Since we last looked at the elder bush here on Rathin the unusual strong and persistent winds in May had “burnt” nearly all of the new spring growth. The bush, which once had been lush, now stood bare and stripped to it’s apparent Winter plumage.

I was working in “real” time with P2, searching for the deep, dark and dense within the naked elder but it no longer seemed to exist. So, I turned my focus to the fuchsia bush behind, which had been protected from the bulk of the winds by elder.

Before we set out on our search that morning we had had a conversation about definitions of the words deep, dark and dense. It was now as I was uploading my images onto the whiteboard, before P2 returned to the classroom, that I reread Liam’s interpretation of “deep” being “under ground”. I realized then that if I took his approach I could of course find deep, dark and dense even within the naked elder bush.

It excites me when the dialogue promoted by this kind of virtual exchange influences and directs the thinking and investigation.

So Liam, on the first opportunity I look forward to going under ground within the realms of the elder bush.