Good morning!
For the first time in about 8 years,
Denver celebrated with a White Christmas. After several days of 50 degree
weather, which made the roads nice and warm, the snow melted and became ice
under about 9 inches of snow. Once we got home from dinner with my family, it
was actually pretty. We didn't go to our regular Christmas Night movie – home
was where we needed to be.
We have finally managed to see The Hobbit, Battle of the Five
Armies. Epic. Gratuitous
violence. Resolution. Acting was good, plot unfolded slowly. There were times
when the movie felt endless. I could have napped while some of the
exposition took place. The final battle was the culmination of all the other
battles in this series times 5. I wish I could edit the whole series down to about
3 hours – I think it could be done without losing any of the story.
We also watched Gravity with Sandra Bullock. It is a
great twist on the Robinson Crusoe story. I have never been much of a
Bullock fan, and I admit I was skeptical as to whether or not she could pull it
off. She did. What I'm most impressed with was the fact the movie was 91
minutes long. It was great to see a good story told in less than 2.5 hours.
Sometimes great things take less time.
With all the snow, and now that the
rush of Christmas is over, I can sit back and relax. There is no more second
guessing, or suddenly remembering one more thing to do! I can relax. As I was
fixing dinner last night, I realized that we only have another couple of
packages of homegrown beets to eat. We might get through January, then it is
back to store bought beets. Needless to say, I started figuring out my
container garden for next year. So I'm finally relaxing and what do I think about? The work in the
spring.
Where you had Detroit and the auto
industry, I was raised with mining as the Holy Grail. As prices went up in the
1970s, a lot of mines were closed and many of my parent's friends lost their
jobs. Environmentalists got into the act and drove prices even higher. My
mom's favorite phrase was "Let the bastards freeze in the
dark."
Today we have fracking and all the
after effects that go with it. It made for interesting conversation at the
Christmas Table. My niece is a geologist who based her masters on finding
frackable fields, my brother is a water engineer. At the other end of the table
was an environmentalist. His comment was mining and fracking weren't religion
or politics so it was fair game in conversation ... in our house, mining and
fracking are both religion and politics. Hell froze over quickly and there is
truth to avoiding a woman scorned.
The conversation quickly passed on
to other things, and like you, there was the inner voice that ordered
"clamp teeth firmly on tongue..." I complied. Some conversations just
should never be broached in a time of peaceful celebration.
I understand your hesitation to
homework, especially for the lower grades, but without some "homework
training", how can we help the Millennials become adults? We ship them off
to college without the ability to work on their own, which is one of the main learning
experiences to college – it becomes the make or break it experience for academics.
Sadly, it also becomes the harbinger of
how well individuals will do on the job.
My better half has downloaded the
"Garage Band" app on his iPad and is now serenading me with a
beautiful full string orchestra – time to go play!
Don, have you played with this app?
Have a wonderful New Year!
Carolyn
All images downloaded from Google Images
The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies
retrieved from www.fanpop.com
Gravity: Acompasando retrieved from www.acompasando.org
What is Fracking? Theory and Application
retrieved from www.azomining.com
Fracking Frensy ignores scientific concerns
retrieved from priceofoil.org
GarageBand on the App Store on iTunes
retrieved from itunes.apple.com
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