Out with a fever

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Silence

I hadn't realized how much I missed silence until I stumbled into some the other day. I was home by myself. (Well, not actually by myself as G was asleep upstairs.) I was cold so I turned off the AC. I then turned off the one in the kitchen as well.

All of a sudden it was quiet.

Do you know quiet? The hush of what you can't hear when you wake up and it has snowed overnight. The world is muted. Hushed. Quiet.

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Life with a three year old doesn't allow for much quiet. If she is awake, one of three things is most likely happening.

One; talking. She is very verbal. I love listening to the way her mind works, but it is pretty constant and even a mother can want for a mute or pause button.

Thankfully there is a two - she could be giggling. When you are three years old emotions are heightened. Laughter and giggles are plentiful and wonderful.

Unfortunately the flip side of those emotions is the final option- tears. Not just moisture seeping from the eyes. That would not be very three. Most tears come with complete melt downs. Those are the moments that number one doesn't seem so bad.

Now add to the three year old the background noise of our AC units. No, we don't have central air. Each room has its own wall-mounted air conditioner. When you live in the tropics, and it is stinking hot, AC is a life saver. The AC is always on.

The ACs in our home are not the quiet kind. (In fact I was enjoying the quiet so much that I turned off the one in our bedroom before I crawled into bed. Later, when it was getting too warm and I needed to turn it back on the sound could have been mistaken for a small plane starting up and heading down the runway.)

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So now I remember what quiet is. I remember that I like quiet. I remember that I can find quiet here, all I have to do is turn off the AC.

Choices.

Evening On The Spit

Every summer we go camping. Camping with family and friends is a constant, the location is a variable. This summer we went to Dungeness Recreation Area near Sequim, on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State.

Within the recreation area is a spit - a narrow sliver of beach, extending five miles out into the salt water. The spit is very narrow, barely visible when the tide is in and punctuated by a light house at the terminus.

We saved one evening of our camping adventure for visiting the spit. After dinner we gathered layers for warmth and jackets to buffet the wind, shovel and pail for G, and started out along the trail.

The path edges the top of the cliff until you are above the beginning of the spit and entering a special, protected area. They especially want to protect the area for wildlife - primarily birds.

At this point you start down a hill, through the forest. The path is wide - wide enough for four or five people to walk side-by-side in most places. Eventually the downward grade increases.

Just before the final decent you are afforded your first view of the spit. From the observation platform you can see the entire spit, including the steady flicker of rotating light from the sentry way out at the end.

After taking it all in; the spit, the Strait of Juan de Fuca (used as a shipping lane for vessels transiting from Puget Sound out to the Pacific Ocean), the San Juan Islands, and the southern part of Vancouver Island, Canada. Besides the spit this area is in a wide, shallow bay. You can see the shoreline's crescent to your left, ending at Port Angeles.

As I watched the water I realized something was breaking the surface. Fish jumping? That was my first guess and then I watched for another moment. There was a seal frolicking - popping up and diving down again. I pondered if it was fishing or simply playing. Was it solitary or was only one breaking the surface at a time? I watched.

As evening approached, the sinking sun began to color the sky as a watercolor artist would brush their painting. The lights in nearby towns began to twinkles and the brisk breeze necessitated coats to be zipped up.

Once down the hill the gentle crashing of small waves competed with the sound of the wind and G's giggles as she splayed in the sand - sending Daddy to the waves for water.

Grandparents headed down the beach, determined to explore a bit of the shrinking sand as they raced the tide - and the clock. The spit closed at 8 p.m.

In our final moment G hid among the logs on the beach, waiting to scare her returning grandparents as I watched a cruise ship heading out for the Inside Passage.

What a glorious evening for adventures.

What Are You Reading?

“It’s Monday! What are you Reading?” is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. It is a chance for book lovers to share their reading accomplishments as well as what is on the proverbial nightstand. She even does a giveaway. Subsequently Jen and Kellee at Teach Mentor Texts added an opportunity for those reading kidlit to join the fun. Since I read both I will post to both. Check them out, join the conversations, and discover more great books.

Here is what I have read in the past month.

Hate List by Jennifer Brown

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

Want To Go Private? by Sarah Littman

Amos Fortune: Free Man by Elizabeth Yates

A Visit From The Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder

Fire Study by Maria V. Snyder

No Room For Bullies edited by Jose Bolton & Stan Graeve

In my house, this is the 'B' word

Warning: This may offend some readers. My personal opinion follows…

There is a dufus of a dinosaur. He is purple and green and not allowed in my house. In fact, I consider his name the “B” word.

Why don’t I like him? Well, I will admit that I have never watched more than a few seconds of his show at once. It is the bumbling way in which he moves and the tone of his voice that grate on me and I can’t get past.

We’ve all had the experience of looking ahead to future grade levels and wondering who our teacher might be. There may be things you hope to be a part of or hope to avoid.

Well, for the past few years I have watched one Pre-K 3 teacher use this dinosaur at the beginning of each school year. To be honest, it was reason enough for me to not want my daughter to be in that class. (Even though I think she is a lovely person and a good teacher.)

So, can you guess where this is going?

Yes – this is my daughter’s class and this is the week they are painting Barney.

Ugh.

My little one is so excited that is has wanted to talk about it every, single, day. Oh joy!

I even found myself using it as a motivating factor, “You need to hurry up so you can get to school and paint your Barney.”

Really? That came out of my mouth?

I can assure you, her Barney, no matter how wonderfully it is painted or how cute the googly eyes are, won’t be one of the pieces of ‘art’ work I keep from this year. (Good thing I took the picture.)

The State of the World (at least my corner of it)

By makeitgreat

Once again 9/11 was a date people had been making plans for. Most of you think of the 9/11 attacks on the U.S in 2001. Those are vividly etched in my memory.

I would guess that most of you don't know that there were 9/11 attacks in Amman, Jordan in 2005. This part of the world writes their dates with the day and then month, therefore November 9th is 9/11. My memories of that night are for another post.

It wasn't until I posted last week's Slice of Life that I came to find out that reflections and memories of the attacks on the U.S.were the main fodder for the day. I remember thinking that here, in the Middle East, I often feel removed from the anniversary of that day. And then this past week happened.

By derrickcollins

 

 

 

 

 

It turns out that a film, that was released many months ago, had been part of a plan to rile people up this September 11th. They appear to have succeeded in their plan.

This week I have found myself shaking my head at the things people choose to do. I am completely convinced that these are acts of people, not governments or majorities.

You may have seen this picture on Facebook.

Perhaps you read about the KFC being set on fire in Lebanon, the irony being that the franchise is owned by Lebanese, staffed by Lebanese, and attacked by those wearing Nikes and Levis in an attempt to hurt America.

I live in this part of the world and have found the following blog posts interesting to read. Perhaps you will as well.

Julie Bredy teaches at the American Cooperative School in Tunis, Tunisia. We both call the NW home and are part of the same cohort for COETAIL. This post at Bergamotorange gives you insight into what went on in Tunis last week.

Email from the Embassy is written by Donna, currently in Amman. She is a Foreign Service spouse. This blog post gives not only a reflection of being in Jordan, relative calm in the region and recollects a troubled night at a previous posting in Moscow.

Finally a reflection of living 'normal' life when down the street is under siege in Cairo from Heather Dray can be found here. Her blog, The Wandering Drays, is another lens into Foreign Service life.

I continue to shake my head and wonder when the day will come that evil no longer has a hold on humankind.

Routine

Routines came as easily as breathing to students by the end of last year, so much so that I nearly forgotten how much work it takes to get them in place. This year the challenge has multiplied as I move to middle school with have four sections plus an elective.

The elective part is fine, but I find repeating myself over and over can be a bit tiresome. I have to remind myself that the kids in front of me haven't done anything wrong. They aren't forgetting the routines I have tried to establish three times already. They are simply the fourth round.

Tomorrow concludes our second week of school, however after a couple of days of orientation it means that I will be completing my fourth actual day of class with each section. We didn't have supplies until this week so most sections have only had one day with everything in place. When I remember this it is no wonder there are still big bumps to be slowed down for.

By justonlysteve

They will get there. Just a few more bumps and we can start cruising.