9:40 on a Sunday night. I haven't posted in awhile, so thought I might sit down here and try to get something together. I spent a little time this afternoon working with my digital camera - and I gotta tell you, I'm just not meant to do technology. I finally figured out how to get pictures off my camera, but forgot that my daughter set up a "My Pictures" folder right on the desktop so I wouldn't have to look for them in Timbuktu. Once I remembered that, I found them. I think. I love my camera, and it does a lot but I dunno, it's like my brain freezes up. I finally figured out how to change the picture on my profile on facebook, and I don't even like what I changed it to, but I just wanted to see if I could do it. Maybe I'll put Lyd's picture on there. She's cuter than me.
We had a nice time at church this evening making music. Thanks to everyone who who participated. Thanks to PL for helping me play. And for the fellowship afterward.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
A glimpse of the past
I've been going through some of my "treasures", and this last weekend, spent some time looking at old books. I have several textbooks that my dad used when he was in high school, and even a couple that his dad had, and one from his mother. Keep in mind that my dad was born in 1912, and his dad was born in 1870, so these books are pretty old. The ones his mother and dad used when they were students are copyrighted in 1880 and 1883. I have one that's called "New Fourth Grade Reader" that has my grandfather's initials on the back cover, but some pages are missing, so I don't know for sure how old it is, I would venture to say it also was printed in 1880 as well (he would have been 10 years old then). Here's a poem from this reader:
The Sky-Lark
The sky-lark, when the dews of morn
Hang tremulous on flower and thorn,
And violets round his nest exhale
Their fragrance on the early gale,
To the first sunbeam spreads his wings,
Bouyant with joy, and soars, and sing.
He rests not on the leafy spray,
To warble his exulting lay,
But, high above the morning cloud
Mounts in triumphant freedom proud;
And swells, when nearest to the sky,
His sweetest notes of ectasy.
Thus, my Creator! thus the more
My spirit's wing to Thee can soar
The more she triumphs to behold
Thy love in all thy works unfold:
And bids her hymns of rapture be
Most glad when rising most to Thee.
The "exercise" which follows this poem is this: "What should the happiness and the merry singing of the birds teach us?"
Did I mention this came from a 4th grade reader? As someone who works with elementary students, I thought this most interesting. There are many references in this book to God, and even a reading lesson from the Sermon on the Mount.
I have a book my dad used in high school, it's "Elementary Latin". The copyright was 1920. From the scribblings and doodlings in the book, I can see that dad was perhaps not entirely focused on his Latin lessons. He wrote his name on several pages, and it looks like he's traced circles in pencil maybe from a compass. There are 3 assignments on paper folded in the book that look like they were never completed and handed in. On the first page of the book, the introduction, is written in pencil, Bueno Dias, Senorita...so apparently, his mind was not on Latin that day.
But really, the most overwhelming evidence of dad's wandering thoughts is from the inside front cover. In pen, he had written this little verse: "The taller the tree, The thicker the bark, The closer you sit, The bigger the spark." Underneath that are three or four rows of cursive letter "E"s. Hmmm. What or who do you suppose he was thinking of?
The Sky-Lark
The sky-lark, when the dews of morn
Hang tremulous on flower and thorn,
And violets round his nest exhale
Their fragrance on the early gale,
To the first sunbeam spreads his wings,
Bouyant with joy, and soars, and sing.
He rests not on the leafy spray,
To warble his exulting lay,
But, high above the morning cloud
Mounts in triumphant freedom proud;
And swells, when nearest to the sky,
His sweetest notes of ectasy.
Thus, my Creator! thus the more
My spirit's wing to Thee can soar
The more she triumphs to behold
Thy love in all thy works unfold:
And bids her hymns of rapture be
Most glad when rising most to Thee.
The "exercise" which follows this poem is this: "What should the happiness and the merry singing of the birds teach us?"
Did I mention this came from a 4th grade reader? As someone who works with elementary students, I thought this most interesting. There are many references in this book to God, and even a reading lesson from the Sermon on the Mount.
I have a book my dad used in high school, it's "Elementary Latin". The copyright was 1920. From the scribblings and doodlings in the book, I can see that dad was perhaps not entirely focused on his Latin lessons. He wrote his name on several pages, and it looks like he's traced circles in pencil maybe from a compass. There are 3 assignments on paper folded in the book that look like they were never completed and handed in. On the first page of the book, the introduction, is written in pencil, Bueno Dias, Senorita...so apparently, his mind was not on Latin that day.
But really, the most overwhelming evidence of dad's wandering thoughts is from the inside front cover. In pen, he had written this little verse: "The taller the tree, The thicker the bark, The closer you sit, The bigger the spark." Underneath that are three or four rows of cursive letter "E"s. Hmmm. What or who do you suppose he was thinking of?
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
If you're gonna lie, just admit it.
The Bible reading for today was the story of how Jacob and his doting mother Rebekah, deceived Jacob's father Issac into giving him the blessing that was usually reserved for the firstborn son, which in this case, would be Jacob's brother Esau. I just noticed today that when Jacob first objects to his mother's plan, he says this: "But my brother Esau is a hairy man and I'm a man with smooth skin. What if my father touches me? I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing."
Did you catch that? Jacob doesn't say, I can't participate in this plan because I would be tricking my father. He says, "I would appear to be tricking him..." This one word changes the whole meaning, doesn't it! Jacob is not willing to man up and admit this is deceptive, he says it appears to be deceptive. He is already making excuses and playing with words, justifying to himself and his scheming mother this lie. I think Jacob would have made a great politician today, but even back then, he was promoted to a position of great responsibility and governing. Did his deceitful habits follow him? Maybe. Does it seem in general, as people ascend the ladder of their political and public careers, that they learn early on what to say, what not to say, and how to say it? As we do too. We do it privately, we do it publicly. We choose our words carefully when justifying our behavior to ourselves and to our families. Hmmm. There's a lesson to be learned here.
Did you catch that? Jacob doesn't say, I can't participate in this plan because I would be tricking my father. He says, "I would appear to be tricking him..." This one word changes the whole meaning, doesn't it! Jacob is not willing to man up and admit this is deceptive, he says it appears to be deceptive. He is already making excuses and playing with words, justifying to himself and his scheming mother this lie. I think Jacob would have made a great politician today, but even back then, he was promoted to a position of great responsibility and governing. Did his deceitful habits follow him? Maybe. Does it seem in general, as people ascend the ladder of their political and public careers, that they learn early on what to say, what not to say, and how to say it? As we do too. We do it privately, we do it publicly. We choose our words carefully when justifying our behavior to ourselves and to our families. Hmmm. There's a lesson to be learned here.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Monday Posting
Thankfully, the weather has moderated some and it's almost balmy out, compared to what it was last week. I'm no longer feeling quite so chilled. I mean, even in my house, which is old and drafty and just...I dunno, COLD, I was having a hard time staying comfortable in wind chills and temps so low. But tonight, it's 20, and I'm happy to see that. We had a frozen pipe, actually 2, last week - one thawed out pretty quickly with a blow dryer, the other one took involving a helpful brother with a radiant heater, and a spouse crawling under the house in a tight crawl space to position the heater and get the pipe warmed. Also thankfully, the pipe didn't split or crack so we got to keep our hard earned money instead of giving it to a plumber.
I'm busy at both schools, and, I have taken on an extra project of supervising a counseling practicum student for the spring semester. It won't require a lot of extra time because I know this person well and she will be responsible and do things the way they should be done, plus it might be something to add on a resume should I ever decide to seek other employment. I am also teaching a class at church, and just keeping pretty busy with ordinary mundane things.
The clock in the kitchen just sounded 10:00. My "adopted son" Michael gave it to me - it has birds pictured on it, and on the hour, a different bird sound eminates from this clock. It took me a couple of days to get used to hearing this, and you should have seen Lydia looking at it quizzically the first day or two I had it. It was pretty comical.
Well, I guess that's about it from my boring life. I will end this with some assorted observations, take them or leave them as you like:
**Congrats to my husband, one of the most rabid Dallas Cowboy fans ever. The Cowboys made mush of the Eagles last weekend and are headed to the playoffs for the first time in several years. The Chiefs remain an embarrassment to us all.
**The state budget crisis is affecting our schools in 259 in a big way. I ran into a teacher Saturday I used to work with at another school, and she told me she has 30 kids in her first grade classroom. They are beginning work on a new wing to the school, but her concern, and rightfully so, is that the district won't be able to hire teachers to staff this new addition.
**Brett Harris - where are you? I miss you on B98. You made me crazy with your ADHD-like radio patter sometimes, but for the most part, I enjoyed your "perkiness". Sign your contact with Clear Channel and get back to work.
**l love the CDs my son gave me for Christmas especially Beethoven's Symphony #9. Thanks, Dan.
**I had a conversation with someone, (let's call them "Lee"), who, let's see, how to say this without revealing too much - Lee had a family member who was in a very serious accident 3 years ago and that person sustained a tremendous traumatic head injury - they were in a coma 30 days and nearly died. However, Lee had the blessing of great insurance coverage from an employer, and their loved one got outstanding medical care, not only at the hospital but also at a follow-up rehab facility after discharge from the hospital. Coincidentally, another family about the same time had a loved one in an accident also with a serious head injury - the patients were in the same area in the hospital and family members became friends as they interacted in the waiting room. However, the person from the other family did not have any insurance coverage. Lee said the person with no insurance was discharged sooner from the hospital, and did not receive the level of followup care at a local rehab facility that their family member received - both were admitted to the very same facility within days of each other. Lee said that person did not have nearly as good as outcome as her/his family member did - and Lee believes it was due to the insurance situation. Just something to think about...
Have a good week, all.
I'm busy at both schools, and, I have taken on an extra project of supervising a counseling practicum student for the spring semester. It won't require a lot of extra time because I know this person well and she will be responsible and do things the way they should be done, plus it might be something to add on a resume should I ever decide to seek other employment. I am also teaching a class at church, and just keeping pretty busy with ordinary mundane things.
The clock in the kitchen just sounded 10:00. My "adopted son" Michael gave it to me - it has birds pictured on it, and on the hour, a different bird sound eminates from this clock. It took me a couple of days to get used to hearing this, and you should have seen Lydia looking at it quizzically the first day or two I had it. It was pretty comical.
Well, I guess that's about it from my boring life. I will end this with some assorted observations, take them or leave them as you like:
**Congrats to my husband, one of the most rabid Dallas Cowboy fans ever. The Cowboys made mush of the Eagles last weekend and are headed to the playoffs for the first time in several years. The Chiefs remain an embarrassment to us all.
**The state budget crisis is affecting our schools in 259 in a big way. I ran into a teacher Saturday I used to work with at another school, and she told me she has 30 kids in her first grade classroom. They are beginning work on a new wing to the school, but her concern, and rightfully so, is that the district won't be able to hire teachers to staff this new addition.
**Brett Harris - where are you? I miss you on B98. You made me crazy with your ADHD-like radio patter sometimes, but for the most part, I enjoyed your "perkiness". Sign your contact with Clear Channel and get back to work.
**l love the CDs my son gave me for Christmas especially Beethoven's Symphony #9. Thanks, Dan.
**I had a conversation with someone, (let's call them "Lee"), who, let's see, how to say this without revealing too much - Lee had a family member who was in a very serious accident 3 years ago and that person sustained a tremendous traumatic head injury - they were in a coma 30 days and nearly died. However, Lee had the blessing of great insurance coverage from an employer, and their loved one got outstanding medical care, not only at the hospital but also at a follow-up rehab facility after discharge from the hospital. Coincidentally, another family about the same time had a loved one in an accident also with a serious head injury - the patients were in the same area in the hospital and family members became friends as they interacted in the waiting room. However, the person from the other family did not have any insurance coverage. Lee said the person with no insurance was discharged sooner from the hospital, and did not receive the level of followup care at a local rehab facility that their family member received - both were admitted to the very same facility within days of each other. Lee said that person did not have nearly as good as outcome as her/his family member did - and Lee believes it was due to the insurance situation. Just something to think about...
Have a good week, all.
Monday, January 04, 2010
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