A smattering of catching up

 I've been gone long enough I need to do a catch up:

School started back here in Idaho, but the first week was online, which meant I got to do some lessons with our granddaughter who is in 1st grade. It gave me an appreciation for what parents - and teachers - are going through right now. Technology worked overall but not completely, we had most of the supplies needed but not all. I always feel blessed to cover for our grown kids now and then, and re-realize how busy they are, how pressed on all sides. I was also struck by how the entire philosophy of teaching has evolved since I was a child, or even when my children were in school. When I was in school we showed up, we sat at our desks, memorized and took tests. Almost everyone passed grades whether they had a grasp of the material or not. (That would be me in so many subjects.)

When our kids were being educated there was a bit more of caring about the learning environment, about nurturing the child, and sometimes it was encouraged to repeat a grade, especially kindergarten or first grade if the teacher and parents agreed the child would benefit from a repeat covering the material.

Our grandkids now are more engaged with their teachers, there's a much wider variety of subjects and interests to pursue, and more awareness whether the material has actually been grasped, absorbed. Of our eight grandchildren, four are homeschooled, two are in a charter school, two are in more traditional public school and all three scenarios seem to me to do a much better job of educating kids than they did when I was going to school. 

It makes me wish I could go back and start all over. 

It also makes me wish I could go back and homeschool all three of our children, at least through junior high. I'm not sure any kid should have to go through the brutal process of being a middle schooler, especially with the philosophy that accompanied it when I was doing so, or my children. 

We've had these two boys visit our property several times this summer, and while they're not big as elk go, they look very big when they're standing in your front door. I took their photo with our front door propped open, so that if they decided to come my way I could slip inside quickly. 

They spent awhile nibbling the undersides of a tree in our side yard, then took their time crossing the road, while traffic stopped dead still. It was fun to see the cars rolling down their windows and taking photos. Maybe they'll be back next year after they've grown a bit more. Such beautiful animals!

 

My fourteen year old granddaughter and I traded curling irons this past week. She has beautiful long tresses and I just got a haircut, so my big wanded curling iron was frying my neck. She had this skinny contraption, so we switched. So many things about it made me smile. Who gets to trade hair products with their teenage granddaughter? 

She also showed me a few things on my iphone, using hers as an example, and I was completely lost. It made me feel about 100 years old to watch her fingers fly across her screen, switching back and forth between apps and settings and such. I think I'll just give her mine for an afternoon and ask her to fix it. 

My very first ever hydrangeas, called red slippers, they started out white and turned to a pale blush color, and after enjoying them on the stem as long as I could, I finally snipped them and brought them inside to dry. There's something so gracious and lovely about a hydrangea I think. 

My daughter-in-law gave all the girls in our family these t-shirts a few years back, and we've all been just waiting for the day. I hung mine out the night before, September 30, savoring that I would finally be able to get up and wear it. Anne of Green Gables was absolutely right, don't you think? There IS so much to love about a world that includes Octobers. 

Cub Sweetheart and I slipped away for a little mini-vacation, of just a few days. We drove to Hope, Idaho (how great a name is that for a place to take a vacation right now?!), and rented a teensy cabin thru VRBO. 

The floors sloped, doors stuck and hung crookedy, there was barely enough hot water for a bath, but it was perfect. The deck overlooked Lake Pond O'Reille, and made for a lovely spot for morning coffee, afternoon snacks, or evening wine-thirty. We mostly stayed right there, grilling or heating up leftovers we'd taken along with us, reading books, knitting (me) and watching the DVD series of Lonesome Dove (the perfect vacation get away movie BTW). 

Because we were already halfway there, one afternoon we drove to Kootenai Falls and took the hike both directions - one that led to the falls themselves, and one that crossed the river over a swinging bridge. The view from the middle was amazing and I felt brave to stand in the middle of the bridge and not be afraid. Right now, with everything that is going on in our crazy world, it feels nice to do some things that make you feel brave. 

So there you have it, a mishmash smattering of what we've been up to. I have the best of intentions to come back here and post more often, but seem to be in a nestle in, stay at home, read books and cook sort of mood. I do want to come back and tell you what I've learned from Covid so far (the lessons are ongoing, aren't they?) (I was exposed and thank the Lord, didn't get it), what I love about fall, and the books I've got my nose in. No rock solid promises but I'll at least try to lean toward that in the next few days or weeks.