Stormy Weather
Torrential rains:
And a view of Maui in the distance after the storm:
Archive for November, 2007
Harvey Slumfenburger’s Christmas Present
This is the BEST Christmas book EVER. And it’s back! Candlewick Press has republished it and it’s now available (though I’m not sure what a midi edition is?). Jules over at 7 Imp posted about holiday books today and BAM! there was the cover right in the middle of the post. Incidentally, Jules concurs with my brilliant assessment that this book rocks. And of course, we’re both right. 
On Moving to Hawaii
People ask all the time about how we came to this island.
It started as a joke.
“Hey, let’s move to Hawaii!”
My oldest son Brad rolled his eyes and stretched “mo-om” out into a three syllable word. Mr. Sensible, he knew where home was, and he knew without a doubt that I was a little nuts. We had vacationed in Hawaii and arrived home with hearts warmed by the tropical sun and aloha spirit. We didn’t want to leave, but, well, that’s what you do on a vacation. And so our yearning for the islands became a running joke.
“It’s freezing!” Brad complained when the mercury dipped to 14 degrees.
“We could move to Hawaii,” I replied.
Ever the one to join the fun, Evan chimed in, “Yeah, let’s move to Hawaii!”
“No thanks,” said Brad.
When things went wrong, it was a good diversion. Sitting in traffic? “Hey, let’s move to Hawaii!” Spilled milk? “I don’t think milk spills in Hawaii!” Every time, the joke got a thumbs-up from Evan and an eye roll from Brad. Every time. Until the day it didn’t.
I can’t recall what prompted the joke, but I very distinctly remember Brad’s matter of fact reply: “Okay. Let’s move to Hawaii.” I also remember the sharp silence. When he uttered those words, it stopped being a joke. He had called our bluff. Evan blinked. I glanced from one child to the other.
Evan asked, “So, are we moving?”
I snorted. One doesn’t simply pack up a family and move to Hawaii. It’s just not feasible. And yet, this conversation happened about the same time that my husband heard of a potential job opening on the Big Island. How could we not at least consider it?
Are you serious? we asked Brad. And what about Evan? All this time he’d been gamely going along with the joke, but actually moving to an island in the Pacific is a far cry from a little family chuckle. Mealtime conversation revolved around the perils and possibilities of living the island life.
“What about our toys?” asked Evan. “I’ll miss my friends, a lot.”
“We could snorkel every day,” said Brad.
I fell in love with the islands more than twenty years ago. The thought of living there, even temporarily, was pretty enticing. But, we had a home to think about. Animals. Family. Furniture. Stuff. Baggage. Life.
But, the educator in me wondered at the opportunity! A chance to live on one of the newest pieces of earth? To live in a place populated by so many different cultures? To have the opportunity to gain first hand knowledge of the ocean and its creatures? To learn a new language? How in the world could I say no?
Nine months later, we were on a plane headed for Kona. We had with us eight suitcases (one filled exclusively with Legos) and nothing else. Our furniture was in storage, our home was rented out, and on the other end of this plane ride we’d become tenants ourselves.
Speaking of Getting Creative
I attended a wreath making workshop hosted by my local library last weekend. The first day was spent gathering materials in a small ohia forest on a dry lava bed. The trees were only about as tall as I am, so it was not shaded and very hot. On day number two, we put together the wreaths, which are made on a straw base. Here’s how mine turned out (can you believe there are only three different kinds of plant material?):
This was one of those projects that turned out beautifully, in spite of the fact that I’d never done this before. I love projects like that!
UN Notable
The New York Times just released its list of 100 Notable books of 2007. Out of the hundred, I’ve read exactly one - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It appears that I should probably choose this one from the list next:
HOW TO TALK ABOUT BOOKS YOU HAVEN’T READ. By Pierre Bayard. Translated by Jeffrey Mehlman. (Bloomsbury, $19.95.) A French literature professor wants to assuage our guilt over the ways we actually read and discuss books.
Giving Myself Permission…
… to slack off.
I wear a number of different hats each day (as do most of us homeschoolers, I think). This means that while I’m cooking pancakes, my writerly hat is formulating an article idea, or editing a chapter of that fiction story that will (someday!) see light. Laundry and language arts happen simultaneously in my house, and dinner preparations (if I remember) happen between fractions and driving kids to their obligations.
I’m feeling pulled in too many directions and I’m missing out on the things I really want to be doing. Or need to be doing to feed my soul. So. I’ve given myself the rest of the year off. Seriously. I have one article due in mid December and that will certainly be done on time, but no more of the usual querying for me. If somebody needs me to write something, by all means, let me know. But for the next 5 weeks I’m allowing myself the freedom to stop chasing work, and instead bake cookies, get crafty, and sing off-key Christmas songs.
11-0
Yeah, baby. But why is there any question as to whether or not the UH Warriors will play in a bowl game?
Wampum
Robin’s starting her colonial unit and posts today about making wampum from Great Colonial America Projects You Can Build Yourself. With pictures. Way cool.
UPDATE: I just discovered via comments in another post that Dana is using Great Colonial America Projects, too! Cool beans.
Americans are Reading Less
According to the National Endowment for the Arts, Americans are reading less well, and less in general.
Americans are reading less - teens and young adults read less often and for shorter amounts of time compared with other age groups and with Americans of previous years.
- Less than one-third of 13-year-olds are daily readers, a 14 percent decline from 20 years earlier. Among 17-year-olds, the percentage of non-readers doubled over a 20-year period, from nine percent in 1984 to 19 percent in 2004.1
- On average, Americans ages 15 to 24 spend almost two hours a day watching TV, and only seven minutes of their daily leisure time on reading.2
Americans are reading less well – reading scores continue to worsen, especially among teenagers and young males. By contrast, the average reading score of 9-year-olds has improved.
My 12 year old reads for about 4 hours each day (!), sometimes more depending on his most recent library haul. My 15 year old reads daily, but less since he’s become so interested in music. He reads mostly at night before bed, for maybe an hour.
I’m curious. How many of you have kids who are daily readers?
Thanksgiving Myths: Misconceptions about the Pilgrims and their famous feast, debunked
With the Thanksgiving holiday fast approaching and since Andrea was so kind as to introduce me as a colonial author, it seems like a good time to point again to my page about Thanksgiving Myths. Interesting stuff.
