On Friday morning we all headed to Goleta beach to celebrate the Michaelmas festival. Michaelmas is a celebration of the equinox, when as the colder seasons approach and the days become shorter, we recognize the need to gather our inner strength and resilience to face the winter ahead. It is about challenges and bravery and so the school began its morning with Saint Michaelmas slaying the dragon. As the children gather in a circle and begin singing to the deep loud beat of a drum, the dragon appears from behind the trees threatening to kill the princess. I remember last year how amazed I was that somehow they had managed to keep this dragon out of sight until the play began and the combination of the drumming and singing and then the appearance of the monster made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. And so Saint Michaelmas courageously slays the dragon and saves the princess. The end.

Following this, the whole school is broken up into teams of all ages and their own challenges begin. Last year each team had to build a giant dragon in the sand and the team who finished and lit a candle in its mouth won that challenge. This year the most amazing challenge was where the each team had to dig a giant trench and bury each other up to their shoulders. They had to be sitting cross legged with their arms by their sides and the supervising adult had to bury the last child once everyone was in the whole! Hmmm, not something I would suggest normally but the determination and team work that these kids demonstrated was amazing. Once the winning team was announced, everyone jumped out and ran into the ocean for the next challenge which was swimming around a kayak. At one point I looked out toward the ocean and saw this little blond girl swimming for her life way out in the ocean, then I realized it was Ailee the Brave!

The festival ended at 12 midday so it was nice to go home for an afternoon by the pool. In the end everyone except Phemie had a big afternoon nap. Finding one's inner strength can be exhausting!