Sunday Wrapup--4/25/2011
The biggest news of the weekend is that we have an 80% chance of rain tonight. If you think that's no big deal, you obviously aren't watching the year's wheat crop struggle to survive, and you aren't worried about your expensive seed in the ground not having enough moisture to germinate.
Repeatedly over the past few weeks, we've had a string of cloudy days, but no significant moisture. This 80% we're hearing about now has fluctuated in per cent chances for rain from 40 to 60 and then 80 and back to 60 and now back to 80.
Yesterday at the Horticulture Club's annual plant sale, one of my faithful flower customers from market stopped to chat, and talked about the need for rain, finishing with "Well, we'll just have to keep praying for rain." I agreed, and this morning in Sunday School class we did just that.
***********************
Our Sunday School class also prayed for Tim M., who is to have a court hearing tomorrow. He is a friend of my brother's family, and others who have worked in Central American missions. Tim was arrested when he entered the US, and is facing charges of having aided someone who was in violation of a child custody order. The woman involved--and her child--traveled to the country where Tim was working, and they had contact with Tim there. They are elsewhere now, in an unknown location. The birth mother of the child is now a Christian, but the other "mother" is not a Christian, never adopted the child she now claims as her own, has not forsaken her immoral lifestyle, and has been awarded full custody of the child. What a mess.
I find comfort in knowing that the situation doesn't look nearly as tangled and impossible to God as it does to us.
************************
LeRoy told Joel in church today that he's still hoping that some speaker goes overtime in church during the time Lester T. is here. Lester is a mentally handicapped adult whose tolerance is so severely tried during long services that he's been known to sob openly when things go on too long for him. I think that would have a remarkable braking effect on long-windedness, and LeRoy perversely wishes to witness it.
Lester is still eager to shake hands with everyone after church, although he's less able to remember names than he used to be.
Lester has been loved and cared for by his family all his life, and he has many friends among his family's friends.
************************
My dad and Ollie and Emma were in church this morning as usual. What was unusual was that they had just arrived home from a straight-through drive from Harrisonburg, VA, arriving here around 9:30 A. M.
It was a great help to everyone in that load that my "young" cousins (in their 50s) , Omar and Orville, were along and did most of the driving.
Emma reported that she and Martha and Fannie got closer to being caught up on their visiting than had happened for a long time. They routinely sat together in the back seat of the van. The siblings and in-laws apparently really enjoyed being together on this long trip. Phone calls home from the van were accompanied by lively visiting in the background.
**********************
Clare and I worked together on planting a garden for them this weekend. The planting of a modest sized normal garden almost feels like playing. When the soil and breezes are soft and the sun is warm, and you're in good company, what could be more fun and hopeful than planting a garden?
*********************
We have only two weeks of school left. Ahhhhh. I can almost taste summer.
*********************
Last week I overheard a comment from a student who habitually turned in late written reports this year on the literature and current events selection of the month. He bemoaned the serious grade penalties incurred, and said he really ought to get his report in on time this time.
I let that comment pass, but later, when he was making another vague "I ought to . . . " comment about his written report, I seized the moment and told him he ought to consider gluing himself to his chair until it was done. "I'm not in an encouraging mode here," I continued. "I'm in a scolding mode."
He got his report in on time--at which time I lavished on him praise and "air" pats on the back, and urged the boy next to him to give him a real pat on the back.
If I had known scolding worked so well, I would have tried it sooner.
************************
I did another scolding thing last week, come to think of it. This followed a comment about people not signing up for the food production class--because some students had warned others that it would be a lot of work.
"That's what I suspected," I said, "and frankly it makes me a little mad." (Notice the precise, mature language.) "I think it sounds really whiney. It's hard work. So what? Waaaa-waaaaa."
I did allow that there would probably be ways to streamline the class, but that if you were going to get a food garden planted, there was really no way to accomplish that without quite a bit of planning and preparation and hard work.
If students could look ahead and realize that the hard work now of learning how to grow food efficiently is really easy compared to facing the necessity at some future time of having a garden with very little knowledge of how to do what is necessary--and experiencing failure as a result. That would be hard--to fail when there's a family depending on the garden to make money reach, or to provide nutrition that is hard to come by otherwise, or to avoid toxins that someone in the family might be very allergic to. Failure then/hard work now--what's so hard about this choice?
Caveat: Learning how to garden can happen without taking a class. That's how I learned gardening. I maintain, however, that it's not likely to ever be a source of much pleasure, or be pursued with any passion if a person does not at some point in life work closely with someone who is a passionate gardener. The same is true in many other subject areas--academic and practical, and is another good reason for taking a class in something you might actually be able to learn about on your own--because being able to learn from a passionate teacher is a gift. Exactly how do people expect to learn about something in the course of meeting the many obligations of adult life if they can't take time to learn about it when learning is part of their job description--while they're in school?
Looking for an easy route through school is probably an understandable student preference, but that doesn't make it noble. That's why there ought to be adults involved in the process--to save students from the hazards of their lazy tendencies.
*********************
On the bright side, one former student from the food production class is planning to do some market gardening this year. He contributed to the food production class discussion by saying he liked the class. That seemed like a revelation to the students who had heard only about the hard work involved.
************************
Yesterday I got a look at the almost-completed playscape at the Dillon Nature Center. It looks exactly like the kind of place children could enjoy for hours. There's a small man-made stream through the area, and a large area of piled up loose dirt for digging in. Trees surround the place and new trees are planted within it. I'm sure any young child would discover a lot that I missed.
It also makes me feel good about having had our children grow up where they had access to many of those same play opportunities while they were growing up--because they lived where there was an out-back that was OK for digging in. They made their own lakes and streams and roads and bridges outdoors, in the sheep pen.
If I had to choose between a nice house and an interesting outdoors, I'd go with the interesting outdoors--especially if I was raising boys.
********************
My mom is having a bout with shingles. Since this has happened before, Linda knows some tricks to alleviate the pain and speed recovery. Avoiding shingles entirely would be preferable, of course. Joel wonders whether she has considered getting the shingles shot. I didn't know such a thing was available.
Clare says she has had shingles twice. I've never had it, and I'm happy to leave it that way.
*******************
Clare has accidentally ingested some of the foods she's had allergic reactions to in the past, without adverse results this time. We're all hopeful that this means she is gradually becoming more tolerant of these things.
Twice in recent weeks I have cooked a beef roast for Sunday lunch, with vegetables in the same crockpot--although no potatoes, which is her main allergy food. I added no seasonings at all, and we added it at the table, except that today I tasted the beef and decided it didn't need anything more. It was quite flavorful. Then we checked the package and saw that it already contained beef broth, salt, and natural flavorings. None of those things are on Clare's approved list, except in her own potato-free versions. And the peas I cooked had added salt--straight from the package. Last week she ate frozen peaches that Yolie gave her. They had ascorbic acid--another no-no. The good part is that she did not react with digestive upset or a migraine to any of these things.
While it would seem easy to avoid eating potatoes, the starch is added as an anti-caking agent to many, many dry foods, including salt and spices. And when it's processed in the same facility as foods containing potato starch, even supposedly potato-free foods can be a problem. So we are all very happy to have hope that the rigid food restrictions may be slowly lifting. She has experienced much better health in general since she learned to avoid the foods that trigger bad reactions.
**********************
I'm sure it's not hard to see why Clare is very motivated to produce as much of her own food as possible. This really is the best way to know exactly what you're eating. Who would have thought that frozen peas contain anything except frozen peas, and roast beef anything but muscle meat from a beef animal?
**********************
The time period has passed when rainfall was most likely tonight, and I didn't hear any rainfall. I'm going to pray about it again before I go to sleep.
Repeatedly over the past few weeks, we've had a string of cloudy days, but no significant moisture. This 80% we're hearing about now has fluctuated in per cent chances for rain from 40 to 60 and then 80 and back to 60 and now back to 80.
Yesterday at the Horticulture Club's annual plant sale, one of my faithful flower customers from market stopped to chat, and talked about the need for rain, finishing with "Well, we'll just have to keep praying for rain." I agreed, and this morning in Sunday School class we did just that.
***********************
Our Sunday School class also prayed for Tim M., who is to have a court hearing tomorrow. He is a friend of my brother's family, and others who have worked in Central American missions. Tim was arrested when he entered the US, and is facing charges of having aided someone who was in violation of a child custody order. The woman involved--and her child--traveled to the country where Tim was working, and they had contact with Tim there. They are elsewhere now, in an unknown location. The birth mother of the child is now a Christian, but the other "mother" is not a Christian, never adopted the child she now claims as her own, has not forsaken her immoral lifestyle, and has been awarded full custody of the child. What a mess.
I find comfort in knowing that the situation doesn't look nearly as tangled and impossible to God as it does to us.
************************
LeRoy told Joel in church today that he's still hoping that some speaker goes overtime in church during the time Lester T. is here. Lester is a mentally handicapped adult whose tolerance is so severely tried during long services that he's been known to sob openly when things go on too long for him. I think that would have a remarkable braking effect on long-windedness, and LeRoy perversely wishes to witness it.
Lester is still eager to shake hands with everyone after church, although he's less able to remember names than he used to be.
Lester has been loved and cared for by his family all his life, and he has many friends among his family's friends.
************************
My dad and Ollie and Emma were in church this morning as usual. What was unusual was that they had just arrived home from a straight-through drive from Harrisonburg, VA, arriving here around 9:30 A. M.
It was a great help to everyone in that load that my "young" cousins (in their 50s) , Omar and Orville, were along and did most of the driving.
Emma reported that she and Martha and Fannie got closer to being caught up on their visiting than had happened for a long time. They routinely sat together in the back seat of the van. The siblings and in-laws apparently really enjoyed being together on this long trip. Phone calls home from the van were accompanied by lively visiting in the background.
**********************
Clare and I worked together on planting a garden for them this weekend. The planting of a modest sized normal garden almost feels like playing. When the soil and breezes are soft and the sun is warm, and you're in good company, what could be more fun and hopeful than planting a garden?
*********************
We have only two weeks of school left. Ahhhhh. I can almost taste summer.
*********************
Last week I overheard a comment from a student who habitually turned in late written reports this year on the literature and current events selection of the month. He bemoaned the serious grade penalties incurred, and said he really ought to get his report in on time this time.
I let that comment pass, but later, when he was making another vague "I ought to . . . " comment about his written report, I seized the moment and told him he ought to consider gluing himself to his chair until it was done. "I'm not in an encouraging mode here," I continued. "I'm in a scolding mode."
He got his report in on time--at which time I lavished on him praise and "air" pats on the back, and urged the boy next to him to give him a real pat on the back.
If I had known scolding worked so well, I would have tried it sooner.
************************
I did another scolding thing last week, come to think of it. This followed a comment about people not signing up for the food production class--because some students had warned others that it would be a lot of work.
"That's what I suspected," I said, "and frankly it makes me a little mad." (Notice the precise, mature language.) "I think it sounds really whiney. It's hard work. So what? Waaaa-waaaaa."
I did allow that there would probably be ways to streamline the class, but that if you were going to get a food garden planted, there was really no way to accomplish that without quite a bit of planning and preparation and hard work.
If students could look ahead and realize that the hard work now of learning how to grow food efficiently is really easy compared to facing the necessity at some future time of having a garden with very little knowledge of how to do what is necessary--and experiencing failure as a result. That would be hard--to fail when there's a family depending on the garden to make money reach, or to provide nutrition that is hard to come by otherwise, or to avoid toxins that someone in the family might be very allergic to. Failure then/hard work now--what's so hard about this choice?
Caveat: Learning how to garden can happen without taking a class. That's how I learned gardening. I maintain, however, that it's not likely to ever be a source of much pleasure, or be pursued with any passion if a person does not at some point in life work closely with someone who is a passionate gardener. The same is true in many other subject areas--academic and practical, and is another good reason for taking a class in something you might actually be able to learn about on your own--because being able to learn from a passionate teacher is a gift. Exactly how do people expect to learn about something in the course of meeting the many obligations of adult life if they can't take time to learn about it when learning is part of their job description--while they're in school?
Looking for an easy route through school is probably an understandable student preference, but that doesn't make it noble. That's why there ought to be adults involved in the process--to save students from the hazards of their lazy tendencies.
*********************
On the bright side, one former student from the food production class is planning to do some market gardening this year. He contributed to the food production class discussion by saying he liked the class. That seemed like a revelation to the students who had heard only about the hard work involved.
************************
Yesterday I got a look at the almost-completed playscape at the Dillon Nature Center. It looks exactly like the kind of place children could enjoy for hours. There's a small man-made stream through the area, and a large area of piled up loose dirt for digging in. Trees surround the place and new trees are planted within it. I'm sure any young child would discover a lot that I missed.
It also makes me feel good about having had our children grow up where they had access to many of those same play opportunities while they were growing up--because they lived where there was an out-back that was OK for digging in. They made their own lakes and streams and roads and bridges outdoors, in the sheep pen.
If I had to choose between a nice house and an interesting outdoors, I'd go with the interesting outdoors--especially if I was raising boys.
********************
My mom is having a bout with shingles. Since this has happened before, Linda knows some tricks to alleviate the pain and speed recovery. Avoiding shingles entirely would be preferable, of course. Joel wonders whether she has considered getting the shingles shot. I didn't know such a thing was available.
Clare says she has had shingles twice. I've never had it, and I'm happy to leave it that way.
*******************
Clare has accidentally ingested some of the foods she's had allergic reactions to in the past, without adverse results this time. We're all hopeful that this means she is gradually becoming more tolerant of these things.
Twice in recent weeks I have cooked a beef roast for Sunday lunch, with vegetables in the same crockpot--although no potatoes, which is her main allergy food. I added no seasonings at all, and we added it at the table, except that today I tasted the beef and decided it didn't need anything more. It was quite flavorful. Then we checked the package and saw that it already contained beef broth, salt, and natural flavorings. None of those things are on Clare's approved list, except in her own potato-free versions. And the peas I cooked had added salt--straight from the package. Last week she ate frozen peaches that Yolie gave her. They had ascorbic acid--another no-no. The good part is that she did not react with digestive upset or a migraine to any of these things.
While it would seem easy to avoid eating potatoes, the starch is added as an anti-caking agent to many, many dry foods, including salt and spices. And when it's processed in the same facility as foods containing potato starch, even supposedly potato-free foods can be a problem. So we are all very happy to have hope that the rigid food restrictions may be slowly lifting. She has experienced much better health in general since she learned to avoid the foods that trigger bad reactions.
**********************
I'm sure it's not hard to see why Clare is very motivated to produce as much of her own food as possible. This really is the best way to know exactly what you're eating. Who would have thought that frozen peas contain anything except frozen peas, and roast beef anything but muscle meat from a beef animal?
**********************
The time period has passed when rainfall was most likely tonight, and I didn't hear any rainfall. I'm going to pray about it again before I go to sleep.
posted by Mrs. I at
8:41 PM
1 Comments:
I liked the bit you wrote about an interesting outdoors for raising boys. I think our boys are blessed.:)They already have a sand pile, a dirt pile, two tepees, lots of trees to climb, chickens and a dog to play with, Daddy's tools to mess with in the shop, several water hydrants, and endless other possibilities.
By
Rosina, at 4/29/2011
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