Tag: dragons

Finish the Story!

February 19th, 2026

“Finish the story!” is the first thing that Asher says to his grandma (Oma) in the morning when he sees her.

Asher is five years old, and he loves stories. More specifically, he likes the stories that Oma tells him. Actually, the various stories are just small parts of one huge, never-ending epic. The stories are tales that Karin makes up as she goes along. However, they are never just her ideas. Asher often interrupts her and changes or embellishes the narrative. They are both endlessly inventive, so the story careens from one plot twist to another with enough characters to fill a Russian novel. I have been told to record the story for posterity, but I don’t see that being possible, since I am not there with Asher and Oma all the time. I catch snippets of the tale while I am in earshot, but then I lose the thread when I am absent. So, the best I can do is give you bits and pieces.

All the characters are animals, some real and some fantastical. Like Adam in the Book of Genesis, Asher gets to name all the animals. One of the animals is a zebra named Black Stripe. The main characters are three young elephants, Grey, Blue, and Teal. They are named that way because those are their respective colors. The three elephants are with their parents on holiday. They are at a campsite, and they start their adventures there.

Seeing as Asher demands his story at the beginning of the day, Karin starts by describing what the elephants are having for breakfast. Since Oma is a German who likes her traditional “Hafergrütze” (cooked or soaked oat groats), that is what the elephants eat. Oma adds strawberries, apples, and bananas into the bowl, so the elephants get to enjoy those things in their meal. They also get golden yoghurt in the mix. There actually is such a thing as golden yoghurt. It’s made by Clover Meadows, and it contains maple syrup and vanilla. It comes in a bottle with a gold-colored lid, hence the name.

The elephants frolic at the campsite. They have interesting visitors. Unicorns show up, of course. One of them is named Sparkle. That seems to be a common name for unicorns. The unicorns take the elephants to Unicorn Land, and there they do magical things. At one point, Unicorn Land is invaded by dinosaurs. Asher wanted to know if the unicorns and elephants are going to be okay. Karin told him that the T. Rex is a nice dinosaur except when he gets hungry, so the elephants keep him well fed. They all eat rainbow-colored pancakes shaped like themselves.

Then a dragon rudely enters Unicorn Land. He causes havoc for a while. The unicorn fire department tries to put out his flaming breath but then decides to let the dragon be like a small blowtorch to light campfires so that everybody can roast marshmallows.

And it goes on and on and on…

The saga reminds of the book The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. That story is in many ways similar to the tale of Asher and Oma. Ende is one of the most imaginative authors who ever lived. His book often veers off on a tangent and briefly hints at other fascinating subsidiary plots. However, Ende always reels himself back in and simply dismisses the nonessential details by saying,

“But that’s another story and shall be told another time.”

I am still waiting for “another time”.

Oma’s tale has many side stories, and I expect those will also be told “another time”.

Festival of Courage

October 2nd, 2025

Karin and I went to Pulaski Park at 9:00 AM. The sun was shining, and the weather was warm already. We strolled to that tiny greenspace from Brady Street to help set up for the festival. We found out that most of the prep work had already been completed. Banners had been hung and tables laden with snacks. The kindergarteners, including our grandson, Asher, were going to show up at 9:30. They would walk the two blocks from the Waldorf school to the park with their teachers. In the meantime, Karin and I, along with some other caregivers used our artistic skills to make chalk drawings on the ground near the children’s obstacle course that had been erected in the tennis court. We drew multicolored trees, flowers, stars, suns, whales, and spirals. The little kids would have a chance to view the drawings later in the morning when they navigated the obstacle course.

In addition to the obstacle course, there was to be face painting, a sack race, and other activities. There was a playground at the park, and it was expected that the little ones would flock to that eventually. The kids would be able to munch popcorn, chew on apple slices, and eat dragon bread smothered with butter (vegan or dairy) and blackberry jam.

Dragon bread is something that probably needs to be explained. It reminds me a lot of challah bread, except that instead of being braided, it is molded into the shape of a dragon. See below:

That isn’t the best possible image, but you might get the idea. Why does the festival have dragon bread? That requires me to give some background on the whole event.

Waldorf education is a little over a century old. Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Waldorf schools, harked back to medieval religious holidays to help the children stay in tune with the seasons of the year. Years ago, when our own children were attended the school, the festival was called Michaelmas, which was and still is a special day marked on the Catholic Church’s calendar. Michaelmas is the feast of Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel: archangels. The archangels are considered to be examples of courage. They combat the forces of evil in the world. There used to be mural in the school showing St Michael slaying a dragon, the dragon being a sign of chaos and darkness. Are archangels real? Even if they aren’t, they symbolize the courage to do the right thing. Now, in more secular and diverse times, the event is called the “Festival of Courage”, which has always been the theme.

Asher and his classmates arrived dressed for the occasion. They all wore yellow capes, and on their heads, they had orange bands that looked like crowns or halos. Once the members of all three kindergartens and their caregivers were gathered, we all formed into a large circle around a low, grassy knoll in the park. Halle, one of the teachers, led everyone in a short song:

“Morning has come, night is away, we rise with the sun and welcome the day.”

Then she told a story/poem about picking apples. This included a lot of hand and body movements. People participated in movements to the extent that they could. Asher stood next to Karin and me in the circle. Close by was Maggie, a little girl in the class, who is friendly toward Asher. He feels the same way about her.

Once the poem was completed, the crowd dispersed, and the children did their thing. They threw their shooting stars into the air (the shooting stars are dark blue cloths wrapped around a small object and tied with brightly colored ribbons. the kids make them in class). Then Asher got in the line to run the obstacle course. It consisted of several activities. He had to crawl through a tunnel made up of a series of small tents. He needed to throw a ball through a hoop (he got it in on the third try). He had to walk on a balance beam. He had to have his grandma (Oma) hold his hand to get across. Asher was rather nervous about walking the balance beam, but he did it anyway. Courage does not mean that a person is not scared. Courage means that a person, like Asher, tries to do something even when they are afraid. Courage also means being willing to accept help in order to do something that may be scary.

What do St. Michael and the dragon have to do with courage? How does this festival teach children about that virtue? Well, it’s done with stories and games and physical reminders. It does it with things like dragon bread and capes. The story of St. Michael tells a small child how to be brave in a fight. The fight depicted is a battle with something outside of themselves. It’s something they can understand.

The adults learn too. I don’t think that courage is innate. I think it is a virtue that has to taught and practiced for an entire lifetime. Courage comes in many forms. St. Michael is a warrior. We assume that warriors are brave. However, the bravest person I have ever met is an individual battling an addiction. It can be easy to fight for our own rights, but how do we defend the rights of others? How do we get up each morning and slay the dragon within ourselves?