to spend outdoors, and my annual songwriting residency at Mill Road Elementary School in Red Hook, NY.

For seven years in a row now, I have been the visiting teaching artist for the fourth grade classes at Mill Road Elementary -- a school so committed to Arts-in-Education programs that EVERY grade in the school gets to work with a visiting artist. It’s a great environment -- dedicated teachers, inspiring kids, an administration that supports and appreciates the work we visiting artists do...and the school also happens to have an amazing school garden.

With each year that I return to Mill Road, I can’t wait to see the ways in which their garden has grown. Approaching the main entrance of the school building on my first day back, I was greeted by gourd birdhouses hanging in the trees and a cold frame bursting with greens.  Walking down the hallway of the fourth grade wing, I found a “Garden Appreciation Quilt” hanging on the wall.

And then there’s the garden itself. The tall deer-proof fence (decorated with art created by the students) encloses more than a dozen veggie beds as well as a sizable strawberry bed and a well-established raspberry patch. On one of my jaunts outside to see what was growing, I met one of the many parent volunteer garden educators bustling about in the toolshed, preparing to lead a class on compost in the school garden.

The garden-themed songwriting residency that I conduct at Mill Road Elementary takes place on eight days over the course of a month, during which time I lead a total of four one-hour sessions with each fourth grade class, of which there are seven. This year, Mr. Goble’s “ Flex Class” was added to the residency, allowing me to also work with 3rd-5th grade students with special needs. (As the Mom to a child with Down syndrome, I was particularly delighted that this group was included in the residency, and look forward to working with them more.)  At the end of the eighth day, all of the classes come together to perform their songs for one another.  This is always a great experience, as the students are not only proud of their own work, but they often seem rather impressed with and inspired by the work of their peers.

I begin the workshops by singing a few topical songs to the kids, and asking them to share some of their personal gardening and local farm experiences, and then I open up the floor to allow them to offer up ideas for song topics. Though it would be easier to come into the workshops with specific song ideas in mind or refrains already written, I like to leave things wide open, trusting in the kids’ creativity and the fertile soil of their imaginations. It’s a messy but thrilling process, with some students calling out ideas (sometimes entire rhyming couplets!), while others write their contributions on paper. Sometimes we divide up into small groups, assigning a verse to each group; or I give the students time to quietly think and write down their ideas, which we then go through as a group.

At some point on the second day, the messy scribbles evolve into lines of verse, a refrain might begin to emerge, and the song starts to take shape. Four hours is not much time to write and rehearse a song, so we have to work fast!

This year, Mrs. Paccione’s class decided to write a song about the plant life cycle, from seed to seed. The students had lots of ideas, but finding ourselves stuck at one point we decided to back up and take a moment for each student to complete the following statement, “ A seed is...” Reading through all of those scraps of paper later, I was moved to tears by the beauty of some of their sentiments:

A seed is...
hope in a shell;
a new beginning;
something we all need;
a baby waiting to be born;
hope for the children who believe it will grow and that hope will make them more confident in themselves.

Though none of those precise words ended up making it into their class’ song, it was a beautiful step in the creative process which, to me, is a very important part of the work we teaching artists do. We don’t simply use the arts as a vehicle to teach standard curricular concepts, but the art form and the creative process itself becomes the lesson. And when engaged in the creative process as a whole group, other valuable lessons come into play as well -- lessons that are often considered to be the domain of “team-building” exercises. I love how curricular content, creative expression and community-building are all rolled into one residency.

Back to this year’s crop of fourth grade garden-themed songs from Mill Road Elementary...which proved, once again, to be a veritable feast!  In addition to Mrs. Paccione’s class’ song, “What Came First - The Flower or The Seed?”, we had a song on the potato life cycle (Mrs. Clark’s class); one on the water cycle (Mrs. Dunn’s class); Mr. Hart’s class’ “Decomposition Composition,” chronicling the decomposition of a mouse whose carcass provided nutrients for the soil; two songs addressing the web of life -- Mrs. Mill’s class’ “One Bee in the Hive” and Mr. Goble’s class’ “We Are Part of a Circle”; Mrs. Chenevert’s class’ “Save the Bees,” a groovin’ plea to do what we can to help these essential pollinators; and a ballad about a worm named Johnny D who was undergoing an existential crisis (Mrs. Hickey’s class), which contained the lines:

                  Maybe I could be a composer
                  like Mozart or Beethoven

                  You’re not a composer!
                  You’re a decomposer!

So, not only do we get to share the experience of genuine learning in a wonderfully welcoming environment, but we do it while having lots of laughs, too. Thanks, Mill Road Elementary, for another wonderful year!

Videos: 
Harvest Hudson Valley - Mill Rock School documents the school garden
Arts-in-Education - School residency program entitled "Journey to Ellis Island"

Woo-wee, there are a ton of gigs on the calendar, which means I get to drive all over New York State, with my guitar, tent, cooler, seeds and worms (yes, worms!) loaded into my car. In between gigs at libraries, I camp out under the stars, and hit pick-your-own berry farms along the way. That's my idea of a tour, folks! DETAILS AND FULL SUMMER SCHEDULE HERE!

My travels will take me to Long Island (where I grew up!), the Finger Lakes, Capital District, and other wonderful spots in the Catskills, Hudson Valley & Central NY.

LOOKING BACK ON THE SPRING...March through May, most weekdays found me doing songwriting and storytelling residencies at elementary schools throughout the Catskills and Hudson Valley -- and much of it on the garden theme. Lucky me.

Pix available from residencies at Delaware Academy and South Kortright School. 

Here's a great new video about Mill Road School's garden -- featuring a song that Mrs. Flood's kindergarten class & I wrote last spring, and which we recorded with Grammy-winning producer Dean Jones.

And...I'm delighted & honored to be on Pete Seeger's recently released CD "A More Perfect Union" -- on the tracks "God's Counting on Me" with Bruce Springsteen, and "Somos el Barco" with Emmylou Harris.

Mondays, July 16-August 13, 12:30-2:30 pm, Andes, NY                                                          

This exciting series of hands-on programs is designed for kids & their families to enjoy. We’ll explore the wonderful interconnected world of bugs & plants -- and take a look at what brilliant architects these beings are.  We’ll marvel over wasp nests, seed pods, caddis fly cases, chrysalises and  the like, all the while making art, singing songs and hearing stories about the creatures who build these amazing structures.

Hosted by local musician/storyteller & arts educator “Story” Laurie McIntosh, each week’s program will feature a guest artist/naturalist. All programs are free of charge. Children under the age of six must be accompanied by an adult.

“Digging In to the Art of Nature” is funded by Kids in the Kaatskills.  For more info about this series, call (845) 676-4727 or email [email protected]

Mon. July 16: Bee Buggy with Musician/Naturalist Betty Boomer.
We'll hunt for butterfly eggs, aquatic insects & more wonderful creatures. We'll sing songs & hear stories about bugs of all sorts; we’ll take a look at the brilliant houses these beings build for themselves & then do some watercolor painting inspired by the insects we study. Meet at Ballantine Park, on CR 1 in Andes, aka Lower Main St. -- across from the post office.  (In the event of foul weather, meet at the Andes Public Library)

Monday, July 23:  Papermaking with Andes School Art Teacher Sharon Tucker.    We'll make our very own paper incorporating natural materials we find outdoors; and we'll learn about nature's papermakers. Meet at the Andes Public Library.

Monday, July 30: Painting Garden Helpers with acclaimed children's book author/illustrator Durga Bernhard.    We'll hunt for some smooth stones while talking about different insects that help our garden grow. We'll enjoy some stories & songs about garden insects while painting our rocks with images of some of these marvelous creatures.  (Acrylic paints -- bring smocks!) Meet at Ballantine Park.

Monday, August 6: Digging into a Wormbox with Retired DEC Forest Ranger & 4H Leader Extraordinaire Patti Rudge.  Patti will bring an active worm box with her (compost central!), which we will take apart, don our scientist hats as we count & weigh the worms & castings, and then rebuild the box....enjoying worm stories & songs all the while. Maybe we'll even make up a tune or two ourselves? Meet at the Andes Public Library.

Monday, August 13: Harvest Picnic & Music Celebration with Local Musician Ira McIntosh.    We'll harvest some veggies from the Andes School Garden, and prepare & enjoy a delicious picnic lunch. Ira will share some fun tunes about food, gardens, water, bugs, and just about anything else you can think of! We’ll meet at the greenhouse behind Andes School (near the pool), & then walk over to Ballantine Park. (In the event of foul weather, meet at the Andes Public Library)

Wear comfy clothes & shoes that you don't mind getting dirty, as we'll go for walks & spend time poking around in the dirt and water. Too fun!

For more info: Laurie McIntosh, [email protected], 845.676.4727

You’ve probably heard the warning to never leave your car doors unlocked during zucchini season, right? The idea here is that one of your neighbors might try to unload his or her bumper crop of baseball bat-sized squash on you in the middle of the night. That warning is so much a part of local lore that for the last two or three years, I didn’t even bother planting any summer squash in my garden — on the assumption that somebody would be delighted to find a willing victim in me. Of course, things didn’t quite work out as I had planned, and I ended up having a couple of zucchini-free seasons.  In my husband’s eyes, this wasn’t a problem at all, for he claims that he never liked the vegetable (or is it a fruit?).

So this season, I broke down and popped a few zucchini seeds in the soil. But these were no ordinary seeds. They were Costata Romanesca zucchini seeds that I had ordered from Fedco Seeds in Maine. Rather than attempting to describe these beauties, I’ll allow the Fedco catalog to speak on their behalf:

“According to Will Bonsall, ‘the only summer squash worth bothering with, unless you’re just thirsty.’ Deeply striped and ribbed, Costata resembles Cocozelle, with a distinctive sweet mildly nutty flavor. Also a productive source for tasty male squash blossoms. Tender skin damages easily, a liability for commercial transport. If you want to win the blue ribbon for largest summer squash at your fair, grow Costata. It reaches 20 lb. in a good year.”

20 lbs. in a good year, huh?  Well, no Costata in my garden stood a chance of coming anywhere near that size, for these things are so darn tasty, I picked them daily, and sometimes even more than once in a day. My preferred cooking method is to grill these babies after they’ve sat (only briefly) in a light marinade of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper. (oh yeah…cut lengthwise into 1/4 inch strips first). As for my husband…well, Costata has helped him to change his tune. Now he tries to get his fill of zucchini at each meal, but our daughter Ava usually beats him to it.

In case you happen to grow some of these next year, and for some crazy reason you find you can’t eat them all, don’t worry:  My car doors will remain unlocked.