Inside the Kingdom
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INSIDE THE KINGDOM January 11, 2017 the Chronicle Section B – 16 Pages In Albany Combining mugs, words, and wishes by Elizabeth Trail ALBANY — Small hands worked busily and young faces frowned in concentration as children at the Albany Community School struggled to join seams and attach handles to the mugs they were making. In what’s becoming an annual highlight of the school year, North Wolcott potter Heather Stearns is teaching a clay workshop at the school for several days over a three-week period in January. Every child in the school is part of the project, and if this year is anything like the previous three, when it’s all done, there will be a party. This year, it’s all about combining mugs and words and wishes. “I like themes,” said eighth-grader Caroline Lowry. “It helps you make a decision about what you want to do.” This is Ms. Stearns’ fourth year doing workshops at the school. They are sponsored through a grant from the Vermont Arts Council. The first two years, the children made bowls, and followed up with a community meal, with parents invited to share homecooked meals and local food. Austin Smith (left) and Kaleb Colaceci put the finishing touches on their mugs. Photos by Elizabeth Trail The next year, they made plates. This year’s project is mugs. “We started by brainstorming wishes,” she There were a few wishes for money, and a “Mugs are special,” Ms. Stearns said. “We said. couple of boys wished for hunting success. have favorites. We feel a certain way when we Working as a group, each class listed their Austin Smith wished for a million dollars on use a certain mug.” wishes for themselves, their families, their a mug decorated with rabbit tracks. There’s also a social ritual to offering visitors classes, and so on — right up to wishes for the Naomi Young wished that everyone in school and friends a mug of hot chocolate or coffee or world. could be a genius. tea. Love, peace, pets, and wildlife topped the Katelyn Colaceci wished for hope in words Ms. Stearns cups her hands together as she children’s lists. elegantly carved against a background of talks, holding them forward. Some of the wishes were personal, Ms. graceful winter branches. “We pour up a hot drink and offer it to Stearns said. A few were sad. “Sometimes when you’re down you just have to get yourself out of it,” the eighth-grader said. “Hope does that.” And in an elaborate design featuring a girl looking out across the world, Caroline Lowry wished almost the same thing. “Bring back the colors” are the words that Caroline incised around the rim of the mug. “When you’re sad, there’s no color in the world,” she said. “This is to remind me to think positive thoughts and not get trapped in negative thinking.” She said the girl on the mug is the same girl she put on an acrylic painting that she did recently. The two eighth-grade girls didn’t know ahead of time that they were making almost the same wish. Mugs are tricky to make. Seams have to be joined up tightly to prevent leaking. Handles have to be attached so they don’t break off. And both rim and handle need to feel good. “They need to be friendly to lips and hands,” Ms. Stearns said. Fortunately, over the past four years, the children have built up some pottery skills. Potter Heather Stearns shows Albany Community School third-grader Rylee Acox how to smooth the bottom of The majority seemed to get the process of her mug. This is the fourth year that Ms. Stearns has done pottery workshops at the school. scoring the edges to be joined with a sharp tool, moistening the surfaces with water, and pressing them together to make a firm seal. someone we care about.” There were a lot of mugs with cats, though A few children were frustrated, and asked So she combined this year’s project with the the underlying wish was a little vague. for help. wishes that people might also offer to friends or Surprisingly, several children in different And Ms. Stearns was planning to go over family when sharing the comfort of a mug of classes wished that wild animals would all be each mug that night at home while the clay was steaming liquid. tame so they could pet them, she said. (Continued on page 8B.) IN THIS WEEKLY SECTION, YOU’LL FIND: BIRTHS l WEDDINGS/ENGAGEMENTS l OBITUARIES l KINGDOM CALENDAR l CLASSIFIED ADS l RESTAURANTS & ENTERTAINMENT l REAL ESTATE & AUCTIONS l YOURS FROM THE PERIMETER l RUMINATIONS l AND MORE! Page 2B the Chronicle, January 11, 2017 Ruminations It’s crunch time on those New Year’s resolutions by Elizabeth Trail butter, and cinnamon. Or an omelette with a serving of veggies It’s almost the middle of chopped in. January, and for most of us, those A new breakfast favorite is a New Year’s resolutions are fast sweet potato, cut into medallions disappearing in the rearview and fried in coconut oil, then topped mirror. with curry powder or cinnamon, Apparently four out of ten chopped walnuts, and a little plain people make New Year’s resolutions Greek yogurt. every year, in spite of the I don’t have any rules about combination of personal experience what else I can or can’t eat. If I and statistics that tell us there want toast or sausage or pancakes really isn’t a lot of point. on the side, that’s fine. By the end of the month, like as But usually I don’t. Maybe not, over half of those resolutions when I’ve given myself permission will be history. And when those to eat whatever I want, I don’t resolutions have to do with diet — actually want it. the single biggest group — most last Or maybe getting all of these at most two weeks. vitamins and fiber eliminates the It’s pretty irresistible to look at cravings. that shiny new year ahead and feel Lunch is whatever happens, a longing to make things better. with a side salad or a bowl of cut up Of course, I always overdo it. fruit on the side. I’m not a big soup I remember the year that I got a person, even in cold weather, but DayRunner for Christmas. I spent that would be another way to score the entire week between Christmas a serving of veggies at noon. and New Year’s setting the thing up I’m not yet good at snacking on and creating meticulous schedules. fruits and vegetables. I’m an It went something like: opportunistic snacker, and 6 a.m. wake up realistically I’m not going to say no 6:10 to 6:40 meditate to the chips and treats that come 6:45 to 7:15 stretches through our office at the Chronicle. And so on through the day with But I’ve tried bringing every minute planned, checklists of miniature oranges or boxes of grape goals, and a 20-year plan for self- tomatoes to work, and on those days improvement, including resolutions Getting five or more servings of fruits and vegetables isn’t as daunting as it sounds. I can at least distract myself some for diet and exercise. Above are a cup of broccoli, a cooked sweet potato, a cup and a half of chopped of the time by munching on my own You can imagine how long that cabbage and carrots topped with half a cup of grape tomatoes, an apple, and a cup snacks. lasted! Anyone who knows me of cherries — that’s about four servings of veggies and two fruits. Dinner is a chance to count up Photo by Elizabeth Trail knows how well that worked out. the day’s score and add whatever is But here I am 35 years later decided that we both are going to go about two cups of fruit —that’s two needed to get the totals up. For us still thinking that my life will gluten-free for at least a month and big oranges, apples, or bananas — that usually means a hot veggie side change if I could just eat more see where that gets us. and three cups of veggies a day to dish of some kind. sensibly. I’m not up for committing make the minimum. But bodies don’t know or care I’m apparently not alone. About myself to deprivation anymore. It’s important to eat a variety. whether vegetables are out in the a third of New Year’s resolutions Little-known fact — about 20 Vegetables can be grouped by color open or hidden in other foods. I’ve have to do with losing weight or years ago, I lost over 100 pounds and family. Over the course of a found that I can add finely chopped eating healthier. after a very scary blood sugar week, I try to eat some squash or vegetables of all kinds to spaghetti It’s kind of not fair. The big episode when I passed out while pumpkin, some dark green leafies sauce or taco filling and never know food companies spend billions of driving. What I wasn’t willing to do like spinach and chard, and several they’re there once the sauce is dollars a year figuring out just the for looks, I was willing to do for my servings from the cabbage family added. right combination of sugar, fat, and health.