Today's Tapping

We had a lot of fun today tapping trees with three classrooms at Juli's school.  The taps will stay in place for about two weeks, and the kids will get a feel for the work-intensive nature of maple sugaring.


(Source:  www.troop587.blogspot.com.)

I love being able to share this particular activity with kids, because it touches so many different facets of knowledge.  You get the whole biology picture, with photosynthesis and the different layers of growth within a tree that even make sap flow possible. 


It's possible to look at it through the lens of history at the Native Americans who first discovered sugaring, and the pioneers who refined methods of collection and boiling.


(Source:  www.minnetonkascenes.blogspot.com.)


(Source:  www.orrlakemusings.blogspot.com.)

My favorite part of the whole project, however, will be putting the connections together.
I want them to know that when they taste Aunt Jemima or Mrs. Butterworth, it is nothing close to the real thing.

Knowing where your food comes from is empowering.

Laundry Like There's No Tomorrow

We've had a great Sunday together. 
Good church service, time with friends.
An afternoon of play, homework and piano practice without tears from anyone.  Heaven, no?

I'm also doing laundry like a mad woman, but not for the reasons you might imagine.

When most mommy bloggers talk about laundry marathons, it's because they have piles of laundry up to their ceilings.

While I do have a respectable pile of laundry to be done, that's not the reason I'm wanting to do it.

My reason? 
It's going to rain tomorrow.

Not just rain.
They say there is a "severe threat". 
The map of rain covers most of the eastern U.S.; chance of rain is 100% for a good part of our day tomorrow.


(Courtesy of the Weather Channel; flooding possibilities marked in blue.)

If you remember, our house is designed to function on a rain-fed cistern.

So, as farmers make hay when the sun shines, this household washes woolens and comforters when it rains.  The water we use today will be replaced by the monsoon tomorrow.

It's also time to splurge and use the Jacuzzi.

Enjoy your Sunday evening.  :)

Addressing Why


My mom's a good one for wondering why. 

When Micah was diagnosed last year with asthma, she wondered aloud at the sheer number of children in the U.S. affected by that disease.  (In case you're unaware, asthma is the most common childhood disease, affecting more than 1 child in 20, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation.)

I have held my teaching certificate for 15 years; my mom has taught for almost as long.  Again, she's wondering why.

Why so many children diagnosed with dyslexia?
Why the prevalence of the autism spectrum?
Why is one out of every ten children diagnosed with ADHD?

There are a lot of answers to her whys.  Some of it has to do with better testing for disorders.  But there is no denying that children are learning differently, with more difficulty than ever before.

All this to say, I hope you'll take a few minutes to hop on over to Orion Magazine.  Sandra Steingraber, well-known in environmental circles, has written a phenomenal article addressing the ways that neurotoxic chemicals are impairing human development and the ability to learn.  (Grab a cup of tea and a muffin and settle in---it's a good ten-minute read.  If you don't have time now, set it as a bookmark for when you do have time.)

As I posted on my Facebook link, this is an issue that transcends political leanings.  (Remember, I despise politics!)  Having said that---if you are a parent, this affects you.  Even if your child does not have a diagnosed learning disability, he/she shares a classroom with many other children that have unique learning needs. 

This is an issue that affects us all, and this is a large part of why I make the choices I do for my family.

*why I won't buy apples that aren't organic.

*why I write letters to the supervisor of the produce department about organic produce.

*why I check our hygiene products against the SkinDeep database.

*why I clean with baking soda.

*why we built a house that exposes our children to far fewer chemicals than are used in conventional building practices.

*why I'm willing to have people think I'm a little unusual in terms of what I will not eat or drink and what I will or will not allow my children to be exposed to.

The choices we make today have an impact on the lives we will be living tomorrow.
What we teach our children matters. 
In this case, it also affects whether or not they'll be able to learn.

Maple Syrup Season

It's almost time!

Equipment is prepared, and we wait patiently.

Always perfect and in its own time, maple season arrives quietly.

Warmer air full of sunshine by day, temperatures below freezing at night.

God's perfect recipe to stir the lifeblood of the maples.

This year, I'm more excited than ever.  Todd and I have the opportunity to work with the students at Juli's school.  We will teach the history of sugaring and the physiology of the maples, and each student will learn what it is like to tap a tree.

Tomorrow, I get to read to Kindergarten. 

I know---how fun is that?!!

"There is a time between the seasons.  It comes in March when winter seems tired and spring is only a hoped-for thing...For a few people, this time is a season in its own right.  For them it is sugaring time, when the sap begins to flow in the maple grove.

Maple sap is harvested, and that is part of the specialness of sugaring time.  It is special, too, because young people have a reason to go outside, snow or no snow, mud or no mud, and older people have a reason to believe in the coming spring."

-Kathryn Lasky, Sugaring Time

The Other Side

My friend Natalie passed away unexpectedly this week.



Our friendship was built over meals and short snatches of conversation on the porch of the dining hall at Lutherlyn. 

Natalie volunteered as a nurse at camp each summer.  She was the perfect blend of sympathy and support for campers who had scraped their knee or whose stomach ached from missing mom.  One of her greatest gifts was her ability to show Christ's love to others by caring for their physical needs.

I've heard Randy explain to campers that the reason they cry at the end of their week is because something from camp touched them deep inside. 

That is certainly true in this case.  Natalie will be sorely missed---by her family and friends, and by the hundreds of children touched by her caring hands.



Natalie, we're happy you've made it home.

See you on the other side.  :)

Mostly Me Day

It's here!  My Mostly Me Day.  :)

A day where I don't mind getting up at 6:00 a.m. to get ready, because I'm very excited about my destination.

From 10:00-3:00 today, I'll be with the members of the Allegheny Dulcimer Club, playing tunes I already know and picking up a few new ones.

And while most days I am happy to read stories, play Batman cave, or make lunch for hungry tummies, today I don't have to.  Todd will.

So today will be Mostly About Me.

Getting away by myself once in a while gives my soul the space it needs to breathe. 
It allows me to come back and do my job with a new song in my heart. 
Literally and figuratively.

What do you get to do that is mostly about you?

A Few Choice Words

I know...it's been days.

It's been crazy here, and what I've wanted to write just doesn't want to flow.
Too bad.
Flowy or not, here we go.

* * * * * * *

A week or so ago, I mentioned that Todd was in the middle of a kitchen project.
Saturday, he dug out all his tools for grouting and finished the corner of my kitchen!

I know!  Didn't he do a phenomenal job?

I can only picture how it would have turned out if I had been in charge.
My guy's a treasure in so many ways.

* * * * * * *

I've been doing some cleaning in the attic this week.
My previous life as a teacher is being revisited.
I've unearthed and repacked a treasure trove of novels and picture books, channeling them towards new homes where they will be read and enjoyed.
Books are not meant to be boxed.

I've also come across my books from my childhood.
Of the eight million things my mother saw fit to save, I'm glad my books are among them.

Here is one of my all-time favorites, evidenced by the spine.  (If you've never read The Phantom Tollbooth, btw, get thee to a library in search of a copy.)

Milo finds himself in The Lands Beyond, where he learns to look beyond the literal, that things are not always what they seem.

Early on in the story, Milo finds himself in Dictionopolis, advised by the king's cabinet.  "You see," cautioned the count, "you must pick your words very carefully and be sure to say just what you intend to say."

A chapter later, the not-so-wicked Which reminds him, "Always remember that while it is wrong to use too few (words), it is often far worse to use too many."

I've been thinking a lot about the power of words.
At church on Sunday, I was present at a discussion where two people were on opposite sides of a fence.
The people present and topic being discussed are immaterial.

What matters is that one person used her words to invalidate another person's opinion.
Instead of building a bridge of understanding, those words channeled a chasm of hurt feelings and disregard.

And it was in utter juxtaposition that later that afternoon I received a lovely paragraph from my aunt, who used her words to bless this 38-year-old.  In a message crafted for my eyes only, her words communicated esteem and approval.

I could feel the hug all the way from New Jersey to Pennsylvania.


(Image from www.reconnections.net)

Having witnessed those two polar experiences in one day, I've been thinking a lot about the power of words ever since.

I have nothing new under the sun to say about words.
It's up to all of us to put kindness and compassion into practice, even when we feel the need to make a point.

More than that, however, the words you have been given are a gift to others.
Who in your life can you bless today with the power of your speech? 

The Octopus Game

The final Valentine touch...glitter!

Lots and lots of glitter...

Cleaning the remnants of the glitter...

Back and forth, back and forth...getting every. blessed. sparkle.

Strettttttch...

And it only lasts so long, until the thought occurs.

(He is a boy, after all...)

Hmmm...I wonder what will happen if I...

Now he calls it "The Octopus Game." 

He offered to show his sister when she came home.

She declined.

As you travel through your grown-up day, may you find things to explore and discover joy in the unexpected.

A Seedy Surprise

I got a package yesterday!

I assumed it was the book I've been expecting from Barnes & Noble for over two weeks, but then I looked at the return address:

Our seeds arrived...already!!! 

I'm absolutely astounded, since I just placed the order on Saturday.  Talk about efficient!

The "Garden Blanket" on the left is a floating row cover by DuPont, which I'm very excited to try this year on our strawberries.  If you remember last year, we faced several trials with our berry patch, from deer mowing the early plants down to nubs, to slugs feasting on ripe berries each night.

This year, our patch will look something like this:

Very exciting!

So the other day, I mentioned that I order open-pollinated seeds. 

Why?

Well, once upon a time, farmers and gardeners had to save seeds.  That was the only way to ensure they would be able to plant the following year.  Once it became possible to purchase seeds through a store or catalog, it was no longer necessary to save your own.

For me, it's all about control.

By saving seeds I can control the amount of money I spend on seeds and the variety of plants that I choose for my garden.  It's also a vote for independence---for me to not have to rely on any one particular company every year for my seed supply.  (That in itself is a big topic, for another day.)

It may not seem like a big deal to spend $1 to $3 for a packet of seeds, but it really depends on how many different plants you're trying to grow.  If I have to order 20 packets of seeds, suddenly we're talking $20 to $60.  Considering that we choose to be a mostly one-income family, that's an area where we can save some money for just a little extra effort on my part.  I only had to order eight packets of seeds this year.  My cost came to only $17.20 on this order because 2/3 of the seeds for this year's garden had been saved from previous years.   

Remember my newly-cleaned closet?  It's where I keep my seeds. 

Not too warm and not too damp, it works well.

In the box I keep the garden map of the previous year to help me remember to rotate my vegetables.

It's where I keep seeds that are gifts from friends:

Seeds that were free at the Mother Earth News Conference:

Leftover seeds from last year, which will still have a fairly good germination rate:

And seeds that I have saved from my garden, in a leftover envelope with scrawled instructions so I don't forget how to plant them.

Cathryn had asked the other day about the logistics of saving different varieties of seeds and the possibility of plants cross-pollinating.  It is true that some plants can cross-pollinate within the garden, which is where those high-school biology notes rattling around in your brain will come in handy.

The trick is to know how each variety of plant is pollinated. 

Some are called self-pollinated---like peas, beans, peppers and tomatoes.  As the actual flower opens, the pollen is transferred within the flowers.  Those seeds tend to be easy to save with a good chance of future plants looking like their parent plants. 

Some plants are pollinated by wind---corn being the most notable.  In this case, the safest way to save seed is to isolate varieties far from one another (sometimes up to a mile) and/or plant varieties that tassel and release pollen at different times.  A seed catalog like Southern Exposure Seed Savers gives information inside such as distances to safely plant to prevent cross-pollination and number of days to maturity.

The trickiest are the plants that are purely insect-pollinated---the cucumbers, pumpkins, squash, and melons.  There are four species:  Cucurbita pepo, Cucurbita maxima, Cucurbita moschata, and Cucurbita argyrosperma.  Cross-pollination will occur easily within varieties of the same species name.  So if you plant more than one kind of each species, chances are if you save and plant their seeds, the offspring plants will not look like their parents.

If this is intriguing and you'd like to learn more, the definitive guide to seed saving is the book Seed to Seed, by Suzanne Ashworth.  Her book will tell you all you need to know about distance planting, hand pollination, etc.

If all this planning and thinking about seeds takes away your desire to have a garden, then you fall into the category I do:  save some, buy some.

Save some, to save money---the easy ones, like peas and beans.

Buy some, to prevent headaches over crossed zucchini and pumpkins.

And then, plant a whole bunch of perennials, where you don't ever have to mess with seeds.  Raspberry bushes are my favorite!

Plant potatoes and onions, because they are no-work crops---just plunk them in the ground and they grow!

Celebrate and enjoy the gift of life within your garden.

Quiet Morning

Juli was a little sad this morning, since her team lost to the Packers last night.  Todd and I weren't too sad.  They made some great plays and did well against a very tough team.   

I got to thinking about it, and realized it's all perspective.  When you're eight years old, and you've already seen your team go to the Superbowl and win, it's hard not to expect that they would win every time.  She'll get over it.  After all, Valentine's Day is right around the corner!

As for me, I'll be all ready for a little red, white and pink.  Our world has been a little too gray for my taste lately. 

Don't get me wrong.  I really like snow.  And cross-country skiing.

What I don't like is ice.  And while our streets are bare, our very long driveway and the path to the chicken coop are layered in ice---up to an inch thick in some places.  Have you ever seen a chicken ice-skate?  I hadn't until this week, and I have to say it's a bit amusing.

A small happy thing is that I put curtains up in my office window this morning.  Remember how I cleaned my linen closet last week?  Well, I found off-white calico curtains that have been packed away since we lived at Terra Dei.  I was getting ready to take them to Goodwill, when it occurred to me to measure them.  Low and behold, they fit!

Choosing to find joy in the smallest of things.

It means the view from my computer changed from this:

To this:

Love the coziness! 

I also ordered my seeds this weekend. 

For those of you who don't garden (or buy your seeds at a local store), I'm a little behind the eight ball.  Which means I didn't get to purchase the Floriana Red Flint Corn seed that I had been hoping to try this summer.  (Rumor has it that Floriana makes the best polenta.)

But I did have fun picking out other vegetable seeds.

After all, who wouldn't have fun ordering from a catalog with this cover?  Love the frogs!

Southern Exposure Seed Exchange is one of my favorite seed sources.  They offer over 700 varieties of seed, with an emphasis on heritage seeds (varieties around before 1940) and open-pollinated seeds.  (Seeds grown from open-pollinated plants allow you to save the seeds from your plants and use them for next year's crops, knowing that they will reproduce true to type.  If you try saving and planting seeds from hybrid plants, your next year's plants will be different in terms of size, taste, etc.)  We'll talk another day about why this matters.

It's time to go wake my boy for lunch.  We stayed up a little too late last night, and he desperately needed a morning nap if preschool was to be any fun today. 

Everything is always better with a nap.

:)

Game Day

We've had an exciting few days leading up to the big game!

Micah, with his craft from preschool on Friday.

All excited about the balloons Matt and Priscilla gave them at church this morning: 

And a gift from Uncle Tim, clearly meant for me to be shared with my favorite Steeler fans.

Go Steelers!

Go Steelers!

Go Steelers!

Dad's Coming Home

We've been without our favorite person for the better part of two days, and it's taking its toll.

Sure, I can cook with the best of them. 
I can do laundry and make sure the homework is done. 
I may help our house to stay (fairly) organized and on time. 
I'm also a fantastic storyteller.

But I don't hold a candle to Daddy in many ways---and I'm okay with that.
Seriously, how do you keep up with a man who will pretend to be the villain to their superhero story---every single night?

(See, and that's why we work so well together.  Momma being the bad guy?  Let's just say that Momma has to be the bad guy enough during the day that she doesn't feel like playing the part of the Riddler or Joker after dinner.)

How about trains?  Whether it's Thomas, GeoTrax or the HO set in our living room, Dad has it in the bag.

Do they intuitively sense that Dad stayed up at night, getting things ready for their playtime?

 Is it because he's willing to share his HO collection with small, not-always-careful hands?

Is it the way he took hours that day, helping them learn to run the electric train?

It's all of these things---and when you roll it all together on a kid level, they feel loved in quite a different way than how Momma loves them.

Different is good.
It brings balance.

Hurry home Dad!  We miss you.  :)

First Impressions

Thank you so much for thinking of Micah and praying for him earlier today.  In a nutshell, we were able to rule out two things (acid reflux and food allergy), which left us not knowing any more than we did earlier and needing to do more bloodwork.  He handled it like a champ.

I was really pleased to meet not sure what I thought about his doctor.
For the first fifteen minutes I sat and answered questions, thinking the man had the personality and bedside manner of a flea.
Monotone.
Serious.
Would have scared the bejeebers out of me as a child.

He turned to Micah, and it all melted away.
The stiff, awkward voice turned soft and gentle, playfully asking about preschool and whether or not he teased his sister.
Jet airplane noises accompanied hand motions as he used a light to check Micah's visual reflexes.

It was so unbelieveably clear to me that this man is living out his calling as a pediatric specialist.

While his book knowledge helps him communicate information to adults, his true gift is in the way he relates to a four-year-old.

And it made me wonder if he saw that gift in himself, or if someone else brought it to his attention
Either way, I'm grateful.
Because four-year-olds are goofy, and it takes a special person to know how to love them.