This is the sound of trapped-at-homeschooling! I find myself with the unexpected project of “teaching” my 1st and 3rd grader this year. This podcast is an attempt to document our learning together, and to capture some of what it means to survive and make meaning of hard times. Plus my kids are at such beautiful ages right now, 6 and 9, and while homeschool is not what I originally planned, I am excited to explore our particular place in the world with them. The nine ecoregions of Oregon will be our focus.

Against a backdrop of pandemic and raging wildfires, we attempt our first week of school. Smoke and anxiety choke out our plans. The kids “play death” and I play the guitar to cope. Rains finally come along with a renewed capacity for fun and learning. Missing cats, the Music Man, and Minecraft all make it in, plus a snippet of me talking to my future snowy-haired self.