Chapter 44: Beltane

At Sunny Acres, school rolled right along. The students were achieving unheard of goals. They were even exceeding the forecasts made in the Venera's study. Lisa and the parents could not have been happier.

Lisa, Beth, Joy and Meredith were all spending a spare moment together at the end of the day, at the Sunny Acres bistro, relaxing with some wine.

"Goddess, it's been a great year so far," Meredith admired. "The kids have accomplished so much."

"True," added Lisa. "I've just finished the report cards; our kids from the Village Day-care, the Sunny Acres residents, even Natasha and Anatoly ... all, without exceptions, have progressed amazingly."

"I know," added Beth, "even for us, living clothes-free has been a godsend for us, as well. It's hard to remember what our old life was like."

"The parents have even adjusted to a nudist lifestyle," pointed out Joy. "I see them every week-end at the pool. Haven't you noticed, Lisa?"

"Unfortunately, I've been spending all my free time at home working on my Master's thesis. Even Harold has started to complain."

"It's true we haven't seen you that often lately..." commented Beth. "Why is this Master's that important?"

"I'll let you into a little secret ... We were just speaking about Natasha. She has made so much progress that she's well in advance of what we can continue to give her. She would have to leave at the end of the year and I'm afraid she will lose everything she's worked so hard to gain if she went to a textile high school. In order to keep her here, we need to set up a high school and ... to have the right to set up a high school, I need to get my Master's. I spoke to Venera and she spoke to State ... Seeing the urgency of the situation and our own special needs, they would be willing to bend the rules a bit but I don't want to exaggerate ... that's why I'm burning the midnight oil."

"Speaking of the end of the year, can you believe it's March already?" asked Joy.

"I know, we should do something fun for the kids," said Lisa. "Something for the adults too."

"What if we do an equinox celebration," suggested Meredith.

"A what?" asked Joy.

"An equinox celebration," Meredith continued. "You know the first day of spring. It's similar to the Druid feast of Beltane. We could have a bonfire. Roast food over the open fire. Maybe a May pole."

"That sounds like a lot of fun," said Lisa.

"Sure, we could do it on a Saturday so that the parents could come," said Beth. "Heck, we've already got a fire pit for the bonfire. I'll talk to Dee and Warner about it."

"That's Beth, everyone; my organizer extraordinaire," laughed Lisa.

"I think we could do some activities too," said Beth. "Like you were saying, Meredith. We don't have a lot of time, so we better get working on it right away."