My penumbra Art Class

Yesterday I felt very accomplished after teaching a 55 minute art class about Structural Lines to 33 4th graders. I had set up three still lifes for them to paint with temperas. I set up a large sheet of paper, two brushes., a plate with five blobs of paint and a black oil pastel for each kid. Then the lights went off and the whole neighborhood lost power. The clock on the wall stopped. There was an announcement. The kids came with Ms Che, who helped me open the only window. We did most of the lesson in partial penumbra. Then 10 minutes before the end, the lights came back on and the clock hands started racing towards their due position. There was a roar of amazement from the kids and I could see that even the normally solemn Ms Che got a spark in her eye at the thought of time travel.