Gypsy Rover by Sirens of Stirling

Sirens of Stirling at a Renaissance Faire:

Favorite Resources on Fantasy Reading

(Credenda Agenda has an article about the value of reading fairy tales called Imaginative Succession by Douglas Jones. You can look for that article from their homepage or try here http://www.credenda.org/issues/13-2poetics.php)

Northrup Frye, The Educated Imagination

G.K. Chesterton's book Orthodoxy Chapter 4 - read online.


Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child's Moral Imagination by Vigen Guroian

A Few Links

Lisa Jackson, head of the EPA, doesn't seem to know what free enterprise means.

In the jaw-dropping, is this for real, tell me it isn't so department, blogger says Texas legislature is introducing a bill reducing the penalty for murdering a child under 2 years of age:

This bill, HB 3318, reduces the crime of murder against a child the age of 0-12 months, to only a state jail felony, with a maximum of 2 years and a minimum of 180 days. So the mom that murdered her child could be set free with only six months time served.

Chrysler to file for bankruptcy.

Hans Rosling- 20 minutes or so of riveting, entertaining presentation debunks nearly everything you thought you knew about the third world. Basically, what we think we know is from the 70s.

Swine Flu Perspective

To keep this in perspective, though, every flu outbreak causes deaths, even in the US. The CDC told the media yesterday that 36,000 people die in the US each year from flu-related illnesses. I had no idea that number was so high. To put it in perspective, the CDC’s 2001 statistics showed 10,800 deaths from alcohol-related traffic accidents — and almost 6,000 alcohol-related homicides.

Via Hotair

The Headmaster is sick, very sick. The Boy was sick for ten days straight. Strider is feeling awful. The HG isn't feeling so hot. And all the common sense in the world isn't going to stop me from worrying some about my two girls in New Mexico right now.

How do you tell which version you have? Swine flu or regular flu?

What are the signs and symptoms of swine flu in people?
The symptoms of swine flu in people are similar to the symptoms of regular human flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. Some people have reported diarrhea and vomiting associated with swine flu. In the past, severe illness (pneumonia and respiratory failure) and deaths have been reported with swine flu infection in people. Like seasonal flu, swine flu may cause a worsening of underlying chronic medical conditions.

That doesn't seem to be much help.

Why We Didn't "Cry it Out" with Ours

We thought it was important that babies should have their needs met, and we recognized the need for companionship, touch, and comfort as legitimate needs. Equally importantly, we realized that a baby's ability to communicate that he is not satisfied with the status quo is fairly limited. Crying is not being 'spoiled,' 'demanding,' or 'selfish' when you are totally dependent on the adults around you for your every need and you haven't learned to speak yet.

So we didn't let our babies fuss, and we did pick them up when they cried, unless it couldn't be avoided. These are the sorts of things I mean by 'couldn't be avoided:'
In a moving vehicle where there was no place to pull over.
If the baby started crying and I was in the shower, I hastily finished my shower, dried off, got dressed, and then got the baby.
If I was in the middle of something that simply could not be dropped instantly- say, making mayonnaise, or working with raw meat.

Otherwise, I dropped what I was doing and took care of the baby. This means my house wasn't as clean as somebody else's, and that it took me longer to unload the car after a trip sometimes, or that I got dressed one-handed while holding the baby with the other. I realize this seems silly to some people, but it was the way that worked for us.

ON China

There is an excellent article here, two pages of hard, tragic reading. Actually, the first page is about China, and a specific family there. The second page expands to communism in general.

Goodwill Outlet

We visited two Goodwill outfits yesterday. It was pretty overwhelming, and also amazing. You pay 1.39 a pound for all the clothes, toys, and housewares you buy if you buy 25 pounds or less. Get over 25 pounds and it's .59 a pound.

At the first Goodwill, I didn't have 25 pounds worth, and the older couple in line ahead of me asked the cashier to put my things with theirs so that I got the cheaper price, and she did, so I did, and it was pretty amazing.

Another older couple saw the Boy drooling over a bike, and they bought it for him. They insisted, and would not take 'no' for an answer- finally bowling over any objection I had by saying, "Ma'am, just accept it as an act of Christian kindness." So I did, and it was pretty amazing.

At the next Goodwill Outlet, the Boy scored a ton of legos and bionicles and he's totally stoked. I got fireplace tools for the woodstove that is not hooked up yet, but will be some day, and another small, round plant table, numerous baby blankets and some sweatpants for the burgeoning Equushick.

Oh... speaking of the Equuschick, she had a midwife appointment yesterday, too, and all is well.

Here's a series of phone messages the oldest two girls and I exchanged:

My cell phone rings. It's the HG saying: "Mom? EC had a midwife appointment today, right?

Me: Yes, why?

HG: Because while I was napping she called my cell phone and left a rather cryptic message. She said, "Hey, we found something very exciting today, call me back and I'll tell you about it!" But when I called back, I had to leave a message.

Me: Good-bye.

HG: Huh?

Me: I'm calling her right now and I'll keep calling until she answers. Then I'll call you back to tell you what it was.

We hang up, and I call. No answer. Later, the EC returns my call. The exciting discovery?

EC: We were just driving around the town where the midwife is, and we came across a sign for a 'colored cemetery,' established 1832, and there are post-civil war graves there, too, and I just thought that was a very interesting bit of history the HG would like to know.

And yes, for history buffs, that is quite fascinating and interesting, but you know, I was expecting to hear something like " The midwife heard two heartbeats," or "She moved my due date up three weeks."

Gypsy Rover an the Sullivan Show

The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem on the Ed Sullivan Show:

Still Learning

I've learned -
that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them.

I've learned -
that no matter how much I care, some people just don't care back.

I've learned -
that it takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it.

I've learned -
that it's not what you have in your life but who you have in your life that counts.

I've learned -
that you can get by on charm for about fifteen minutes. After that, you'd better know something.

I've learned -
that you shouldn't compare yourself to the best others can do.

I've learned -
that you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.

I've learned -
that it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I've learned -
that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them..

I've learned -
that you can keep going long after you can't.

I've learned -
that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I've learned -
that either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I've learned -
that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place.

I've learned -
that heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I've learned -
that money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I've learned -
that my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.

I've learned -
that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down will be the ones to help you get back up.

I've learned -
that sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.

I've learned -
that true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.

I've learned -
that just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have.

I've learned -
that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.

I've learned -
that you should never tell a child their dreams are unlikely or outlandish. Few things are more humiliating, and what a tragedy it would be if they believed it.

I've learned -
that your family won't always be there for you. It may seem funny, but people you aren't related to can take care of you and love you and teach you to trust people again. Families aren't biological.

I've learned -
that no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I've learned -
that it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I've learned -
that no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.

I've learned -
that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.

I've learned -
that just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other. And just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do.

I've learned -
that we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.

I've learned -
that you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.

I've learned -
that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

I've learned -
that no matter how you try to protect your children, they will eventually get hurt and you will hurt in the process.

I've learned -
that your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.

I've learned -
that even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you, you will find the strength to help.

I've learned -
that credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I've learned -
that the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

I've learned -
that it's hard to determine where to draw the line between being nice and not hurting people's feelings and standing up for what you believe.

Author Unknown

Fire

This was one of my absolute favorite pictures of the fire that I took on Thursday night.

On torture

Mark Thompson has a very thoughtful read on the recent release of the torture memos:

I’ve had time to give the Bybee memo a good read, and I’ve gotten pretty far into the first Bradbury memo. First, let me say that I think my position on the techniques stated therein has been made pretty clear over the last several years I’ve been blogging. My moral outrage is undiminished.

[...]

I think it’s really difficult to read that memo in April 2009 and conclude that its authorizations are well-reasoned or are accurate depictions of the law of torture. I also think that it would have been really difficult to write that memo in July/August of 2002, knowing that its findings would be applied solely to the single most significant terrorist then in custody, and come to the correct legal conclusion.

He's not defending torture, just pointing out the context in which these decisions were made.

Somebody Explain Gift Giving To the First Couple

Updated to add missing links.

Seriously. They do not get it.

Sidwell Friend's School, where the Obama girls attend, has a benefit auction every year. This is what the Obama's donated:

This past weekend was the Obamas’ first chance to participate in the Sidwell Friends School Dollars for Scholars benefit, and some families who remember the Clintons’ support are disappointed in the Obamas’ first showing.

According to a source with ties to the school, the only items up for bid from the Obamas included a signed copy of the Rolling Stone issue featuring the president and a signed copy of the January Vogue that featured the first lady.

Sidwell is the school of choice for D.C. politicians' children, and the Democrats just killed a voucher program for it.

Here's another link about their tacky gift giving.

Today...

Last night we talked with some friends about going in together to buy some three day old calves from a local dairy farm and raise them for grass-fed beef. This morning they called to say the calves were arriving today.

They are keeping them for the first several weeks while they are bottle fed. Then we hope to have our meadows properly fenced and the watering situation figured out, and they'll come here. As we understand it, it'll take a year and a half to raise them to butchering weight. Two of the calves (five total) will be sold in the fall at an auction for some extra cash.

We've been offered the chance to buy some laying hens (already laying, which is handy), but would have to scramble to get a place ready for them to live.

We'd also like to figure out (but it seems impossible) how to get the Rattery fixed up enough for somebody to actually live in it, but it's in pretty sad shape and we'd need to get it fixed up without spending too much money, so it looks to be a busy summer, for these and other reasons, and we need to figure out how to bring in some extra cash. This has been the subject of some intense prayers on my part the last couple of weeks.

We're taking Pip and Jenny to the airport today- they're flying to New Mexico for a friend's wedding. Yes, I am a wee bit concerned about swine flu, and I'll miss them dreadfully (they'll be gone five days, and they bought their tickets themselves or theyd' not be going).

I'm also hoping to convince the HM to take me to a Goodwill outlet where clothing is sold by the pound.

Strider's car is in the shop, so he wasn't able to come out to visit last night, which is, frankly, a big hole in everybody's lives, and the car in the shop is also a big hole in his budget. The HG's car died a couple of weeks ago, and he had been taking her to school and home again. In a serendipitous series of events, a friend of a friend of the HG's is out of the country for three months and has loaned her car to the friend of the first part, who has loaned it this week to the HG, which couldn't have happened at a more convenient time.

The HG's school stuff is going swimmingly- she doesn't have to take the Portuguese final because her professor is a swell guy. You earn points for assignments and test scores, get enough points and you don't have to take the final, and she was one point short of the cut-off mark- she emailed asking if she could skip the final and just take her current B grade, and he wrote her back saying of course he would give her an A for the class and she could skip the final. She still has one more large paper to do in the class she entered just a couple weeks ago and so had a lot of 'make-up' work to do, but she's gotten A's on her other completed work for that course. In Spanish, she could skip the final and get a C. This is all pretty amazing considering the level of distraction from her studies she's been experiencing, but I think that distraction has been good for her.=)

We had a grand weekend, I think around 10 people came up for the bonfire and stayed the night Friday, plus the 2 and 5 year old we babysat this weekend. Another group came up on Saturday for singing and playing in the creek. About 8 stayed over Saturday night and we drove in to church together. We had our usual delightful company last night. Friday we have another family coming to dinner, and Saturday we're going to a potluck (they call them 'pitch-ins' around here), which should be fun.

Monday it's back to the airport to pick up our ewe lambs- and then we begin again.

Ideas for old house restoration done cheaply would be most welcome.

Government as Zombies

Klaven on how government is like Night of the Living Dead:

[Government] doesn’t start businesses, it doesn’t create wealth, it doesn’t invent anything. It just devours all the stuff that you make. You bar the door against property tax, they come in through a sales tax, you board the windows against income taxes, they reach in through an energy tax.

But surely there are important differences between creatures from the “Night of the Living Dead” and the actions of the U.S. government. Of course there are! In the movie, Klavan observes,

zombies didn’t try to tell their victims being devoured was good for them. They didn’t say: “Let me devour your flesh, it’s patriotic.” Or, “Let me devour your flesh because we all have to make sacrifices.” Or — my favorite — “Let me devour your flesh because I know how to use it better than you do.” Also, when you try to stop the government zombies, when you say “No, zombie, No! Don’t devour my flesh,” they get pissy. “Well, that’s very selfish. You’re being greedy. You’re acting out of self interest.”

Now it always makes me feel really bad when a politician tells me I’m acting out of self-interest because everyone knows that politicians act out of a radiant love for all mankind. Or wait, maybe it’s an insatiable hunger for power! . . .

More here

Holding Babies

A year or two shy of two decades ago, when I already had two children, I read Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, and I was particularly moved by a chapter on the importance of touch, on the *need* for babies to experience skin contact. When our first baby was born (1983), I'd decided that there was no good reason to just let her cry if I didn't have to. If it could not be helped, it couldn't be helped, but I saw no reason not to hold a crying baby if I could.

I didn't like her sleeping in another room, I liked her in bed with me. Both of us slept better that way. I tried putting her in another room at first, but I slept badly, snapping awake every time she made a funny noise, and she made multiple funny noises every night. My body wouldn't permit me to go into a deep sleep, so I slept lightlym, intermittently, and very, very badly. When we brought the baby to bed with us I relaxed and was able to get a much deeper and satisfactory sleep, with her nestled in the crook of my arm, safe, warm, happy, and well fed.

Incidentally, studies show babies generally do better sleeping with their mommies. The baby's heartrate is much healthier when sleeping with Mommy than when sleeping alone, and it will adjust itself to match the mother's heartbeat. Isn't that fascinating?

Certain relatives often fussed about this, one in particular. It was a friend who pointed out to me that this relative had not been very attached to her babies, and she took our different parenting style personally. From time to time an older woman would also be critical (not all of them, but it's the criticism that seems to make the most impact with us, isn't it?), implying that housework and weeding were more important tasks than dandling babies. There is certainly some housework that ought not to be neglected, but I don't think the roof will fall down upon your head if you do the windows once a year instead of once a month, or never dust dustboards at all, or vacuum the curtains instead of taking them down, washing, drying, ironing and starching, and then rehang them several times a year.

As a sidenote, I realized at some point that the older ladies (grandmothers, mostly) who were most critical of mothers who spent so much time holding their babies were also the most critical of women who chose natural childbirth (which, 26 years ago in my circles merely meant Lamaze and drug free). Once in a ladies Bible class when the class finished and ladies get chatty, the other women were talking about silly and even a little obscene all this new talk about natural childbirth and sharing all the details of your labor was. I shyly agreed that perhaps sharing in a mixed Bible Class full color detailed photographs of the entire birth and delivery was a tad insensitive, but suggested that still, learning more about the birth process and how the body worked and what happened was a good thing, it was better for women to know and be aware since it was their own bodies and health involved. I found myself on the receiving end of a collective blank stare, and then one woman said, "That's not necessary. It happens just the same whether you know all that stuff or not. IT's the doctor's job anyway. I'm in favor of being knocked completely out."

So, being a young mother, and this being my earliest experience with the reaction of older women to things I thought were an important, natural, and wholesome part of being a woman and mother, I felt a bit defensive about it for several years. Just as, I think, some of those women needed to criticize those parents who chose a different approach than they had used in order to validate their own decisions, I found myself yearning for some sort of validation as well. Then I read Fearfully and Wonderfully Made.

In the chapter on touch, the author explains several studies showing the importance, the need, for babies to experience lots of touching, and then he says,

"Despite these findings, even today touching is often viewed as an unavoidable part of the more important tasks of feeding and cleaning the baby. Seldom is it considered an essential need in itself without which a baby may never mature....
In general... the higher the social strata, the less parents touch their infants [I disagree with this point, by the way, I think there are a lot of folks low on the social strata who do not recognize infant touch as a need and strongly recommend the 'cry it out' route]... Perhaps we have reached the extreme in America, where
mothers carry their babies at arms' length in plastic carriers and fathers spend an average of thirty seconds per day in tactile contact with their children."

The rest of that chapter gave me just the small amount of support I needed not to feel defensive anymore about how much we dandled and handled our babies at our house.

We had already long determined never to carry our babies at arm's length in plastic buckets (otherwise called infant car seats). We took our babies out of the car seat when we arrived anywhere, and we touched them, held them, nuzzled them, and filled up their love buckets rather than their plastic buckets. After reading Fearfully and Wonderfully made I didn't actually change anything I did, I just quit feeling like I somehow needed to justify myself to outsiders.

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made is by Dr. Paul Brand with PHilip Yancey. If you click on the link you can read more about it from Amazon. If you purchase it, or click through the link to purchase other items, we at The Common Room will get a few cents through the Amazon Associates program, which is nice, but not an obligation.

It's not really a parenting book, it just had information in that chapter that applied to parenting. It's about Dr. Brand's work with leprosy patients, and his ideas about the design of the human body, the Body of Christ, and the similarities. Queen Shenanay from The Beehive blogged about another part of the book some time ago. You can read her posts here and here.

It is a beautifully written book, with even more lovely spiritual applications.

A Not Very Brief Intro and a Couple Cheat Date Ideas

The Equuschick often finds the subject of frugality to be rather an insecure one for her at times, and for that reason she is often hesitant to post anything relating to the subject. Either she is nervous that her ideas will not be worthwhile to anyone else, or she feels a bit hypocritical because there are many areas where she knows that she probably spends a great deal more money than other people who are "truly" frugal.

But in the end she has concluded to dismiss her concerns and stick her tongue out at them, because frugality is like most everything else in life. There are principles, but few rules.

The principles are those only of common sense, contentment, and self-sufficiency.

Common sense will tell you that no matter how badly you want something it makes more sense to pay $5 for it at Store A than $8 at Store B. Contentment is all about self-denial, a valuable life-skill. Learn to tell yourself no and be happy anyway. Self-sufficiency should tell you that if you can do it yourself, you should. You are responsible for your own welfare so don't expect your needs to be met by others, especially others who may have more money than you. It is their money. Not yours. You want more money? Earn it with the hands God gave you.

But how those principles are practiced in each individual's life is another matter entirely. One person's treasure is another person's clutter and not everyone's needs are the same.

Food, for instance, is one area where The Equuschick has researched many money-saving ideas and dismissed a few of them. She eats what she needs to eat and if it happens to be more expensive, so be it. Potatoes, rice and beans may be very frugal indeed but The Equuschick can't do it and never bothered trying.

Other people may be more willing than others to invest extra time and effort and save a buck or two in area of life, while to someone else entirely that extra effort and time simply isn't worth it and this is not necessarily an indication of laziness. It can be, but it doesn't always follow. One person's priorities, abilities, and schedule will naturally be different than another person's.

Completely aside from needs and abilities is the question of personal preference. Everyone will have a different emotional need that may be completely incomprehensible to others and at times even look like waste.

The Equuschick, for instance, looks at those who spend money on make-up and clothes and gets a bit bewildered because if The Equuschick spent money on those things, she could not afford her dog. Obviously she must have her dog.

Still others look at The Equuschick and her dog and think "But she could save so much money without that big ol' beast."

Why, of course money could be saved. But to what purpose if you're the cranky, cynical, nervous and unhappy person that The Equuschick would be without a dog?

To still others, the idea of a "cheap date" is something of any oxymoron because a date brings visions of fancy restaurants and elegant champagne. The Equuschick hasn't been to many fancy restaurants, because you're supposed to be dressed up and wearing make-up when you go to a fancy restaurant and you probably shouldn't smell of dog.

But that's the kind of date you like, than by all means use all that money you save by not owning a 100 lb. dog and go out on the town.

But as for The Equuschick and Shasta, their last date was a $3 splurge on ingredients for 'Smores and then they had a bonfire in their backyard.

Even here there is a matter of ability as well as preference, because obviously if you live in an apartment in town you can't have a bonfire in your backyard.

(If you're local you can come over to Muskrat Shores and double-date sometime, though.)

The Equuschick and Shasta also keep an eye out, aided by the DHM, for cheap sales and coupons at fast-food places. Free Arby's sandwich? Pick up two and eat outside if the weather is nice, drive around town and chat if it isn't.

Take walks to the park, or walk around town and window shop.

A date, after all, is simply a special occasion out of the ordinary. It doesn't even have to involve food or leaving the house. Play Scrabble or other board games in bed in the winter.

If you want a truly candlelit dinner, turn of all the lights and skip the music thus saving electricity as well.

And if you're really like The Equuschick and Shasta, just take your dog on a walk together. That's The Equuschick's personal favourite.

Gypsy Rover

Another family favorite in the folk song department is The Gypsy Rover, which the HG sang with good results to the quads when she nannied for family friends with a dozen children a couple summers. She was also very excited when even the younger children remembered her and her folk songs from one summer to the next.

The Highwaymen:

How Regulation Works

It's like a mountain climb to a gold mine. There are those who scratch and scramble to get to the top, because there are huge prizes available at the top.

Then, when they get there, they don't want others taking advantage of their trail-blazing or finding their own way to the top to share the wealth. So they create toll roads and barriers, checkpoints, gated entries, strenuous requirements, quotas, and other strict regulations in order to play gate-keeper- to keep the path to the success they've found limited to a select few.

The requirements and regulations they design naturally favor those who are already at the top.

There's nothing particularly insidious, to me, about the desire to narrow the path to the top and limit those who can go where you have gone- to limit, in fact, new entries into the area where you have found success. It's unabashedly self-centered, but that's not surprising or unexpected or particularly ethically problematic. A business represents the interests of the business. Business owners and CEOs can be altruistic and disinterested, but seldom would they pursue a charitable interest that actually harms their business interests, and I don't have a problem with that.

My husband's boss is a good example of this (and so is my husband, who operates as the CEO of the regional collection of stores his boss owns). They are good men who want to do good and not evil to their employees. Recently, for example, when an employee was having problems with his fiancee, my husband went to the store on his own time and with his own money, and bought the couple the movie Fireproof (they called him later to rave about it and thank him). They've hired people with a criminal record just to give them a chance. They have given up their own days off to make it possible for employees to go to their kids' awards ceremonies, or to make up extra sick leave for somebody who needed to be with a family member in the hospital. They have mentored young employees through circumstances where other bosses would have just fired them. The owner's motto is "Do the right thing, and the rest should fall into place."
However, it's a business. It's not a charity. There are limits. If the business doesn't make money, the boss doesn't make money to pay his bills and meet his obligations, and thereby loses his ability to provide those employees with jobs and his partners with income enough for them to justify their continued participation in the business.


What IS insidious, unethical, and deeply problematic to me is when businesses enlist the government in their efforts to block competition, and government is a willing, even eager, cohort. The media, in its ignorance about how the world works, plays the role of useful idiot to this devil's bargain between larger, successful businesses, and politicians who are supposed represent citizens and not favor one business over another.

Perhaps one of the biggest mainstream business media cliches is the surprising discovery that industry leaders often favor regulation of their industry. Time and again, reporters somehow manage to be surprised that by industry leaders who favor policies that increase the barrier to entry and regulatory costs. It's as if they are completely immune to evidence of the the anti-competivive effects of regulation.

This Administration Thinks It's The Godfather.

I don't know why we're using a term from dictatorships, but as long as we're throwing around calls for a Truth Commission on the OLC memos and CIA interrogation techniques, the one Truth Commission I'd like to see sometime is to look at both how the Bush administration, the Obama administration, and the Federal Reserve pressured banks and other businesses in this economic crisis. The Wall Street Journal had the story of how Harry Lewis, the CEO of Bank of America, testified under oath that both Secretary Henry Paulson and Chairman Ben Bernanke pressured him to go ahead with the Bank of America takeover of Merrill Lynch even though BofA had uncovered information about billions of losses that Merrill Lynch was holding. He wanted to back out of the deal, but was forced to go ahead with the deal. And, even worse, they told him not to publicly disclose to BofA's shareholders the full information on Merrill Lynch.

From Betsy's Page, a must read, although you might want to take some pain-killer and antacids before you start.

Consumer Reports- Ethnocentric, Out of Touch

I saw this yesterday and could hardly bring myself to touch it. They are so locked away in some white, upper middle class, Dink (dual income, no kids) version of reality they do not even know it. They really have nothing to say to me or families like mine (and yeah, I know we're a minority).

Here are things the tight-lipped, out of touch, nervous nellies at Consumer Reports disapprove of:

Co-sleeping:

Although sleeping with a baby in an adult bed is a common practice among some cultures, it can be dangerous.

Until there are safety standards in place for bedside basinettes, the safest place for your baby, they say, is in a crib. Oh, please. This is so very white, upper class American it's not even funny. More babies die in cribs every year than die in their parents beds, snuggled up in their parents arms.

If YOU feel you or your spouse sleep too heavily for your baby to sleep with you, that's one thing. That's a decision for parents to make. ALL of our babies slept with us. It's natural, normal, it's the way it's been done for thousands of years in cultures all over the globe. The crib is fairly recent and quite limited in sphere.

I'm telling you, these nanny types would love to make us submit breastmilk for testing.

Baby Bath Seats: Okay, I didn't use these much either- although as I grew older, one was a welcome relief to my bad back. But CR says you should never use one. Why? Because children have died. Why have they died? Because their parents walked away and left them in the seat in the bath unattended. The bath seat is not what caused those children to die. A parental error (for which those parents suffer more every day of their lives than anybody else can imagine) caused those fatal accidents. But CR thinks we are too stupid to respond well to any sort of publicity informing parents that the chairs are not a substitute for constant supervision.

But the thing that really amazes me is this:

Sling carriers
Over the past five years, at least four babies died and there have been many reports of serious injury associated with the use of sling-type carriers. The incidents include skull fractures, head injuries, contusions and abrasions. Most occurred when the child fell out of the sling. As slings grow in popularity, so do the number of serious injuries. No safety standards exist for slings. We think you should skip the sling and opt for other types of infant carriers, which have safer track records. (Image note: The CPSC recalled 100,000 Infantino slings in 2007.)

Four babies in five years? One baby per year is a tragedy for that family. I am not seeing the justification for ditching the sling, which is an item used by third world cultures the world over, as well as in many Asian countries. Slings have a proven track record. And thank-you, no, I have never carried a baby of mine at arm's length from me in a plastic bucket, and if I had babies, I sure wouldn't start.

In the book Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, the author notes the wealth of studies indicating that babies desperately need touch, and plenty of it, in order to thrive and survive- where is that in the Consumer Reports world of cold, hard, plastic, easy to clean, easy to measure, easy to quantify? It's nowhere. But the science is sound. Babies do better when they sleep with their parents, when they are held skin to skin, when they are cuddled up in parental arms:

"Despite these findings, even today touching is often viewed as an unavoidable part of the more important tasks of feeding and cleaning the baby. Seldom is it considered an essential need in itself without which a baby may never mature....
In general... the higher the social strata, the less parents touch their infants [I disagree with this point, by the way, I think there are a lot of folks low on the social strata who do not recognize infant touch as a need and strongly recommend the 'cry it out' route]... Perhaps we have reached the extreme in America, where mothers carry their babies at arms' length in plastic carriers and fathers spend an average of thirty seconds per day in tactile contact with their children."

He might have been describing the Consumer's Union approach to parenting.

They also object to crib bumpers and infant positioners, two items that may have some justification, but two out of five is a pretty pathetic track record.

Parenting is about far more than rearing children in a sterilized, hygienic, bubble wrapped microcosm of an OSHA lab. It's about relationships, warmth, love, affection, touch, closeness- and CR is in no position of authority to give anybody parenting advice, which is what this amounts to.

Keep in mind that these people defend the CPSIA as necessary, and we can see how much authority they ought to have in anybody's lives.

It's sad. They once were a useful organization performing a useful public service, but they've become a caricature.

Plane Buzzes Manhattan for Photo-Op

L0w flying Air Force One buzzes Manhattan- for a photo-op. Watch the third video here to see just how much it freaked people out. Heads should roll. And why are taxpayers paying for this?

More here. It appears the few agencies that were notified were told it was a secret operation and they couldn't alert the public.

Buildings were spontaneously evacuated as fearful citizens, many of whom witnessed 9/11, raced down stairwells and into the road. Whoever thought this was photo-op was a good idea needs his head examined.

Torture Memos Declassified, College Transcripts, Too Dangerous For Light of Day

former CIA Director Porter Goss explains how we can know that Nancy Pelosi is lying when she says she didn't know anything about waterboarding, and what Congress knew about the interrogation of terrorists:

Let me be clear. It is my recollection that:

-- The chairs and the ranking minority members of the House and Senate intelligence committees, known as the Gang of Four, were briefed that the CIA was holding and interrogating high-value terrorists.

-- We understood what the CIA was doing.

-- We gave the CIA our bipartisan support.

-- We gave the CIA funding to carry out its activities.

-- On a bipartisan basis, we asked if the CIA needed more support from Congress to carry out its mission against al-Qaeda.

I do not recall a single objection from my colleagues. They did not vote to stop authorizing CIA funding. And for those who now reveal filed "memorandums for the record" suggesting concern, real concern should have been expressed immediately -- to the committee chairs, the briefers, the House speaker or minority leader, the CIA director or the president's national security adviser -- and not quietly filed away in case the day came when the political winds shifted. And shifted they have.

Chief of the CIA's Osama bin Laden unit from 1996 to 1999, Michael Scheuer, on the release of the CIA interrogation memos:

Americans should keep this worst-case scenario [a potential nuclear attack on the US] in mind as they watch the tragicomic spectacle taking place in the wake of the publication of the Justice Department's interrogation memos. It will help them recognize this episode of political theater as another major step in the bipartisan dismantling of America's defenses based on the requirements of presidential ideology. George W. Bush's democracy-spreading philosophy yielded the invasion of Iraq and set the United States at war with much of the Muslim world. Bush's worldview thereby produced an enemy that quickly outpaced the limited but proven threat-containing capacities of the major U.S. counterterrorism programs -- rendition, interrogation and unmanned aerial vehicle attacks.

Now, in a single week, President Obama has eliminated two-thirds of that successful-but-not-sufficient national defense troika because his personal ideology -- a fair gist of which is "If the world likes us more we are more secure" -- cannot tolerate harsh interrogation techniques, torture or coercive interviews, call them what you will. Surprisingly, Obama now stands alongside Bush as a genuine American Jacobin, both of them seeing the world as they want it to be, not as it is. Whereas Bush saw a world of Muslims yearning to betray their God for Western secularism, Obama gazes upon a globe that he regards as largely carnivore-free and believes that remaining threats can be defused by semantic warfare; just stop saying "War on Terror" and give talks in Turkey and on al-Arabiyah television, for example.

David Broder:

The memos on torture represented a deliberate, and internally well-debated, policy decision, made in the proper places -- the White House, the intelligence agencies and the Justice Department -- by the proper officials.

One administration later, a different group of individuals occupying the same offices has -- thankfully -- made the opposite decision. Do they now go back and investigate or indict their predecessors?

That way, inevitably, lies endless political warfare. It would set the precedent for turning all future policy disagreements into political or criminal vendettas. That way lies untold bitterness -- and injustice.

More from Tom Elia at The New Editor

Does it bother anybody else that President Obama released redacted portions of the torture memos (the redacted bits were those that proved that torture saved lives in at least some cases), but his college transcripts remain more classified and top secret than those memos?

Fire

I took a bunch of pictures of the fire that HM and Strider built up a few nights ago. Haven't had much experience taking pictures of fire, but I was pleased with how some of them turned out.

A Favorite Picture from the Creek

My shoes (borrowed by the HG), and an adorable toddler.

The 'S' Word for Homeschoolers

The socialization question (known as the 's' word by many
homeschoolers is an interesting one. I have some questions you may
want to consider.
First, think about what you mean by socialization. What does that
word mean to you? What is socialization? What is the purpose of it,
the goal? What would be the best way to reach that goal? Who should
be responsible for it? Is it an acceptable purpose for a government
institution to socialize our children?

Suppose you want your child to learn French. What would be the best
way for her to do that? Would it be for her to send hours every day
with other children who do not know French? Or would it be to spend
time under the tutoring of somebody who does know French? If you
want a child to learn social skills, are those skills best learned
from spending time in the company of other children who do not have
social skills?

What is the social environment of a public school? Does it reflect
reality? DOes it not limit children to spending large amounts of
time isolated with their age-mates, limited to contact with people
their own age and often from a limited geographical area (their
school district)?
Are _your_ friends limited to people who were born the same year as
you and live within one school district? Do you desire for your
child to learn to socialize with people only her own age and within
her district, or would you like her to develop skills which enable
her to interact in a confidant, mature manner with people both older
and younger than she is, with people from many areas and walks of
life?

Are your healthiest friendships based on mutual interests and
personality compatibility, or on shared year of birth and district of
residence? Is the purpose of a public school education or
socialization? Why do we assume that public schools are the best
place or even an adequate place to learn social skills? Are social
problems dealt with in the public school in a way that reflects the
real world? Do the problems that arise reflect in any way the adult
world in which you live and work? What evidence is there that
schools do a good job of 'socialization?'

Hallelujah, I'm a Bum

The HM requested that we post this folk song to the blog. He had never heard it before today, when apparently Michael Medved played it on his radio program. I used to sing it as a child, although I was unaware of its rich history. I just thought I was being deliciously subversive.



McClintock wrote Big Rock Candy Mountain:

Oh the buzzin' of the bees
And the cigarette trees
The soda water fountain
Where the lemonade springs
And the bluebird sings
In that big rock candy mountain

On a summers day
In the month of May
A burly bum come hikin'
Down a shady lane
Near the sugar cane
He was looking for his likin'
As he strolled along
He sung a song
Of a land of milk and honey
Where a bum can stay
For many a day
And he won't need any money

Oh the buzzin' of the bees
And the cigarette trees
The soda water fountain
Where the lemonade springs
And the bluebird sings
In that big rock candy mountain

In the Big Rock Candy Mountain
The cops have wooden legs
The bulldogs all have rubber teeth
And the hens lay soft-boiled eggs
The farmer's trees are full of fruit
The barns are full of hay
I want to go where there ain't no snow
Where the sleet don't fall
And the wind don't blow
In that big rock candy mountain

Oh the buzzin' of the bees
And the cigarette trees
The soda water fountain
Where the lemonade springs
And the bluebird sings
In that big rock candy mountain

Oh the buzzin' of the bees
At the cigarette trees
The soda water fountain
Where the lemonade springs
And the bluebird sings
In that big rock candy mountain

Here's Burl Ives singing it:

The Muskrat Diaries

The list of things that The Equuschick finds more interesting than housework is a long and imaginative one, but the Law of Entropy catches up with us all and laundry doesn't wash itself and this morning there was a great deal of what The Equuschick calls "Week-end Wreckage" to be put back together.

And she was really resolved to do it all, too. And efficiently. She was! But then she went outside to check her clothes on the line and decided that the creek was much more interesting than the laundry.


She stood on the bridge for a few moments contemplating the scenery and was distracted by a Swimming Critter.

All critters are cool and much more interesting to The Equuschick than just about everything else, and Swimming Critters are in a special class all their own by virtue of sheer Mysteriousness.

Was it a Beaver? A Muskrat? Ooh, boy! The Equuschick abandoned all pretense of mature adulthood and spent the next half-hour or so watching Muskrats with a sense of euphoria and pride that rivaled the experience of eating chocolate.

Sometimes she still wants an ocean, but than other times it occurs to her that when you go to the coast you have to share it, unless you are fabulously wealthy. The Equuschick is not fabulously wealthy, but she does have a creek in her backyard that she doesn't have to share.

When the Muskrat had disappeared The Equuschick was not yet ready to return to the laundry so she began a Muskrat Diary.

She will now share with you her journalistic scribblings in order that you may properly understand the similarities The Equuschick's mind shares with that of a six year old boy who hunts for bugs.

April 27'th '09- Approx. 10:30-11:00 am
Subject seen from bridge, swimming south. Observed turning into a small shore. I began to approach the shore but snapped too many twigs. Subject was warned of my arrival and was off-shore when I arrived. Still, remained close enough to observe subject was definitely a Muskrat. Long and very thin black tail, body size much smaller than a Beaver. Approx. size of larger terrier dog. Observed small head and whiskers, black and beady eyes turned alertly and faced me. Subject darted away and disappeared into the creekbank, reminiscent of Harry Potter turning into Platform Nine and 3/4.

Studied shore of harbor now known as Muskrat Harbor and noted two empty clam shells and several tracks.

Subject emerged again shortly thereafter a few feet further up from where it had disappeared. Saw me again and dived underwater. Did not resurface.

Notes-
*Other Wildlife- 1 Frog
*Subject Christened Gladwin

The Equuschick now has grand plans to name the little house Muskrat Shores and to check on Gladwin and family every day to see how they're doing.

Independence

My son's legal name is not the name he goes by. We call him by his middle name. His first name is the same as his daddy's, but his daddy doesn't go by his full name, either- he goes by a diminutive form of it. He was named after his daddy, who also doesn't go by his name, or any form of it. He is called by a nickname he picked up as a baby. The HM's father is named after his father, who also went by his middle name instead of the actual given name they all share. And he was named after his father, who, you may have guessed, also did not go by his given name, but his middle name. And so it goes.

In fact, I have never particularly cared for this first name, and my husband had agreed we didn't have to use it. What happened? Some meddlesome soul on my husband's side of the family did some genealogical research and discovered that my husband was the sixth generation to have this first name, and probably the only reason he was not the seventh is because she was only able to trace that line six generations back. None of them, oddly enough, ever seem to have been called by that first name (and it's not that it's all that strange of a name, it's fairly common). Well, I am a proper daughter of my packrattery family, and I can't fight that kind of history, so that was what we named him. His middle name, however, the name we call him, is my great-grand-father's name, and I have never known anybody younger than my great-grandfather with that name (until we gave it to our son, and then it blossomed into fashion and became a unisex name, but that's another story).

So- got all that? He's a seventh generation member of his family to possess his first name, which we never use, and his middle name, the one we do use, is his great-great-grandfather's.

What I didn't know is that using a middle name makes doctor visits and other bureaucratic interactions problematic. They can't seem to just make a note that the boy goes by '_________' and follow it. It's always his first name, the full form (which not even his daddy uses).

And the Boy? He's had a LOT of doctor visits this last couple months, including a full upper GI test (everything looks good, thank-you, but he never wants another barium shake again), so he's been hearing his first name a lot more in the last couple of months than he has heard it his entire life combined before now.

Aside: In fact, as a small boy, he didn't even know that other name was his. He honestly thought his middle name was Roo, and he liked it. But that's another story.

So, at one recent doctor visit after they called his first name twice before I realized they meant us, I turned to him and said, "I'm sorry. I bet it's hard getting used to answering to that name, isn't it, since you aren't used to it."

As he gathered up his things to go back to the doctor's office he nonchalantly replied, "Oh, no, it's not hard to get used to. I like it better. In fact, for about a year now when I meet new people and they ask me my name, that's the name I tell them. Most of my friends at church call me that."

Blink. So where have I been? His friends at church are basically two or three boys that talk Legos and chase each other around the parking lot, and one little girl who proposed to him the first time he met her so he avoids her as much as possible, and I guess most of the time I'm watching them, they're not needing to call each other's names.


I asked him why he liked his first name better, and he explained that he intends to be a squadron commander, and with the rank he expects to attain, his first name sounds better than his middle name.

I processed this strange new idea as he got weighed and measured and had his temperature checked, and then while we waited in the next waiting room for the doctor, I asked him tentatively, "So.... do you want me to start calling you by your first name, too?." I could, if he wanted, but it would get hard to get used to.

"Oh, no," he assured me with all the patronizing and tender kindness a ten year old boy is capable of (which is a prodigious amount, frankly). "You can keep calling me by my middle name, because, after all, you've been doing that all my life."

I think he was tactfully trying to tell me he understands you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

High School Grad Rates

In a just-released survey, the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center reports that less than 20 of the nation's largest 50 school districts had high school graduation rates above 60% in 2005(graphs 4.2 & 4.4).

The survey shows that the average high school graduation rate for the largest 50 districts was below 60%. Think about that.

This is nothing short of a national disgrace.

From Tom Elia at The New Editor, where you'll find the link for the PDF file of the survey.

KFC Free Grilled Chicken Offer

Today only, one per person, free piece of grilled chicken. We're off to pick up ours, and then we're taking the long way home to take a look at the scenery along the way.

*KFC, for those who do not know, is Kentucky Fried Chicken

65 Billion a Day

And that's a conservative estimate of the President's spending his first 100 days in office:

Since his inauguration on January 20, 2009, President Obama has proposed new spending programs that will add over the next 10 years $6.5-trillion (all figures U.S.) to the American national debt. That’s $6.5-trillion over and above the debt that would have been incurred had the existing policies been left alone. (Not that those existing policies were so great either.)

That’s $65-billion in new debt every single day of the first 100

He has a dream:

Barack Obama is engaged in a grand redirection of the U.S. economy. He hopes to transform it into an economy that is more centrally directed and controlled. He hopes to redistribute more wealth away from those who create it. Don’t take my word for it. Here is a recent estimate by one of President Obama’s most eminent supporters, John Judis, co-author of the 2002 book The Emerging Democratic Majority, which predicted and to some extent inspired Obama’s campaign strategy in 2008: “The Obama budgets will shift even more dramatically the balance of economic power away from the private and toward the public sector. The American relationship of state to economy will begin to look more like that of France and Sweden, whose non-crisis budgets total over 45% of GDP.”

As Judis observes, the Obama administration is not content merely to spend more. It wishes to dictate more too:
“[Obama’s] proposals seek to change not merely the pace of production, investment, and consumption, but what is produced and consumed … They are an effort at national planning. And it doesn’t matter, incidentally, whether the administration tries to get its way through manipulating the market or through outright control of investment; what matters is that it is using its governmental power to change the American economy in basic ways.”

Further Intros

Stryder's little sister, who is a tiny little bit of a person with a giant heart and high spirits, and our Pip, who is a deceptively quiet person with high spirits. The two girls are best buds, hanging out after a huge volleyball game.



Stryder himself, and the D-man dog, who still isn't sure if he's supposed to welcome Stryder or bar him from the house. Picture taken from last December. I know most of our bloggy friends are straining their eyes trying to figure out the books- those are hymnals on the table.=)

CPSIA Advocates as Scrooges

I can imagine them having this edited conversation (based on Dicken's Christmas Carol):

'The CPSIA is one of the most flawed laws ever written,' said the people who live in the real world, speaking to Congress and the special interest groups who stand between Congress and the people Congress allegedly represents, 'it is more than usually desirable that we should fix this law or else many craftsmen, used booksellers, libraries, shall join the ranks of the Poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time and will suffer more as this law continues to destroy livelihoods as well as thrift shops where the poor stretch their buying power . Many thousands shall soon be in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sirs.'

'Are there no prisons to send these wicked craftspeople, booksellers, and consignment store owners who seek to poison child?' asked Scrooge. Pirg's reps.

'Plenty of prisons,' said the craftspeople, nervously laying down the pen again.

'And the Union workhouses Welfare programs.' demanded Scrooge Congress. 'Are they still in operation?'

'They are. Still,' returned the craftspeople,' We prefer to support ourselves.'

'Foodstamps and other Government programs to encourage dependency are in full vigour, then?' said Scrooge Public Citizen and Congress.

'Both very busy, sir.'

'Oh. I was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course,' said Scrooge the lawmakers. 'I'm very glad to hear it.'

... I help to support the establishments I have mentioned-they cost enough; and those who are badly off must go there.'

'Many can't go there; and many would rather die.'

'If they would rather die,' said Scrooge those responsible for the CPSIA, 'they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.'

Sunday Hymn Post

What shall I render to my God
For all His mercy’s store?
I’ll take the gifts He hath bestowed,
And humbly ask for more.

The sacred cup of saving grace
I will with thanks receive,
And all His promises embrace,
And to His glory live.

My vows I will to His great Name
Before His people pay,
And all I have, and all I am,
Upon His altar lay.

Thy lawful servant, Lord, I owe
To Thee whate’er is mine,
Born in Thy family below,
And by redemption thine.

Thy hands created me, Thy hands
From sin have set me free,
The mercy that hath loosed my bands
Hath bound me fast to Thee.

The God of all redeeming grace
My God I will proclaim,
Offer the sacrifice of praise,
And call upon His Name.

Praise Him, ye saints, the God of love,
Who hath my sins forgiven,
Till, gathered to the church above,
We sing the songs of Heaven.

Cyberhymnal

Acapella congregational singing

Marriage

Granny Tea got married at 21 and always told us that was too young, we should wait. My youngest brother is 40, and he's still waiting. I don't think that's what she meant. My middle brother and I paid no attention to that advice and got married at 20. Neither of us regret that, nor do our spouses (we both married people roughly our same age).

A friend of mine shared this link with all her friends. It's an interesting article on why marrying 'young' is not a recipe for disaster after all:

First, what is considered "early marriage" by social scientists is commonly misunderstood by the public. The best evaluations of early marriage -- conducted by researchers at the University of Texas and Penn State University -- note that the age-divorce link is most prominent among teenagers (those who marry before age 20). Marriages that begin at age 20, 21 or 22 are not nearly so likely to end in divorce as many presume.

Second, good social science pays attention to gender differences. Most young women are mature enough to handle marriage. According to data from the government's National Survey of Family Growth, women who marry at 18 have a better shot at making a marriage work than men who marry at 21. There is wisdom in having an age gap between spouses. For women, age is (unfortunately) a debit, decreasing fertility. For men, age can be a credit, increasing their access to resources and improving their maturity, thus making them more attractive to women. We may all dislike this scenario, but we can't will it away.

Third, the age at which a person marries never actually causes a divorce. Rather, a young age at marriage can be an indicator of an underlying immaturity and impatience with marital challenges -- the kind that many of us eventually figure out how to avoid or to solve without parting. Unfortunately, well-educated people resist this, convinced that there actually is a recipe for guaranteed marital success that goes something like this: Add a postgraduate education to a college degree, toss in a visible amount of career success and a healthy helping of wealth, let simmer in a pan of sexual variety for several years, allow to cool and settle, then serve. Presto: a marriage with math on its side.

Too bad real life isn't like that. Marriage actually works best as a formative institution, not an institution you enter once you think you're fully formed. We learn marriage, just as we learn language, and to the teachable, some lessons just come easier earlier in life. "Cursed be the social wants that sin against the strength of youth," added Tennyson to his lines about springtime and love.

His advice reminds me of that in the book Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas- which can really be summed up by pointing out that marriage isn't about making you happy, or shouldn't be. It's not even about making the other person happy, although that is a better focus. It's about making you holy. Sanctification. Happiness is a wonderful byproduct of that. It's a terrible goal.

Coining His Own Phrases

It is common around the Common Room to respond to a wistful and unrealistic wish (I wish we were independently wealthy so Daddy never had to go to work again) with the Nursery Rhyme quote "If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride."

It's nearly as common to go on to the next, less well known verse, "And if ifs and ands were pots and pans, there'd be no work for tinkers."

Last week the Boy added his own very personal version:

"If wishes were wasps
We'd all be dead."

Science and Melting Caps

According to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, the earth's temperature is rising so fast that a “very, very scary” scenario will unfold. Island nations, especially those in the Caribbean, may disappear. Portions of Louisiana and Florida will go underwater, reducing the size of those states. New Orleans will be flooded. Said the Secretary, “I think the Caribbean countries face rising oceans and they face increase in the severity of hurricanes. This is something that is very, very scary to all of us. The island states in the world represent—I remember this number—one-half of 1 percent of the carbon emissions in the world. And they will—some of them will disappear.”

Fortunately for the American people, the fragile economy, and beachgoers everywhere, Mr. Chu's alarming prediction is based upon a faulty hypothesis: Melting ice caps would cause sea levels to rise. They would not. This is scientifically falsifiable claim. It is, in fact, provably false.

As a matter of fact, ice displaces more water than does its liquid counterpart. According to Chemistry.About.com, “Ice floats because it is about 9% less dense than liquid water. In other words, ice takes up about 9% more space than water…” Therefore, ice—which expands when it freezes—takes up less space when it melts, and could not result in sea levels rising.

One could even prove it. If Mr. Chu's hypothesis is correct, then one should be able to fill up a glass of water, add some ice, place it in the sun, and then watch as the glass overflows. But it does not. In fact, the volume decreases. Therefore, Mr. Chu's claim is falsified by a simple experiment. He would not even pass a 7th grade earth science exam.

More here.

Shady Grove on the Dulcimer

Jean Ritchie sings Shady Grove while playing the dulcimer



Tim O'Brien and the Chieftains sing it here.

Just So You Know...

Handiapped accessible door handles are maybe not the greatest idea if you have a clever and large dog about the place.

Zeus had mastered the inside doors sometime ago (they push open), so we had learned to lock them when going out for a few hours and leaving him behind.

Friday he mastered opening the outside doors from the inside, which means pulling them towards him- he was caught outside a couple of times, and we were blaming one another for not shutting the front door properly when we realized none of us had used it.

The Road to Hell is Paved with Non-Intentions

There is a serious disconnect between the stated intention of the laws Congress is passing, and the actual results and wording of those laws. We have seen this repeatedly with the CPSIA, and Congress continues to believe it can fob us off by dismissing our concerns with meaningless assurances about their intentions. As Tristan points out to one of her reps:

the INTENT of those who voted for a FAILURE of a law means nothing to me, my business or my children's future.

We need Congress to match their intentions with the laws they actually pass. And either they are lying to us about what their intentions are and were, or they simply do not know how to do that successfully.

It's not just the CPSIA.

Congress is broken. Everyone knows it — Congress enjoys barely half the approval rating of President Barack Obama. The sinister influence of campaign contributions is part of the problem — the failure to regulate Wall Street derivatives can be traced to huge contributions by financial service firms such as American International Group and Fannie Mae.

But Congress lacks even the idea of making sense of the laws it has passed. It keeps piling on new obligations without revising the old ones. Congress might as well be a huge concrete block, crushing society with laws that accumulated over decades.

Another unintended consequence: St Vincent De Paul's thrift shop in Wisconsin no longer carrying children's toys:

But Congress intended this result, right? Well, we just looked through the Congressional debate in 2008 on the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, and found not a single reference to thrift stores removing children’s toys or clothing from the shelves. The conference report does mention increasing the CPSC’s budget for outreach to inform thrift stores about recalled toys, but that’s a different issue. And that’s the only mention of “thrift” in the context of the CPSIA..

I keep thinking of this post and the story behind it- the decision we made, fifteen years ago, to adopt two new children when we already had three. People thought we were nuts. How on earth could we afford that? People already wondered how we managed with three. Through a series of rapidly changing events,

... we went to bed with three children and the next morning suddenly gained two more children who came to us with nothing but the clothes on their backs and some immediate and distressing but treatable medical problems, and some longterm and severe medical problems- again, just two weeks before Christmas. We had no clothes for them, no beds, no presents; nothing was in readiness for them, except our hearts (and even those needed some sprucing up).
(if you are interested in the longer version of our adoption story, see here)

They came on a Friday. We went shopping on a Saturday. Where did we go shopping? Thrift shops, of course. We had an immediate and urgent need for clothing, toys, and bedding for two new children, and we lived on an enlisted man's salary. It was only two weeks before Christmas. The thrift shop enabled us to fill the gap between our income and our needs.

We dressed our five girls from thrift shops, consignment stores, and yard sales over the next several years.

We managed by eating a lot of nutritious but lackluster peasant food- beans and rice, mostly, and by making extensive use of thrift shops for all our clothing and most of our other household needs. We never bought anything but socks and underwear brand new. That window is rapidly shrinking for young families today.

Unintended or not, the consequences are real, and Congress isn't the one suffering. PIRG and Public Citizen are going to benefit from them. They are the Grinches and Scrooges who argue that it doesn't matter if thrift shops get rid of books and toys, and if small businesses fold, and entrepreneurial craftspeople have to close their doors and quit earning money to support their families.



And ordinary, every day citizens trying to care for their own families are the ones paying those consequences.

The Magic of a Campfire

Last night the two little boys, children of a single mom, came to stay the weekend with us. They could not go to sleep, or wouldn't. Several of us (and some friends) were sitting outside around the firepit, so we took the boys out with us.

The 2 year old fell asleep almost immediately, after looking around wide-eyed and commenting, "Tree! 'Nudder Tree! And 'tars!!"

The five year old sat in my lap for hours, refusing to go to sleep, refusing to get comfortable so he could go to sleep.
We sang song after song, and he seemed tired, but as soon as I would try to put his head down, he would sit up straight,staring at the fire.
He wanted to know who made the fire, how they made it, what the things were that were burning (logs) and what the shiny things flying off were (sparks).

"Is this your first time seeing a campfire?" I asked.

It was.

My husband helped me turn my chair sideways to the fire, so the little fellow could put his head down comfortably on my shoulder without having to look away from the fire.

He was asleep in five minutes.

Today's Dose of Shady Grove

What's the point of all these versions of the same folk song? Besides the fact that I just like it and am having fun, I think listening to the various bands and singers putting their own stamp on the same song might make us feel comfortable with singing out own version at home. It shows us just how versatile folk songs are- you don't have to sing it just one way.


So far, I still like Doc Watson's version best, but the others are fun, too. Here's one by the Mudcrutches- and thanks to Karen in South Carolina for suggesting it (she left a comment here)



It's a reunion piece from Tom Petty's first band, Mudcrutch.

What is Fascism?

Fascism isn't a libertarian doctrine! It just isn't, never will be and it can't be cast as one. Anarchism, secessionism, extreme localism or rampant individualism may be bad, evil, wrong, stupid, selfish and all sorts of other things (though not by my lights). But they have nothing to do with a totalitarian vision of the state where individuals and institutions alike must march in step and take orders from the government.

If you think shrinking government and getting it less involved in your life is a hallmark of tyranny it is only because you are either grotesquely ignorant or because you subscribe to a statist ideology that believes the expansion of the state is the expansion of liberty.

Jonah Goldberg has more.

The CPSIA is a product of those with fascist tendencies, and it is defended by the same. Only people who believe that individuals and institutions of all shapes and sizes must march in step and take orders from the government follow the one size fits all regulatory vision that produced the CPSIA and thousands of rules and regulations like it.

Sharpie Marker Decorating

I really like this. I would love something like this, bookcases on one wall, a window with a view out into the woods and homes of Lothlorien on the other, drawn on the walls on either side of our staircase.

We Have a Self Esteem Problem

Generation Me:

Growing up, my literary heroines were those who, like me, struggled to be good: Jo from "Little Women," Harriet the spy, Laura Ingalls and Pippi Longstocking. A strong-willed (and loud) child, I craved examples of unruly knuckleheads tethered to a loving family that encouraged us to be our best selves despite our natural inclinations. Precocious but naive, I thought of myself as an ugly duckling—misunderstood in my youth but destined for a beauty and stature completely impossible for my loved ones to comprehend. I shudder to think what a monster I would have become in the modern child-rearing era. Gorged on a diet of grade inflation, constant praise and materialistic entitlement, I probably would have succumbed to a life of heedless self- indulgence.

But we have reared the modern generation to think more highly of themselves than they ought. We've allowed the pernicious self-esteem movement to infiltrate even our Sunday Schools, where we teach children the false doctrine that when Jesus said to love others as themselves He was actually issuing a commandment that we love ourselves first.
Jean Twenge and W. Keith Campbell have written a book about this self-centered me generation, who have a puffed up sense of their own importance without an underlying reality to support it. The book is "The Narcissism Epidemic," and Twenge speaks to colleges where she finds:

When they're faced with the straight-out question—do you agree with this research, that you guys are the most narcissistic generation ever—there are uniform head nods and knowing grins to each other. "At the end of the day I love me and I don't think that's wrong," says Sharise Tucker, a 21-year-old senior at Southern Connecticut State, a self-professed narcissist. "I don't think it's a problem, having most people love themselves. I love me."
Quantcast

But as Twenge goes on to illustrate, all that narcissism is a problem that can range from the discourteous—residential advisers at Southern lament students disregarding curfews, playing dance music until 3 a.m., demanding new room assignments at a moment's notice and failing to understand why professors won't let them make up an exam they were too hung over to take—to the disastrous—failed marriages, abusive working environments and billion-dollar Ponzi schemes. Seems that the flip side of all that confidence isn't prodigious success but antisocial behavior.

There is a cure for this self-centered, overweening pride of self- and it sounds strangely familiar. Twenge recommends:

...humility, evaluating yourself more accurately, mindfulness and putting others first...

Irresponsible Reporting at Seattle's KIRO News

Toxic Levels of Lead Found In Children's Books, screams reporter Chris Halsne in this story.

What he never discusses is how this lead magically would transfer from the book to a child's blood stream, which is where the danger point actually exists.

KIRO Team 7 Investigators grabbed an armful of used books from the children's section of Seattle's main library.Using a simple test with an easy to read result, we tested 18 books ourselves. Two samples turned pink, which means something on the book contains exposed lead.Knowing the over-the-counter indicators aren't always accurate, we paid a certified lab to do a detailed chemical analysis.Scientists confirmed our suspicion.While pointing to our results, Friedman and Bruya testing specialist Brad Benson told us, “That's about two and a half times our detection limit, so would definitely consider that a verifiable hit of lead on that sample.”Seattle parent Becky Anderson routinely takes her toddler Annie to the library to find fun reading material. She was a bit taken back by the notion that books, she was checking out for her daughter, might contain toxic lead levels.“I wasn't aware of that. That is really concerning to me. We've gone to lengths to have our house examined for lead and concerned about the toy recalls. I hadn't heard about the books. That is alarming. They need to look into it.”According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), starting this year, children's products are considered hazardous with lead levels exceeding 300 parts per million -- but even that's considered unsafe.A new federal law says toys and children’s books with lead over 100 parts per million can't be sold or distributed two years from now.The books we tested show respective lead levels at 546 and 456 parts per million -- over the allowable safe limits.Numerous parents we spoke with outside Seattle’s libraries wanted to weigh in on this controversy.

He quotes Dr. Bruce Lanphear, a former member of the United States EPA lead advisory panel, who is concerned because he claims toddlers are 'constantly' sucking on those books:

“Toddlers are constantly sucking on these things at the same time they are reading or having it read to them. For those kinds of books, I worry quite a bit. We need to make sure that some good regulations are in place to protect that age kid from books.”

Um, really? Where was the lead? On the corners, or in the illustrations? When toddlers chew or suck on books, do they typically suck through the center of the book, like the Very Hungry Caterpillar, or do they chew on the corners? Has he or the investigative reporter done any investigative research examining just how much time toddlers spend sucking books into a lead-filled slurry and how many times this has resulted in elevated lead levels (o)? And does anybody in this story stop to consider why an imaginary toddler sucking on a book is proof that books intended for 12 year olds should be banned because they might have some lead in the substrate?

Halsne says the two books they tested were Poems of Childhood and Japanese Children’s Stories. He doesn't give author's names or publishers, but does say both were published before 1983. Neither title sounds like a toddler's book, so it's a bit disingenous to use test results for two books for older children and then talk about how the 'fact' that toddlers suck on these books 'all the time' is the other half of an equation 'proving' Congress needs to act. Furthermore, it's extremely unlikely that either of these books are intended for toddlers, given the fact that they were both published before 1983. Toddler books in libraries just don't last that long.
This is a bit of slight of hand designed to frighten the public without informing them.

Here are some facts Lanphear and Halsne should be aware of:

E. Book ink poses virtually no threat under normal use and abuse by a child

i. Book ink soaks into paper, does not rub off on hands

ii. Research on absorption of lead from ink – saliva can’t leach

iii. Bibliophagia (eating books) rare at any age.

1. Normal for babies and toddlers to mouth board books (usually just edges), but studies show putting books in mouth becomes unusual past 18-24 months. Law covers books for kids up to age 12, 10 years past age when mouthing occurs.

2. Actually eating the book is exceedingly rare – usually sign of pica, a medical condition in which people compulsively eat non-nutritive substances (and thus not under the umbrella of “normal use and abuse.”(and only found 2 cases in which young children were said to have eaten a book, along with other substances that posed much greater risk of lead poisoning or other health problems – both kids were later diagnosed with pica and treated for underlying medical conditions.)

F. Emerging evidence that exposure to books may help to both prevent and treat harmful effects of lead toxicity.

Lead is not magic. It doesn't just fly through the air from the printed page to a child's blood stream. There are:

No known cases EVER of lead poisoning from books (of 44 rare sources of lead poisoning in children cataloged by CDC, none is from a book – only print-related case was an infant who had elevated levels after parents burned logs made from old newspapers – people don’t burn children’s book logs.) No mention ever, anywhere of lead in books even contributing to elevated lead levels.

Saying that lead is bad is not good evidence that this law is a good law, because toys, books, and clothing are not the primary source of elevated blood lead levels in children, nor is this argument honest, as we know that children under 3 absorb lead much more readily than older children. There is no reason to believe that lead in a book of Japanese children's stories poses any threat to a ten year old, yet this law covers ALL books for ALL children from ages 12 and down.


And of course, the New England Journal of Medicine articles, notwithstanding, the verdict on lead levels is not nearly so conclusive as the above emotional laden argument makes it seem:

Based on his review of the body of literature and his own research, Bellinger hypothesizes that an enriched environment can prevent or ameliorate the effects of lead exposure, which is especially significant in light of the absence of an effective medical treatment. In the journal Pediatrics, Bellinger noted (emphasis added is mine):

Finally, characteristics of a child’s rearing environment might influence the
toxicity of a given lead dose.47 Lead seems to be similar to other biological risks, such as low birth weight, in that children from environments that offer fewer developmental resources and supports express deficits at a lower blood lead level than do children from more optimal environments45,48
and show less recovery after exposure.43

There is not a case on record where lead from a child's book entered the blood stream.

What evidence that does exist suggests that touching, holding, reading, even licking the book will not result in a chlid absorbing the lead, because saliva turns out not to be a very effective way of separating lead out of a printed page.

Actually EATING the entire book *might*- if a child chanced to eat a book that had more lead in it than most other pre-1985 books, but I suspect most children would be complaining of a belly ache for other reasons before they finished chomping down an entire book.

I don't know any children over 2 who lick, suck, or chew on their books, yet this draconian law forbids the sale of all pre-1985 books for the use of children as old as 12- with zero evidence it's even possible for that book to harm a ten year old risk assessment is completely forbidden by the CPSIA as it stands. And it appears Halsne feels fully justified in having these books removed from libraries as well.

Remember when people were insisting this was ridiculous, nobody wanted to get rid of library books?

Thanks to LAnon for pointing out the article (in the comments to this post), even if it has given me heartburn and pushed back my breakfast making some two hours.=)

Breakfast Sandwiches for the Freezer

I made nearly two dozen of these yesterday, using one dozen eggs. We also bought some blocks of sliced American and Pepper Jack cheese for around 2.00 a pound recently, and our English Muffins were .50 a package at the day old bread store (this was a deal, usually they are .99 a package).

For three or four sandwiches:

Toast and butter English muffins

Combine two large eggs with about a tablespoon of mayonnaise, whisk well.

Gently pour mixture onto an oiled and heated skillet in about three dollops, or four if you want them thinner. I used egg rings to keep the mixture in a nice, circular shape to fit the English muffins. You can use greased canning rings, but they don't work as nicely as the egg rings (which also come in different shapes, including square ones to make egg sandwiches on regular bread, silicon versions instead of metal, and the molds can be used for pancakes as well). After the egg mixture looks fairly set around the edges, I used a butter knife to gently loosen it from the ring mold, and then flipped it to cook

I used a batter dispenser for some of them, and it did work, but it turned out just pouring from the glass measuring cup I used to mix the eggs worked just as well.

Put one of the cooked egg circles on a buttered English muffin, top with a slice of cheese, and, if you have it, either some lunch meat, turkey ham, or bacon (I didn't have enough turkey ham slices to make many, so I chopped up two or three slices and mixed them with some egg mixture to spread the meat). Top with other English Muffin half.

Wrap in a paper towel. This step seems to be important. Put the wrapped sandwiches in a ziplock bag and put them in the freezer (I used the bags the muffins came in, double wrapped, to freeze).

To reheat, remove a paper towel wrapped muffin from the bag and reheat in the microwave- still wrapped in the paper towel- for 1-2 minutes. You can also remove the paper towel, rewrap in foil and cook in the oven for about 20 minutes, but we've only used the microwave.

I wonder if you could reheat a big batch in the crockpot, but am not sure I see the point, which is a speedy breakfast when you need it.
Since some had meat and some didn't, and some were on whole wheat muffins and some on sourdough, and some had pepper jack cheese and some American, I used an indelible marker and labeled the papertowels in which I wrapped the sandwiches.

I am thinking of sharing a couple of these each with some of the college student friends, as finals week is coming up and a quick and easy, but protein rich breakfast, might be a nice thing for some of them to have.

This recipe is based on one I found in the Once a Month cooking cookbook Frozen Assets, which has many good, sound, practical recipes.

Last Night

Yesterday the HM and the Boy built a cool new fire pit on the west side of the house. I made a last minute marinade sauce by raiding the fridge and combining a vidalia onion/mustard salad dressing with a knock-off Catalina salad dressing and we had shish-ka-bobs made from cutting the pork chops from the home-grown hogs into bite sized pieces, organic frozen pine-apple chunks, peppers, pickled onions, mushrooms, and cherry tomatoes, and had some grilled pork ribs from the home-grown hogs as well. Granny Tea came over and shared some with us.

The children learned some good lessons, the sort that are caught rather than taught, such as when the EC made sure to set aside a plate for poor Shasta, who was still at work, and went and got it for him when he got back, such as when the gentlemen sent the ladies through the line first (and we had a 'taught' lesson when I sent our youngest lady back to the end of the girl line for jumping to be first and shouting "LADIES first, so there!" In Zookeeper mode, I pointed out this was obviously diqualifying behavior for being at the front of the line), and when Stryder quietly noticed that the HG had no backrest and silently shifted over a large stump to serve the purpose, and when the HM offered to trade chairs with the DHM because he thought his was more comfortable. We see small and encouraging signs that these small lessons are being noticed- when Granny Tea came strolling through the path between our two houses, carrying a lawn chair, The Boy was already on his way to go take it from her and carry it the rest of the way when the EC pointed it out, and he offered to roast her marshmallows for her as well.

Later we roasted s'mores and a couple roasted apples over the fire that Stryder built up in the fire pit- he's the dark brooding figure in the background:


Except he's not been doing much brooding.=) He's a pretty happy camper.

Speaking of happy campers- the HM thoroughly enjoyed kicking back and watching Stryder playing in the fire, er, building the fire up, gathering extra wood for it, and digging out a better drainage trench for it. Earlier yesterday Shasta came over and helped the Boy get a start on a treehouse. And then last night the HM and the Boy camped out in a pretty decent little three man tent I picked up at a thrift shop for four dollars.

The HM is enjoying this stage of life very much.

Before the HM and the Boy turned in for the night, Shasta got home from work and brought his guitar out and he, the EC, and I sang a few songs.

I'm enjoying this stage as well.

Toddler Tattling

Memory Lane back when the FYG was around 2 I wrote:

Lost, Stolen, or Strayed


Lost: Portable phone
Found: In freezer

Stolen: one package of starbursts
Found: empty wrapper next to small pair of dirty footprints in bath tub behind
shower curtain.

Strayed: Entire contents of my pantry shelves (boxed and canned goods to feed a
family of nine for over a week)
Found: Entire contents of pantry utilized to form abstract sculpture on
kitchen floor.

Broken: One towel rack
Why? It could not withstand the weight of a thirty pound gymnast, a defect shared also by my quilt rack and the wooden clothes rack.

Furthermore, approximately 412 books have migrated from their assigned
shelves to my bed, and I didn't do it.
Moreover, the lovely sound of rain I thought I heard this afternoon was instead the
distinctly unlovely sound of the toilet rejecting an entire box of tissues.
In addition, I found my sweatshirt wrapped around a half eaten apple long past its prime in the back of the wardrobe, our 13 y.o.'s schedule has some illegible additions made with green crayon, and a missing dishtowel and hotpad were found in the oven (fortunately before we turned it on for lunch).

The Toddler left her fingerprints everywhere today, perhaps because she found an inkpad left out from rubber stamping. Those fingerprints were on herself, her clothes, and my leather chair. The Toddler also had to clean indelible marker off of her, her hands, her clothes, the window, the table, and the counter.

Today the 13 y.o. told the little culprit not to hit her, and the culprit glowered fiercely and said,

"I *need* to."

As near as I can tell, *nothing* that is an acceptable toy to me is an
acceptable toy to The Toddler. It sounds like she's spending lots of time alone, but she's not. She's simply fast.

Once upon a time my dh wouldn't believe me when we told him how quick she was. Then we left him alone with her. She was standing at the livingroom window wailing as we drove away, so he though it would be safe to make a quick dash to the bathroom to do the necessary. He returned seconds later to find the 2 y.o. child standing on the kitchen counter pulling out a bottle of tylenol from the highest shelf in the cupboard. We didn't even realize she knew it was there. We bought a fishing tackle box with a lock and key for the medicines.

But we can't lock up everything in the house. At this point, the best solution I have is chains and a cellar for The Toddler.

Well, no, what we're going to do is schedule one person to play with her each
half hour. That way, her sisters can do their school work unmolested and I can
assist them all as necessary and get my chores done.

Do not tell me to let her help. I've tried letting her help. She only wants to do the dangerous jobs, if it carries a risk of burning, cutting, dismembering or death, that's the job she wants. If it's safe for a toddler, that's a job beneath her.

I've tried 'filling her bucket first' i.e. making sure I do special things with her first. We start our mornings with her snuggling with me in bed while I read her a book. Then I do a puzzle with her after breakfast, and other togetherness activities follow- but it doesn't matter. As soon as I have to go do something else, she's either demanding the personal attention of whoever is the busiest, most pre-occupied person in the house, or she's wreaking havoc.

It's a good thing she's so perfectly adorable.
************************************************************************

What I do not seem to have shared on this blog is one of my favorite stories about the steady and staid HG.

She was around 30 months old. Her little sister was around 10 months old. I was severely sleep deprived, but looking at their ages, you knew that. I put her little sister to bed in a playpen and I took the HG with me to nap on my waterbed. I looked at the clock as I dropped into bed. It was 1:00 PM. I awoke abruptly to the sounds of splashing water.
She and her sister (whom she had hauled out of the playpen) were flushing books down the toilet in the bathroom between our two bedrooms.

I sighed, got up and took care of that, and then decided to get some things done. I went to make the bed and noticed the sheets were damp. It turned out that when the HM had sewn a button on his uniform that morning he'd left the needle and thread on the dresser and she'd used it to poke several holes in the bed.

I went and got the patch kit and stopped in my tracks. In the kitchen and dining room she had:
Rubbed the skins off of a bag of onions and poured cooking oil over them. on the floor.

Scrambled up to the top of the drier and the stove (turning on our gas stove in the process so it was seeping gas).

She'd scrambled up to those appliances to get down some things- glue, onions, and cooking oil.

Glue?

Yes. I went to the living room and found that she'd glued her Cabbage Patch baby doll to the rug, several newspaper and magazine pages to the couch, chair, and floor, and she had glued her daddy's flight jacket to the floor as well.

The glue was still wet.

I did the very mature and grown up thing of yelling. A lot. Through the closed door between her room, where I'd banished her for flushing books down the toilet, and the living room. It was safer to yell than to do anything else at that point.

What I haven't told you is that I looked at the clock when I was rudely awakened from my nap. It was 1:15. That means she wreaked all that havoc in just fifteen minutes.

When I finally calmed down enough to open the bedroom door and speak to her face to face, I opened the door upon a tornado struck bedroom. My two year old tornado had gone through the room pulling all the clothes out of the dresser and closet and strewing them all over the room.

As to what happened next, we shall draw a respectful veil over it all.

In retelling this story to friends earlier this week, one of them said, "Oh, the energy of youth."

"I want it back," said the HG, who is getting by on short hours and lots of adrenalin these last few weeks of school.

Stray Cats Sing Shady Grove

It's a live performance in France, and it's not well received, and Setzer responds with a rude gesture, so you might want to end it just before the 3 minute mark.

Napolitano, Canada and Mexico

Homeland Security Janet Napolitano recently claimed that we need to guard and police the borders of Canada and the US precisely the same we do the borders of Mexico and the US, because, she said, after all, the 9/11 terrorists entered through Canada. Except they didn't.

Informed of her error, Ms. Napolitano blustered: "I can't talk to that. I can talk about the future. And here's the future. The future is we have borders."

Just what does that mean, exactly?

Just a few weeks ago, Ms. Napolitano equated Canada's border to Mexico's, suggesting they deserved the same treatment. Mexico is engulfed in a drug war that left more than 5,000 dead last year, and which is spawning a spillover kidnapping epidemic in Arizona. So many Mexicans enter the United States illegally that a multi-billion-dollar barrier has been built from Texas to California to keep them out.

In Canada, on the other hand, the main problem is congestion resulting from cross-border trade.

One of these things is not like the other one. But don't expect reality to alter Napolitano's views, since they obviously weren't formed on the basis of reality to begin with.

What if the sky really is falling?

Over the weekend, the Administration informed the media of yet another condition under which they can block TARP loan repayment: National economic interest. According to the Financial Times article, “Strong banks will be allowed to repay bail-out funds they received from the U.S. government, but only if such a move passes a test to determine whether it is in the national economic interest, a senior administration official has told the Financial Times.”

Said the official, “Our general objective is going to be what is good for the system.” However, it is unclear who, exactly, gets to determine what is “good.” Or what meets up with the “economic national interest.” Though one can make a pretty good guess as to what the “system” is—and it has already been tried (and failed) in the Soviet bloc.

Indeed, a transparency watchdog group was forced to file a Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) request just to obtain the names of the Treasury officials responsible for handing out the TARP funds. According to the article, “Less than half a dozen people are responsible for making the final decisions about which banks get part of the $700 billion in bailout money available through the Troubled Asset Relief Program, according to Department of Treasury officials. In response to a Freedom of Information Act request made by the Sunlight Foundation in January for the members of the TARP Investment Committee, a FOIA officer recently responded with just four names…”

What is less clear is by what process they determine who should receive—and now, who should be allowed to pay back—TARP “loans.” Are they even following any duly enacted law passed by Congress and signed by the President? What limits, if any, are being applied to the powers wielded by the Treasury?

To make matters worse, the Obama Administration has announced that it will stretch the remaining billions of last fall's $700 billion TARP funding by converting its bank loans into stock. In short, by sleight of hand, the government will be able to convert its relationship with the banks from that of “creditor” to “part-owner.” This is a travesty. And the nation will rue the day.

More here.

Don't Forget This Train Wreck Buried in the CPSIA

From Publisher's Weekly:

In addition to testing, the CPSIA includes new labeling, tracking and certification requirements for certain products. “Tracking and labeling is really fundamental,” said Nancy Nord, acting CPSC chair, at a recent safety seminar. As with testing, however, the rules are not all in place yet.

Some of the requirements include certification of choking-hazard testing from a third party lab for products targeted at children under age three; the testing requirement has been in place for 20 years but the certification is new. (Certification will be required for third-party lead testing as well, as of next February; most publishers are creating Web sites to make that information available to their customers.)

In addition, there are new cautionary labeling requirements for small parts in products for slightly older children, ages three to six. And labeling extends to advertising and sales channels as well. Section 105 of the CPSIA dictates that safety warnings already included on certain products or packaging also must be visible at the point of purchase; in other words, if customers cannot see the packaging, as on the Internet, in a catalog, or in advertising, the warning must be printed next to the image of each applicable item.

Another big concern is tracking labels. As of August 14, 2009, play-value books will have to include tracking labels, which are permanent distinguishing marks on the product and packaging that states the manufacturer, date and place of production (possibly through a code). Not only is this costly, especially for small quantities, but it is difficult from a design standpoint. The CPSC has said that it will probably not be able to provide guidance on the details of tracking labels by the August deadline, which should add to the confusion.

Most publishers say they are complying with the labeling requirements as well as they can, despite the increased labor costs of keeping on top of all the necessary steps. Sometimes they are even going further than necessary in their quest to adhere to the law. “Vendors are overlabeling,” reports Leah King, quality assurance specialist for Chinaberry, a catalog that sells toys and books, noting that some manufacturers are providing warnings for every possible hazard, even if they don’t apply to that product or aren’t covered by the CPSIA.

Read (or re-read, we've linked to it before) Kathleen Fasanella's excellent explanation of the tracking requirements and the problems they pose, and be sure to read the comments as well, like this one:

My items are all 1 of a kind. Some are in small stores and some are sold through etsy, like many of us. My labels were current featuring an RN number that could establish my manufacture information, and that the items were made in the US of imported fabrics. I purposely didn’t say “made in the USA” because of the misrepresentation that would present that my fabrics came from the US as well. How much more specific does this have to be?

I don’t have batch numbers since my records can trace each specific item since they are all different.

How on earth will I adhere to this?? I know I am not alone. We are all suffering and confused. I can’t imagine printing production information on each label. I assumed if that was necessary in the event of a lawsuit or problem it could be traced through my rn number.

How on earth did all these issues 'slip' by Congress and their controllers at PIRG and Public Citizen? Well, for one thing, the controllers who actually stand between us and our in name only representatives flatly do not care- they like it when we're all beholden to the government for everything instead of behaving like independent, free, self-sufficient, entrepreneurial adults. For another, Congress wasn't in the least interested in hearing from anybody who didn't already support their presuppositions:

In any event, I was told that a principal reason to NOT revisit the law is that it had been "litigated" (their word for the process) so thoroughly. In other words, as a consequence of its "perfect" process (a series of public hearings, deliberations, conference negotiations, Congressional votes, Presidential signature), Congress had ergo delivered the "perfect" law. Perfect laws don't need to be revisited. Uh-huh. I had occasion for this trip down Memory Lane because I recently heard that Ms. Appleberry was trotting out this old chestnut again in recent meetings.

Please don't misunderstand me - it was a nifty process. They called the witnesses they wanted to hear from (namely those whose testimony supported the conclusion they had reached before the hearings), asked the questions whose answers were predetermined, and then conducted "due diligence" by asking a limited number of representatives of industry a limited number of questions behind closed doors. This undocumented "due diligence" was taken at face value and applied as fact to justify the "reasonableness" of the details of the new law. The data they gathered was overwhelming, completely flawed but unopposed.

I remember those days of the "perfect" process when any attempt to reach the players and to contribute to this process was rebuffed. We "evil" businessmen (in my case, a toymaker, horrors!) were not trustworthy and our opinions of the proposed legislative schemes were apparently perceived as self-interested and designed to permit "unsafe" products to be sold. We were labelled implicitly as moneygrubbers and were excluded from their "perfect" process. Naturally, this helped with message control by marginalizing anyone who might disagree with the design of the CPSIA.

The science justifying this law was never properly tested.

It's a 'perfect law' only in the sense that a perfect storm is perfect- a 'simultaneous occurrence of weather events which, taken individually, would be far less powerful than the storm resulting of their chance combination,' and it's perfectly destructive.

Budget cuts, some analogies

So the President is talking about 'aggressive' budget cuts of 100 million to his budget of 3 trillion. I don't know if he's that bad at math or he hopes you are, but I suspect it's the latter. Cafe Hayek points out:

To put this budget "cut" in perspective, suppose that the typical American family, earning $50,000 annually, plans this year to run a budget deficit proportionate to the deficit that Uncle Sam will run. Such a family would plan to spend $75,000. Now suppose that this family, seeking to signal its faux-commitment to financial prudence, promises spending cuts equal, in proportion to its budget, to the cuts announced today by Mr. Obama.

This family would declare - surely with much fanfare - that it will reduce its planned expenditures for the year by $2.08! Perhaps it might promise to survive the year with one less gallon of gasoline or with one less cup of coffee

Marketwatch says:

With cuts in federal spending by $100 million, the government will save roughly 1/36,000 of the $3.6 trillion it expects to spend next year.

Put another way, if the budget were a yardstick, the administration would be proposing to shorten it by 1/1000 of an inch. That's 25.4 microns, or about half the width of a human hair.

Here's a picture (look closely for the proposed budget cut. Think of a period on the sun).

The Bog, the Van, and the Son-in-Law

Another (slightly edited) repost from four years ago, along with an update:

Four years ago I mentioned the blog in our yard. The yard then was the yard to the little house, the one bathroom house, the house where the Equuschick and Shasta now reside in comparative comfort. The bog is one where I abruptly and involuntarily parked the van one Tuesday night.

From the air driveway of the Little House looks like a large needle, or at least, it did before the Deputy Headmistress and Zookeeper did some impromptu landscaping with the van.

There is a long, straight entrance from the road. Then, if you like, you can make a circle, so that you can park facing the road rather than backing out. At least it appears that you may do this. Appearances are snares and delusions. The 'eye' of the needle is the verdant green center of that circle at the end of the needle- green, green, green. Always green. Except for when it's greener. This is because there is plenty of moisture there.

On that long ago Tuesday night the Deputy Headmistress and Zookeeper intended to drive the van around the eye of the needle, but the 15 passenger van we then owned did not turn on a dime. Neither did it turn on a quarter or a silver dollar, nay, nor did it turn on the largest turkey platter ever used in a Marine Corps dining facility. It turned on a city block when it was feeling fine and sassy (the van, not the city block).

Being the brilliant educator that she is, the Deputy Headmistress and Zookeeper quickly realized she was stuck and decided not to make matters worse, so she turned the van off and went inside to await the Headmaster. He was too tired to bother with it so suggested they all sleep on it. By Wednesday morning the back end of the van was exhaust-pipe deep in mud.

Fifty pounds of kitty litter poured into the hole simply made a slurping sound and disappeared. We think we heard the bog say, "Yum. Give me more."

The Common Room denizens have always been extraordinarily blessed in friends, and one of the Princes Among the Friends came over and helped the Headmaster pull the van out. We expect to make a pond in the eye of the needle come spring. Or rather, we expect to have to wall in the growing pond come spring.

We shall stock it with little fishes most delicious and we'll have them for supper and we'll have them for tea.
-------------------------------------------------------

I reposted this story as background to this more recent tale. Wednesday night of this week, on our way home from midweek Bible study, we stopped at the Little House, where Shasta and the Equuschick were having a bonfire to get rid of some old wood and trash from the barns. We roasted marshmallows, had smores, and sang a few songs.

But we also got the van stuck in the mud. NOT the bog, this time, but another part of the yard. The HM was attempting to back the van up in the yard to make it easier for the Cherub to make her way across the yard when the van got stuck. Very stuck. It's been raining a lot, and the entire yard was rather sponge-like.

Shasta grabbed some old rotting hay from the barn and stuffed it under the tires. Then he pushed and nothing happened. We roasted marshmallows and looked on appreciatively. The Cherub stayed in the van (it was a cool night, and she doesn't do cool so well). Then Shasta went and got more hay, and then he went back to our house to borrow a chain the Boy had scavenged from the Rattery, and hooked up the van to his truck and pulled it out and he and the Boy's chain were the heroes of the night.

As we drove away later my husband said to me, "I really like having Shasta here. In the old days, pre-son-in-law, it would have taken me a couple of days of work to get that van out, and you all would have tried to help, but it mostly just would have frustrated all of us."

And he said it in tones of appreciation such as could only come from the father of six daughters, not one of whom tops 5'2", a ten year old boy. The HM is a man who understands how to appreciate a strapping son-in-law of six feet (in his cowboy boots).

Another good song find

How many of you are old enough to remember when Led Zeppelin was creating Heavy Metal? Black Dog (Hey, hey mama... and lyrics not suitable for a family blog); Whole Lotta Love, All My Love (a very lovely ballad written after lead singer Robert Plant and his wife lost their five or six year old son in a matter of hours to a strange stomach virus), The Song Remains the Same, a hundred others, and, of course, Stairway to Heaven. This is the group that popularized trashing hotel rooms, tossing televisions out of windows, and other sorts of raunchy and expensive behavior. The band broke up following a period when the lead singer nearly lost his wife in a car accident, had to spend considerable time in a wheelchair himself, lost their first son to the virus, and then their drummer died in his sleep, probably from an alcoholic binge.

Now. Think about Alison Krauss, Bluegrass singer, performer on O Brother Where Are Thou, the Cold Mountain Soundtrack, winner of 26 Grammies, lovely, lilting voice. Her harmonies make me shiver with delight.

Now put them together, and you have the album Raising Sand. Here's a sample soundtrack:




I don't know what I love so much about this song, but I do. I'm driving my family crazy playing it over and over. It wouldn't matter what the lyrics were, I just these two voices paired up together with these notes are magical.

CPSIA Earth Day Ironies

What kind of price do you give to legislation that is so ill planned and ill inofrmed that it sends millions and billions of safe products to landfills? Not this kind of Prize:
That's a print from a child's Sunday School Paper almost 150 years old. I believe it could legitimately qualify as vintage, although I would let my children read it.
These items could most not be sold as vintage:

We bought these books, and hundreds of others for a dollar a box at a library sale. the large room where we bought them was stacked and packed with boxes of books. Imagaine them all in a landfill, which is where such books are headed with the CPSIA.

Book publishers note that:

With the increasing interest in all things “green,” it’s interesting to note that books made of recycled materials are more likely to contain some lead or phthalates and therefore less likely to make it through the testing process.

Dollar General tossed thousands of dollars in product after NRDC sued to make the phthalates ban apply retroactively to inventory. Where do you imagine those products go? Not to charities, thrift stores, or any other recycling venue, especially with the rhetorical fallacies of 'toxic toys' hyped up by Public Citizen and PIRG.

Nearly everything in this picture was purchased secondhand- the furniture, the books, the toys, the games, the baskets, the toy hardhat, even the scratch paper is second hand, recycled. The large purple ball was purchased new- it's a therapy ball for The Cherub. The rest of it, recycled, re-used- and oportunities liked these are now banned for other families, thanks to the CPSIA. If we were to die tomorrow and our children wished to liquidate all this- they'd have to throw it out or keep it. They could not legally sell or donate to charity the vast majority of the things seen in this picture. (Yes, it's a horrible mess- this picture was taken to show two children just how messy this corner was)

Here's a long list of businesses adversely affected- millions and billions dollars in inventory rendered technically toxic, although not practically or actually so. Nevertheless, in this overlawyered age, legal fictions and technicalities matter more than reality. So read the list, and note that the 1.7 million Gymboree screenprinted clothing items are 1.7 million items added to the landfills overnight- nobody planned for that, and it's unlikely either the local landfill or Gymboree is prepared for that. And that's just one, tiny, easy to imagine example. Add to that billions in bikes and bike parts, stranded inventory in apparel businesses, used book sellers, thrift shops, toy companies, bib makers, and more.

Check out Plum Privy's site to see other business losses, and scroll down looking for the inventory listings. Imagine all those things in landfills. If they can't be donated, and the business doesn't have the storage space, that's where they're going- and they can't be donated.




But Congress, like Caesar, apparently believes it can do no wrong, and refuses to revisit the issue, no matter how many billions of safe, non-toxic items end up uselessly and needlessly in landfills.

A clever blogger has come up with a helpful plan to convince at least one staff member that the CPSIA is not the panacea Congress thinks it is (unless, that is, they hoped they were writing a law designed to tamper with literacy, contribute billions of product to landfills, and put millions of people out of business).

Go see her and see if you can help. It's too early to give up just yet! Keep fighting.

Shady Grove on the Andy Griffeth Show

On the Agenda for the Next Few Days

The HM is off for a few days. He's off shopping with the rest of the crew, excepting me, Jenny, the HG, and the Cherub. He's buying vital and necessary items such as food and guitar strings.

Today is mostly preparation- shopping, cleaning, planning, organizing.

Tomorrow- all electronic stuff goes off for the day and we spend the day outside. I get to sleep inside in my bed, the youngest and their daddy will be sleeping outside in a tent or under the open stars.

Our campfire will be a grill top set in the ground (our grill is on its last legs, so the legs are going in the trash anyway).

Meals Thursday:

Breakfast burritoes
Sandwiches
Shish kabobs

smores

Events- walking, singing around the campfire (Shasta is working on learning the folksongs in the Seeger's Folk Songs for Children book), visiting, playing volleyball, possibly Granny Tea and I will go to an auction, but I haven't asked her yet.

Friday:
Omelettes
sandwiches
hobo packets or a stew in the dutch oven I got from the Rattery years ago

Bananas roasted in the peel with snickers bars sliced up inside them, all wrapped in foil

Friday afternoon sometime, the single mom friend we've mentioned here a few times before (I was there at the birth of her third child and was the first to hold him) is dropping off her 2 year old and four year old here for the weekend. Friday night late a horde of college students and friends will be descending upon us- I really do not have a head count yet, and won't until we bed down for the night.

The current plan is to watch Twelfth Night and generally enjoy one another's company.

Saturday: I am hoping for breakfast fondues, and then the kids are going to the creek to play, if it's not too high from the rain, I imagine golf cart expeditions, and maybe some fishing and pooh sticks from the bridge. Lunch is probably grilled cheese sandwiches. I, for one, will undoubtedly need a nap after lunch, but we will have to do some cleaning up because....

Around mid-afternoon others will arrive, and then we're singing for a couple hours and having a pitch-in for dinner. Where you're from, it might be called a potluck.

Saturday night some are going home, some spending the night, I don't know how many and I don't care.

Sunday: Church, singing at a nursing home, the library and/or a park, church again, and then after evening services taking two exhausted little boys back to their mama's house on our way home.

Death by Regulation

In Canada in order to get a permit for a gun, you must explain to the government whether you have been divorced or broken up with a significant other in the last two years. Mark Steyn writes:

No elected politicians passed a law in any legislature mandating that would-be gun-owners explain why they bust up with their sweethearts. But some no-name official somewhere in the permanent bureaucracy did, and that's that. Two centuries ago, Tocqueville wrote:

There was a time in Europe in which the law, as well as the consent of the people, clothed kings with a power almost without limits. But almost never did it happen that they made use of it.

True. The king was an absolute tyrant - in theory. But in practice he was in his palace hundreds of miles away, and for the most part you got on with your life relatively undisturbed. As Tocqueville wrote:

Although the entire government of the empire was concentrated in the hands of the emperor alone, and although he remained, in time of need, the arbiter of all things, the details of social life and of individual existence ordinarily escaped his control.

But what would happen, he wondered, if administrative capability were to evolve to make it possible "to subject all of his subjects to the details of a uniform set of regulations"? That moment has now arrived in much of the western world, including America.

We are, as the song says, already there. And it's not a good thing.

There were only three federal crimes up until the mid to late 1800s. And now there are well over 4,000, but nobody seems to know exactly how many laws we have. This horrific state of affairs is because a baffling number of pettifogging regulations have all the force of law without actually being laws. Last January an online friend wrote to me:

The GAO about a decade or so back worked a few years to count the number of both laws and regulations. They failed to complete the count. A quick description of the outcome is that they could not determine what laws were actually multiple laws, how many they would be if they were or where to draw the line to distinguish between regulation and agency policy.

The same friend also told me that he'd read read that the average person violates something like 30+ laws, regulations, and ordinances daily, without knowing it.

In The Federalist Papers #62, James Madison, who had been a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and would become the fourth President of the US wrote:

“It will be of little avail to the people that the laws
are made by men of their own choice if the laws
be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so
incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they
be repealed or revised before they are promulged,
or undergo such incessant changes that no man
who knows what the law is to-day can guess what
it will be tomorrow”

Our laws are so voluminous that the very people who vote on them find them too burdensome to read, it requires a bevy of lawyers to understand them (and even they seldom agree), many of them are constantly revised by the agencies with the authority to promote them (see: CPSIA), and certainly none of us can guess what the laws will be tomorrow.

In The Tyranny of Good Intentions, Paul Craig Roberts and Lawrence M. Stratton write:

“The U.S. Code, which contains all federal statutes, occupies 56,009 single-spaced pages. Its 47 volumes take up nine feet of shelf space. An annotated version, which attempts to bring order out of chaos, is three feet long and has 230 hardcover volumes and 36 paperback supplements. Administrative lawmaking under statutes fill up the 207-volume Code of Federal Regulations, which spans 21 feet of shelf space and contains more than 134,488 pages of regulatory law. … Federal law is further augmented by more than 2,756 volumes of judicial precedent, taking up 160 yards of law library shelving.”

(from an article by Claire Wolfe)

How can you possibly be sure you are not violating one of these? You can't. Claire Wolf also writes:

During the Clinton years alone, as James Bovard noted in Feeling Your Pain, “Federal agencies issued more than 25,000 new regulations—criminalizing everything from reliable toilets to snuff advertisements on race cars.” And Bovard wrote that before Clinton’s final year in office, when the federal government issued more than 100,000 pages of new regulations.

That’s just federal. Let’s not even mention the states.

In 2001 Bovard wrote:

Entire industries are on the verge of being turned into indentured servants of the political-legal class. Public policy is being made by one legal feeding frenzy after another—and with no reason to expect that the recent jackpots will instill temperance among the legal profession.

It's only gotten worse- the more naive among those trying to fight the CPSIA (including me) have noted, to our bewildered astonishment, how little interest our representatives have in hearing from every day citizens who are not part of a group. Organizations such as PIRG and Public Citizen have simply turned our representative government system inside out and made it their own personal fiefdom.

We the people are no longer considered responsible adults, but treated more like idiot children, droolingly incompetent to make basic decisions, such as where to buy our groceries, how to protect our children from the dangers of book-eating or tire valve sucking. Bovard wrote in that 2001 article:

But in recent decades tort law has practically assumed that every citizen is a helpless victim—and that regardless of how stupid or irresponsible a person may be, somebody else must be forced to compensate him for the damage he does to himself.

Our legal representatives and the litigation groups that hold them on a tight leash treat us like idiots, while they operate completely outside the realities of the worlds they seek to control:

It’s a dark day when legislators start designing bicycle products, Bob Burns told attendees at the Bicycle Leadership Conference last week.

Burns said at a recent hearing on Capitol Hill, a metallurgist asked why valves couldn’t simply be made out of titanium instead of brass, which contains lead. The suggestion, which Burns called “absurd and unrealistic,” was made in an attempt to cover the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), which limits lead content for products intended for kids 12 and under.

“Pretty soon we’re going to have to make bicycles out of water,” Burns quipped.

And then we have Jared at the Senate Commerce Committee, who told Valerie (of Valerie's Living Books)

that the Commerce Committee had been unaware that pre-1985 children’s books (he knew about that restriction already) would still have commercial importance and ongoing value for children’s use.

I seriously do not understand how anybody can justify this bizarre state of affairs. I think it's time for a changing of the guard in our self-centered, egotistical, out of touch, self-styled overlords.

For more on the CPSIA, see Walter Olsen, Rick Woldenberg, and, here's an example of TGO* for you, the CRO says implementation is not going well.

*Tremendous Grasp of the Obvious

Don't Know Where You've Come From, Don't Know Where You've Been...

But it really doesn't matter, grab your chair and fill your platter and dig, dig, dig right in....*

Here's where I come from:

bold the states you've been to, underline the states you've lived in and italicize the state you're in now...

Alabama / Alaska / Arizona / Arkansas / California / Colorado / Connecticut / Delaware / Florida / Georgia / Hawaii / Idaho / Illinois / Indiana / Iowa / Kansas / Kentucky / Louisiana / Maine / Maryland / Massachusetts / Michigan / Minnesota / Mississippi / Missouri / Montana / Nebraska / Nevada / New Hampshire / New Jersey / New Mexico / New York / North Carolina / North Dakota / Ohio / Oklahoma / Oregon / Pennsylvania / Rhode Island / South Carolina / South Dakota / Tennessee / Texas / Utah / Vermont / Virginia / Washington / West Virginia / Wisconsin / Wyoming / Washington D.C /

Add Canada, where I attended my first years of school, and Okinawa, where we lived for five years.

Go HERE to have a form generate the HTML for you.

*From the song "If I knew you were coming, I'd have baked a cake"

Sursum Corda

(Repost)

I came across the term Sursum Corda in my reading a few years ago, and I didn't know what it meant (we're low church). As often happens, looking up the definition brought me to another unfamiliar term. Looking up the definitions to both terms brought me to a goose-bumpy, breath-holding, sense of holiness.

The definition for Sursum Corda said it was part of a versicle, which made me no wiser, so I hunted further. Here are the results:

In Episcopalian and other ‘high church’ services, there is something called a ‘versicle.’ This is, according to the 1913 Websters, “ a little verse; especially, a short verse or text said or sung in public worship by the priest or minister, and followed by a response from the people.’ (emphasis added)

Sursum Corda is the name of a particular versicle in the service- it is the ‘lift up your hearts’ versicle. So Sursum Corda refers to the portion of the service when the minister says to the church “Lift up your hearts” and the congregation responds “We lift them to the Lord.”

It appears in the Book of Common Prayer and is used for thanksgiving for the Eucharist.

I read the phrase in a passage about math in volume six of Miss Mason's six volume series, Towards a Philosophy of Education.

On page 231 Miss Mason says that we should communicate to our children the beauty and truth of mathematics. They should understand that it is a

"great thing to be brought into the presence of a law, of a whole system of laws, that exist without our concurrence, -- that two straight lines cannot enclose a space is a fact which we can perceive, state, and act upon but cannot in any wise alter..."

and this

"should give to children the sense of limitation which is wholesome for all of us, and inspire that sursum corda which we should hear in all natural law.”

Miss Mason is pointing out that all natural law is God’s law, and is part of God’s voice to us. Whenever we learn of one of God’s natural laws, whether it be that two and two make four and never three or five, or that apples fall down and not up, or that all things reproduce after their own kind, or that a blade of grass produces food from sunlight in a process we now call photosynthesis, or that the circumference of a circle divided by its diameter is Pi- it should be to us as though that natural law were the voice of God (which it is) saying to us

“Lift up your hearts,”

and we should feel our hearts naturally, gratefully, and willingly responding to the voice of God in affirmation-

“We lift them up to the Lord.”

This is a magnificent approach to math and to all other natural law. We should greet new information, new ideas, the opportunity to learn something new with an eager uplifting of the hearts.

Enlightened curiosity is our Sursum Corda. Let us lift up our hearts to the Lord.

Food Snobs

I like a lot of what Alice Waters says, and I'm reading one of her books right now. But she does have a somewhat insular, narrow view of her fellow citizens. She is sure that most Americans are unaware that food comes from the land. They think it comes from the grocery store. And while that is undoubtedly true of many Americans (assuming she was engaging in a little hyperbole to make her point), it is probably less true the further you get from the lights of New York City.

She also thinks that the reason more Americans don't pay 4.00 a pound for grapes is because we don't have our priorities right:

It may be easier for Ms. Waters and her cadre to simply label Americans stupid and ill-informed than to tackle the real reason people are not eating more organic and locally grown food — i.e., most Americans simply are not able to afford it. Even 60 Minutes — known for asking tough questions and making interviewees sweat — basically punted on this issue. Highlighted on the program earlier this year, Waters introduced Lesley Stahl to a man that grows organic grapes and sells them for a staggering $4 a pound (to give non-shoppers some perspective on this price, grocery-store grapes usually cost under $2 a pound, and even most meat comes in under $4 a pound).

While Stahl did seem surprised at the high price, Waters never directly addressed the cost issue; instead, she made an offhand remark that people would simply have to make the choice between expensive grapes and Nike tennis shoes. What she fails to appreciate is that some people can’t buy those tennis shoes either.

Nike tennis shoes? We buy our shoes from the thrift shop, except for the Cherub who owns one pair of shoes, a pair of Sketchers. The reason for this is because the clinician who built her AFO for her recommended we buy them for her because they would work better with the AFO and her feet.

And I buy grapes when they are .99 a pound or not at all.

My New Old Favorite Bluegrass Song

Another version of Shady Grove, a little slower:

Tulips

These are growing in our sunroom. Unedited version:




Edited version:

HomeSchool Carnival, the Last Minute Filling in For a Friend Edition!

I haven't submitted a post to the weekly homeschooling carnival in forever- just because I keep forgetting. So when Henry asked me to pitch in at the last moment because the scheduled bloghost couldn't do it, I quickly agreed.
Then, of course, came the part I always struggle with, finding a theme- one nobody else has used, one that is clever, and witty, and preferably has some artistic tie-in so you can choose cool graphics to illustrate your post.

And then I looked at the time and decided that this is just going to be the All About Me Blog Carnival. You can probably figure out why. =)

Seriously, entry after entry I read reminded me of something we'd blogged about before, and we have been homeschooling since 1988, so I have a lot of homeschooling memories to dig up. Our fifth child will probably graduate this year, leaving me with just two students to home educate- which is how we started our homeschooling journey away back when.

A lot has been going on around here the last few weeks. Our firstborn graduates from college next month, and she is in a rather sudden but very serious and committed relationship with a young man whose been 'just a friend' for the last 4 1/2 years, and I don't expect we'll get to keep her around much longer. My youngest daughter entered the teen years just a couple months ago. We moved into this house three years ago in March, had our first potluck three years ago this weekend, and are celebrating by having another massive bash with at least a dozen people spending the night Friday night and more coming Sunday for food and singing. I've been doing a lot of reminiscing lately, about homeschooling, parenting, and life in general.

So without further ado- here's the homeschooling carnival. Dig in, and be sure to leave comments at your favorite posts. They are much appreciated by bloggers!

The most important thing you can do as a parent, homeschooling or otherwise, is disciple and/or inspire your children. Here's one blogger's take on how to do that:
Becca presents Inspiring your Children posted at Inspiration for Mothers . Com.

Another important job as a parent (and a way to mentor and inspire them as well) is to nurture their special interests and give them scope for development, as Lara DeHaven explains in Pursuing of Our Interests posted at Texas Homesteader.

Rituals are also a warm and important part of parenting- and Renae shares some of her family's in The Children's Hour posted at Life Nurturing Education. At our house, my children don't often want bedtime stories anymore, but the HM still gives our 13 year old piggy back rides to bed. I think this is as much for him as it is for her, maybe more. It helps him reaffirm his youth.

As important as rituals are, a nice balance of spontaneity is also important, as we see when The Family presents Surprise maple syruping posted at Once Upon a Family. We had an important surprise history lesson ourselves, just last year when one of Granny Tea's old room-mates dropped by for a visit as she and her husband were passing through- her husband was born to Polish Jews who moved to France to escape Hitler, and ended up dying in concentration camps. He and his sister were cared for and protected by an entire village, and he generously shared several hours of his time telling us of his experiences.

Those who are new to homeschooling will be encouraged to read this voice of experience, Mary Nix presents I?m not a homeschool expert, but an advocate posted at The Informed Parent, as she shares her feelings as her oldest homeschooled son graduates from college. The HG also graduates from college this May, unless Strider distracts her from her homework altogether.;-)

Not all experiences are positive. Some are just downright awkward, particularly with family members who aren't completely on board with this whole weird homeschooling thing. SwitchedOnMom presents Breaking the News posted at The "More" Child.

Like most of the blogging world, we've mentioned Susan Boyle more than once this last week, and remain delighted with her lovely sound. We're not the only homeschoolers interested in Miss Boyle. using her story to present Life lessons from real life (and current events), over at Why Homeschool, where Homeschooling Carnival Blogfather Henry Cate explains some lessons we can learn from Susan Boyle.

You never quite know when kids are listening and when they aren't, and Lizzie's son James pops up with a pertinent comment that makes her smile, in James says… posted at A Dusty Frame.

Speaking of things to make you smile- Monday night at dinner, Pip informed the Boy, whom she thought was piling his plate incorrectly, that:
"Generally, you put the meat on top of the rice, not the other way around."

"Sure," he replied, "Generally people do that. But I'm just a lieutenant."

Homeschoolers always get asked the 'S' question- you know, 'what about socialization?' I remind myself that it was one of the very first questions I asked as well, away back in 1988 when we discussed homeschooling with somebody in a practical way (I'd actually decided to homeschool in 1985, when I heard about it on the radio, but hadn't followed through). Elena LaVictoire presents My Domestic Church: Sam the Volley Ball Ref or one homeschooled kid's adventures in socialization. posted at My Domestic Church.

As long time readers know, we've never been huge fans of television around here, but we've been watching FAR TOO MANY movies around here of late. Partly this is because some of us have been sick (Monday night is the first time that the Boy hasn't run a temperature in a week and a day), and partly because once you relax your standards, it's harder to firm them up again. Also, it's not enough to be against something, you have to replace it with something else, and towards that end, Amanda presents Turn It Off! posted at The Daily Planet.

Math is not my favorite subject, and I consider it a character defect. My son, on the other hand, recently asked if he could keep his math book in his bedroom just in case he wanted to do some extra math problems in his spare time. Maybe Math the Play Way worked! He'll be ready for something more advanced soon, and fortunately,
Denise presents Puzzle: Factoring Trinomials posted at Let's Play Math!.

Start when they are young and persevere, and most subjects are easier than you thought they'd be (unless you're an idiot like me), and preschool at home in particular should be the default position for most of our children. It's not brain surgery, as Carolyn points out at Guilt-Free homeschooling.

One way to incorporate math (and many other subjects) into your days naturally is to take your children to the grocery store. I fondly remember the days when I took five children between the ages of 2 and 9 to the grocery store (and anywhere else I went), one in the cart, one standing on the back (yes, I know that's bad), one 'helping' me push, and two to help fetch the groceries. It seems not many people do this anymore, as Rose shares in Life Lessons at the Grocery Store posted at Learning at Home.

In fact, if you see somebody doing math with their kids at the grocery store, you can be pretty sure they are homeschoolers, as Susan Sarah, who blogs at the Homeschool on the Edge of Nowhere (I thought that was where we lived), attests in this post.

Gardens are another wonderful family activity. Belle presents her family's garden in This Year's Garden so far........... posted at Homesteaderbelle's Blog.

There's a homeschooling method for everybody (we like Charlotte Mason), and for those who like unit studies
~Kris~ presents Ten Fabulous, Free Unit Study Links posted at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

To find out more about these different homeschool flavors, you could attend a convention, and Mrs. C. gives us some pointers on doing just that.

I don't like math, but I do love history, and the HG is a history major who just about hyperventilated this month when she went to visit the cemetery where the subject of her 57 page history thesis is buried, and found the woman's last words engraved on the tombstone (which Stryder lifted out of the ground where it had fallen, and cleaned up for her). Pipsqueak says she thought her sister was going to pass out from excitement. So this next resource appeals to us very much:
Susan Gaissert presents One Hundred Years in One Magazine posted at The Expanding Life.

Here's another interesting post on teaching history- it's part book review and part opinion piece, Elementaryhistoryteacher presents The Gift posted at History Is Elementary. It's got an adoption theme, a topic dear to our hearts.

I'm a big fan of art appreciation for even the youngest students, we've visited more art museums in the last few years than zoos (something we need to rectify) and I've blogged about that before, too. Keri presents Art Enjoyment posted at keri, and explains their method. I concur on those books- they are terrific. Art appreciation can be formal and involved, and there are benefits to that, but children pick up quite a bit just being exposed to good art reproductions, whether you ever say a word about them or not. I blogged here about my experience with a reproduction in my childhood home and my reaction when I discovered the original at the NGA.
Of course, sometimes attempts to instill some art loving tendencies in your children backfire on you, as I wrote about in this post about a memorable field trip I took with my seven children and no husband a few years back.

Crafts are fun, too, and here's a pretty one; HowToMe presents How To Decorate Paper with Bubbles posted at HowToMe.

And here's a find worth bookmarking- Kerry presents Art Links for Homeschoolers: April 2009 posted at A Ten O'Clock Scholar.


Feeling overwhelmed? You might need some downtime. Everybody needs quiet time and space somewhere in their lives. When our children were small, daily quiet time was mandatory, even in the tiniest of our houses where nobody had their own 'space'. Cristina presents Reprints #92-93 posted at Home Spun Juggling.
Of course, you need to be careful about this- some of us, and only you and God know which one you are (and perhaps your family) have elevated 'me' time above its proper sphere and just about made an idol of it. So choose carefully- and personally.

Larry, who blogs at Dad's Homeschool Blog, shares a way, to add a bit of meaning to your weather studies. Sign up for a free account at CoCoRaHS and log precipitation amounts for your location. Your weather studies will also aid the National Weather Service in creating better forecasts.

Hall Monitor presents Students Required To Stand During Pledge posted at DetentionSlip.org. One of the problems I have with government funded, instutionalized schooling is the inherent conflict of interest between bureaucratic, institutionalized values and principles of freedom and liberty that I hold dear. It also results in propaganda being taught as science, and we are the ones who pay for it.

Homeschoolers are pretty politically astute, if we are about as unified as a roomful of cats, mice, and dogs. We have been disproportionately represented in the CPSIA fight, and I expect there were a lot more of us attending Tea Parties than any other group. And we aren't all Republicans, not by a long shot (I'm not. The HM is, and he's still barely unclenched his teeth at me over my vote for the libertarian candidate for President)** Susan is another non-Republican homeschooler, and she attended a Tea Party and points out the difference between reality and the media, in Susan Ryan presents What kind of right wing protester am I anyway? posted at Corn and Oil.

Now here's a very interesting and thoughtful post: ChristineMM presents Thoughts on LEGO Playing and Brain Dominance Determination in Children posted at The Thinking Mother.

Katherine at No Fighting, No Biting says I find it helpful to look back over our school year and evaluate each child's progress to plan for the next year. I don't think we will repeat the gestation and fetal development lessons from this winter, though Baby Julia Ellen will continue give us many lessons on infant development in the future!
in her post, How can we improve?

YOu cannot homeschool if you don't have some good behavioral boundaries established. Or rather, you can, but those boundaries should be the first thing you teach. Here's one way to accomplish that. christinemoers presents Secret Code between you and your kids posted at Welcome to my Brain.

This, oh, best beloved, is National Poetry Month here in America, but naturally, you ALL knew that, didn't you, because you all share poetry with your children regularly? Jacque presents Home School Poetry and Prompts posted at Walking Therein.

This post may help you and your kids prepare for the SAT. Nate Desmond presents Book Review: The New SAT posted at Debt-free Scholar.
That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of homeschooling using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of homeschooling using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

** that's a gross calumny for the sake of a grin from readers. My husband Never clenches his teeth at me in anger, and he certainly would not hold a grudge this long.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Permit Us to Introduce....

Stryder. The Young Man featured here read this post and comments and suggested either Lego-las, since he still loves his legos, or Stryder. The HG says the Lego name is kind of cheesy, so we're going with Stryder.

It would probably be more accurate to say that he's Stryder with a bold dash of Twitchy from Hoodwinked or a brighter version of Hammy from Over the Hedge, if you can imagine such a thing. We can- er, rather- we don't have to imagine. We know the real deal.

So, Stryder he is.

Donovan

Such shaggy hair...

Despicable Disregard for Human Rights

Thus at a press conference on April 7, Illinois Representative Bobby Rush extolled Raul Castro - a man with the blood of hundreds on his hands - for his "sense of humor" and the way he "laughed at himself" and how "down-to-earth" and "kind" he was. Why, said Rush, being with Castro "was almost like visiting an old friend." When a reporter asked about Cuba's human rights record, Rush snapped that he was engaging in a "double standard" and called it "good business sense" not to let human rights get in the way of increased trade.

From a column by Jeff Jacoby, who wonders if human rights really matter to Democrats anymore.

Planned Parenthood Again...

Tennessee this time, a girl the clinic worker believed to be a 14 year old impregnated by a 31 year old. The clinic worker tells her just to say that her boyfriend is 17, but not to tell anybody the clinic worker told her this.

The professional also tells her that if the continue that line of conversation, she will have to contact her manager and then the 31 year old will get in trouble, so instead the child should call this other number to get information on how to get a waiver from a judge so her parents don't need to know. She then walks her through, coaches her, on what to say to the judge in order to bypass both the parental consent laws and the mandatory reporting laws in their state.

How many more of these have to turn up before we stop funding an agency that exists to hide the crimes of adult men who impregnate young teens and don't wish to support them?

Are You a Betting Man?

It seems to The Equuschick that many of the debates surrounding abortion center around determining when life begins precisely. But as far as The Equuschick is concerned, her stance against abortion stems from the fact that the debate is not even settled yet. And yet abortion is still legally permitted to go on.

As an individual who believes that all life is God-breathed and that human life is created in God's image, The Equuschick believes that life does indeed begin at conception. But she will be the first to admit that her position could not be proved either legally or scientifically.

Neither, however, could you legally or scientifically prove otherwise. It remains an open question and yet, the American culture as a whole seems to have decided that since we don't know we might as well risk it.

But what are we risking? What's the gamble? The very thing we gamble is something that we all ought to be able to agree has at the very least the potential to become a human life. And as stated, The Equuschick believes much more than that. But that's The Equuschick. She's not asking you to go that far if your worldview won't take you there. But if your worldview has any respect for human life at all, you ought at least to question the wisdom of the gamble.

We do not know about the current status of that which we're gambling, and neither frankly do we know the future. An abortion indicates that one's knowledge of the future is certain enough to risk the loss of a potential innocent human life. Aside from the disturbing philosophical implications, that's a little arrogant.

The DHM posted recently about the son and daughter-in-law of a couple from the local congregation, pregnant with their first child and having been told their child would be born with such serious birth defects that survival outside the womb was impossible. They had all the tests done, they consulted several doctors and it seemed certain. Set in stone. One would think, then, that the logical thing to do was abort.

But they didn't. They prayed, congregations world-wide prayed. And their baby was born just a week or two later as a healthy and stable baby as likely to live a long and happy life as any other baby.

Now, you could be saying if you don't like The Equuschick's worldview, all that doesn't prove that there was a God listening to the prayers. The tests could have been wrong all along. It was just a fluke.


The Equuschick, while as an individual believing those prayers were answered, would not try to prove this to you if you were disinclined to accept that. This is not a post about prayer. This a post about abortion.

So it could have been a fluke. So? Flukes happen.

It doesn't matter why or how that baby was born just fine when all the doctors and all the tests guaranteed otherwise. What matters is that it happened. That it happens at all, and that it could happen again, and that to choose to close the door to all other options and all other possible endings to a potential (for the sake of the argument) human story with an abortion is one terrifying gamble. The stakes are just too high.

You may say, well what about capital punishment? What about war casualties?

First and foremost, to compare the deaths of able-bodied and consenting adults with voices and choices of their own to a medical procedure that ends the life of a potential human without a voice or a choice of its own is bit like apples and oranges.


Capital punishment is a grave and terrifying responsibility, yet it is generally and legally recognized as such while abortion is taken very lightly by comparision.

A sentence of capital punishment is never passed on a minor, and when it is passed on a legal adult it is passed only by a jury and a court of law that's been given what we all agree ought to be some pretty strong and serious evidence for the guilt of the individual. Sometimes mistakes happen, and The Equuschick acknowledges this as the tragic and fearsome thing it is.

This is not necessarily to recommend capital punishment, but rather to illustrate how in the end it is a very different situation than wide-spread, legalized abortion. You don't need a jury or any other legal counsel or a court of law or some pretty strong evidence for the "guilt" of this unborn being for an abortion. You just walk into an abortion clinic and you get one. No questions asked.


And war remains itself on a completely different plane that abortion or capital punishment. Wars are fought by adult and able-bodied men and women who chose for themselves and have the option of conscientious objection.

Again, war is taken seriously. Capital punishment is taken seriously.

And only abortion is taken lightly. We gamble on what we all agree to be a potential present and innocent life and we gamble our future and no one blinks an eye.

If you are not a bit concerned, than The Equuschick can simply question what respect for life you have at all.

More Susan Boyle

Because we can't get enough of this lovely, lovely lady with the golden voice.

Here's her first post BGT interview:


I love the way her eyes crinkle up when she smiles.

Here she is in an interview with the West Lothian Courier:


Here's an auditory file where West Lothian tells her some of the fan mail they've received about her. The quality isn't great, but it's worth a listen for those of us who want our Boyle fix.=)

And here's a nice long article based on an interview. She revealed that the disabilities she has as a result of oxygen deprivation at birth caused her classmates to call her "Susie Simple," and she doesn't want to talk about the lack of romance in her life anymore:

Does she want to talk about men, I ask her? 'No comment. It's not relevant to Britain's Got Talent. I prefer to keep myself to myself,' is all she will say. 'I'm a lady. Let's just leave it at that.'

She has talent. She also has class.

Doc Watson Sings Shady Grove

Here his is with Ricky Skaggs and Alison Krauss, singing 'As I went down to the river to pray...' Doc Watson sings the verses solo, they join in on the chorus with harmony so exquisite it makes my heart ache with yearning for something indescribable:

Bedtime Traditions

Repost below, from four years ago when we lived in the little house. The FYG and the FYB are also sometimes called Whose-its and Whats-it. The Whose-its started when the FYG was very small and we sometimes wished to discuss something about her in front of her without her knowing. However, she learned her own name's spelling very young (partly because she also goes by her initials sometimes), so we started calling her Whose-its.
And it was probably only a matter of weeks before she started calling herself Whose-its, so that subterfuge didn't work very well, either, but hearing our toddler call herself Whose-its was too adorable not to stick.
----------------------------------------------------------------

Tonight young Whose-its picked the bedtime story. She chose How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin, from the Just-So Stories by Rudyard Kipling.

So, Whose-its and What-its tucked away in their bunks, I settled down in the rocking chair in the corner, covered up with a blanket and began to read.

-I have to cover up with a blanket because the chair is in front of a window, and the windows are about a hundred years old- no joke- and on windy nights the two rag rugs and the buckwheat filled cloth tube used for a draft-stopper are not quite enough to stop the influx of fresh air. But I do have a blanket, so I cover up and read to the First-years.

They giggle sleepily in all the right places. The dim light from the teddy bear lamp behind me has a soporific effect. Whose-its snuggles down into her pillow in the position that always precedes sleep. Whats-it stares owlishly at me while I read. As I peek at him over the top of the book, I see he is struggling to keep his eyes open.

I reach the end of the story, the part guaranteed to waft sleeping children all the way to the 'luxurious city of Uninterrupted Slumber.' In our book (not in all versions, but in the one we have) it reads like this:

"But the Parsee came down from his palm tree, under his hat from which the rays of the sun were reflected in more-than-oriental splendor, packed up the cooking-stove, and went away in the direction of Orotava, Amygdala, the upland meadows of Anantarivo and the marshes of Sonaput- where all small people, beginning to breathe slowly and evenly, must inevitably also accompany him- in order to arrive easily and unknowingly at the enormous battlements of the luxurious city of Uninterrupted Slumber."

Doesn't that give you a pleasantly drowsy feeling? Can't you just feel your pulse rate subsiding to a gentle, monotonous blub........ blub.......blub?

Not so my small people
They perked up immediately.
"What does that mean?"
"What does what mean?" I ask.
"All of it," they say, "All of the part you just read. Where is that place? What is it?"

"Well," I say, "I don't know about Anantarivo and Sonaput and all that, but I do know that the rest of it means something like this, and I read it again, this time with editorial asides:

"Where all small people (that means people like you two yahooligans), beginning to breathe slowly and evenly (that's when you breathe like this {I demonstrate} just as you are starting to fall asleep, like you should be doing now already); must inevitably accompany him (that means you can't help it, you have to follow where the Parsee is going eventually, so you might as well give up and do it now); in order to arrive easily and unknowingly (that means you get there without knowing it, it's such an easy thing to do that you ought to have done it already without even realizing you were doing it. Already) at the enormous battlements (that's the fancy wall around a castle) of the luxurious city of Uninterrupted Slumber (Slumber- that's sleep, that is- you know, what you should be doing now! Slumber, like in the lullabye 'Slumber, Oh Slumber, Rosika.)"

This last reference was a tactical error. You do know what follows.

They: No, we don't know. Sing it to us. We don't remember.

So, of course I do.

I learned it from Earth Mother Lullabies, volume 2. Happily, you can hear it here.
It's a simple lullaby, minor key, soothing melody:

Slumber, oh slumber, Rosika
Slumber, oh slumber, Rosika
I am so sleepy
you too are sleepy
We are so sleepy, both of us.

They aren't very interested in the lullabye, or else they see my evil plot, and they return to the story:

Whose-its: So why does the story end that way? Who are the small people he wants to fall asleep?

DeputyHeadmistress: I expect it was his children, and he told the story to them. [editorial note: It seems I was wrong. As near as I can tell, it was for his niece, and I'm not sure that the ending in our book wasn't a liberty taken by later editors]

Whose-its: Just like you're telling the story to me.

DeputyHeadmistress: Yes, very like that.

Whose-its: And then when I am grown, I'll read it to
my children, and then they'll grow up and read it to their children. Like that.

DeputyHeadmistress: Yes, like that, because that's the sort of thing our family likes to do.

Whats-it: Can you read us some Mother Goose now?
-------------------------------------------------------

It's been a long time since they've let me read them any bedtime stories.=(

Sunday Hymn Post

Am I Born To Die?

Sacred Harp version:



Tim Erikson from Cold Mountain Disc 2:



From the hymnal Sacred Harp, the tune is Idumea

Charles Wesley wrote the lyrics:

1 AND am I born to die?
To lay this body down?
And must my trembling spirit fly
Into a world unknown -
A land of deepest shade,
Unpierced by human thought,
The dreary regions of the dead,
Where all things are forgot?

2 Soon as from earth I go,
What will become of me?
Eternal happiness or woe
Must then my portion be;
Waked by the trumpet's sound,
I from my grave shall rise,
And see the Judge with glory crowned,
And see the flaming skies.

3 How shall I leave my tomb?
With triumph or regret?
A fearful or a joyful doom,
A curse or blessing meet?
Will angel-bands convey
Their brother to the bar?
Or devils drag my soul away,
To meet its sentence there?

4 Who can resolve the doubt
That tears my anxious breast?
Shall I be with the damned cast out,
Or numbered with the blest?
I must from God be driven,
Or with my Saviour dwell;
Must come at his command to heaven,
Or else - depart to hell.

5 O thou that wouldst not have
One wretched sinner die,
Who died'st thyself; my soul to save
From endless misery!
Show me the way to shun
Thy dreadful wrath severe,
That when thou comest on thy throne
I may with joy appear.

6 Thou art thyself the Way;
Thyself in me reveal;
So shall I spend my life's short day
Obedient to thy will;
So shall I love my God,
Because he first loved me,
And praise thee in thy bright abode,
To all eternity.

More Susan Boyle

Incidentally, I have to tell you how tickled I was with my 10 year old- we were watching the Youtube video of her BGT audition, and when it was over he turned to me and said, "She sounds like she's from Scotland, not from England." I told him yes, that was true. "Then why," he wanted to know, "are they saying Britain's got talent?" and then, since most of his knowledge of England comes from Our Island Story and Shakespeare, we had to bring his knowledge a little more up to date as I explained that Scotland had been part of the United Kingdom for some time.

In 1999 she sang Cry Me A River on a charity CD, which we now can hear. I think it's even better than her BGT performance:


Here she does an interview with CBS' The Early Show

And Bob Krumm discusses what she and Tea Parties have in common.

Adventerous Walk, from the FYG

This morning I saw something on daddy's truck, and thought
"Oh, you really need to go tell Daddy that there's something on his truck!" but I forgot.
A little later I decided to go on a walk, in my bare feet (which I now regret), to the EC's house and just turn around and go back once I got there.
I got a little way and I saw something on the ground. Yes, it was the 'something' on Daddy's truck. So I picked it up and it was a composition folder belonging to The Beau's sister (I have no idea how it got on dad's truck).

Then I got a little further, and I heard some birds above my head, and I was just thinking "I hope those birds don't do anything on me." ;)

When I heard a 'click' up above my head and something whiz past, then another 'click' and something whiz past again. So I looked up and there was a bird coming back down towards me!!! I, who was walking innocently (and minding my own business), was being attacked by a bird!!!!!!! So once I figured this out I made a run for it...screaming.

Now that I think about it, maybe God put that folder there so I could protect my self. =P

. New Children's Book

From The Mysterious Benedict Society- I'm only about halfway through it, but so far it is a delightful children's book, with something of the flavor of the Dido books by Joan Aiken (author of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase). Some children are sent to a special, new sort of school, and they find that it reminds them, in some ways, of other schools:

Rote memorization of lessons was discouraged, but required; Class participation was encouraged but rarely permitted; and although quizzes were given every day in every class, there was always at least one student who groaned, another who acted surprised, and another who begged the teacher, in vain, not to give it.

And here is a lesson apparently created by the folks at PIRG and Public Citizen:

Today, the Mysterious Benedict Society's third full day of classes, S. Q's lesson had been called "Personal Hygiene: unavoidable Dangers and What Must Be Done to Avoid Them."
Like all the lessons at the Institute, this one was a barrage of details- pages and pages worth-- but the gist was that sickness, like a hungry predator, lurked in every nook and cranny. Every touchable surface was a disease waiting to happen, every speck of dust an allergen poised to swell your nose and clog your ducts, every toothbrush bristle a bacterial playground. On and on it went, and all of it was greatly exaggerated, Reynie thought, though not entirely untrue. What made the lesson so confusing was the "logical conclusion" S.Q. said must be drawn: Because it was impossible, in the end, to protect yourself from anything- no matter how hard you tried- it was important to try as hard as you could to protect yourself from everything.

Doesn't that sound exactly like the sort of thinking that brought us the CPSIA?

Hattie McDaniel Singing Sooner or Later

Life is too short to sulk. So turn around.

(And yes, The Equuschick has wasted plenty of time all ready.)

Marriage should be treated with the same respect as a working relationship (it is a working relationship) but it is not the workplace and some things will be more personal. Your feelings will be hurt. Let it go and move on before more damage is done.

The phrase filed away in The Equuschick's mind under this heading is, quite simply, "Turn around."


You probably know what she's talking about, because if you're a human soul someone has hurt you and you've flinched in fear and pain and turned your back. Turn back around.

It begins with fear and pain, an instinctual response to injury. But if you don't turn around, it will become pride. They hurt you. Why should you turn before they say they're sorry?

Then it becomes revenge. You hope you're hurting them as much as they hurt you. But you need to turn around, because if you don't you're stuck. What began as fear and pain is now only stubbornness and pride, breeding further fear and pain.

And all the while you stand with your face to the wall and your back to the loved one the clock ticks and the sun moves and heaven help The Equuschick to redeem that lost and precious time.

You want to take a stand over this? Really? No you don't, honey. Turn around. You don't have time for this.

The Equuschick in fact is such a stubborn and difficult person that this phrase was born, not recently, but a few nights into her honeymoon as she lay with her face to the wall.

The thing was, see, The Equuschick was in the right in the beginning. But it didn't matter. It doesn't matter, when you're wasting time.

But she lay there for a while, face to the wall and would not turn around.

"Turn around, dummy. Turn around."

"I don't wanna, I'm sulking."

"Turn around. Do you want to start like this? Really? Your first chance with this challenge and this is what you want to choose? Turn around."

"No!"

"If you start it like this, where will you be in five years? Turn around!"

She did. She was not sorry, and she suspects that the following six months were the easier because of it.

You're building habits. So turn around.

In Which The Equuschick is Learning to Fight with Civility

It has occurred to The Equuschick that the reason many young people talk about how blissfully easy it is to be in love is that they put no conscious effort into it. And then, when the law of entropy inevitably takes effect and they cry and wonder what happened, they fail utterly to make any connection between their lack of conscious attention to their relationship and its eventual demise.

The Equuschick and Shasta, both being generally difficult and opinionated people, never invested much energy in discovering the secrets of couples who never fought. If such couples existed they must be either incredibly boring or incredibly sweet. Who wants to be boring? And if they were sweet,well, The Equuschick and Shasta stood not a chance of becoming perpetually sweet people anyway. They're too unboring.

And so necessity has forced on The Equuschick and Shasta an education on the art of how to fight. Fighting is a bit like being in love. You can do it unconsciously and let the words and emotions fly where they may, or you can do it with a conscious sense of effort and purpose.

The Equuschick would like to say she has learned, but honesty requires her to say instead that she is learning a few things.


You can fight and still maintain civility.

Interestingly enough, most of us acknowledge this principle is true in almost every other relationship. If you have a disagreement with a coworker at work, you are respected to handle it with civility. That's called "professionalism."

But in our homes it is natural for these disagreements to be intensely personal and it is harder to maintain civility and we assume that professionalism has no place at all in the home.

This just ain't so. The home is God's highest calling to His children, and our successes and failures there ought be our highest priority. If a marriage is to succeed, the goal of a successful marriage must be pursued with conscious dedication. Professionalism. The pursuit of excellence.

On a practical level what this means in application is civility in discourse, address, and body language. Name-calling, door-slamming, eye-rolling, sighs or shrugged shoulders? That's not civil. You'd be fired at work if you treated a coworker like that.

What this meant for the one notable success in this area that The Equuschick remembers, is that in the midst of a harsh discussion on such an important topic that neither Shasta or The Equuschick now remember what they were fighting about, Shasta asked The Equuschick if she could please pass him a banana. He really said please, and he said it with civility. The Equuschick said "Yes, hang on", and passed him a banana and he said thank-you and she said you're welcome. With civility and without sarcasm. You know, like grown-ups do!

It was a small moment of great challenge and it was quite a thrill to overcome it.
Incidentally, as if often the case, this brief exchange of civilities eased the general tension of the other discussion considerably.


The Equuschick has stored the incident away for filing and easy access, so she can remember to fight with civility.

Squill

Unedited picture of squill in our back yard:


Edited picture of the squill in our backyard:

Our Library List

The annotated Pride and prejudice, by Jane Austen

Landscaping earth ponds : the complete guide by Time Matson

Multiplication / Stienecker, David,

Can you count to a googol? / Wells, Robert E.

The cricket in Times Square / [CD talking book] / Selden, George,

Math potatoes : mind-stretching brain food / Tang, Greg

One bean / Rockwell, Anne F.

The number devil : a mathematical adventure / [CD-ROM]

A wrinkle in time / [CD talking book] / L'Engle, Madeleine
Hannah Coulter / Berry, Wendell,

The art of simple food : notes, lessons, and recipes from a delicious revolution / Waters, Alice.

Sea & silence / [music CD] / Deuter, C. H., 1945-
Winnie-the-Pooh / [CD talking book] / Milne, A. A. (Alan Alexander)

Reiki : hands of light / [music CD] / Deuter, C. H.
Kidnapped / [CD talking book] / Stevenson, Robert Louis, 1850-1894.

Mrs. Frisby and the rats of NIMH / [CD talking book] / O'Brien, Robert C.

Island of the Blue Dolphins / [CD talking book] / O'Dell, Scott, 1898-1989.

A couple of Redwall books, a STar Wars book, and a book or two on weapons

A book on the ancient Maya and Aztecs

A book on opera

Two Magic Flute DVDS

And a book on forensic science


I wonder sometimes what they think about us when we check out at the library.

Folksongs for Families

Around here we like bluegrass and folk music. I don't mean we like to listen to them, although we do. I mean we like to sing along, either just amongst ourselves, or along with the C.D. or tape.

Once upon a time as I was enjoying belting out my own version of a song- in tandem with some famous singer on the stereo, a joyless and musicless soul (who did not realize just how music-less and pettifogging a soul it was) sneered at me and said, "I don't know why you bothered to turn it on- you can't hear it. Being younger then, and more insecure, I shut up, but it was music-less soul who missed the point, not me.

Although music can be a passive, that is, receptive experience, where you sit quietly and experience it, if that's all music is for you, you've missed at least half of what it has to give. For me, the joy of folk music and the reason to listen to it in the first place is not so that I can be entertained, but it is so that I can listen to and learn the songs so the Progeny and I can sing them throughout the day, on our own, naturally and as freely as breathing.

They become part of the family repertoire, part of that secret family code that every family has, where you kind of have to know the background to know why some apparently meaningless phrase sends everybody into peels of laughter.

Which is why one of my favorite folk song resources is American Folk Songs for Children. There's the book, by Peggy Seeger, and the 2 disc accompanying CD set by two of her grown children (which I think is still available).

There's nothing exceptionally 'professional' or polished about it, so children won't be programmed to think they can only sing the songs one right way. When we bought this set some 15 years ago, we listened to it a few times, but then we sang the songs into our lives. As I thumb through the tattered copy we still have, these are some of the vignettes that play through my mind:

because my oldest child was 15 when her brother was born, some 18 years or so of lullabyes...

A newly adopted child, tactile defensive and struggling with all those bonding issues, would only let me hold her if I was singing through the Folk Songs for Children book. So once a day I would get it out and start singing, and she would come, drawn by something I never could identify (thought I suspect there was no singing in the previous home) and climb in my lap until I sang all the way through the book (that's something like 100 songs, folks).

Two small girls in summer dresses, running outside to check the mail, leaping off the porch as they sing, "I got a letter this morning... Oh, yeah."

Children playing dress up and promenading downstairs as I sing, "Down came a lady, down came two, down came Miss 'Jenny Dots' and she was dressed in blue..."

Children racing up stairs, and upon being told not to be so rambunctious singing back, "Such a gettin' upstairs I never did see, such a getting up stairs, it don't suit me."

Children going out to play and asking each other in song, "What shall we do when we all go out..." Children answering in song, keeping the tune but making up their own answers.

'There was a man and he was mad' on long car trips.

Sisters holding hands and skipping while singing, "Oh sister Phoebe, how merry were we, the night we sat under the Juniper tree..."

Children covering my mouth and telling me not to sing that awful 'down by the Greenwood Sidey-O.'

Starting tag and hide-n-seek games with 'Run, childern run, the patteroller catch you!"

Practicing 'yes, ma'am' and No, ma'am' by singing Old John the Rabbit and Did you Go to the Barney and having the children sing the replies.

Everybody's favorite for a time, Billy Barlowe

Singing five little ducks to a child who said her feet were the ducks and having her feet 'quack, quack, quack.'

Children singing along while they do their chores while singing 'hanging out the linen clothes...'

Children unhappy with doing chores comforting themselves while wailing, Do, do pity my case' as they work.

Children announcing that they see a sister on her way home (or back to those of us waiting in the car) by singing, "here she come, so fresh and fair, sky blue eyes, and curly hair, rosey in her cheek, and a dimple in her chin, say, young man, but you can't come in!"

That's the role this book and set played in our lives, but I have no doubt that there are resources just as good for the occasion, if not better. This was where we needed it when we needed it.

Really, there's a snatch of folk music for almost every occasion. Folk music is participatory, not merely passive entertainment, and whatever folk music resource you choose, it should encourage participation.

So.... Just How Crazy Are We?

Really nuts. Out of step with most of the rest of America. And since some of you asked....

The girls don't date. The Boy won't either, but he's only ten, so we have a long way to go. They have a lot of friends who are male, and we, and they, tend to do things in groups- a bunch of us go to a movie, or a party at a friend's house, or a group Bible study, or a singing, or a picnic at the park, or a workday at somebody's house.

One on one dating, two people alone in the dark... nyet, and certainly not just for fun at 15. Or 16. Or even 17. Or 18. Or.... Now- it's easier to write these things dogmatically then to hedge and explain all the exceptions we might consider- because, children are born persons, and they do grow up and they may or may not share all of your own convictions. Had the EC or the HG come to us and said, "Look, I love y'all, you're wonderful parents, but I just can't get on board with this no dating thing, and I'll be going out with _______ tonight at 7:00 and we'll be home at a decent hour..." we'd have been a little sad, but we'd have accepted that. Those two daughters are in their 20s, and they live/d at home because it suited us all- we like them, we like their company, they helped out a lot around the house in exchange for room and board, and we were tickled to death that they mostly did/do agree with us, and there is a huge bank account of earned trust on both sides of the equation- the Progeny, the parents, and the young men that chose the Progeny that have been chosen.

I can't give you a list of do's and don'ts, a flow chart of "If your child does this, then you do that, if she does this other, then you do another thing, if this, then that.



We do consider typical North American dating to be a recipe for romantic disaster- serial romance, recreational dating (especially in your teens)- we do not find these things compatible with our family's views. They seem to us to promote a shallow, buffet table view of romance and coupling, and produce a series of broken hearts, each break getting easier as the heart grows more protective of itself. That's how we feel about OUR family and OUR Progeny. We do not sit around discussing the 'failings' of those who have a different approach.

And while we are quite out of step with mainstream society in this as in other areas, I think what matters most is NOT the specific details of how or whether you do traditional dating and serial romances or some stricter version of courtship, or even arranged marriages. What matters most is that you and your immediate family members love and respect each other, have some shared values (translate that into faith for my family) and are all (you and your children) on the same page with certain principles. HOW people work these principles out will vary, and that's fine. Your principles will be different from ours in some areas.

So here are some of the principles we've worked out that matter to our family.
1. God comes first. Most things naturally follow from that, or should.

2. Marriage is for life. It's the second most important decision you will ever make in your entire life, so do not make it lightly. We believe it's a sacred relationship, so we do not tease young children about having boyfriends or girlfriends or about who they are going to marry.

3. Do NOT marry anybody who does not share your belief in the first principle mentioned above- God comes first. Do NOT even put yourself in a romantic relationship with somebody who doesn't share this value.

4. Treat members of the opposite sex as friends and/or brothers and sisters in Christ- not happy hunting grounds or a glorious buffet table. We try to teach the Progeny that they do not wish to have anything in their friendships that they will regret or find embarrassing and awkward later in life. Most of their friends will be somebody's wife or husband some day. We encourage our youngsters to treat members of the opposite sex the same way they would want other girls or boys to be treating the boy or girl they end up marrying some day- with respectful Christian friendship, not flirtatious, frivolous, lightminded, or, heaven forfend, outright wanton ways.

4. Purity matters. It matters a LOT. This is not just a matter of the physical realm, but also of the thoughts and heart. After all, impure acts do not spontaneously happen in a vacuum- they begin with thoughts and feelings allowed to flourish uncontrolled.
We understand that sometimes thoughts come to mind unbidden. That's NOT the issue. The issue is how you respond to an unbidden thought. Our goal has been to teach our Progeny to guard their hearts and not to *entertain* crushes, impure thoughts, or other foolishness. Our goal is for our children to guard their hearts, not to be boy-crazy or girl-crazy, not to run away with them.


5. Ladies should act like ladies, and gentlemen like gentlemen. That doesn't mean boys don't do dishes and girls don't take out the trash, except that, well, I don't do the trash. Blush.



6. Parents do have a role to play. The older the young person, the more advisory and less authoritative this role becomes, but all our girls fully intend to tell any young men who ask, "You have to speak to my father first." And, as it turns out, Shasta did speak to the HM first, and the young man seeing the HG right now did the same, although the two cases are, in fact, quite different. Shasta spent a year quietly wooing the entire family, and the Equuschick, and then he asked her daddy what we thought of him as a son-in-law. We saw it coming for several months. He told us later that he didn't know that if he had asked the EC first she would have sent him to her Daddy anyway, he just thought that was a good idea.

The HG's young man asked if he could have permission to talk to the HG about the possibility of pursuing a relationship. They've been friends and comrades, hanging with the same crowd from church, working together on some of the same acts of service for four years or so, but we did not see that one coming. They are 25, and there are some other reasons why this approach is the right one for these two people. Interestingly enough, the HG's young man told us this week he didn't actually know that was a prerequisite of ours, he just sensed that this would be a good thing to do. So for those of you who have asked us how we find such young men- I would have to say it is Providential.

There are two sides to this parental involvement, of course. We have the responsibility as parents to be prayerfully wise, trustworthy, reliable, respectful of our Progeny and their friends, and not arbitrary. That's a huge responsibility, and I do know parents who have failed utterly at it.

There are probably others, but that will do for now, and it's certainly enough to convince you we're nuts.=)
----------------------
this is probably the first thing we read that really started us questioning some of our common cultural assumptions about dating. We accepted a pattern of serial relationships and recreational dating as the norm until we read this. We do NOT agree with everything in that article- some of it is pretty radical (and if WE think something is kind of radical...). But I think it's sometimes necessary to scrape the ground clear of all our assumptions-- the default positions we take without thinking them through- before rebuilding based on deliberate, principled, and thoughtful parenting on purpose.
One more point- lots of times people who did not do things this way get kind of upset with us when this discussion comes up- "We did things differently," they say, "And it worked out."

I know. Us, too.
We aren't seeking whatever is 'good enough.' We are seeking an ideal. We know we're weird. We hope we aren't taking the wrong approach, and we would not be doing this if we thought that was likely, but we recognize we could be mistaken. But we have to live by the convictions we've developed, and this is an area that's important to us. And the thing is.... dating as we know it? It's been around for a little less than a hundred years. For the rest of recorded history, in most times and cultures, the way young people have gotten to know each other has looked more like what my family does than what most of our society does. Or else it was simply arranged marriages.

Which we have contemplated.=)

The Pancake Epiphany

The Equuschick is fond of pancakes but until recently rarely ate them for breakfast on a regular basis as the protein quality of a regular pancake approaches absolute nil.

And since The Equuschick rarely ate them, she never made them. In fact, growing up in The Common Room family it was the HM's especial duty to make pancakes or waffles (mostly waffles) as an especial treat for company sleepovers and that was the context in which The Equuschick grew up accustomed to encountering pancakes and waffles as breakfast food.

However, on Shasta's last birthday it occurred to The Equuschick that since he did like pancakes and is not troubled by a metabolism that confuses itself with the Energizer Bunny on steroids he might like pancakes in bed.

So The Equuschick resolved to try making some. She has a small handful of cookbooks, the majority of which are never opened because The Equuschick can't follow directions and has had to compensate accordingly, and she went to the Joy of Cooking and found a recipe for Buttermilk pancakes.

She remembered too late she was out of eggs so she called The Common Room to see about borrowing one, but the Common Room was out too. Pipsqueak reminded The Equuschick that a blended banana is an adequate substitute and The Equuschick had a plethora (yes, she knows she uses that word too much but she likes it, so there) of brown bananas in the freezer from a sale.

And as she was blending the banana she thought almonds might taste rather yummy and add some protein as well, and she thought cinnamon would be delicious and she remembered reading somewhere that cinnamon regulates blood sugar. And so cinnamon and almonds went into the dry mixture, and the banana was mixed with the buttermilk.

The batter smelled delicious. And so did the pancakes, the sad and misshapen little things that were burned on the outside and raw on the inside.

Actually only the first couple were that burned, by the time she reached the last few pancakes there was a marked improvement. (They were edible.)


In fact the edible ones were pretty good and The Equuschick was pleased to discover an hour later that she still wasn't hungry again.

Still, she told Shasta later that day, she was glad they'd worked out so he could have some for his birthday but generally The Equuschick was a "failure at pancakes."

But no sooner were the words out her mouth than she thought to herself that this was a rather sad attitude to take. To try once and then say "I've failed?" Humph. The thing about life is that you never have to quit trying tell you're dead. If you still have more chances to try again than why on earth does one attempt at pancakes without success constitute a failure? What a self-fulfilling prophecy! What a fatalistic thing to say! What a tragic insult to one's free will! If The Equuschick wanted to succeed at pancakes, why, blast it all, she would! Take that, you miserable defeatist!


So The Equuschick tried pancakes again a few days later. They were better.

She tried them again a few days after that. Better still! And she realized, part of her problem is that she doesn't even actually own a proper griddle frying pain. That would probably help.

She made them again today, and after a very narrow escape where The Equuschick (who for some reason thought she could try cooking without her glasses on) misread the tBsp on her spoon for tPsp and dumped in the wrong amount of baking powder but was able to scoop the excess out and not yell too loudly at herself, these pancakes were almost a complete success. A griddle would help, but other than that they were so pretty!

And really yummy. She's gotten into the habit of using bananas whether or not she has eggs, because it just goes better with the almonds and cinnamon. This morning she fried some apples in butter and yes, some more cinnamon (it truly does make a difference to the blood sugar) and topped her pancakes with those and it tasted luscious.

So The Equuschick leaves you all with the moral that you're not a failure until you stop trying and that next time you make pancakes you should make them with bananas, almond, and cinnamon.

D-man James

He stayed there for all of five seconds, which was just enough time for me to step back and get a picture before he leapt off and wanted to continue on his walk.

What's in a name?

We're stumped. We've been trying to find the perfect name for the History Girl's beau. He's a dear and darling man, but he's no help because he's also much bolder than the rest of us and says he's fine with his real name. But we, we keep explaining, aren't. We're bashful and retiring. We are that odd anomaly, private persons who publicly blog (some of us, it must be said, under duress). We like our bubbles, that space between us and everybody else. And he says, "Bubble? There's a bubble?"

Incidentally, my brother and most of his family came down a few days ago and we had a good evening exchanging family anecdotes, laughing, and singing. My brother- he is loud. He is funny, and he isn't very bashful about telling funny stories on himself (or anybody else). He has a wonderful, shiver-inducing singing voice in the tenor/baritone range.

This could be said of Shasta as well.

And of the new beau.

And, except for the singing part, because my poor dear couldn't carry a t. in the proverbial b., it could be said of my spouse as well. Not one of them could be said to use up all their words at work.

I told the other girls it was time to start looking for a bashful bass to import into the family. Granny Tea looked aghast and said such a man wouldn't survive, he'd be overwhelmed.

So... the new beau.

He writes his own music and plays it on the piano as well (moving Pip and I to tears at times), so he could be the Music Man, except we detest that movie and particularly the title character, who is a selfish con-man, whereas this young man is selfless and open and honest to a fault.

He could be the Piano Man, but we don't like that, either. Mr. Bo Jangles, says the HG, is a dog's name, and faithful and loyal as he is, his devotion is of a more manly than canine style.

He could be Mr. Knightly, except that's just not him. He's wonderfully gallant- no woman would be left standing if he had a chair, doors open for us as if by magic when he is around, on a long and strenuous hike he toted a five year old most of the way and helped the girls over the rough spots, and he seriously offered to take a day off of work to carry the HG's bags for her at school because she hurt her shoulder in a fender-bender when she was driving his car and was rear-ended (he was perfectly delightful there, too). But still- Mr. Knightly just isn't quite right. Knightly, I think is too reserved and British to be a good pseudonym for him. Gentleman though he undeniably is, he's more of an American Firecracker than a British gentleman farmer.

We thought of the Whistling Gypsy, because that's one of the HG's favorite songs, but, she points out, the Gypsy Rover steals away the girl from the man she promised to marry, and none of us find that sort of behavior admirable, and he says he doesn't whistle much, anyway (Shasta does, quite tunefully).

We thought of Wooster, but he's (the young man) too smart, and the HG thought that sounded like a puppy's name, and we have strict views on puppies as suiters. They don't do. We thought of Jeeves because of his wonderful servant's heart, but that's his car's name. I wondered fleetingly about Gilbert, as in Anne of Green Gables, just because he's been a family friend for the last four years or so, but realized that would have Gilbert Grape connotations, and that would never do.

He still builds things with his legos, so Lego-Man is a possibility, but it sounds rather like a waffle, and waffler, he isn't. He is a die-hard romantic, so I thought of Galahad or Lancelot, but there we are back again with the same problems we have with the Mr. Knightly pseudonym, plus the little issue of Lancelot being a faithless friend to King Arthur, which this young stalwart would never be.

So... until we find him a name, we can't tell you anything else about him.

Of Books and Covers

If you haven't gone to listen to Susan Boyle sing, go do it now.

The Anchoress has more, including the fact that she sings in the local Catholic choir and has for years, but nobody realized how good she is because they know her, so they took her for granted, and she's shy and doesn't push herself forward.

She got a standing ovation when she walked into her local Catholic church for yesterday’s Easter service.

She said: “It was incredible. Although we sing in church, not a lot of them knew how good I was, so it was a bit of a shock to them. I’m a bit shy and retiring so they would never have known. It was very emotional.

“Everyone is very nice and it’s lovely when all the kids stop me in the street to congratulate me.”

Says the Anchoress:

How good! And what a great “don’t judge a book by it’s cover,” story. It’s a great lesson for all of us, both not to be hasty in thinking we know all about a person because of how he or she looks, but also that we not put off using our God-given gifts, simply because we’re afraid of what people will think of us - that we’re too fat, or too old, or too awkward.

Blackboards and Public School Innovations

"...there was little expansion of the elementary curriculum during the three hundred years from the beginning of the sixteenth century to the end of the eighteenth. Moreover, there was little departure from the methods of instruction which had been copied from the home, where with little or no special equipment each child was taught as an individual. There was little appreciation of the fact that since children were assembled in school in groups it was possible to use a group method that would secure better results than the individual method. Practically no one dreamed of the possibility of an elaborate special technique of instruction in which teachers should be trained. All that a teacher was supposed to need was an elementary knowledge of school subjects and the ability to make children behave. Nor was there any appreciation of the vast economy and improvement that would result from very slight changes in the equipment and arrangement of the schoolroom."

(emphasis mine)

The History of Modern Elementary Education by Samuel Chester Parker. Published in 1912. It was a textbook for teacher trainees. I believe I've mentioned that I come from a long line of educators? I also come from a long line of packrats.

Samuel Chester Parker indicates above that the tools that function well in a homeschool environment are not going to be the same tools that function well in a public school setting. Because, after all, if children assembled in groups benefit more from a 'group method' than from techniques that worked perfectly well in an individualized setting, then it would follow that children educated in more individual settings (homes, for instance), would benefit more from methods designed with individuals rather than groups in mind.

This is why I think it's a mistake for home schools to rely overmuch on tools, methods, and techniques designed from institutionalized settings.

Parker cites two exceptions 'to this general attitude of complaisant ignorance,' about the differences between individual methods and group methods, and how much more effective institutional education could be if teachers sought methods that made the most of the group setting- the "schools of the Brethren of the Christian Schools in France and the monitorial schools of Lancaster and Bell in England and America". Both of these seemed remarkable to Parker largely for their innovations in classroom management.

Prior to the improved classroom management techniques Parker cites as well as improvements in equipment (like the blackboard, an incredibly innovative tool at the time), Parker says that "two thirds of the time in schools was wasted through poor equipment and methods." The introduction of slates relieved teachers from the tiresome and time consuming duty of having to make pens for the students, and seems to have made possible several breakthroughs in instructional methods, as one Henry Barnard, author ofAmerican Educational Biography, said that it was on a new blackboard, a thing he had never seen before, that he 'first witnessed the process of analytical and inductive teaching.'

Computers in the classroom hardly seem more innovative than slates, when one considers the time teachers must have spent making pens for all their students.

Traveling With Children

Games To Play:

I'm listing these in no particular order- or rather, in no obvious order. The secret plan is that as I or the Progeny think of them, I list them.=)

Twenty Questions- of course. One person picks an item for the others to guess (these things can be easy or hard, depending on the age and abilities of your players. Easy things- daddy, the steering wheel, the family pet, trees. Hard things- Daddy's left ear; the flea on the dog; the radio signals in the air; oxygen; the Prime Minister's latest speech).

Players can ask questions to narrow the field. The questions must be answered by only 'yes' or 'no,' except the first. The first question is "Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral?'

Who Am I?- Choose Bible characters, nursery rhymes, characters from books you read or even, gulp, television shows and movies. You can give three to five clues, as easy or difficult as your audience can handle, and they guess who you are. Example: "I'm a woman in the Old Testament. I was a queen. I wore make-up. I encouraged my husband to take what wasn't his. Who am I?" (Jezebel)

You can also play this like 20 questions. YOu skip the 'animal, vegetable, or mineral' question, of course, and just say, "Okay, I'm ready. Who Am I?" Then they ask questions to help them guess. We usually allow two questions for this one- good or bad? Married or single? Old or New Testament? Male or Female? Human or Animal?

I Spy- "I spy with my little eye something that is.....' Insert an attribute of the item you have piced that everybody else has to guess. It can be a color, size, shape, texture, or whatever. The difference between this and 20 questions is that it does have to be something you can all see.

License Plate Game- see how many different states you can find represented by the license plates you pass on the road. We have also played License Plate math- use them as flash cards and ask the children to add (or multiply or subtract) the first two numbers on the plate. I find this one to be an immense help when I am feeling brain dead- I drill them on math facts, but I don't have to think of the numbers.=)


Alphabet Game- Look for letters of the alphabet (in order) along the way. When children are first learning the alphabet I justpick on letter and we try to find that letter five or ten times (depending on child and attention span). Later you can write down the letter on a small lap top white board and have the child(ren) look for it, referring back to the whiteboard to be sure they are right.

Numbers: This is a variation of the Alphabet Game- instead of letters of the alphabet look for numbers (in order) along the way.

'Map' Game- The Progeny made this up themselves when small, but I used to do it, too. Put pen to paper and just let the motion of the car determine the direction of your pen. The Progeny liked to imagine they were making maps. YOu can also use the resulting designs like Rorshach tests- see what you all think each picture looks like.

Categories: I name a category (later the children get to choose) and ask each child to name an item in that category- I might say flowers, and then they all have to tell me the name of a flower, or I might choose bugs and they have name different bugs. With older children we go around the car and name them in alphabetical order, trying to get through the alphabet. You can adapt this for a wide age range by allowing the smaller children to skip the alphabetical sequence. So in our car a game might go like this:

Me: Song Titles

Head Girl: All Things Are REady
Equuschick: Bless the Beasts and the Children
Cherub: Gaya!
JennyAnyDots: Carrig Fergus
Pipsqueak: Danny Boy
FYG: Elephant (from her piano practice)
FYB: Fountain Free (we give him the sound instead of the letter, or he has the option to just name a song).

The History Game: The first player names a person in history, perhaps George Washington. The next player must name a person whose first name begins the the first letter of that last name, so 'W.' Perhaps he says 'William Tell.' The next player must name a person whose name begins with T.
You can play this game using historical people, song titles, fictional characters, Bible verses, proverbs such as 'a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush'(this is harder).

Recite: Take turns reciting anything you have memorized- commercials, Bible Verses, poems, verses from songs, passages from Shakespeare, etc.

This is a six part series

Part one- rules for smooth traveling

part two songs

part three games

part four

part five Other activities

Part Six, packing

Rainy day

I've got a pretty limited photoshop options, but the last couple days I've done more editing to my pictures than I usually do. This one I messed around with the lighting and contrast (as well as converting to b&w), and I was pretty pleased with the result.

Shasta is beginning to wonder where in the world that fabulous spring The Equuschick promised him went. Unfortunately, she doesn't know either.


Grannytea reminded The Equuschick yesterday that April Showers are Supposed to Bring May Flowers, and The Equuschick retorted that March was Supposed to go in Like a Lion and Go out Like a Lamb.


Hahahahha.

We'll have to create some different rhymes for the changing times, apparently. New rhymes for a new climate age.

Diet for Growing Minds

Repost:
Notes from The House and Home, A Practical Book, Volume 1, Published 1894-1896

A compendium of information and ideas from many authors

Kate Douglas Wiggin, author of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and Mother Carey's Chicken's (one of our favorites) has a chapter on "The Training of
Children." Wiggin was a devotee of Froebel, the father of the kindergarten. Charlotte Mason appreciated and used some of his ideas, but rejected others.

Wiggin says:
Children should be... loved, not coddled; led, not driven,