The Black Family
Not a one of us carries the legal name Black; however, that surname has become a collective moniker for the family. How? Well, Iron Dragon used it as part of his most prominent online pseudonym within the local Pagan community. He uses it in combination with his middle name, so the whole pseudonym sounds reasonable enough that everyone has assumed it's really his name. When I (Laurelei) entered the relationship with Glaux and Iron, I picked it up, too. I was a writer in search of a nome de plume, and here was Iron using a surname that really did belong to my family's heritage. (If Pa, my father, had been reared by his biological father, his last name and my maiden name would have been Black. Adoption, though, gave us an awesome family and a different name altogether!)
Glaux and Iron have been together since 2003. Incidentally, that was the same year "Eros" was born! I joined the relationship in August 2008, bringing my whole crazy family with me. =)
"Harmonia" was born early in 2000, making her ALMOST a teenager!
My parents ("Grammie and Pa" to my kids and readers) invited us to move in with them at the end of 2009, and we established our multi-generational, communal, artistic, Bohemian household at the very beginning of 2010.
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| Pa and Grammie on a family trip to St. Augustine in 2011 |
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| Laurelei & Glaux at the Ohio Ren Faire in 2011 |
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| Iron Dragon (at Brushwood) -- Firetending in 2008 |
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| Eros at the Indy Zoo in 2012 |
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| Harmonia at home in 2012 |
Who Am We?
Laurelei is a writer and publisher, former public school English and Theatre/Speech teacher, psychic/intuitive reader, artist, Witch shop proprietress, and life coach. Busy? Oh yes. She also homeschools Harmonia, covering literature, composition, social studies, science, and more. She coordinates Harmonia's studies with the other family members and outside teachers/activities Think of her as the Headmistress of Mom-rovia Middle School.
Glaux is an artist, web designer, librarian (by heart, if no longer by profession), psychic/intuitive reader. She teaches Harmonia Art History.
Iron Dragon is an IT consultant, former Army MP, and oft-times "Professional Scarer." (He has designed and managed several "haunts" -- houses, cornfields, woods, sanitariums.)
Grammie is also a former school-teacher (elementary), artist, and fiber artist (crochet, mainly). She teaches Harmonia Home Economics and sometimes Art. She also takes Harmonia to outside Art, Pottery, and Riding (horse) classes.
Pa worked in accounting and computer programming for the Army and the Department of Defense. He is also a musician and artist. He teaches Harmonia math (currently Algebra) and supplements her piano classes with other musical training.
Eros is the youngest member of our family, and he primarily lives with his and Harmonia's father about 90 minutes from the Black House. He attends public school, where he excels both academically and socially. He loves to play video games, soccer, basketball and baseball. We have him with us every other weekend and school holidays during the school year; and he is here every other week throughout the summer.
Harmonia primarily lives at the Black House. She spends weekends and summers on the same schedule as Eros. She loves anime/manga, making pottery, drawing, reading and costuming. She's played softball since Kindergarten and other sports intermittently.
We co-habitate with two rabbits (Fred and George) and four cats (Glaux's Hex and Jinx, Harmonia's Tux, and Grammie's Tizzy). Hex, Jinx and the rabbits live downstairs with us. Tux and Tizzy are upstairs and outside cats.
Non-Residential Family
We have a cast of characters that rotates through the house pretty regularly. Our coven -- Serpentina, the Hearth-Keeper and her daughter, and a couple of newly interested folks -- are here and heavily involved with our lives. Plenty Paws and the Bearded Goat are here almost every week.
Whatcha Gonna Do?
This blog is going to be dedicated to our homeschool activities, concepts relating to Pagan and Poly families, and communal living. We hope you enjoy peeking into our lives, and we hope that you'll have information and inspiration among the wild gypsy ramblings of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black.
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