SOMETIMES IT TAKES A WOMAN...
even if she's small!

There is something formidable about a women when her mind is set.  A woman on a "mission" can't be talked out of it or distracted or convinced to walk away.  The world is a better place because of women like this.

This is not Eva but the hair is similar

I've read the histories of such ladies and have known a few personally, but the other day in the library I saw one who was still very young, a "formidable woman" in the making.  I will call her Eva.

Eva is a "woman" with a purpose.  She is going to be a reader. Every morning she comes up to the library and hands me her finished book. She points out that not only has she finished her book but she's scored 100% on her comprehension quiz.  I smile and congratulate her. She gets a new book and literally skips out of the library, her long dark brown naturally curly hair bobbing up and down. She is adorable.

Her little face is full of light and the look in her eye says... "I know where I'm going and what I have to do to get there!"

Eva has this look in her eyes

The other day I saw a bigger piece of Eva's personality when her whole class was in the library.  We have two big doors, one east and one west.  For whatever reason the younger kids struggle with the doors.  Let me explain...

When a child asked me to use the bathroom I NEVER say no. I just point to one of the doors and say hurry back.  Nine times out of ten they can't open the door because they are pulling on it instead of pushing. I have given multiple mini lessons on push/pull but the struggle continues.

One day last week a boy in Eva's class was struggling with the door as Eva was standing in front of me at the circulation desk. I said to him. Push on it, don't pull.  That just made him pull all the harder.  Before I could stand up to go rescue him Eva let out a big sigh and headed for the door.

"Look" she said... "you're pulling not pushing" Then she took over, turned the handle, pushed the door open and stood there to let him walk through. Then she let out another sigh and rolled her eyes. I couldn't even laugh, I just starred with my mouth open. The thought went through my head... "Sometimes it just takes a women, even if she's small."

Little Eva... I suspect you will be a formidable woman one day.  You might even change the world!

POPCORN POPPING...

It is still cold and dreary in my neck of the woods. Then a got a surprise as I was driving to work yesterday. I saw an apricot tree in full bloom. It took my breath away. They are the first to "pop" each year and it is a real sign of Spring. What a thrill. 


There is a funny little song that the children at church sing every Spring. Complete with actions it is at least three generations old. Here are the words...

Apricot Chicken Wings

3lbs chicken wings
1 1/2 c. apricot preserves
3 TBS vinegar
2 tsp. hot sauce
1 tsp chili powder
1 glove garlic minced

Put your chicken wings in a deep pan, cover with water and bring to a boil.  Remove immediately, drain and arrange the wings on a cookie sheet.


In a mixing bowl combine all of the ingredients for the sauce. Pour over the chicken and toss. Cover with foil and marinate overnight. Bake in a 300 degree oven, tossing the wings about every 20 minutes.  Cook slowly until the sauce and the wings become caramelized. About 2 hours. Serve with celery.

"The secrets in the sauce!"

THE RINGING OF THE "BLUE-NOTE"...

The valley where I live

As a very young mother I remember facing the daunting task of toilet training my oldest child. He was almost three. I had put this off for a long, long time because I had no idea what I was doing and was doubtful that I could succeed. Imagine my surprise when after a couple of frustrating weeks ... IT WAS DONE!

During the struggle, I was desperate to find some humor and this little poem bubbled to the surface. Its silly and anything but profound but it helped me lighten the moment. The interesting part was that I didn't exactly write it. It was like it was just there and I was the scribe.  Even in this insignificant moment there had been a spark of inspiration.

A POEM FOR JEREMY

My mother says today's the day,

She's going to throw the pins away,

The diaper pail and the diapers too,

In fact, my mother says she's through...

With diapering, she'll take a chance

And put me in a "training pant,"

And hope that I don't wet or soil it,

But do my duty on the toilet.

(note - there were no disposable diapers back then)

So what is the "blue-note?"  In artistic circles it is referred to as the moment when creativity begins to flow. We struggle, and quite often find our resources empty. Then suddenly, on a whim of its own, there will be a moment of clarity when all of the elements come together and pure inspiration flows. It is "magical"

Some have described its playing as if the drapes to a great dark hall have been drawn aside, and ideas like an explosion of sunlight, flood into the room.

When Fredrick Handel composed THE MESSIAH, He locked himself in a room for ten days to jot down the music playing in his head.

When Mozart wrote THE MAGIC FLUTE, he was not trudging his way through the rules of music theory to a logical conclusion. No, he heard the finished piece and wrote it down.

"Creativity is a partnership, a dance between ourselves and the muses."

I have heard the ringing of the blue-note many times. Most people think of it as it relates to art, literature and music, but it is not confined to any genre. I had a cookie decorating business for 12 years and it was there among the tips and bags and frosting. And more recently I have experienced its clarity while teaching math.

I have sixteen 5th grade students and we are studying 6th grade math. We are into algebra and geometry. They have known for a long time how to find the area of a rectangle but last week I taught them how to find the area of a parallelogram.

Base x Height = Area

It took a minute... they didn't get it.  Where does the height come from? We went through it several times and reviewed it for several days. Finally, although they didn't completely understand it, they could recite the formula and get the answer.  Then... about a week later I was suppose to teach them to find the area of a triangle. I drew a triangle... we measured the base, made a right angle and measured it and then we multiplied.

Base x Height = Area

                             2

All went well until I said ... now divide by two.

"WHAT?  Why do we divide by two... I don't get it."

I started to say. "It's OK if you don't understand the concept, just follow the process"  But then I stopped... I had a "flash"

I drew a parallelogram on the board.  Then I drew a line from one corner to the opposite corner and said... "What do we have?"

TWO TRIANGLES

You would have thought it was the 4th of July as lights were turning on all over the room. Again and again I heard...  "I get it, I get it. There's two triangles so we divide by two."

There was laughing, there were sighs of relief, there was excitement. The blue-note had rung in math.  It was a moment when real learning and clarity had occurred.

I love teaching. I love it when my students see with "new eyes" and the transfer of information and understanding is complete. IT IS MAGIC!

I treasure the times when I have heard the soft ringing of the illusive "blue-note"... I believe it is truly heaven sent.



ON THE WILD SIDE ...

One jacket two looks! 

Fell in love with the jacket first... now I'm crazy for the accessories. Oh, the sandals. ENJOY! 

Option #1

JACKET from Pendleton $189.00

CHINO PANT from White House Black Market  $58.00

HANDBAG from Zappos  $195.00

SANDAL  from Dillards $129.00

LEOPARD WATCH from Dillards  $125.00

Option #2

MICHAEL KORS Sandals from Dillards $145.00

STRAW Hobo from Dillards  $69.00

CLARA BARTON...

saw a need and filled it... a truly remarkable woman

Life in the mid 1800's was filled with hard work and deeply rooted Christian beliefs. Political passions and a sense of right and wrong grounded these early Americans. But nothing in their lives could have prepared them for what was about to happen ...

The American Civil War 

Approximately 750,000 lives would be lost over a four year period. That is the equivalent of us suddenly losing two million Americans. No one predicted that number and NO ONE was prepared to deal with the casualties.

It would shatter almost every family and change the way the people viewed their government and the way the government viewed its responsibility toward its citizens.

Prior to the war there were no large hospitals, no ambulance system, no antibiotics and no information about the transfer of communicable diseases. There were no national cemeteries, no honoring the dead or pensions for the families. There was also no organized way to record the dead. All of that would change as Americans were stunned by the statistics of war.

People living at this time were keenly aware that life could be short and they had little or no control over when someone would be taken. They valued what they called the "GOOD DEATH" ... passing with loved ones around, final farewells, and being buried in a family plot. People were horrified as their loved ones lay rotting on battlefield and thousand and thousand were buried in unmarked graves. The notion of a "Good Death" was no longer available.

A government clerk working in the US patent office saw this overwhelming calamity and decided she would do something to help. Her name was CLARA BARTON.

When the Civil War broke out, she was one of the first volunteers to appear at the Infirmary in Washington where she cared for the wounded soldiers. When word came of the destitute conditions on the front and the shocking lack of medical supplies, Clara filled three army wagons with supplies and rode into the Battle of Antietam. There she found the surgeons trying to make bandages out of corn husks.

She was referred to as the "Angel of the Battlefield."

She made trip after trip, putting her life in danger while bringing aid to the Union casualties and the Confederate prisoners.. In 1864 as she was nursing a wounded soldier, a bullet tore through the sleeve of her dress. It did not strike her but killed the man she was caring for.

Burying the dead was a monumental task but identifying them was even more difficult. Clara worked tirelessly to aide the friends and families of missing soldiers by locating them among prison rolls or casualty lists.

She established the Bureau of Records of Missing Men and it was with her insistence that as many graves as possible were identified and marked.

By the end of the war she was exhausted. At her doctors insistence she went to Geneva, Switzerland to recover. There she discovered an organization called the Red Cross. She joined their ranks and even helped in the Franco-Prussian war in 1870.

Beyond her compassionate heart, Clara was a talented organizer. She had put people to work during two wars and now, upon her return and with the financial help of a friend she organized the AMERICAN RED CROSS and served as its leader for the next 20 years. She saw needs, she took action!

She was there in 1881 to aid the victims of a devastating forest fire in Michigan. In 1884 she chartered steamers to carry supplies up and down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to help the flood victims and in 1889 she and 50 volunteers rode the first train into Johnstown, Pennsylvania, to assist the survivors of a dam break that caused over 2,000 deaths.

Clara Barton spent her life helping others in times of catastrophe. She was a true humanitarian and a remarkable woman!

Watch this mini-biography about her life...

BEAUTIFUL MUSIC FOR A SUNDAY

Homeward Bound

by Marta Keen Thompson

This is one of my favorite songs of all time. Hope you enjoy it!

“In the quiet misty morning
When the moon has gone to bed,
When the sparrows stop their singing
And the sky is clear and red,
When the summer’s ceased its gleaming,
When the corn is past its prime,
When adventure’s lost its meaning,
I’ll be homeward bound in time.

Bind me not to the pasture;
Chain me not to the plow.
Set me free to find my calling
And I’ll return to you somehow.

If you find it’s me you’re missing,
If you’re hoping I’ll return,
To your thoughts I’ll soon be list’ning,
In the road I’ll stop and turn.
Then the wind will set me racing
As my journey nears its end,
And the path I’ll be retracing
When I’m homeward bound again.

Bind me not to pasture;
Chain me not to the plow.
Set me free to find my calling
And I’ll return to you somehow.

In the quiet misty morning
When the moon has gone to bed,
When the sparrows stop their singing,
I’ll be homeward bound again.

I HATE SPRING...

Yesterday was the 1st day of Spring. I was a bit under the weather so I didn't post. I'm a day late and a dollar short and I'm just saying... "I hate Spring! 

Now before you write me off completely, let me name a few things about Spring that I LOVE ... 

I love crocus and daffodils ... new baby lambs and little colts... 

pussy willows, lilac bushes, Easter egg hunts, Spring Break and longer days!

What I hate about Spring is that she is a "tease."  One day is sweater weather, the next I'm shivering in my down coat. Blue skies bring hope and excitement and then there's another snow storm. Its enough to give anybody whiplash!

I put up with the March wind and I love the April showers. But when May arrives I think it should be predictably warm. I don't want to plant lettuce and peas in the cold and the poor little tomatoes look pitiful under their cutout milk jugs. The old saying goes...

"In like a lion... out like a lamb." 

The only problem is that here in the Rocky Mountains the 1st day of Spring was mild.... and that means we've got a little "lion" in the forecast. 

The best thing about Spring is...  

Summer's coming!