What’s Happening at Bement
The first Friday in May means it’s time for Spring Fling at Bement! A tradition since the 1970s, Spring Fling brings the entire Bement community together for an afternoon of games, food, and camaraderie each spring. Despite a few worrisome forecasts earlier in the week, the weather came through and we had an awesome afternoon in the center of campus. Our friends from Flik provided a feast for everyone to enjoy, the mini pig petting zoo returned for a third consecutive year, and the Among Us character won the 2nd Annual Mascot Race. Dozens of volunteers from the Bement Family Association chipped in throughout the day, helping with setup & clean up, running carnival games, taking great photos, and much, much more! The Tug-of-War was a crowd favorite, as usual, and a hardy group of harriers completed Mr. Belcher’s annual Fun Run. It will be hard to wait a year for another Spring Fling!
What I’m Reading, and/or Watching, and/or Listening To
I read recently that Thomas Pynchon will release his first new novel in more than a decade–impressive for the 87-year old author! That news inspired me to pick up Vineland, Pynchon’s novel about California in the 1980s and the vast changes in American culture and society wrought in the middle decades of the 20th century. I’m about a third of the way through, and it is a lot of fun. I’ve laughed out loud a few times and find Pynchon’s prose to be hard to stop reading, if a little much sometimes. I’ll try to read this one quickly as the spring/summer fiction season is upon us and there are several other titles piling up on my bookshelf.
What Else Is on My Mind
May in independent schools is a full-tilt sprint to the finish line, sometimes called “Mayhem” thanks to the seemingly endless string of events, celebrations, and performances, not to mention the rising tide of adolescent chaos that goes into overdrive in parallel with the rising temperatures. This month, I will be encouraging everyone at Bement to slow down and enjoy each moment, especially when we are gifted with perfect spring days in Deerfield. Winter is officially behind us, and thanks to the prolific rain earlier this month, everything in the village has bloomed and blossomed into a verdant green quilt. The trick to making the most of this wild month in school is to find ways to decelerate and soak in the time with friends and teachers. A stroll to visit the Yazwinski’s lambs or look for frogs in the stream can be the perfect antidote for Mayhem, one that I hope every Bement student takes advantage of this month!
Poetry Corner
In honor of Mother’s Day on May 11, at our last Friday All-School meeting I read a poem by Edgar Allan Poe entitled “To My Mother.” The poem is actually about Poe’s mother-in-law, but it was fun to share anyway, especially since most Bement students only know Poe from his gothic poem, “The Raven.”
“To My Mother” by Edgar Allan Poe
Because I feel that, in the Heavens above,
The angels, whispering to one another,
Can find, among their burning terms of love,
None so devotional as that of “Mother,”
Therefore by that dear name I long have called you—
You who are more than mother unto me,
And fill my heart of hearts, where Death installed you
In setting my Virginia's spirit free.
My mother—my own mother, who died early,
Was but the mother of myself; but you
Are mother to the one I loved so dearly,
And thus are dearer than the mother I knew
By that infinity with which my wife
Was dearer to my soul than its soul-life.