Black and White Dictionary Entries and Gray News

The dictionary that lives beside my desk at school is a hard worker.  It comes willingly at my summons--often multiple times a day.  Rarely a day goes by without it leaving the shelf at least once.  Good old Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary.  The students seem to have been fooled into thinking I just know words.  If they use a dictionary as often as I do, they'll learn words too.

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Several times recently when I've read aloud to the students from a magazine or newspaper, I've had the uncomfortable feeling that what I was reading was going right over their heads.  Mind you, this was not my language going over their heads; it was the language of popular media.  When I see this happening, I try to insert some explanation, and I don't apologize for exposing them to language that requires a bit of mental stretching, but I'm a little troubled by the disconnect also.

I wish for enough curiosity on their part to delve into material on the editorial page of the newspaper, and enough interest to read feature articles in the news magazines we get at school.  I'm pretty sure that nothing I can do will be enough to insure that they will exit high school well-informed and literate in the best sense of the word, unless they expend some effort in this regard.

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I read aloud two articles today from The Week during the break in the middle of typing class.  If you're familiar with this magazine you already know that it features compilations of writings from a variety of other sources.

For example, today I read one collection of snippets on the recent flareup of conflict between Israel and Gaza.  At least one writer thought Gaza clearly gained ground (figuratively), another thought Israel is in a better place than ever since they were able to achieve "peace" without a ground offensive, and another writer thought nothing much had changed.

The other article had several writers holding forth on whether or not objectionable social media posts, especially by young people, should be preserved on a separate site (jezebel.com), with the potential in the future for haunting the people who posted them.  It's obviously intended as a deterrent to disrespectful (especially racist) posts.  Poor posting judgement could negatively affect college admissions and job prospects.  As you'd expect, some writers thought it served "them" right, and others thought it was wrong to be so vindictive toward "them."

One student who had already expressed an opinion before all the viewpoints were read aloud, said, when I was finished, "How are you supposed to know what to think if you read all those different viewpoints?"  Obvious question, but it hadn't occurred to me that someone might ask.  I love it though when a student practically plops a soapbox down in front of me.

I said some version of the following:  It's important to know that most issues aren't black or white.  There are a few such things, and the Bible tells us what they are, but they aren't these two things (referring to the articles I had just read).  If you get all your news from only one source, you're likely to think that's the only right viewpoint out there, but that's usually not true.  Almost always people with a variety of perspectives all have a piece of the truth, and maybe a piece of error as well.  Things come out looking more gray than black or white.  If you have to write a paper or make a speech on the subject, you'll have to choose a position you can defend, but you'll always need to keep in mind that other people can speak on the same subject and defend a different position.  You don't have to hold a black or white view of these things.  Staying sane and being rational often requires being at peace with uncertainty and mystery.

How would you have answered?

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In comp class we've been having fun talking about brothers Sam, Dan, and Noah, who all lived in this community many years ago.  I remember Dan and Noah, but not Sam, who died in his 40s.  Sparking  discussion on this subject is our work on the community writing project for the year--also, an insightful comment from my friend Marian last Sunday.  She puzzled a bit over why the children of these men did not seem to have maintained a strong relationship with their cousins, although they all grew up within one mile of each other.  She identified the extended families of each of these men as having distinct and distinguishing characteristics.  One was intelligent.  Another had a plethora of ministers and missionaries among the descendants.  The third had good business sense.    Marian also referred to a bit of friction she knew about between several of the women married to these brothers.

Some of the students in comp class are descendants of these men.  For the first time, they realized that we have several third-cousin combinations among members of the class.  Trust me, I didn't point this out--too risky among high schoolers who may not want or may too much want connections like this.  Best to let them decide whether or not to wade into the minefield.

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In one of those dictionary consults recently, I was much relieved to find this definition for "cow": a domestic bovine animal of any sex or age.  While it will almost certainly grate on the sensibilities of any farm kid or grownup to refer to a young male bovine strolling around in forbidden territory as "that cow that's always getting out,"  it's good to know that whoever says that has the aforementioned Merriam-Webster on his or her side.

I've already noted that I need to moderate  my view of Hiromi's recent announcements about #57, one of the animals in Shane's small beef herd--the animal we've seen at various times across the road in Tim's milo field, strolling around the bend of our "U" driveway by the house, and exploring among the big round hay bales waiting their turn at the winter hay feeder.  Hiromi has called "it" a "cow," a "calf," and a "he."  Such confusing terms were really beginning to annoy me.

"Figure out what it is, so you can use the right term," I suggested pointedly one day.

"What do I know?" he answered--his stock answer when he really means "It doesn't matter and I don't care and you're being slightly annoying."  Nevertheless, the next time he called Shane about the errant bovine individual, he said into Shane's voice mail "and Mommie wants to know if #57 is a boy or girl.  I don't know why she needs to know, but she's been asking me."  He even opened the door where I was showering to make sure I heard him say it into the phone.  I had to laugh but he didn't see it, hidden as I was behind the shower curtain.

"It's a heifer," Shane told us both the other night.  I hope I don't have to explain "heifer" to Hiromi.  This silliness has gone on long enough.

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Shane is sure that the electric fence is "smoking hot," so on Sunday night he was picking Myron's brain for clues about why #57 keeps getting out.  "She's not a bit wild," he said.

"It's too dry," Myron said.  "The cattle can walk right through an electric fence without getting shocked when they've got a thick winter coat and there's not enough moisture in the air or soil to create a good 'ground.'  I couldn't keep my cattle inside a small pen once when it was dry--until I laid a soaker hose around the perimeter of the pen and let it run for a whole day."

Sigh.  Rain would be so much simpler than soaker hoses.  Plentiful sunshine is what we have instead.

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Tomorrow is the funeral for Barbara Nisly, who died Sunday at age 84.  She was the last Nisly in the Old Order Amish church in Kansas.  Earlier many dozens of people by that name were part of this group.

Barbara's body will be buried at the West Center cemetery--the fourth burial there in as many weeks.