Good morning! It is a bright
sun-shinny day with the temperatures finally in "fall" mode instead
of hot summer. I've been pulling carrots from the container garden as well as scallions
(table onions). Sometime this week I'll take the beets out and get them cooked
up and frozen. The container garden was wonderful this year! Even the flowers
did well. The snapdragons have become the focal point of color as the rest of
the flowers have reached the end of their growing cycle.
A few things caught my eye this
week – most notably the walk-out of high school students over changes in the
History curriculum. Apparently 3 conservative
educational board members decided that history should ditch all the civil disobedience
and teach only high patriotism, that the
US can do no wrong, and to discourage civil disobedience. Over several days,
about a 1000 high school students walked out of class and held rallies along the
main streets to protest. The creators of this new curriculum condemned teachers
for involving students in something that wasn't really their business.
Now, the interesting thing about
this is that it is similar to a curriculum that is taught in Texas, and the
Republican Party has openly stated that they do not support this curriculum. There
were many letters to the editor, but the one that made the best case against
the changes dealt with the local AP
(advanced placement) curriculum being in-line with the AP national curriculum so that students can get
college credit for classes taken in high school. The proposed changes will make
it difficult if not impossible for students to pass the national test. Censorship
was also mentioned ... and you want to know why the Millennials don't trust
people?
I also read that because of global
warming and the longer insect cycles, spiders are getting larger. This has been
validated by the large brown hermit crab like spider that has a huge web stretched
between some of the flower containers. It has been fascinating to watch it
catch bees and wasps, wrap them up and yesterday, I watched as it hauled one of
its bee catches under the rim of the flower pot where it nests. Reminded me of
the Hobbit and the spider. As curious as
I am, I'm not sure I want to look under the rim of the pot. I've noticed that
we don't have a big problem with bugs in the yard this year – I wonder if this
guy has family throughout our yard. I did see our garden snake a couple of days
ago – he/she was moving rather slow due to a full belly. I remember you writing
about insects taking over the world, Don. I have the feeling they already have
and they're just sharing the world with us.
As global warming has affected the
Artic, there has been an actual change in the Artic geography. I watched a news
clip on polar bears taking advantage of their equivalent of a Big Mac – geese.
Geese were on the verge of extinction 40 years ago, constraints were put in
place, and the geese population exploded. There are millions of geese and they have
eaten their summer nesting grounds (the arctic tundra) down to the dirt.
Enter the polar bear, now coming
back to land sooner because the ice pack is melting, and what is there for them
to eat besides seals? Geese and eggs. The high caloric content of geese eggs is
more than a Big Mac and the bears are eating as many as 300 – 400 eggs a day. I
am continually amazed at how life "rights" itself.
The best news I have though comes
from Wellington ,New Zealand. An article by Jeanne Whalen explains that
"Slow Reading Can Help Your Brain and Cut Stress". There is actually
a book club in Wellington, New Zealand, that meets weekly – for the sheer joy
of reading in a quiet space, no technology interference, no discussion about
what is being read – it is simply a return to "old-fashion" reading
for the joy of it. The article goes on to expound the advantages of reading and
that it helps those of us on the flip side of middle-age retain memory.
I spent the last couple of
days cleaning out the closet in my office. I have donated and given away more
than a 100 pounds of fabric – I don't see myself returning to quilting anytime
in the near future. I've also given away my jewelry making equipment and beads,
the yarn for all the blankets I was going to crochet... it has been a tough
week of letting go. I remember why I bought each piece of fabric, what quilt it
was going to grace. Now I have an empty closet. I painted it this morning –
found that I was much better at using a roller with my left hand – paint brushing
is still a right hand activity – so the closet looks rather patchy – but it
looks clean. Think I leave the doors off – that way I'll know what I put in the
closet and whether or not I need to buy more or clean it out and let it go. Maybe,
just maybe, I'll have some room left for a quiet reading space with pillows on
the floor. I'll let you know.
We'll be giving away another freebook this month on the website – check it out!
Have a great week everyone!
Carolyn
All Images downloaded from Google Images
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