Home Spun comic strip #381

And this is why we no longer have a twenty gallon fish tank. When your kids are as sensitive as mine, there are only so many fish funerals you can have before it wears on you. Especially when it took several proper burials in the yard before I could convince them that fish don't mind "burials at sea." We gave the tank to Buelo, who has much better luck with fish, and the kids can visit it when we go to my parents' house!

Some Generous Awards

My wonderful blog friends have given me a couple of awards.

I figured I would list both of them in one post.

The first is the "One Lovely Blog" award, which was passed to me by Appleleaf. Paula has a lovely blog herself. It always leaves me with something to ponder about.

The rule for this award is to pass it on to 15 other blogs. I won't check if any of my favorites have been recipients yet, I'll just pass it along. In a second. First....




Laughing Stars has passed this lovely award to me. This one is a little more involved.

The rules:

1. List Seven Things That Make You Awe-Summm!
2. Pass the award on to seven bloggers you read religiously.
3. Tag those seven bloggers.




Seven Awesome Things About Me

1. I juggle. Really juggle, not just metaphorically. Including fire. This might not sound awesome to another juggler, but I think it is.

2. I can find the humor in most situations. If I can't, someone in my awesome family can. They keep me smiling.

3. I have a great ability to understand how to do things by observing, even if I can't do those things myself. For example, I could explain how to do certain poses on the single trapeze even though I don't have the arm strength to do the tricks myself.

4. I enjoy learning. I believe I can learn something from anyone.

5. I listen.

6. I have awesome friends and family.

7. I try to live in the moment and take joy in the little things. Like breathing.

Now since I've got to tag for both of these, I'm just going to name fifteen bloggers. Take one or both of these awards and enjoy!

Mama Teaching Two (wonderful ideas and some fantastic pictures)
Laura at Life Faith Homeschool (she makes me think)
Keeley (she has a private blog, but I want her to know I'm thinking of her)
Jessica at Crazy Lives filled with Love (ditto)
Dave at Home School Dad (he makes me laugh)
Little Blue School (who always comes up with interesting ideas)
Malia Li'i Kula (who can do anything with muffin tins)
Lori at Camp Creek Blog (another that makes me think)
The Jacobite Rose (her artwork inspires mine)
Jenny at Elefantz (beautiful quilting)
Once Upon a Family (they have smart goats)
The Narrow Path (one of my favorite nature lovers)
Alison at Loving Nature's Garden and Homeschooler's Guide to the Galaxy (another nature lover)
Stone Age Techie (even more thought provoking posts)
The Inner Elder (my awesome mom)

I know even after punching in fifteen links, I'm still thinking of other great blogs. If I've commented on your blog, assume I think you have a lovely blog and you should be Queen (or King) of Alll Things Aw-summm!!!

Home Spun comic strip #380

How We Spent Our Anniversary...

He gave me flowers, we got Chinese food, he brought home an ice cream cake...



We watched Star Trek: The Next Generation, then I lifted him on my feet....



I think it's important to be supportive of him.

Then Sierra wanted Marina to lift her...

As You Wish

Honey,

We've been together 18 years. We've helped each other through our struggles, supported each other, and shared the laughter and joy. I can honestly say that I am so happy with you and feel so blessed for every day I get to be with you.

As you wish.

Home Spun comic strip #379

An Enchanted Walk

Whenever Marina is on the final page of a sketchbook, she likes to do something special. It usually takes her a few days to pencil, ink and color her work. This recent final page reminded me very much of my own work, so I thought I would share it. The detail needs to be appreciated full size, so click on the image for the larger picture.

What amazes me the most is that she does this naturally. Her art school has been observing life and experiencing works of art in books and museums. I am only a guide, helping her to notice and sometimes explaining how to use different media.

And, of course, I supply her with lots of paper!

Home Spun comic strip #378

Laughter and Peace, Peace and Laughter

There are times when I really feel our society doesn't know how to laugh. Usually the times after I watch the news. So much anger radiates from the top news stories. Sadness, jealousy, hatred, rage... And that was only the local news.

That's one of the problems with watching the news. Newsworthy tends to be serious business. Not that I'm knocking serious-minded folk. There is a time and a place for being serious. But as with all things, you need balance. Laughter is just as important. In fact, I would say that laughter is necessary and severely lacking in our world. Why?

Think about it. We've become an overly-sensitive society. For so many years we were told that certain topics were not politically correct, and so, being sensitive-minded, we stopped laughing and gave disapproving looks at any who did laugh. If there is one thing I know about, it's about sensitivity. I was an extremely sensitive child. There are jokes I consider off-color. I won't laugh at them and I explain to my children why I don't find them funny. But that doesn't mean there is nothing worth laughing about. By worrying over every little joke and wondering if it would be offensive or not, we've created a society that doesn't seem to know what good humour is! The sitcom fell out of favor to "reality" TV. Broadcasters decided this was safer than trying to challenge comedy writers to script something that wouldn't offend anyone. It was much easier to give "ordinary" people 15 minutes of fame and hope for some cheap laughs by throwing these willing victims to the lions.

There was a wonderful episode* about over-sensitivity on the old series Murphy Brown. Murphy had told an off color joke when she thought her microphone was off and ended up being vilified for it. She had to attend a seminar on cultural sensitivity where she tried to defend herself. In a wonderfully written scene, she acknowledges a tall man who has his hand raised to speak, only to be corrected by him. He was "vertically challenged."

I look at laughter as a survival mechanism. Laughter relieves stress and improves my outlook. I suffered from depression through my teen years and I probably also suffered postpartum depression, although it was never diagnosed. All the talking about my problems never helped alleviate it. In my depressed and angry state, it felt great to rant, but I was simply keeping wounds open by rehashing old hurts and angry feelings. What really helped me overcome depression was learning forgiveness (toward others and myself) and how to laugh. I would not say I'm cured. I think I will always struggle against the darkness within me. But now I know that if I am feeling down I need to find ways to pull myself up again. Laughter is my medicine. I retreat with a funny story or movie or make a conscious effort to find the humour in situations. This is how my comic strip came to be.

I honestly believe that our natural world is full of examples of humour. Watching the squirrels chase each other, listening to the laughing call of a woodpecker, even noticing the defiant weed that squeezes its way through the smallest crack in a sidewalk can bring happy feelings to my heart. Laughter brings hope and joy. Joy brings peace. Peace and laughter. Some of you may recognize that. I use it to sign my comments on some of the blogs I read. There are times I've felt uncertain about using it. Not everyone understands what I mean and I do not want to offend (that old sensitivity training!) But it is a wish I have for all of my friends and family. Find the joy in your lives. Peace and Laughter!

*Murphy Brown: season 6, episode 4 "Political Correctness"

Home Spun comic strip #377

Carnival of Homeschooling at Homeschool CPA

The latest Carnival of Homeschooling: As Time Goes By is up and running at Homeschool CPA. Please take some time to visit the carnival and read some of this week's articles.

Next month, I will be hosting my first carnival of homeschooling on August 18. All of my homeschool blogging friends should consider this your first warning! (And you too, Mom) I will send out more reminders as we get closer to the date.

In the meantime, go enjoy the current carnival!

Home Spun comic strip #376

Home Spun comic strip #375

Sharks, Jellies, and Penguins, Oh My!

We had a lovely day at the aquarium today. Hubby is on vacation this week, but Marina is not, so we decided to take advantage of the one day everyone had free to head to the Maritime Aquarium.

The highlight is usually the shark tank. Unfortunately we always have trouble photographing the sharks. The light is low and the sharks don't stay still. Chase did well with this shot, but it is blurry if you look at the larger version.

The jellyfish are a favorite of mine.
It must be my history with these creatures. I admit, I enjoy them much more when they are safely separated from me behind a tank wall. By the way, this picture is not upside down. The jellyfish were floating down to the bottom.

We were happy to see African Penguins today. A special exhibit was set up for July and August called Penguins on the Loose. Some of the penguins are brought out to meet visitors as an aquarium biologist gives a talk about these interesting birds. And I am amazed at how well this picture came out, since the glass I was photographing through was covered with water drop streaks.

I just realized I didn't upload any pictures of the fish! And I am waiting for my husband to take the videos off of the camera. The otter was particularly frisky today, and Chase filmed a movie of him. Check here again on the weekend for updates!

Update: Ack! My husband's hard drive suffered a mechanical failure. After he uploaded our videos. I guess we need to get back to the aquarium and try to film the otter again. My apologies. Thank goodness the photos are on my camera.

For more photos, view the slideshow!

Home Spun comic strip #374

Yes she did. One of the ways Marina and Chase spoiled me is that they never put things in their mouths. On the other hand, Sierra kept me on my toes. No matter how well I swept and vacuumed, she could find the one tiny rhinestone in the corner that I missed. It got worse when she learned how to climb. There was that one week when we had to call poison control...twice. She was two and could work the child safety caps.

On the plus side, I learned a lot about my wild plants as she followed me around the yard. I kept a wildflower and weed identification book on hand, just in case her hand was quicker than my eye. My garden is all natural--no herbicides, pesticides, or other toxic chemicals. So she was OK in spite of sampling the dandelion. And once Marina had the garden growing well, Sierra limited her picking to actual vegetables. I suppose they tasted better.

Home Spun comic strip #373

Had I known at that time how hard it would be to prepare this small plot, I think we would have practiced layering. Rather than pulling out every piece of grass and rocks, you smother the grass and weeds with several inches of dirt and mulch. But I admit it was useful to dig up all of those rocks. Marina used them as a path through the center of her 8 feet square plot. Over the years she's grown everything here: tomatoes, corn, beans, broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, pumpkin, chives, rosemary, parsley, lettuce and sunflowers. In fact, the sunflowers have replanted themselves every year for the past three or four years. She's much better than I am with vegetables. I prefer my carefree, drought-resistant, self-seeding perennials. For some reason, vegetables like to be watered regularly.

Hiking at the Lake Again

On Thursday we hiked at one of our favorite places, Cranberry Lake. We had a beautiful day, except for a few mosquitoes, and we managed to avoid getting lost. I put together a slideshow of some of my favorite memories from the day. I hope you enjoy them!

Think... Then Jump

Dana L. Perri is a student from my yoga class. She is also a picture book author. She gave me a book to share with you. It is the first in her series called Think... Then Jump. The series follows Rana the Frog, and the purpose of the stories is to help Rana learn some life lessons about thinking before jumping into action.

The first book is called The Grumpy Frog. Rana the Frog is wakened early by the birds singing and grumpily tells them to be quiet. His quick angry response does not help the situation. Along comes Lulu the Bird, who helps him learn to stop and think. Rana learns a lesson about being grumpy.

I was happy that Lulu also learned a lesson. It shows that those who teach us also still have room to grow. There are discussion questions at the end of the book to share with children to further help them understand the message of the book. I tested these out on Sierra. Sierra liked the story and was only slightly confused about the last question. This is good, because it gave us something to discuss!

We loved the simple rhyming story, and the bright illustrations energized each page. Dana was nice enough to give Sierra a t-shirt for the Think... Then Jump series. I think she wore it for two days in a row, she liked it so much! If you would like to read more about the series or pick up a copy, visit the website by clicking on the picture or the link above.

Home Spun comic strip #372

By the Light of the Silvery Trail

It has been raining a lot here since the beginning of June. In fact, we had the second wettest June on record. We missed first place by about two tenths of an inch. Yesterday there was some wild weather south of us. The golf-ball sized hail was so bad they actually took out snow plows to clean it up. I'll repeat that. They took out the snow plows. In July. There was also a "downburst" which I suppose is different from the "microburst" I experienced years ago and definitely isn't a tornado, even though the locals insisted it was.

The worst part of the wet weather is the lack of sunshine. I don't know about you, but when I haven't seen the sun for days, I find it hard to motivate myself. I get sluggish. Which makes me think of another side effect of all the rain: slugs.

There is a quote I remember from the movie Time Bandits. Evil is complaining about things the Supreme Being created. "Slugs! HE created slugs! They can't hear. They can't speak. They can't operate machinery. Are we not in the hands of a lunatic?"

I admit, the gardener in me detested slugs. Many times I've accidentally stepped on one bare-footed. That slime is hard to wash off. I knew all sorts of ways to kill them. I would actually buy beer to set dishes of it out for them. Usually I never buy beer, because I don't drink anything harder than fruit juice. Slugs love beer. They climb in, drink themselves into a stupor and drown. How's that for a moral lesson?

There came a point when I grew tired of fighting them. I don't like killing anything, especially something that isn't trying to hurt me. We learned ways to deter them from our flowers and vegetables, using marigolds and pine mulch. I have observed many animals in our yard go after them as a food source, so when I stopped trying to kill them, I actually saw fewer slugs in my garden. Perhaps skunks and chipmunks don't like beer soaked slugs.

When I've observed them, I have found that their slimy trails are really lovely; glimmering silver lines along the ground. Recently we discovered a tiny slug hanging from its mucous thread as if it were a spider. Once it hit the ground, it sped off at an unsluggish pace. I wonder if the stereotype of the slow moving creature is unfair. Maybe they aren't ready for the slug slalom, but for a critter lacking feet they do alright.

And so, another life lesson from watching animals:

If you leave a trail, make it shine.

Home Spun comic strip #371

Carnival at Why Homeschool

The latest Carnival of Homeschooling: The Founding Fathers edition is up at Why Homeschool. Please take some time to read some of the contributing articles!

Home Spun comic strip #370

There was a point when I was starting to work on my comic strip that Marina started designing superheroes. I remember, because it was the summer and I started noticing that she was taking out a lot of books in a nonfiction children's series called The Elements. She used these books as research for her characters' super powers.

She always seems to be learning when I'm not looking.

Home Spun reprints #242-244- Fireworks

Have a Great Fourth of July!

How do we learn?

I hope you've been enjoying your week! Did you miss me?

Things got a little busy here. Busier than expected. Marina started an extra day at the library and Sierra took a trial tap dance class the same day. Chase did some volunteer work at the Nature Center. Somehow, I managed to take yoga two days in a row, and now I am sooooo sore.

On the plus side, I've started working on comics for next week, so anyone who was missing them this week, you will get fresh ones on Monday. I'll also post last year's July 4th comics tomorrow. Blogger has been giving me some problems with autoposting, so I might put them up before I head to bed for the night. We'll see.

I've had many thoughts in my head lately, but I haven't had time to really sit with them. I recently read "How Lincoln Learned to Read" by Daniel Wolff (thanks for the tip and author interview Stone Age Techie!) and it has put a lot of ideas into my head about how we learn. The book covers 12 Americans, starting with Ben Franklin and ending with Elvis and describes their childhood and educational influences. It made me think of my own educational influence and I'm starting a little questionnaire for all of you because I'm now intensely interested in what others learned in childhood and how it has influenced them as adults.

For example, my childhood was full of art. I loved drawing. My parents were both artistic in their own way. I would watch my mother doodling while on the phone and sometimes she took out pastels. My father would build things. He built a chicken coop in our yard (yes, I grew up in the Bronx, but that wasn't going to stop him) and when I was older he made a more elaborate coop for pigeons with one way doors for them to fly in and out. He also made models of designs he had for building a house in Puerto Rico. (I'm still waiting for that house dad!)

They encouraged the artistic side of my brother and sister and me. I remember the best gifts my Grandma would bring were small notepads to draw on. My father would bring home reams of paper. I'm sure my brother and I were responsible for the loss of at least one forest. My mother saved as many of our drawings as she could. I was always drawing. If I stayed home from school or was in the hospital, I was drawing. When I left elementary, I went to a junior high school where I knew few children. Drawing was how I introduced myself. I would let others see me draw and they would start talking to me. I also doodled incessantly in the margins of my notebook. I remember one year I had a teacher who collected your class notes a couple of times a year to see if you were paying attention. I spent a night rewriting my notes so that I could hand in a clean copy. That taught me to keep a scrap of paper in my notebook for doodling.

Then there were the comic books. Grandma started me with titles like Casper the Friendly Ghost, Dennis the Menace, and Archie. I eventually discovered my brother's X-Men comics. One of the nicest things he ever did was give me a pile of his back issues. I devoured them. Comics probably taught me to read. I guess I was more of a visual learner, I needed those pictures to keep me focused. Whenever I was stuck in the hospital because of asthma I alternated between drawing, watching cartoons and reading comic books.

Even into adulthood art has always been a major part of my life. I was drawn to facepainting and the artistic style of juggling. I loved choreographing juggling routines to perform with my husband. I wasn't into the more competitive "How many can you do?" style of juggling. The yoga flow I do now is also very artistic.

And then I came back to comic art. I think you all know that.

Now it's your turn. Answer a few questions for me in the comments section. Or answer them on your blog and tell me you wrote about it.

• What is a memory you have of learning with your mother?
• What is a memory you have of learning with your father?
• What kind of education do you think you gave yourself? (Arts, science, history, writing, etc.)
• Do you see ways you've used that education as an adult?