Exemplary Exercises for Children<\/i> (about 5th grade level)<\/i><\/p>\n
In the land across the sea, close to the borders of the near and the far, in the sunshine, after new rain \u2013 Keith and I were splashing in the mud puddles with our favorite yellow boots. Then we chased a butterfly who seemed to know where to go and sing.<\/p>\n
Flutter how spritely brightening wing<\/p>\n
Open your eyes forth and outward to swing<\/p>\n
Follow the patterns I long to reveal<\/p>\n
In pictures of passage from flower to hill<\/p>\n
Taking the trail of the open dome of the sky and the high growing Queen Ann\u2019s lace, we set a good pace past the rose buds to the shed where the younger Carol and Connie were making mud pies fresh from the rain.<\/p>\n
These had been leavened with dandelion puffs and bird berries for a spice, then covered with pebbles and feathers and laid in the sun to dry, in hope that in time for afternoon tea, Ichabod<\/u> would arrive.<\/p>\n
And indeed, up from the ground, popped he. He\u2019s attired in green and small as can be, with gold on his head, hands and heels, and we children all followed him under the ground such sights there to see, adventures to hear unbound through the years in the span from a wink to a smile. Here\u2019s how he told his tale:<\/p>\n
\u2018Many thousands of years<\/p>\n
Before you folks cam here<\/p>\n
There was a land under the ground<\/p>\n
Call Tooln.<\/p>\n
A gold land it was<\/p>\n
For deep shone the sun<\/p>\n
I was known there as Ikal Pahdmoot<\/p>\n
of the Krienol\u2019s<\/p>\n
We were surely not dwarves<\/p>\n
nor were we elves<\/p>\n
But we knew of them both<\/p>\n
And as I just told \u2013 We were Krienols!<\/p>\n
And I saved the King<\/p>\n
King Kroleen of Tooln<\/p>\n
who was good, strong and true<\/p>\n
And to this day is too<\/p>\n
Though he\u2019s gone.<\/p>\n
I sought out the herbs<\/p>\n
Roots, grasses and trees<\/p>\n
which were healing to man<\/p>\n
which he would still need;<\/p>\n
After the flood<\/p>\n
had covered the ground<\/p>\n
And the new land<\/p>\n
Would be revealed.<\/p>\n
Such seeds as we sowed<\/p>\n
Were to be preserved<\/p>\n
In the caverns<\/p>\n
Of crystal quartz<\/p>\n
Many thousands of years<\/p>\n
May yet go by<\/p>\n
Before they again thrive<\/p>\n
In the gardens of Krienols and men.<\/p>\n
But the others, my Krienol friends<\/p>\n
Have all gone away<\/p>\n
Deeper under the ground<\/p>\n
Too much digging goes on<\/p>\n
By you men all around<\/p>\n
And a Krienol needs his peace<\/p>\n
So my folks went away<\/p>\n
But I chose to stay.<\/p>\n
With you earth children friends<\/p>\n
Awaiting the day<\/p>\n
When the seeds shall be planted again.\u2019<\/p>\n
– Katherine Rudolph<\/p>\n
Now three places in space are all that remains of the age-old domain of Tooln: the underground Tower, the round council room with the shimmering pool of Krie. And deeper yet can still be sought, the caverns of crystal quartz, for there are preserved the seeds.<\/p>\n
Now on that warm summer day when the mud pies were made and baked in the light of the sun, we all took off, on a run to the shimmering pool of Krie, with Ichabod in the lead.<\/p>\n
Now we neared the stream that bubbles and churns, round mossy roots all entwined. A patch of sun shone here and there as the voice of waters flow seemed to chortle and rhyme, telling me of its pebbled path. Ichabod<\/u> led us down watery streams (lo \u2013 we became as small as he) and on a milk pod boat with gossamer sail, we rode that crystal stream through tunnel and cave to the council chamber built round and carved in white.<\/p>\n
In the centre, a silvery pool was aglow. \u2018Twas the shimmering pool of Krie where picture stories were told and seen and myriad riddles unfold. In the star-eye of KARU we learned to behold. Why the clover loves the rose; How the seed is kindled in night. Where did the stamen meet with the sylph, how the roots and stems are tended by elves and gnomes and of one called Binky for short and why. And a quest road opened in time, a road to the near and the far where all was revealed just a length from the brook that bubbles and rhymes.<\/p>\n
But on the very first time, when Connie and Carol and Keith and I (brothers and sisters were we) first gazed into the shimmering pool of Krie dark waters was all we did view then Ichabod<\/u> told us the rule:<\/p>\n
\u2018You can gaze in dark waters<\/p>\n
For as long as you please<\/p>\n
But you won\u2019t see a thing<\/p>\n
If you don\u2019t have the KEY<\/p>\n
What question do you seek?\u2019<\/p>\n
For the shimmering pool of Krie can only picture stories that see-that is-which already live in the heart and the eye of the seeker. But whether a seeker at the pool can bring fruit from a story learned in Tooln, in present or future, to do a good deed, will always depend on whether or not he remembers to remember the KEY. Why out of the shimmer of the Krienol Pool we learned \u2018The Legend of the Star\u2019, \u2018Iggie the Dwarf\u2019 and \u2018The Mustard-Lady\u2019s Surprise\u2019\u2026 But as I said on that very first time when we gazed, it was Connie, the smallest who wanted to see \u2018How does the Moon find the lost sheep on the hills in the darkest night?\u2019<\/p>\n
And before we could blink an eye, there in a twinkling, the pool \u2018gan to glow and high on a hill we saw shepherd Mo. He was gazing up on a cloudy night, looking about the sky.<\/p>\n
\u2018Whenever the moon and stars are set<\/p>\n
Whenever the wind is high<\/p>\n
All night long in the dark and wet<\/p>\n
A man goes riding by<\/p>\n
Late at night when the stars are out<\/p>\n
Why does he wander and wander about?<\/p>\n
By at the gallop he goes and then<\/p>\n
By he goes back at the gallop again.\u2019<\/p>\n
– R.L. Stevenson<\/p>\n
Up in the air Mo saw the sky and became entranced with the play of wind, and clouds and stars. His 25 sheep were peacefully keeping in the hollow below the ridge. He hardly even noticed how darkened the sky, and gusty the wind had become; when the storm was upon him.<\/p>\n
\u2018Loudly blew the bitter blast<\/p>\n
Hail and rain were falling fast<\/p>\n
Bank and bushes bleak and bare<\/p>\n
Chilling bit the fighting air!\u2019<\/p>\n
– From ‘Journey Through Time in Verse and Rhyme – Poems collected by Heather Thomas’<\/p>\n
The torrents of bitter weather forced Mo to tend to his sheep. Then the storm flashed by but left the night sky still over clouded and low. But where, where was all the fold? And Mo began to seek and saw that:<\/p>\n
\u2018Rippling and rustling, restless the rill<\/p>\n
Rattled and clattered a-down a steep hill.<\/p>\n
Rolling and rising o\u2019er ridges of rock,<\/p>\n
It frightened and scattered his frisky sheep flock!\u2019<\/p>\n
– Anon<\/p>\n
Oh, no! The sheep had scattered in all directions, all over kingdom come. And worse than this a thin white mist spread over the rocky hill; weirdly it seemed to echo and ring with the tolling of a lost bell. And out of the black came a cackle and gak. \u2018Twas a sound that Mo knew well.<\/p>\n
\u2018Which winds whisk when the witches frisk?<\/p>\n
With claws for their toes and brooms for a whisk<\/p>\n
Hark, to the whisper of bells in the mist.<\/p>\n
While the whirlwinds whistle whither they list.\u2019<\/p>\n
– Anon<\/p>\n
\u201cU\u201d<\/p>\n
In great alarm he called to the moon on the other side of the hill. He knew it was due to grace the night sky so he spoke these words with all of his might:<\/p>\n
\u2018Moon on the field and the foam<\/p>\n
Moon on the mount and the wold<\/p>\n
Moon, bring them home, bring them home.<\/p>\n
Safe from the dark and the cold,<\/p>\n
Home, sweet moon, bring them home,<\/p>\n
Safe with the flock to the fold.\u2019<\/p>\n
– Anon<\/p>\n
And through the blur in the mist and the dark, the moon \u2018gan to glow and gleam. His sheep only numbered 16. So again he sounded the rhyme. And this time 4 more appeared. Now he still was missing 5. So once more, he sounded the verse as the moon rose in the night sky.<\/p>\n
\u2018Moon on the field and the foam\u2026.\u2019<\/p>\n
And, \u2018lo in the dark, 5 white marks came bleating along the hillside. And back in the hollow under the ridge, there gathered all 25:<\/p>\n
\u2018Slowly, silently now the moon<\/p>\n
Walks the night in her silver swoon<\/p>\n
This way and that way<\/p>\n
She turns and she sees<\/p>\n
Silver lambs and silver sheep.\u2019<\/p>\n
Then in a twinkling and whirl, the shimmering pool of Krie gleaming with blue, darkened its view in the council chamber of age old Tooln, and we climbed on our ship with gossamer sails on the crystal stream, and found our way safely home through the trees.<\/p>\n
But as we stepped off the magic path in the bushland purple and green, Ichabod Mud was gone again in the span from a wink to a smile.<\/p>\n
-Leela Toomkoh<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Exemplary Exercises for Children (about 5th grade level) In the land across the sea, close to the borders of the near and the far, in the sunshine, after new rain \u2013 Keith and I were splashing in the mud puddles with our favorite yellow boots. Then we chased a butterfly who seemed to know where…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":109,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.exploringtheword.com.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/232"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.exploringtheword.com.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.exploringtheword.com.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.exploringtheword.com.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.exploringtheword.com.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.exploringtheword.com.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":233,"href":"http:\/\/www.exploringtheword.com.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/232\/revisions\/233"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.exploringtheword.com.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.exploringtheword.com.au\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}