O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light, What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming, Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight O’er the ramparts we watch’d were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there, O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Lyrics by River Farm Forest School students

Traditional childrens' song popularized by Raffi

It's alright to cry Crying gets the sad out of you It's alright to cry It might make you feel better Raindrops from your eyes Washing all the mad out of you Raindrops from your eyes It's gonna make you feel better It's alright to feel things Though the feelings may be strange Feelings are such real things And they change and change and change Sad and grumpy, down in the dumpy Snuggly, hugly, mean and ugly Sloppy, slappy, hoppy, happy Change and change and change It's alright to feel things Though the feelings may be strange Feelings are such real things And they change and change and change It's alright to know Feelings come and feelings go It's alright to cry It might make you feel better

Something very strange is happening in the woods beside River Farm Forest School tonight. An unidentified flying object is weaving through the forest. Destabilized, the extraterrastrials seem likely to crash. I want to observe. I wonder what the aliens will do. As I approach the landing site, I hear them communicating with each other, trying to figure out their next move. It seems theirs is a language of music - music, and sputtering guttural sounds. It seems as though some of these extraterrestrial beings are familiar with Taco Bell, the fast-food taco restaurant. It seems that the concept of tacos has inspired these beings. They set to work at once, repairing their ship with items found on the forest floor. How can sticks and rocks ever repair such advanced technology? They don't know, but they're determined to fix the ship and fly to Taco Bell. As suspected, forest floor debris will not remedy the broken ship. And so the aliens set off on foot. Hear their many appendages rustling through the dried grass as they pass. These are not creatures used to walking, and yet they persist. Burritos, chalupas, casaritos, gorditas quesadillas, and the ultimate Crunchwrap Supreme draw them forward into the night through the grasses toward the Taco Bell. They have arrived. They order hundreds of Taco Bell menu items. When asked for money, they have none. But they do have priceless space minerals loaded into their belly button pockets. They were saving these for an inter-galaxy trade deal, and they have no concept of how much these are worth to humans on the planet Earth. But right now, the top priority is tacos. And so they give the human servers these priceless minerals and begin devouring, enjoying, savoring their Crunchwrap Supremes. Maybe now that they are refueled, they'll be ready to find a way back into space. Secretly, I watch them for another twenty days. I watch them trade more and more priceless minerals for more and more Taco Bell food. But I also watch them learn to repair their intergalactic ship with earthen tools, earthen supplies, until at last it seems they are ready to embark once more back into stars, back toward their home planet in a ship rebuilt and stinking of beef and beans. I know these extraterrestrials have no interest in me, and yet I quietly say, "Goodbye, my alien friends, my Taco Bell loving alien friends. Perhaps I - who have long been . . . let's say . . . a doubter of Taco Bell food, of fast food in general - shall try a Crunchwrap Supreme tonight." And with that, I watch them load their ship and launch back into space.

John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt His name is my name too Whenever we go out Hear the happy people shout There goes John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt

Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya Oh Lord, kumbaya Someone's singing Lord, kumbaya Someone's singing Lord, kumbaya Someone's singing Lord, kumbaya Oh Lord, kumbayah Someone's dancing Lord, kumbaya Someone's dancing Lord, kumbaya Someone's dancing Lord, kumbaya Oh Lord, kumbayah Someone's crying Lord, kumbaya Someone's crying Lord, kumbaya Someone's crying Lord, kumbaya Oh Lord, kumbaya Come by here my Lord, kumbaya Come by here my Lord, kumbaya Come by here my Lord, kumbaya Oh Lord, kumbaya Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya Oh Lord, kumbaya