So Long, Farewell

Hallo...

When I originally started this second blog, I meant it for those little blurbs and "you've gotta see this" kinds of snippets, different from my other main blog where I didn't post until I really had something to say, the results of days or weeks of ruminating, my paradigm shifts and heavier stuff. It seemed prudent to separate the two.

But now that I'm writing more often, I've been neglecting this blog. (As if you haven't noticed.) And now I am not sure there's much reason to keep two going. If I'm going to write more often, it makes more sense to intersperse some shorter, lighter posts amid the longer, more fully formed ones, so folks don't get a headache. :) So that's what I'm a'gonna do.

I might keep this up so I can cut and paste some of these either into Wistful Wanderlust or onto my computer, but I will eventually delete this blog. So if'n you wanna hang around, come visit me at http://www.piscesgrrrl.blogspot.com/.

And thanks for stopping by.

~Namaste~

Practice Makes Perfect

photo: Jonathan's "world famous" pancakes

I tape things to the insides of my cupboards sometimes. Phone #s, of course, and grain cooking instructions and the occasional recipe, but also inspirational tidbits that I need front and center to remind me to get back to center when I'm being a cad. Which used to be frightfully often, but is now growing rarer, thanks to mindful work and surrounding myself with all the right people.

Most of the tidbits are gone, or have been replaced gradually with workout schedules or phone trees or ingredient lists, but one faded bit of wisdom remains. I guess because every time I look at it, which isn't so often anymore, it is just too spot-on to take down.

It was posted by a mom on the Continuum-Concept parenting e-list, which I unsubbed from many moons ago (not because I didn't benefit from it, or subscribe to the philosophy, but simply because my path moved me along to a greater focus on unschooling).

It read:

I was baking cookies with my daughter Kelsey the other day. We were busy putting our dough on cookie sheets, when Kelsey announced that it is "really hard to bake cookies with your mom!"

I responded, "Oh, why?"

"Because they always want to help and it's much better to practice."

It is much better to practice. Jonathan reminded me of this today, as he was making frozen pizza. He popped it in the oven and paced the floor waiting for it to cook, crazy with hunger. When the timer went off, I got up, grabbed pot-holders, and prepared to take the hot pizza out of the oven. Jonathan said, "I'll do it - I'll do it - I'LL DO IT." I started giving him reasons why I ought to do it, one being that he was in his underwear and had bare legs hanging out all over the place, ripe conditions for a leg burn. But he countered with this:

"How am I ever going to be a chef if you never let me take out my own pizza?"

Good point. That made me laugh and relinquish the pot-holders, with one last admonishment to watch his bare legs. As he struggled a bit to get the drippy pizza out, he carried on...

"I'll be in my restaurant kitchen and I'll say I can't get the pizza out because my mom never let me practice!"

Ok, I gotcha.

"All the other chefs will laugh at me!"

Um, I said I get your point.

"See mom? I can do it!"

Just slice it up and dish it out, wouldja? I'm sorry!

"Can you do it? I don't like cutting the pizza."

Snapper!

Jonathan and I found this snapping turtle crossing
our road today!

We were driving home from Theatre Camp when I spotted this big ol' bugger. I pulled over and told Jonathan to quickly get out of the van. "What? What?!" he was saying, until he saw it - "Can I take it home? Pleeeease?!?" Um, sorry, no.


I told him we're supposed to get him to the side of the road and point him in the direction he was headed, according to wildlife rehabbers who urge against taking home wild pets. We don't want him to get hit by a car. (Though one might wager the car getting the worse end of the deal if it struck this big'un!)

Once I did take a wild turtle home - just for the afternoon. That one was in the middle of a highway, hiding in its shell, probably wondering how in the hell he'd gotten himself into such a spot. On impulse, I pulled over, nabbed him, and brought him home to surprise the kids. Jonathan especially, who sometimes volunteers for Critter Camp, wanted to keep it. It had long claws, too, just like this one and was much faster than I expected as it zipped around our house, looking for a place to hide or escape. We looked it up on the computer (we think it was a mud turtle), played with it for a while, and then returned it to where we'd found it, but across the road, deep in the ditch, pointed the way it had been heading.

Today, Jonathan petted this turtle for a while as I snapped photos before we realized it was a snapping turtle. After this shot, Jonathan walked in front of it and out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw it lurch forward. I said I bet it's a snapper and told Jonathan to stick his foot out and see if it would reach for it. Next thing we know, the snapper has clamped its jaws onto Jonathan's shoe! It caught Jonathan by surprise and he jumped and screamed and shook the turtle off. We were laughing hysterically when a neighbor girl showed up on her bike to see what all the fuss was about. (The poor girl - she thought we'd hit her dog on the road, as we were stopped in front of their lane and crouched over something.)

We told the girl about it snapping Jonathan's foot and she came closer to let the turtle snap at her bike tire, which it obligingly did. We got a video of it! There's a creek that runs under our road there and these neighbors have a newly built pond in their front yard (it must be pond season 'round here, but HER dad owns an excavating business so their pond is a big one!) and the girl told us that same snapper had been in their yard this past weekend. Either that, or it has large kin.

This guy was huge and we enjoyed visiting with it. We're grateful we left with all limbs intact, despite Jonathan's need to touch it over and over.

Pond Project - Day 1

Unschoolers with time on their hands - it's a beautiful thing.

Several years ago Brady and our neighbor Ben decided to build an underground fort. They grabbed spades and set off for the wild area of our land, staked out a spot, and started digging. We adults doubted they'd last - digging is difficult work. But day after day they worked on the hole. Some days they dug for hours, other days only for a short while. But they dug almost every day. The days turned into weeks. The hole got so deep they could barely get out, and they'd leave a 2"x4" across the top so they could swing their way out, high bar-style. Then one day, they really couldn't get out and had to etch steps into the sides. Grandma worried about the walls caving in and urged reinforcement. I suggested they build a roof for it soon lest the rains come and fill it up. And one day, when the hole was about 4' x 10' and over 6' deep, the rains did come and suddenly the fort was a giant make-shift puddle and the project was abandoned.

The hole is still there. "Dat's where we hide da bodies" has become the joke, and I sometimes think I should mark it with police tape or something. Not only because it would be funny, but because the thing is a serious hazard, a very deep hole shaded by weeds and long grasses, lying in wait for some unsuspecting dog, hiker, or small child.

So it wasn't entirely astonishing when these same two boys, now 14, with stubbly facial hair and deep voices, to come to me late yesterday afternoon and tell me they are bored, need a project, and want to dig a pond for me.

Cool. I'll fetch the shovels.

I'd talked of wanting a pond, but never too seriously. Rob and I aren't very good Do-It-Yourself-ers, and while I'd checked out several library books on the subject and stared longingly at the pond kits at Menards a few times, that's as far as I'd ever gotten. I'd really love a big pond, one that isn't landscaped and looks like it's been there forever. But alas, we live high on a hilltop and it would be something of an expensive feat to do that.

We walked the yard in search of a good spot. It has to be close enough for us to enjoy, but not in the way of any traffic pattern. It needs access to electricity for the pump, but we can't disturb any existing gas lines. We settled for a spot right next to the front porch which will nestle in nicely with my other somewhat-purty landscaping, and will provide a nice view from the screened-in porch we hope to build someday.

They boys asked what shape I wanted and I told them to surprise me. They wondered about size and I told them to be sure I could get one swipe of the lawnmower on either side. And they set about digging. They worked for about 2 hours, listening to music and laughing and talking. They grumbled about my picture-taking, but then got excited about having photo documentation for every stage.

I don't know how I got lucky enough to have a kid who likes to dig holes, but I'm pretty happy I did.

Our new pond will go here! ----->

**This post is one of many linked from Unschooling Voices, where a new unschooling topic is discussed each month. Thanks to Joanne for compiling the information and for the Thinking Blogger Award! Cool.

Fun Quiz

You're To Kill a Mockingbird!

by Harper Lee

Perceived as a revolutionary and groundbreaking person, you have
changed the minds of many people. While questioning the authority around you, you've
also taken a significant amount of flack. But you've had the admirable guts to
persevere. There's a weird guy in the neighborhood using dubious means to protect you,
but you're pretty sure it's worth it in the end. In the end, it remains unclear to you
whether finches and mockingbirds get along in real life.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Celeb Sighting

Kristin and I heard Alfie Kohn speak at Rockford College a few weeks ago, and surprised him when we asked to take a photo with him! Alfie writes and speaks widely about what's wrong with school, and is very vocal about the evils of testing, No-Child-Left-Behind, and the use of grades and rewards. He is a very charismatic and dynamic speaker, and had us laughing when we weren't shaking our heads in dismay at the state of things. I have a few of his books, including Punished By Rewards and What Does It Mean to be Well Educated? and while I agree with his arguments and find him incredibly insightful, where I get hung up is in asking the obvious question... can it be fixed? I commend him for taking it on and campaigning for educators and administrators to rethink what they're doing and why they're doing it, but talk about pushing sh*t up a hill... I'm still not willing to lose my kids for 12 years to a system that isn't going to change any time soon, if ever. Is it the worst place in the world? Not usually. (*grin*) But just because it isn't the worst place doesn't mean one ought to spend 12 years there and not seek the best path to learning what you want to learn and doing what you want to do. Once again, would've loved to steal him away for a cup of coffee and some intense conversation, but at the risk of being a celebrity stalker, we decided to get our books signed and leave it at that.

ANTHONY BOURDAIN!!!

Look! Damn! Anthony Bourdain spoke in Rockford, and I went to see him with Gina, Judy, and Joan, three wickedly fun grrrlfriends. But in our giddy fluster I got my digital camera stuck on some strange mode and half my pictures came out blurry! Shoot, Sh*t, Triple Shat. I am SO going to have Brady photoshop him out of Gina's pic and paste him into some photo of me where I'm doing the Oh-Anthony-really-now pose and flash it around like we're old pals. You wait - it'll appear here one of these days.

Notice Joan with the tuck-of-the-hair move, and Gina with the smile so bright we had to hose her off afterward. And notice Judy, of the "He ain't all that" shrug, is conspicuously absent in the twittery line-up. If you haven't read his book Kitchen Confidential yet, it is a hoot. He tells of his life as a chef in New York City, and doesn't go light on the debauchery and survival-of-the-fittest-and-least-sane details. It's not for the fainthearted - it's at times lewd and crass and shocking and no-way-that-doesn't-really-happen-does-it?!? kind of storytelling that reminds one that her life is way too mauve-colored, berber-carpeted, cul-de-sac-located, pre-fabbed, cookie-cuttered, and mac-and-cheesed to stand in the presence of one who has really lived and came out the other side to tell about it.

After the talk and book signing, we tried out Kuma, the new Asian Bistro downtown, and had a delightful meal even if it was served by an adorable automaton waitress whose description of menu items resembled a ticker tape of figures being systematically spewed forth from an adding machine. THAT was strange. But we told stories of getting noses pierced in India and daughters showing up for school pictures in lacy girly dresses and hot pink cowboy boots and irritable bowel symptoms and the babbling alley guy who didn't scare Judy. We don't do this enough - 'twas way too fun.

Happy Boy

Holy bat-jackpot! There was a blizzard on the last night of our annual InHome homeschooling conference, so our plans to stay overnight and veg out with friends new and old were stymied. Most bolted home. We-of-many-winters stayed put, thinking it better to let the plows do their magic in the morning. After two days of intense workshops, the last place I wanted to be was the hotel arcade. But Jonathan is a persuasive little bugger. We put $10 on a gaming credit card, and

I followed behind him, swooning with tiredness, while he used it. When he had only enough for one more game, we wandered to the Wheel of Fortune game where all you do is press a button and see what you win. Well, he won the jackpot - 500 tickets! He was the center of attention as the machine took about five minutes to churn out the pile. I might have been bone-tired, but the smile on my child's face was worth it.

OhMyYummyCrustlessQuiche

What would I do without you? Here's an easy fix for those I-so-badly-crave-good-food-but-please-make-it-fast-and-easy-or-I-might-scream kinda nights. Clean our your produce drawer and don't forget to nab some roots from the pantry floor and some frozen niblets from the freezer. Anything goes - think frozen corn, or swiss chard, or shaved carrot. Or if you must, add some diced deli ham. Toss into a skillet with some oil, and saute. Add some crushed red pepper flakes or some cayenne for a kick. Whisk 4-6 eggs in a separate bowl, removing half or all of the yolks if you're not too bloody tired to do so. Oil a pie plate, flop the sauteed mixture into the bottom, pour the eggs on, and grate a bit-o-cheese on top if'n you have it. Bake at the same-old 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until set. Dig in. Deeeelish.

Art Start

What is more satisfying than dipping fingers in goo and smearing it all around? Well, ok, Brady was less than enamored with this mask-making project. The sloppy and slippery paste nearly covered the kitchen at co-op. I continually remind hostess Joan she has the patience of a lap cat.