Grace

The human spirit is something that never ceases to amaze me. Maybe it's the state of the nation, maybe it's the economy, or maybe it's just the age range and point I'm at in life, but in the last few years, I've seen several of my friends go through some very tough times. And, I can only marvel at the grace they've shown in the midst of things.
Some of the things are stressful of course in the moment, like getting your purse stolen with who knows what credit cards and financial information in it, or having a kid get in trouble and labeled at school, or having your car break down on a monthly basis. They can certainly cause chaos for the time being, but they aren't the end of the world.

Then, there are the really big things that are beyond stressful. There are things like losing your home when the housing market crashes and your spouse loses their job, or losing your spouse altogether to divorce. They aren't the end of the world either, but seeing people I care about go through these things is scary. The reality that really lousy things don't just happen to other people- they also happen to people we know, very good people- and of course, they could happen to us too- it's not a comforting thought. Knowing that sometimes teens who had awesome mothers still can have serious problems and do stupid things is pretty unsettling, as is knowing that hardworking and responsible people can lose all they've worked for in a recession. I really don't like the fact that even when you try to do all the right things, it doesn't always work out.

While these hard times make me see that none of us is invincible, they also show me that I am blessed to know some incredibly strong women. I'm in awe at the inner resources of one friend as she weaves a new life with her kids- leaving behind her home of 20 years and her unfaithful spouse who didn't deserve her. My heart aches when I talk with other friends as they find drug treatment programs and eating disorder specialists for their nearly grown children. I can't even imagine the pain of watching a child go through this. I have nothing to offer but prayers and hugs. I don't discount the value of those- I just wish I could do something concrete to fix things.

But, seeing the courage and grace that these ladies have is nothing short of inspiring. I wonder how they do it. I certainly don't feel that I hold up as well when the going gets tough. I may make a semi decent public appearance, but stress gets to me- it effects my ability to eat, to sleep, to be a good wife, mother and friend. When my stomach and every other muscle in my body is in knots, I just don't feel like smiling or laughing or listening. I feel more like crawling in a hole or vomiting. I complain, whine, and vent repeatedly. I clench my jaw, grate my teeth, flare my nostrils and furrow my brow. But, smiling, laughing and listening are probably more of the things I actually need most at those times.

As one friend told me the other day though, what choice do we have but to hold up? You can let things ruin you, or you can keep going. No, it's not always easy to put one foot in front of the other, and sometimes you do just need to cry and wonder "why me?" But if you get stuck in that place, then you're missing out on what you have left of life.

When I recently heard that the 9 year old son of some old friends who we haven't seen in years is undergoing treatment for cancer, I wanted to cry. It also puts a lot in perspective- losing things doesn't really matter in the end- it's people that are important.

As I chatted with my friend, who is handling some pretty stressful life events herself in a most admirable way, she said that of course she has moments when she can't believe what is happening, but she tries to keep thinking that someday the problems of today would be in  the past- that at some point, they'd be looking back on it. Maybe they wouldn't exactly look back and laugh, but at least the current crisis would be over.

At some point, our whole lives are something we'll be looking back on. Whether we're feeling like today is good or bad, as of tomorrow, it will be gone. So, on my stressful days, I'm telling myself to buck up buttercup, not let the crazies get me down, and all that good stuff. I am blessed to be surrounded by wonderful people and beautiful sights that are wonderful salve for a broken spirit if I let them be. I may not get through tough times gracefully, but I will get through them. I know the healing power of good friends and good laughs- not to mention chocolate- and I'm reminding myself daily to enjoy them.

So, what helps you through the stressful times?

Hat Creek Hiking

After a sluggish winter of not nearly enough exercise, I have been feeling more than ready to get moving this summer. My dear husband has taken up running, and while he is reaping the benefits of getting in shape and feeling great, I don't really see myself following in those footsteps. He has kindly encouraged me to come along, but I am pretty sure that would be a disaster. I have absolutely no desire to run. I rarely if ever do it unless something scary is chasing me. Walking however, I like. Hiking is something I enjoy as well, and my kids are at a great stage to hike along with me.

Luckily for us, the hills of Northern California are filled with wonderful hiking opportunities. Sometimes, we take the dogs, and sometimes we don't, but I am always on the lookout for dog friendly hiking adventures.

I was feeling a little like a neglectful dog owner recently, so I decided we needed to take our two canines on our next mountain hike. We chose to explore the Hat Creek area between Lassen National Park and Burney Falls. We didn't really have a clear plan, other than we wouldn't be hitting the main parks this trip. National Parks tend not to allow dogs on any trails, so that wouldn't really work with my hiking plan. I also tend to avoid potential crowds even more when I have my dogs because their friendly lunch stealing and shaking off all over people ends up being embarrassing and annoying.

I am not a fisher woman, but apparently, the Hat Creek area is big stuff with the fishing crowd. The creek itself is frigid, but my big beastly dog did not mind in the least. In fact, he seemed to relish in it. The air temperatures are probably 10 degrees cooler than in the nearby valleys, which can be a big plus in the oppressive heat of summer. We stopped at a cute little visitor center, and found out that in addition to cave hikes and lava flows (both of which would be really bad news for dogs foot pads,) there was also a nice trail that followed the creek out of a campground for a few miles.  It was perfect for us.

It was relatively flat with only a few rolling hills. Most of the trail was dappled in shade, and cushioned with pine needles, which are especially nice for my big dog who is a notorious tender foot. Best of all, I don't think I saw any poison oak the whole time. The dogs had a blast sniffing all the new scents, and attempting to chase chipmunks. The kids and I enjoyed the serenity and beauty of tall trees, flowing water and wildlife.

I did see one interesting sign, encouraging visitors not to touch the wildlife as there had been confirmed cases of plague in wild animals in the area in recent years. Plague!?! Plague!?!  How on earth can there be plague in the United States in the year 2010? It's like something out of the 1600's or something. I wanted to take a picture of the sign, but my camera batteries died.

Well, I decided not to let a little thing like the possibility of catching the plague dampen my lovely hike with my family. I wasn't planning on playing with wild rodents anyway, and I'd be sure to keep my dogs on the leash so they didn't. Since my dear husband wasn't along for this particular hike, we didn't have to have the discussion where he insinuates that I am over controlling by keeping the dogs from running loose. I was actually rather surprised at how non-freaked I became about the whole thing myself. I only did a tiny bit of research on plague in North America when I got home, but after our amoeba incident, I made a conscious choice not to allow myself to get carried away with it. I'm sometimes a little paranoid about things I read, but come on, plague?

Anyway, other than that little bit of strangeness, it was a gorgeous day. At the visitor center, we had also picked up some brochures on local trees and birds of the area, so while we stopped for our typical chocolate, fruit and cheese picnic, we also did a little nature study and tried to spot and identify what we could (keeping a safe distance from all potential plague carrying animals, of course.)

A few years ago, a fire went through the area, and there were still plenty of scarred hillsides. But, it wasn't totally devastated as I've seen other fire ravished areas be, and there was still plenty of beautiful green life to enjoy. We want to go back up to visit again, next time without dogs, so we can explore the Subway Cave,and some of the other non- dog friendly lava rock trails in the area. We left for home inspired to take more hikes, go camping, and enjoy the gorgeousness of the great outdoors as much as we can this summer.

I always love hearing about other fun destinations for hiking, especially dog friendly ones. Where are you hiking this summer?

Independence Day

I love celebrations of all kinds, and the 4th of July festivities that commemorate our freedom with BBQ and fireworks are a summer favorite. I'm not normally a fan of big crowded events, and tend to shy away from lakes and campgrounds on holiday weekends when the loud and sloppy party crowd is out in full force, but we did want to see some colorful and pretty explosions this year. We decided to try out a small towns 3rd of July celebration and fireworks show that wasn't too far away, thinking that would be a charming and nostalgic kind of thing.
Wrong.
First of all, we needed to pick up a few things for the next day, like a watermelon and salad fixings, and we knew nothing would be open after the show. Well, the nearest store to the fireworks set off point was a Super Walmart, so for the sake of time, we stopped there. I'm not a big fan of the shopping experience I get at a Super Walmart, but I was determined not to be judgmental about the excessively short shorts or colorful vocabulary that were abundant. We got our melon, cucumber and carrots and got out in no time. We noticed the dirt lot across the street was packed with cars and lawn chairs, but I told dear husband that I was sure that there must be another spot we could watch the show besides the Walmart parking lot. I've had a number of instances lately that really make my life look more hillbilly-ish than I care for (like friends laughing at my having a tiny working TV stacked on top of a larger broken TV in my living room because dear husband "forgot" to take the broken appliance to the the recycle center, but that's another story.) At this point, I really just wanted to get a better view of the show, so I suggested we find another parking spot.
Well, we got a view of a show all right.
We drove through a few sketchy hoods, that were a tad on the scary side, but finally found a spot to park alongside the main road in a long line of other cars. The show started late, but we were excited when the local yokel politician finally quit talking, and the girl quit singing "The Star Spangled Banner," and at long last, the sky started to light up.

Just a few minutes into it though, the people standing a few cars in front of us began moving into the road, blocking traffic and waving. In seconds a police car stops with lights blinking, and we hear someone say that a woman is passing out. The officer brings a lady right up to the vehicle in front of us and starts questioning her about how long since she's had a drink, how many Vicadin she's taken, when she last ate or slept. We're really trying to watch the fireworks, but they are kind of right in our peripheral vision and it's a little distracting. The police lights flashing in our faces are kind of diminishing the spectacular effect of the show. A man behind us with his toddler did a great job of making the police lights seem to be just part of the show for his young innocent kid, but mine are old enough to figure out what's going on. The  lady is kind of weaving around and unable to complete most of the tests, but she gave it her all on the breathalizer, which I suspect she failed miserably on.

It wasn't a surprise that she ended up in handcuffs, and while I really wasn't thrilled at my kids witnessing her arrest (this is exactly why we don't watch much in the way of TV,) the worst part was that there were kids in her car with her too. When I heard someone call "Mom?" from near her car my heart just sunk.
It really put a damper on my celebration of freedom thinking that this woman will most likely be spending the holiday in jail, while there is a good chance those kids will be in the care of Child Protective Services for the weekend at least. What a sad thing for those kids to remember the rest of their lives. I can only hope that the intoxicated woman wasn't the driver, but just under the influence in public. Maybe there was another safe adult in the family, someone the kids know and could go with rather than spend the weekend in a strange foster home. Mostly I am glad that no one was hurt, that she wasn't able to drive that night and put peoples' lives at risk, and that she didn't make a big scene about the arrest. I hope those kids are in a safe place, and that they are resilient, because that's really got to be a lousy memory- the year mom got arrested at the freedom festival.
Besides the up close and personal live reality show, we found out the reason the fireworks started so late was due to high winds and fire danger. It was also the reason they cut the show short and had no grand finale to speak of. We drove home trying to feel celebratory, but it was a bit phony.
Today, I think we'll do a quiet family celebration, and avoid the drama of the general public. Despite the fact that I wish my kids could just stay innocent in their happy little bubble rather than see some other kids mother intoxicated and getting arrested, I know that we have much to be thankful for- we are after all free- and many, many people in the world are not. We can express our opinions (even though I wish some people, like the politician last night, would stop talking,) we can wear what we want (even though I really wish some people would not choose to wear the unsightly things they do) and we have countless rights and blessings that so much of the world will never, ever know.
The unpleasant experience did give us a good chance to talk about how the legal justice system works in our country, and in others, as the kids had a few questions. There we go, learning all the time again.
I'd love to hear how other people handle it when their kids have unplanned eye opening experiences like this.
I also hope everyone else has a happy, safe (and drama free) 4th of July. How are you celebrating?

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

When first picking up The Invention of Hugo Cabret at the library, I didn't know what to think. I was assigned the book for a Children's Literature Class, and frankly, I was a little alarmed at the thickness it, wondering how we were going to finish that many pages in the time allotted.

The Caldecott Medal, of course, was an indicator that the book will typically be a good one, and it was. The trouble with reading a book for a literature class though, is that it tends to be dissected and over analyzed to death before the class is done with it.While it's nice to have a discussion about themes and patterns, at some point, I just like to enjoy the book. Despite my annoyance with the overkill of literary analysis for my class, this was a book my family and I did enjoy.

Upon opening it, I was surprised at the large number of illustrations (as well as a bit relieved.) I don't think I have ever seen such a thick book with so many pictures. I didn't really know what genre to put it in. It's too wordy to be a picture book, and I usually associated graphic novels with Pokemon, or other big headed cartoon style books. This was a real story, full of action, adventure, mystery and interesting characters and places, it just also happens to have a ton of really awesome drawings.

While the story is fiction, there are a couple of historical elements that a homeschooling mama naturally expands on. The character of Georges Melies was based on a real person- a French filmmaker from the earliest days of cinema, and the guy was really cutting edge in his time. We were able to find a bunch of Melies films at the library, and had a fun mini marathon of his old black and white films. It's hard to believe how far cinema and special effects have come.

The automaton in the story is inspired by a real and incredible machine made in the early 1800's by Henri Maillardet. It's sort of like a mechanical robot that can perform certain tasks. This one is a rustic looking bunch of nuts and bolts that actually write out poems in a very fancy script and draw pictures. I have such respect for the amazing minds that can come with ideas like these. We were also able to find video of Maillardet's automaton online, and see it in action after it's reconstruction. How on earth someone ever looks at a pile of screws and comes up with putting something like that together, I don't understand, but wow!

The drawings in the book though, with their intricate details, were really what set the book apart. Selznick uses an interesting technique-tackling a scene or sequence of events from different perspectives. He takes various angles of the same scene from afar, and moves in to close ups, looks at the scene from above, below, behind and in front. The incredible illustrations enhanced the story, and the level of detail more than made up for the lack of color. The black and white at the end photos added to the old time feel of the story.

With it's hefty size, it may not look like a bit of light reading, but we found it an interesting, fun paced book. It's well worth checking out for both the pictures and the story.

What books are you all reading this summer?

Old Shasta

California history is one of those things that I can't imagine having any worries that my kids are not learning enough about.

In fact, I can't really picture them not picking up on a great deal of the history just by the fact that they live in the state, and well, we go places and explore things.

Northern California still has a lot of wild west, gold rush type places that are easy to explore for free or on the cheap. 

 Like the cute little town of Old Shasta along Highway 299. It's tiny, and the place you could really drive by without thinking much about it, but we decided to stop there for a stroll along the wooden sidewalks.

Apparently, the town was once the hub of Shasta county, until the railroad bypassed it and went through the town Redding instead (which of course, then became the county seat.)

Now, it's a row of very cool crumbled brick buildings.  There's a museum in the old courthouse, and the gallows which actually had at least one public hanging of a bank robber. (They have a picture of the event, and his jeans with bullet holes and all from the attempted getaway.) There's also an old fashioned brick oven bakery and a blacksmith shop which are open at certain times complete with folks dressed in historical garb demonstrating what life used to be like.

Mainly, there are lots of unsafe structures to explore, and which my boy child naturally wanted to climb all over. My Girl Child looked like she was thinking that it might actually be a fun idea too, and they were both a little disappointed that I said no. I figured those remnants have withstood the last hundred years of fire, rain, earthquakes and storms, and it would be really embarrassing to have my children be the ones that knocked the historical site down in the end. Not to mention that broken bones and hospital visits tend to ruin a perfectly good outing. I know, I know....I'm such a stick in the mud.

Thankfully, there was plenty to check out around the buildings without actually climbing on them, so the kids still had a nice time, despite the fact that I spoiled their plan of balance beam walking like Ninjas on a one hundred year old crumbling brick wall.
After exploring a bit, we had a lovely picnic of cheese, crackers, fruit and Nutella on a big sunny lawn in front of a beautiful replica of a huge barn that burned down at some point in the past. Chocolate covered fruit does help ease all kinds of disappointments. They may think I'm cautious, but at least I carry good snacks.

Recycled Crayons

A few years ago, my kids got this electric "crayon making" machine, which was a very nice thought, but never came out of the box. The idea of making crayons was neat, and I assumed we would melt down old crayon stubs to make new ones. The kit however, came with a bunch of perfectly good crayons to melt and pour into new crayon molds. That seemed like a waste of energy and time to me. It didn't even suggest making swirl crayons or anything- just taking something that was already usable, and using up a bunch of time and effort to make the exact same thing. We're not fans of busy work in our homeschool or our lives- there are enough real things to do in life- so the box got buried under some of those other things.

I came across it recently, and we all decided to pass it on to someone else who might actually use it. But, we still liked the idea of making crayons, and we had a jar full of old, busted stubs that were eager for their new lives. We also had a little muffin tin that had been part of a play kitchen set leftover from my childrens' younger days which looked like the perfect alternative crayon mold, and we figured that our oven would work just fine for melting.
I remember being a child, and so badly wanting an "easy bake oven" which was heavily advertised on TV in the late 1970's. I never got one, but was very disappointed when I actually saw one in real life. It was just an overpriced plastic box that used a light bulb to cook with. Why not just let your kid cook with a real oven? I mean, I don't think it was at all about safety because people didn't really seem to focus on safety in the 1970's in the same way they do now. Kids bounced around in the back of the car with no seat belts while adultts smoked in the front, and it doesn't seem like anyone thought a thing about it. Besides, theoretically, a kid could easily burn down the house with an easy bake oven as well as a real one. In fact, I think my mom may have used that argument as to why I didn't get one, along with the fact that it was stupid. In hindsight, she was right, but I was disappointed nonetheless.

Anyway, my point was that I wanted my own kids to know how to use a real oven, and they do. I don't think it ever would have occurred to them to buy a plastic machine that made obnoxious humming noise in its' attempts to produce low hear, whether for making cupcakes or crayons, especially when they could just turn the real oven on.

So, we melted a few batches, and the end result was these cute little crayon rounds. Since the broken bits we started with included crayons with wide range of age and quality, the finished product is a bit of mix too. They all look pretty neat, but some have waxy colorless bits swirled in that don't leave any color when you try to draw with them on paper. Oh well, at least they look pretty, even if they don't function all that well for the intended purpose. Maybe we should remelt them and add wicks to turn them into tiny tea light candles, or maybe call them magical play muffins and give them to a young friend to play with.
Any other ideas as to what to do with these cute little crayons that don't draw?

Tadpole Trauma

Every year about this time, we do a massive tadpole rescue operation. The creek that borders our property flows seasonally- it goes from raging in the winter to mostly dry with the exception of a few puddles in the summer. We are down there a lot in the spring admiring all the new life, and while we catch and observe them for a few minutes, we don't take them from their home.
I've had other kids think I'm a big meanie for making them leave tadpoles in their creek home, but I figure if it has enough water to sustain them, that's where they should be- squiggling free. But, at some point when the rains stop for the season, you pretty much know that the tadpoles who still have tails but no legs are not likely to finish developing in time to hop away before the watery home dries up altogether.

I'm a big softy when it comes to animals, especially young ones, and the thought of dried up tadpoles disturbs me more than captive ones. So for the last few years, each spring when there is not much chance they'll make it otherwise, we head out with buckets and retrieve as many as we can. We have a big aquarium that we set up on our front porch for just this purpose. It has rocks and plants from the creek, and is open on the top with branches to help them climb / hop out to freedom when they're ready.
In years past, we've also had water skimmers make the habitat their home, as well as a few mosquito larvae (I catch and feed the mosquito larvae to chickens- I have no mercy or soft spot for them.)

This year, we had a horrid new bug stop by to eat at the habitat. It was a back swimmer, a true bug with a piercing mouth that is used both to suck plant juices, and to inject digestive juices into prey (such as tadpoles.) These nasty creatures can both fly and swim (they swim upside down, hence the name.) We had a handful get in our human swimming pool last year- they use their hideous mouth to bite humans too and it hurts, probably because of the digestive juices, which is just really creepy to think about.
Well, I was out observing my cute little tadpoles, and the tiny little frogs in our porch habitat, when I saw a most traumatizing site. One of those evil back swimmers was under water, upside down- it had it's disgusting mouth latched onto a cute little frog and was pulling it under! It was awful! I think I probably screamed something like "Oh my gosh you evil demon creature- what are you doing?!?" and quickly grabbed a nearby cup that one of my children had left on the porch. I scooped up the attacker and his victim, who were firmly attached, and yelled for my children. I'm not sure that I really thought through why on earth they should witness this disturbing scene, but they heard me and came running. We all hollered about the brutality of nature for a minute, and then tried to save the poor little frog, but sadly, it was too late for him. Nevertheless, we promptly smashed the awful back swimmer before he could find another victim or reproduce any more of his terrible kind. Again, no soft spot here.

Later the same day, we had another interesting encounter with nature. My Boy Child was scooping cupfuls of our habitat water and checking out what was in it up close when he came across another rather ugly insect near the bottom. I almost judged it based on it's ugliness, but then I thought it looked a little familiar, like it was possibly a dragonfly nymph. We looked it up in the Handbook of Nature Study, and sure enough, it was a little dragonfly in the making. Now, for another dilemma...apparently this little fellow is also a voracious predator too. Its one thing to know that he's ugly as sin right now, but will someday be a beautiful dragonfly, and it's another to know that he too is probably going to eat a bunch of our tadpoles along the way.

We kept him in a cup for a few hours while we decided. First, we read a bunch. On the plus side, we all enjoy the sight of dragonflies gracefully skimming through the air on summer evenings, and once they take wing, they eat other flying insects like mosquitoes by the dozen. They also eat mosquito larvae in the water while in the nymph stage which is another bonus. But, they aren't particular diners, so there's a good chance he'd also eat some of our our little legless frogs to be as well. They can also take years to get to the flight stage, and there was no way I'm keeping this tank habitat up for years. We looked for another body of water that might support him- preferably one that was full of mosquito larvae. Unbelievably, we couldn't find anyplace that looked like he could live there.

None of us felt right about dumping him, and since we hadn't seen him in the act of killing as we had with evil back swimmer, we certainly didn't feel he deserved a direct death sentence. We didn't really like the idea of him munching our tadpoles, but in the end, we decided that we'd take the risk. We did have about 12 million tadpoles in the tank, so a few might be sacrificial ones for our dragonfly. One nice thing is that dragonfly nymphs are bottom dwellers, so we wouldn't need to look at his ugliness or the carnage of his feeding.

Well, maybe a week later, I was out observing again, and I saw this little guy hiding in the grass. Our little nymph had just completed his transformation to his new dragonfly form- his wings weren't even dry yet, and his empty nymph shell was still right there next to him. It was very neat for the kids to see. We spotted another empty nymph shell in the grass, and later, found another nymph in the water. Apparently, we had more than one dragonfly, which was very cool. We also still have 12 million tadpoles, so we don't feel bad about the possibility that a few were snacked on either.
We're starting to get more and more little frogs every day. I have a feeling it's going to be a noisy summer around here.

Thrift Store Madness

I just had a rather surreal thrift shop experience- the kind of thing that made me feel like there was a hidden camera somewhere, and people everywhere where laughing at my ridiculous situation. I already have a wavering relationship with thrift stores. Some days, I find an amazing deal on a vintage purse or bargain book and I love them. Other days, I see only overpriced, musty smelling junk that I hesitate to touch, and leave with the desire to wash my hands immediately.

Well, there is one awesome little thrift shop in my area that rarely gives me that feeling of needing a shower because everything in it is pretty darn clean and usually in really good condition. It's run by a group of elderly church ladies, is only open once a month, and not at all during the summer, but it's usually well worth it to stop in if I'm in town that day because they have the smoking hot deals. I am almost always amazed at the work these ladies must do to sort through the junk and organize things. Some of the stuff even looks like it's been folded and pressed. Even the idea of someone ironing a pillowcase makes me think of some sweet old time days that were long gone before I came into the world. A trip to this particular shop is usually a very pleasant experience. In years past, I've purchased a beautiful burgundy wool trench coat there for less than $10, and my daughter found some gorgeous embroidered vintage gloves for $2. I'm a sucker for a bargain, and usually love this place, but yesterday was a different story.

Yesterday, they were having their last sale of the season, and so I headed over for the last bit of my lunch break from the office. I rummaged around, but none of the clothing, household items or accessories really caught my eye. I had used up most of my break, but I hate to leave empty handed, so I thought I'd get a couple of remotely interesting books. The sign said that kids books were 10 cents, other paperbacks were 25 cents and hardbacks were 50 cents. It's hard to go wrong there. I picked out a kids book on card games, a kids novel about some kids who find a magic map, and a novel for myself. At the check out station, a lady I hadn't seen before was bagging the items and calling out the prices to the cashier in a very official way.

"O.K. Three books, $1.50,"  she told her.
"Oh, I thought kid books were 10 cents?" I asked. It really didn't matter, as it was a charity and all. I was just curious.
"You're saying you only want to pay 30 cents for these 3 books?" she asked in a rather loud and appalled voice.
"No, I mean I'll buy them anyway. The sign just said kids books were 10 cents." I mumbled feeling a tad embarrassed at the way she said that.
"I don't think these are kids books" she says in a huff flipping through them.
"Um, it really doesn't matter, but two of them are kid books." She's looking skeptical, so I explain. "Well, usually a book on card games for adults wouldn't have pictures of a smiling 8 year old holding giant playing cards on every page, and this novel about kids, well, it's written for kids."
"So, you're saying you only want to pay 30 cents for these?!" She was kind of shouting and starting to sound like the soup Nazi from Seinfeld.
"No, it's fine, I can pay $1.50," I say, but she's glaring at me, so I explain "I was actually only saying two of them are kids books anyway- the one with the kid playing cards on the cover, and the one about the kids with the magic map. Those are pretty much kid books- the other one is a paperback which I thought said 25 cents."

Why I was trying to explain this, I don't know. I just wanted to buy the books and go on my way. Why she wouldn't listen to what I was trying to tell her, and was instead looking at me like I was trying to pull a major scam over a couple bucks at a rummage sale, I don't know either, but for some reason, I felt I should defend my honor.
The cashier was looking at both of us like she had witnessed this kind of ugly price war display before, and wasn't looking forward to another episode. She asked "OK, so what are we doing?"
I started to tell her again to just sell me the stupid books and take my stinking $1.50 because I really need to get back to work when Mrs. Overcharge grabs them and says "Well, I have to show these to my supervisor and see if they were put in the wrong place by mistake."
Seriously? I can't believe she is still acting like they aren't kids books- as if adult books usually have main characters that are little kids who fight evil magicians... as if adult card books need to explain that a King is worth more than a 9 either!
I said I'd buy them for $1.50, even though I have no idea where she got that price, but she just has to try to prove me wrong. I can't believe she thinks I am actually trying to scam them out pocket change. I mean, I know I didn't iron my shirt that morning, but I don't look that shabby. And I really can't believe there is a line forming and she has taken off with my books, like I have all day to deal with this. I didn't even really want the books, and I was being trapped in a dramatic altercation over them. The cashier is looking at me in a very uncomfortable way. I like to think she was on my side, but didn't want to cross the Price Checker.
"Just go ahead and ring those people up," I say, not wanting everyone else to have to wait on this nonsense. I walk over to where Old Grumpy Butt is talking rapid fire to the boss, and I overhear her saying in a shocked tone "and she only wants to pay 30 cents for these!"
I'm mortified. This old lady, who seems to have a bit of trouble hearing, understanding and adding, is portraying me as a villain. I am so embarrassed. I hate to talk smack about my elders, but she was clearly nuts, or having a very difficult senior moment at the very least.
For one thing I said I'd pay the lousy $1.50, and for another thing, the correct pricing would have been 45 cents, not 30 cents (2 KID BOOKS at 10 cents each, and one paperback at 25) I never said they were ALL kid books, and I never said I only wanted to pay 30 cents.
The manager is looking very confused at what in the heck her over zealous volunteer was talking about, and by this time, there were like 6 more people in line at the register. I know that every transaction will take nearly five minutes, because speed and efficiency is not really possible in this crowd. I am totally going to be late by now, and Crazy Lady is clutching the books like I'd grab them and run at any minute.

"You know, it's OK, I actually have to go back to work now. I don't need the books. It really wasn't that big of a deal. I was just saying that those two are actually childrens books."
So, I left- embarrassed and empty handed. I was also a bit confused myself. I can't believe I just had that ridiculous and illogical exchange. It's very frustrating to not be heard or believed. Of course it was just a couple of books and a bit of change, but it was also the point. This lady wouldn't or couldn't listen to anything I was trying to get across, nor would she just let me buy the books without a scene.
I probably should have just said "You're right. Those are adult books," even though they clearly were not... "and I'd be happy to pay whatever price you decide to make up for them- I'm sure those price signs were just a suggestion anyway." See I can't even pretend to do it without sarcasm, but I don't know if even a completely sarcasm free apology would have helped because she seemed to be on a mission to make me suffer. Besides, biting my tongue is not my strong point. It's not often that I feel like throwing a cuss word at someone older than my grandma, but this was one of those times. Thankfully, I resisted the urge.
Hopefully, by the time they open the shop back up in the fall, she will have moved on to another volunteer committee, or at least stopped being near the register to harass customers. I feel like she has marked me in her mind as a trouble making criminal, but hopefully, she'll lose my face in her short term memory. I hate to think of her spoiling all my future excursions there.
I told this story to a friend, and she knew exactly who I was talking about because apparently, she had seen her action as well. My friend is just nicer than me, and didn't open her mouth in the first place. At least I can take solace in knowing I wasn't her only victim.

BeesWax Sculpting

Just about everyone has played with clay in some form or another- or at least I would hope so. Some get to use real kiln dried clay at some point in their lives, but most most get to play with Play Doh as a toddler at the very least. But, have you ever sculpted with beeswax? This stuff is really fun.

I came across it in a Waldorf homeschooling catalog years ago, and it reminded me of the wax around those little Baby Belle soft cheese wedges. I used to smash them up and sculpt with them as a child, and my own children have carried on the tradition.

Well, I am all about the recycling when it comes to crafty projects, and we do enjoy cheese and all. But, even we don't eat enough cheese to go very far in collecting wax to make a sculpture larger than an inch or so. Besides, I need variety, I can't just feed my family Baby Belle. Most of the cheese we eat doesn't have a rind except Brie, the edible rind of which just doesn't make for a lasting piece of art.

So, we got a box of the Stockmar modeling beeswax. It came in 15 lovely pastel colors, so not only could we make larger sculptures, but they were also no longer limited to the red of cheese wax.

This stuff is hard as a rock right out of the box, so you might want to put it in a sunny place to soften it up. Of course, not too sunny of a place, or you'll have a rainbow puddle on your hands. After letting it warm near the stove for a bit, we began to play. I was surprised at how hard it still was, but after kneading and rolling it in our hands for a few minutes, it began to become more pliable. It actually has a really neat feel to it once it softens up, very different than clay, with more of an oil, but very inviting and workable.

My kids often do handcrafts while I'm reading aloud, and the beeswax was very conducive to this. They loved working with it, and came up with some nice new artwork. It can't go in our sunny window shelf where we display a lot of sculptures- in fact, the skateboarding model my son made of himself started to slant a bit after spending a warm afternoon in the kitchen, and I'm a little nervous as to how it will make it through the hot summer anywhere in this house- but, we'll find a shady place and hope for the best. I still think it's a fun and worthwhile project in itself, and a great way to keep hands busy while listening.

Books, Books, Books

Books are just everywhere in this house. It's kind of out of control, but I no longer worry about it. I'm pretty sure that books are one area of my life that will just always be cluttered, and it's going to have to be OK. There are bookshelves in every room, books on tables, counters and in stacks. We have hundreds of our own books, borrow dozens of library books every month, we have books borrowed from friends, books, books, everywhere books.

I find it interesting how many times people have said to me... "Oh, I (we) don't have time to read." Of course, just like anything else, it's one of those priority things. I sometimes say "I don't have time to exercise" but in reality, it's just that I don't make time for it, and my thighs are showing the evidence.

I am sure that TV, computers, and video games are big distractions that are keeping people from books. It's pretty hard for a book to keep up with the sensory stimulation. All of these things have their merits too, and we enjoy them all, but I still love books. Compared with television, a book requires the effort of actually reading, instead of just watching, and I imagine a lot of people just are too tired to deal with that. There is even talk of the hand held reading devices replacing books, which to me, would just never be the same.

I'm very thankful for the few years when my kids were tiny, we lived off the electrical grid up in the mountains. It was definitely a different way of life than your average American kid. Mine never had the option of a TV being on all day. TV was a couple of times a week max endeavor when we fired up the generator to do laundry and timed it with Sesame Street. Although we've been fully powered for years now, we still don't use the television daily. Whenever I hear of a good new show, and I think about checking it out, I think about how many other things I'd rather be doing with my life. We only get a few local channels anyway, so in most cases, I couldn't watch the show anyway unless I wanted to start paying for TV, which is something I philosophically can't bring myself to do. If I'm paying for it, I'd feel I needed to actually use it more, and I really am not that interested in that. The computer is already sucking enough time that I could be spending doing other, more productive things with- like creating art, planting something, visiting a friend, or that I could be using to read a good book.

It's a shame how many kids don't even like to read though, and have never learned to enjoy books (or have had the potential to love books squelched with forced early reading intervention programs.) I read a study by the National Reading Council that said American 4th graders now have a higher reading level than in years past, but by the time they are teens and young adults, fewer than ever read for pleasure. Reading comprehension of young adults has also dropped quite a bit in recent decades. So, what exactly is the benefit in making kids learn to read at a young age if they don't end up liking it, rarely do it by choice, and don't end up that good at it in the end?

My kids have been exposed to lots of books from infancy. They learned to read in their own time, and know the pleasure of a good story. Personally, I love that books are cuddley. I may use my laptop in bed, but it is not the same coziness as I get with a book. I don't connect with my kids over the computer the same way I do snuggled up on the couch reading them a story.

I love experiencing the emotions that a good story can evoke in me as a reader; from smiling and laughter to sadness and even tears. My children and I have read or listened to the entire Harry Potter series together. After following the characters for years, we had grown very attached to some of them. In the final book, we found ourselves literally on the edge of our seats every time it looked like one of our favorite characters might not make it. I actually stayed up late reading ahead of my children just to see what would happen next. The kids were cheering for our side during battles, and laughing out loud at the Weasley twins pranks.

My little boy says he appreciates a good story with action and suspense. He is just passing through the difficult stage of being an early reader who finds the stories at his reading level not very interesting. When you have had the pleasure of hearing stories like Treasure Island and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea all of your life, the ability to read Dick and Jane is not exactly exciting. He is just breaking into chapter books and enjoyed reading Tarzan of the Apes with me. He does see the ability to gain new information as an important reason to read well, but there is a definite difference between what he wants to learn, and information that is being force fed to him. Reading to learn more about Pokemon is important to him, so he works harder on it. Like most children, he is sharp enough to know when he is being spoon fed a moral, and rolls his eyes at obvious “lessons” or stories with a “and the moral of the story is...” type of ending. I very regularly see themes from books pop into both of my children's play time. The Little House on the Prairie series had them churning butter and washing laundry in the creek. The Boy With the Bronze Ax had him building stone tools and buildings.

My girl child is an avid reader who devours books in the way that many children consume junk food. She and I share many books together. Last year, she read the Percy Jackson series among others. This series by Rick Riordan is full of Greek mythology, and we both learned a lot while being caught up in the story. She says that in a good book she “becomes the main character.” Whether the character is a boy or a girl, she “is sword fighting with them” in her imagination. She also enjoys being able to “do a lot of things you can't do in real life.”

A nine year old friend of ours, who also loves reading, says she loves when “it seems like the characters come out of the book and really talk to her.” I love that imagination, and I also love the fact that we know children who choose a book shop as their favorite store in town, and would read all summer regardless of the reading program the library offers.

We all enjoy those fantasy worlds that literature can take us to. Learning something along the way is a bonus, but the children I know do not appreciate simplified moralistic stories, or dumbed down tales. No one wants to be told what to think, but lots of people seem to enjoy the thinking this entertainment leads to.

We're always looking for new books to add to our reading lists, so I'd love to hear what your your family members' favorite books have been. Or whether or not you even enjoy books? Now, we're off to the next book sale at our library....