I have many memories of teachers I did not do so well with, but it's the ones that made an impact that bubble into my everyday even 30 years later.
A quick thanks to Mrs. Moore for just being kind as she seemed to know things were not quite right at our house.
A nod to Mrs. Babcock for being so pretty with her soft hair and pregnant belly. Thanks to Mrs. Swadley that year for mentioning to my parents I might be bored.
Here's a hooray for Mrs. Gambell for taking me and Erica Koenck and giving us a job since we were both too nerdy to be tolerated in homeroom.
Thanks Mrs. Glasgow for being so very cool as you slipped out for a cig.
Mrs. Meyer was so demanding and acerbically funny. I think of the medula oblongata almost daily.
To the blinking Mrs. Thornton for handling grief in an honest way.
To that recordkeeping teacher who took me home when I had the flu; these kindnesses matter.
Mrs. Bullard and Mr. Wallace still make me laugh as I stare out the window. The rumble of thunder or a loud sneeze can make me giggle.
I can still see Coach Smith blushing as he quickly covered human reproduction. Oh, and the frog dissection with all the eggs and that question about when a chicken's egg is actually fertilized.
The lovely Ms. Davis, sure of herself in her experience, lent a bit of her certainty to me.
Mrs. Goolsby believed everyone could write.
Mr. Disney introduced the idea of sensitive periods and the suggestion that juniors in high school might not have reached the window for physics.
That's who I think of and why as I deal with my three. May their lives have such characters.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Shopping
I think Americans might be addicted to shopping for everything. I think we're always comparing the thing we have against the newest version or against the thing we could have.
I see at least one positive side to this- it probably pushes toward innovation (I'm not sure if that is even a positive).
The down side is pretty insurmountable in my opinion. First, all the advertising to lure us to keep shopping leaves us feeling steadily dissatisfied. Would you be looking for new shoes if the ones you have are good enough?
Second, it leads us to consume and consume and consume. Did you know there are more cars in the United States than there are people? Just think how many cell phones there must be as people constantly upgrade for a new color or gizmo.
Third, it encourages us to shop for things that maybe should be seen as permanent. This older model husband no longer dances after the dishes are washed and the children are in bed; perhaps it's time for a new one.
Fourth, it leaves us feeling the answer to our happiness is out "there" if we could only buy our way to it.
Fifth, all that buying leaves us spiritually as well as financially in the red. No amount of shopping can feed your soul, and being in debt in this desperate pursuit will not make happiness any easier to find.
So what are we to do? I don't know, but I'm going to plant a few more trees and stay out of the mall.
I see at least one positive side to this- it probably pushes toward innovation (I'm not sure if that is even a positive).
The down side is pretty insurmountable in my opinion. First, all the advertising to lure us to keep shopping leaves us feeling steadily dissatisfied. Would you be looking for new shoes if the ones you have are good enough?
Second, it leads us to consume and consume and consume. Did you know there are more cars in the United States than there are people? Just think how many cell phones there must be as people constantly upgrade for a new color or gizmo.
Third, it encourages us to shop for things that maybe should be seen as permanent. This older model husband no longer dances after the dishes are washed and the children are in bed; perhaps it's time for a new one.
Fourth, it leaves us feeling the answer to our happiness is out "there" if we could only buy our way to it.
Fifth, all that buying leaves us spiritually as well as financially in the red. No amount of shopping can feed your soul, and being in debt in this desperate pursuit will not make happiness any easier to find.
So what are we to do? I don't know, but I'm going to plant a few more trees and stay out of the mall.
In Praise of the Clothesline
I have been able to hang clothes outside since late March. It is a wonderful thing. The clothes seem cleaner and smell better after they dry on the line. The time I spend outside hanging the clothes, even if I have to wear gloves, is quiet and my own. I love the weather awareness the laundry line gives me; I know, for example, our prevailing wind is different from the "norm" around here. I think there's something about being tucked close to Buffalo Mountain the must give the wind a quick twist. We DO get northern breezes, but our wind is primarily out of the south and southwest. I know how humid it is by how many loads I can dry in a day- my record on this line is 4.
Also, the laundry on the line means winter is mostly over or hasn't quite settled in.
Monday, April 26, 2010
The Orchard
I'm lame with the pictures when I'm this tired, but I did plant 20 trees this weekend- 10 apples, 7 pears, 2 plums, and a cherry. The apples and pears are in the east field just one side of the elderberries, highbush cranberries, Juneberries, and nanny berries. As I was planting, I was thinking about how that field will look in 5 or 10 years, with taller trees arched gently towrd one another and the taller berry bushes behind them. The picture in my mind is pretty idyllic, unless I start wondering which trees will die.
The plums and cherry are in the back field, closer to the house than the chestnuts, but far enough out that they should not shade the strawberries or blueberries. Jason requested they be where he could see them blossoming from the dining room table- assuming they don't die.
I guess it's obvious what I'm worrying about.
The plums and cherry are in the back field, closer to the house than the chestnuts, but far enough out that they should not shade the strawberries or blueberries. Jason requested they be where he could see them blossoming from the dining room table- assuming they don't die.
I guess it's obvious what I'm worrying about.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
My Husband and Cars
I really like my husband, I mean really, really. And he just quit commuting. So I'm thinking about my dear, delightful man and the automobile.
When we moved to Fort Worth, Jason's job was driving; he drove to Weatherford and north Dallas and all sorts of places. He drove and he drove and he drove. When we moved to Vermont, he was suddenly able to walk to work, and we noticed immediately how very nice it was that he did not have to drive so much. Then, there were a couple more moves and much longer commutes, and that seemed to work pretty well too. Now, his drive to work could be by bicycle or about a ten minute drive. He is so very happy.
Suddenly, he is giving some sort of cooking lesson almost daily to one child or another; he built a chicken tractor in under two weeks; he makes jokes at dinner and at breakfast. We both really think it's related to not driving so far to work. It also helps that he is home so many more hours of the day, partly because of the shorter commute and also because of the nature of the job.
His change in attitude makes me wonder about my own parents and their very long commutes when we were little. Then there are all the people who spend untold amounts of time in the car not just going back and forth to work, but also to go to the shopping complex or entertainment land. I wonder how our lives are impacted by the hours we spend in the car.
When we moved to Fort Worth, Jason's job was driving; he drove to Weatherford and north Dallas and all sorts of places. He drove and he drove and he drove. When we moved to Vermont, he was suddenly able to walk to work, and we noticed immediately how very nice it was that he did not have to drive so much. Then, there were a couple more moves and much longer commutes, and that seemed to work pretty well too. Now, his drive to work could be by bicycle or about a ten minute drive. He is so very happy.
Suddenly, he is giving some sort of cooking lesson almost daily to one child or another; he built a chicken tractor in under two weeks; he makes jokes at dinner and at breakfast. We both really think it's related to not driving so far to work. It also helps that he is home so many more hours of the day, partly because of the shorter commute and also because of the nature of the job.
His change in attitude makes me wonder about my own parents and their very long commutes when we were little. Then there are all the people who spend untold amounts of time in the car not just going back and forth to work, but also to go to the shopping complex or entertainment land. I wonder how our lives are impacted by the hours we spend in the car.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
My Bucket Has a Hole
When I laid out our sheet mulch last fall, I got tired, I got cold, and I cut corners. For example, I did not do the nitrogen layer that would make the decomposition go faster and there are places where I just mulched without a weed-suppressing underlayer. Now, it is time to plant in the garden, and I'm wondering what the results of my compromises will be. Whatever happens, last fall is completely gone and I'm well on my way to learning whether lazy/compromised sheet mulching will work in the garden.
This leads me to look at the ground in the stalled hoophouse. A more experienced person explained to me that we should not plan to plant in it until fall, and I was easy to convince. She also said if we want to plant in it in the fall, we should go ahead and sheet mulch to suppress the grass, because you just don't want grass in a hoophouse. Here comes the circle- I do not want Jason to have to work around the sheet mulching while he's building the hoophouse, so I want to wait until the frame is assembled. I do want a nitrogen layer in there before I put down the sheet mulch; that would be easily accomplished by having chickens "prepare" the ground a bit before I start to layer in other stuff. We can't have chickens until we have a chicken coop. The coop must be assembled, so work on the hoophouse has stalled out, so I cannot put down sheet mulch. It's not really a circle, but it feels just as addled.
And the watering has begun. This morning, it took just over an hour to water all the new plants and we go tomorrow to talk to the nice man about fruit trees. Maybe I'm growing cowardly, but as I was carrying my sixth or seventh 30 pound bucket of water this morning, I wondered if we aren't perhaps a little crazy to add 20 fruit trees to this watering regimen. I did establish yesterday that I can carry 60 pounds of water a quarter mile; however, I decided to find a gentler, slower method of moving water. Today, I hooked three water hoses together so that the blueberries and currants and gooseberries and the gardens can get their water straight from the tap. That only leaves 9 trees and 14 berry bushes to actually carry the water to- oh, and the 20 fruit trees.
This leads me to look at the ground in the stalled hoophouse. A more experienced person explained to me that we should not plan to plant in it until fall, and I was easy to convince. She also said if we want to plant in it in the fall, we should go ahead and sheet mulch to suppress the grass, because you just don't want grass in a hoophouse. Here comes the circle- I do not want Jason to have to work around the sheet mulching while he's building the hoophouse, so I want to wait until the frame is assembled. I do want a nitrogen layer in there before I put down the sheet mulch; that would be easily accomplished by having chickens "prepare" the ground a bit before I start to layer in other stuff. We can't have chickens until we have a chicken coop. The coop must be assembled, so work on the hoophouse has stalled out, so I cannot put down sheet mulch. It's not really a circle, but it feels just as addled.
And the watering has begun. This morning, it took just over an hour to water all the new plants and we go tomorrow to talk to the nice man about fruit trees. Maybe I'm growing cowardly, but as I was carrying my sixth or seventh 30 pound bucket of water this morning, I wondered if we aren't perhaps a little crazy to add 20 fruit trees to this watering regimen. I did establish yesterday that I can carry 60 pounds of water a quarter mile; however, I decided to find a gentler, slower method of moving water. Today, I hooked three water hoses together so that the blueberries and currants and gooseberries and the gardens can get their water straight from the tap. That only leaves 9 trees and 14 berry bushes to actually carry the water to- oh, and the 20 fruit trees.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Work
My first day as a bookshop employee found me staring at a huge wall of books that I was supposed to alphabetize. I naively asked, "All of them? You want me to touch EVERY book to be sure it's in the right order?" The answer was a definite yes.
The thing that stands out most for me from that day 16 years ago is that some things are just tedious but must be gotten through. It was a turning point in my attitudes about work. There have been many points along the way, but that one was significant.
Every day has its own list of things to do, as well as the old standbys (tooth brushing, dressing, bed making, cooking, cleaning, etc.). When my waking thought is dread about having to get dressed, then I am probably on a course for a rough day. These minutiae are work; many are habit and we forget the work necessary to make the habit. If I'm dreading the minutiae before I even sit up in bed, then how am I going to enjoy the bigger projects. Let's face it- those bigger projects are also work.
My lesson I brought from that day in the bookstore is that I can surrender to the task at hand and enjoy it. The quiet monotony of slipping a book over one space or up one shelf is very similar to pulling weeds from the lettuce bed or washing dishes or brushing Phaedra's hair. I can do it roughly with a scowl, I can do it half- heartedly with resignation, or I can do it with quiet satisfaction. I choose feeling satisfied over irritated or resigned, and since I get to choose how I feel, I just don't mind work. I even enjoy it.
What I did this weekend-
I planted (with a little help) 12 raspberries in a bed I cleared of ground cover, 3 rose bushes, 2 sugar maples, 1 mulberry tree, 8 elderberries, 2 high bush cranberries, 2 Juneberries, 2 nanny berries, 4 currant bushes, 4 gooseberries, 2 chestnut trees, 2 shagbark hickories, 2 honey locust trees, 20 blueberries, and a row of carrots. It snowed on me a couple of hours Saturday and rained on me the whole rest of the time, but I'm mighty handy with a shovel these days!
The thing that stands out most for me from that day 16 years ago is that some things are just tedious but must be gotten through. It was a turning point in my attitudes about work. There have been many points along the way, but that one was significant.
Every day has its own list of things to do, as well as the old standbys (tooth brushing, dressing, bed making, cooking, cleaning, etc.). When my waking thought is dread about having to get dressed, then I am probably on a course for a rough day. These minutiae are work; many are habit and we forget the work necessary to make the habit. If I'm dreading the minutiae before I even sit up in bed, then how am I going to enjoy the bigger projects. Let's face it- those bigger projects are also work.
My lesson I brought from that day in the bookstore is that I can surrender to the task at hand and enjoy it. The quiet monotony of slipping a book over one space or up one shelf is very similar to pulling weeds from the lettuce bed or washing dishes or brushing Phaedra's hair. I can do it roughly with a scowl, I can do it half- heartedly with resignation, or I can do it with quiet satisfaction. I choose feeling satisfied over irritated or resigned, and since I get to choose how I feel, I just don't mind work. I even enjoy it.
What I did this weekend-
I planted (with a little help) 12 raspberries in a bed I cleared of ground cover, 3 rose bushes, 2 sugar maples, 1 mulberry tree, 8 elderberries, 2 high bush cranberries, 2 Juneberries, 2 nanny berries, 4 currant bushes, 4 gooseberries, 2 chestnut trees, 2 shagbark hickories, 2 honey locust trees, 20 blueberries, and a row of carrots. It snowed on me a couple of hours Saturday and rained on me the whole rest of the time, but I'm mighty handy with a shovel these days!
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