Homesteading Middles: An Ode to Kaolin Clay
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Oh, you microscopic shards of glass,
staving off the caterpillar’s frass,
denuded leaves forever begone!
To thee I sing this humble song.
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Letter to my children: Pocket Peas, Black Caps, and Baby Chickens
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“Didn’t you pick peas for dinner?”
“OOOOoohhhhh, right.” Dragon reached into his pocket and started pulling out handfuls. “I did pick them, and I forgot.”
3 peas were palmed onto the counter. 4 more peas were placed on top. Handful by grubby handful, peas appeared.
I looked at our dinner guests and started laughing, “would anyone like some pocket peas?”
Surprisingly, everyone but the family declined to eat pocket peas. Ah well.
Read MoreLetter to my children: Don't Be the Best, Be the Only
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“Don’t be the best, be the only.”
Thank you Kevin Kelly for that fabulous nugget. Children, he is bang on. When I was in school, these were the cultural markers delineating success.
Straight As.
Being on a varsity team (bonus if you are the captain).
Read MoreHomesteading Middles: The Tyranny of Lawns
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I did not grow up mowing grass. Our front yard (“garden”) according to my mother was flagstones and North Tisbury azaleas.*
Our back garden was much the same.
No grass. In Michigan we had scant grass. 10 minutes to mow grass with small mower.
Not anymore.
Read MoreHomeschool Learnings: The Summer Shift
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Recently, we celebrated our last official day of Oak Meadow Kindergarten and Third Grade. Dragon admired his uppercase alphabet marching across the walls. Bean thumbed through her Main Lesson Books and then dominated a game of Jeopardy based on her third grade learnings. It was a true red letter day.
“I have 1000 points!”
“What is next?”
“I am going to do the B column in 100.”
“B100, 50 divided by ten.”
Read MoreHomesteading Middles - Painting with Mulch
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My grandfather used to tell a story of a professor he had in graduate school. This man loved painting his fence.* His excitement over slopping paint on wood confounded my grandfather - who considered this individual a paragon of intellect and academic achievement. So one day, my grandfather asked him why.
The professor’s response was along these lines. “There are very few projects in life where you know exactly what is needed to succeed. Not only that, but at any point in the project, I know exactly how far I have gone and have much further I need to go. That is why I like painting my fence.”
I feel that way about mulching.
Read MoreLetter to my children: When Deep Breathing is not Recommended
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Dearest Beloveds, there are times when being the sandwich generation feels more like being a squashed generation. Global warming seems to be that issue right now.
“Corinna, on the counter container, I want one.”
Where are we? New York? DC?
“You would like me to get you something that lives on a counter.”
“Yes, for drinking.”
For drinking? What the hell lived on the counter for drinking?
Read MoreLetter to my children: The Green Glass Doors
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Dearest Beloveds,
The latest craze in the house is playing the Green Glass Doors. What started out as a riddle to stymie us all has turned into a spelling game that travels with us everywhere.
Bean, you brought the game home from Flying Deer. We were sitting at the dinner table.
“Okay, here is a new game. Tell me the rule for how this works. I can go through the green glass doors. And so can you Momma. But Dragon cannot.”
Read MoreLetter to my children: What if sex was rest?
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Dearest Beloveds,
The first year of our WiseBodies “Sex Ed for Adults” is coming to a close. A class filled with tears and laughter and learning. Aside from rocking my world by teaching me the history of the speculum, this class is also slowly, steadily, unraveling much of what I understood “sex” to be.
I am so glad I am learning this now - before you two hit puberty.
I wish I could say, I am learning this before you two are exposed to our culture’s myopic, juvenile, reductive idea of “sex” but that is not true.
Read MoreLetter to my children: Flush out your emotions now
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“Okay, you are almost done with your corrections for your quiz. Please write out ostrich 5 times.”
Bean sat, stone faced, arms crossed, body rigid, brow furrowed.
Gosh, darn it, I was hoping to squeeze one more quiz in - but this is her 36th quiz this year.
“Dearest, this is the last spelling quiz of your 3rd grade year. Just five more words. You can do it.”
Derision slide across her continence.
Read MoreLetter to my children: As you wish
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Dragon stood next to the door, holding it open for Minuit. “Come on, go in or out.”
10 month old Minuit smelled the air, tail twitching. She took one tentative small step forward into the threshold then moved the same paw back into place.
“Okay, as you wish.” Dragon shut the door.
Read MoreGive World Peace a Hop
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I started practicing Transcendental Meditation in 2007. Over the years I have more or less consistent in my twice a day practice depending on hospital doings and the age of my children.
When I received my mantra I also learned about the TM-Sidhi program. It is the pinnacle of a series of advanced TM techniques - culminating in the practitioners being able to do yogic flying. A whole group of Sidhas flying together has been proved to increase coherence for the society at large.* This coherence creating effect is called the Maharishi Effect.
So it is a two-fer. I get to replug myself daily, swim in the world of Pure Consciousness, and do yogic flying. Secondly, if I do my program with a group - we are creating peace for everyone around us.
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