Poetry Friday - Beowulf

Chers Amis,

I love Poetry Fridays because they call me back to this mysterious form of the written, spoken, chanted word. It is purer than prose, each syllable seeks to touch the whole, to resonate or support the music within. Most of the poetry I have read in the last ten years/three children has been chosen for little ears and it is balm for the soul, sweet and poignant ear candy. Sometimes I long for more.

A few months ago I went to the library ALONE (I know this is a foreign concept for mothers. It is legal, don't worry, I checked.) There I was drawn to an audio recording of the new translation of Beowulf by Seamus Heaney and with almost guilty pleasure, slid the cassette into my car stereo. As the lines flowed by like the waves slapping the whorled "wood-wreathed ships", my heart sighed deeply. It was the sigh of recognition and remembrance. Of seeing a dear friend in the face of a stranger.

I had never heard or read any translation before, but like most school children knew the tale of the warrior/king defeating the primordial monster Grendel. Here is a beautiful, noble epic, an ancient rhyme retold with craft, weaving and molding modern words to the Anglo-Saxon forms. Now, after listening to the whole epic, I am reading it again. It is gorgeous, but I love the spoken verse so clean and strong. Here is a link to several passages read by Heaney himself, a modern bard. It is a finely wrought treasure. Don't miss it.

-- Marjorie

It's Early Autumn Field Day

Chers Amis,

Automn est arrivee! Or should I say, the Early Autumn Field Day has begun at By Sun and Candlelight. Be sure to slow down and savor some of the glorious natural delights that Dawn has arranged in this autumnal bouquet. There are butterflies and hatchlings, alligators and praying mantises, links to beautiful nature notebook pages and so many examples of Fall in all her wild glory. What a wonderful collection. Thanks, Dawn! It's Field Day, folks - get going!

-- Marjorie

My Goodness! Week 8 already!

Chers Amis,

My goodness! I just realized that we have done 7 weeks of school already and are starting week 8! I suppose that I shouldn't be surprised -but I am! Sunday is my day to look ahead at the coming week to see what we have on the horizon, what I need to focus on, prepare for etc. and sometimes I forget to look back. This week is going to be busy. Monday and Tuesday are "regular" at home, school days. Wednesday mornings my hobbits go to a wonderful co-op for Art History, Creative Writing and P.E.,.Wednesday afternoon is French Club and late Wednesday afternoon is choir practice for Caddie and Scarlett, Thursday is Adventures in Science. Friday morning we have a weekly spiritual study and fellowship group for moms that I am leading this week (where is my copy of Deus Caritas Est anyway?) and that afternoon we will focus on Ancient Greece, Hayden, our Book of Centuries and projects for next week's book club on Tuck Everlasting. It will be a bit crazy, but interesting.

I love this time of the year, September is one of my favorite months weather-wise as the summer heat has passed and the wind rustles through the still green, yet slightly gilded leaves. In school we have started to hit our stride and the holiday rush is still in the wings. So it is a good time to look back and reflect on what is working, what isn't and what we can do better. This year I broke down and purchased a software program, Homeschool Tracker Plus to help me keep better track of everything we are covering and to print out schedules for the girls to follow while I work with Pippin. Yes, it takes some time to set up and maintain, but I love the fact that I can run a scope and sequence report and have a hard copy ready in minutes. It is a great program and I could wax on and on about it, but that is what websites are for :-) -- And I really should go find that encyclical!

--Marjorie

Adventures in Science

Chers Amis,

Thursday afternoons chez nous are all about science; slimy, sticky, smelly, hands-on science. We have always enjoyed science at our house, from astronomy to botany, nature study to anatomy, but I have often tried to avoid the messy, sloppy science that involves many small parts and materials. OK, the clean up. No more! We have teamed up with a good friend and her daughter for Adventures in Science! a weekly science experiment co-op. If you want to conquer the unknown or intimidating - especially in homeschooling - select a great partner or small group of compatriots and let the fun begin.

We are loosely working through Level 1A Atoms and Molecules and Level 2 science curriculum from Mater Amabilis ,a wonderful on-line Catholic Charlotte Mason curriculum. Our focus for the last 4 weeks has been on atoms and molecules using experiments from Adventures With Atoms and Molecules: Chemistry Experiments for Young People supplemented with some great online visuals. We also wanted to have the girls keep a proper lab report journal and have been very pleased with My Science Journal. It is a pre-printed science notebook that has space to write the date, title, hypothesis, materials, steps, data gathered, conclusion, as well as a page on how the information could be used, what they liked and disliked, who should do it and new vocabulary terms. The girls also have a separate "My Observations" sheet to illustrate what they see.

Today we discussed protons, neutrons, electrons, valance/shell level, atomic number, and atomic mass. Then they all "adopted" an element and arranged gumdrops in the proper shells and then ate them of course! For next week they will fill out a worksheet/make a notebook page on their element and make a physical model of it structure. Then we will do two experiments on how charges affect molecules with balloons, cooking oil, dripping water and all sorts of mess. It should be great science.

-- Marjorie

PS - Here are a just few websites we enjoyed:
http://www.sciencespot.net/Pages/classchem.html
http://www.kapili.com/index.html
http://www.webelements.com/webelements/scholar/

Go Braves!

Chers Amis,

I think we have been ruined for baseball forever. Last Friday afternoon, our wonderful next door neighbors called and invited us to that evening's match up between the Atlanta Braves and the Florida Marlins. They had won a radio contest for tickets in a premium suite for the game. Could we make it on such short notice? Hesitation. I would have to check with my husband to see how much longer he would be chained to the desk - I mean, would have to work that evening. I called his private line. No answer. When in doubt, e-mail. Zap! Almost instantly came a ding-a-ling-a-ling coupled with an estatic "Heck, YES!" My husband was overjoyed! While not a huge Braves fan, he had been dyingto take the kids to a game this year, but we hadn't been able to make it. It had also been a really difficult week, so this invitation was truly a prayer answered for him. Four hours later, we were ensconced in the sweet summer smog of rush hour/ game hour traffic on our way to Turner Field- The Ted. We even had a parking pass right next to the stadium. What fun! Our neighbor's family and friends from his office arrived at the suite just as we came off the elevator. It was such a treat! An air-conditioned room with a couch and chairs, floor to ceiling sliding glass doors overlooking the stretch from home plate to first base, outdoor seating under an overhang with it's own ceiling fan. Did I mention it came with food? Hot dogs, peanuts, quesadillas, pizza, chicken, fruit/veggie plates and drinks. We kept waiting for the President or some head of state to come by and we all giggled guiltily as if we had crashed a party. The guys all sat outside and watched the game while my neighbor and I lounged in the cool and snuggled our increasingly sleepy and full children. Even her teenage daughter was cuddled up next to her by the eighth inning. Unfortunately the Braves lost and Pippin started to melt down after the final out, but as the Friday night fireworks lit up the sky, we all thanked our hosts for their generosity and God for his spectacular once-in-a-lifetime gift. Next time, it will be back to the $2 nosebleed seats, public bathrooms and a bag of peanuts, but what an evening. Go Braves!

-- Marjorie

We Remember

Chers Amis,

I didn't think I was going to post today. Maybe I was in denial. Maybe I wanted to pretend it was just an ordinary halcyon September day with an apple, crisp edge to the air. Maybe I would prefer not to look back, not to remember the image of the falling towers and the soft snow of ashes on Manhattan. But then there were the flags. Almost 3,000 flags: one for each man, woman or child - father, mother, sister, brother, daughter, son, family member, friend, loved one lost that azure morning five years ago today. They flapped alone and without fanfare Saturday morning after the volunteers carefully aligned them on the battlefield, already a quiet monument to other boys and men long forgotton. By Sunday, scores of pilgrims came to wander amongst the waves, but Saturday morning, as I drove past, deep in my own thoughts of
lists and chores, row after row reminded me that we must remember.

-- Marjorie

P.S. Photo taken by Esther McCarter and posted to 11Alive.com

Happy Birthday to Our Lady

Chers Amis,

Friday, September 8 is the Feast of the Nativity of Mary the Mother of God. It was her birthday, so of course, we had to make a cake! I had promised Caddie and Scarlett that we would make a special gateau for Mary, buuuut, as the day rushed past and the "To Do" list lengthened, the cake became a pre-packaged muffin mix purchased for Sunday morning breakfast. After a late trip to the library, I had decided that dinner would supersede any and all adventures in baking. "It is 5:47 after all and I'm just now mincing garlic for dinner," I told myself. "There is NO time for cake preparation at 5:47!"

"It is 5:47 on Mary's birthday and what is time?" came a little voice, that quiet whisper of the Holy Spirit. True. "So, let the baking begin," I joyfully intoned. The Holy Spirit is a powerful guy. (If you know me well, this is not my normal reaction facing culinary deadlines.) Down came the cream blue-striped mixing bowl, out came the flour, frosty from the freezer. Where did the almond extract get off to? Do we have any good olive oil? Baking powder or baking soda? "Ladies," I announced to two surprised and glowing faces, "Go to it, make this cake!" Would that such joy and enthusiasm could be bottled and distilled! After dinner - yes, I did finish dinner - we made a blueberry sauce to remind us of Mary's blue, served her birthday cake with far too much whipped cream, and relished the almond scented delice. Was it all about a cake? No, it was about making our faith real and the center of who we are and what we do, and about trying to live in the moment according to His will.

I have been re-reading The Gift of Faith by Father Tadeusz Dajczer for my meditations. Friday morning this quote (pg. 25) struck me, "Time is the Presence written with a capital 'P'. It is the presence of Christ in our lives. It is the personal presence of God, revealing Himself as the One who expects something from us. God reveals Himself to us through his will. But what is His will? It is always that which is best for us, because God is Love. Every moment of your life is a moment of meeting with the Presence that is loving you. Someone has said that time is the sacrament of the meeting between man and God. This means that every moment is an evangelical gift, since it is the Presence that calls us to do something." Sometimes that means making a cake.

-- Marjorie

The Joys of Camping and Words

Chers Amis,

camp n. A place where tents, huts, or other temporary shelters are set up, as by soldiers, nomads, or travelers.
v. camped, camp·ing v. intr.
1. To make or set up a camp.
2. To live in or as if in a camp; settle: Camping is more enjoyable in sunny weather.

Sorry I have been silent for so long, but we are recovering from our latest adventure and all my organized thoughts have fled until the flotsam and jetsam are sopped up and contained. Our mill is draped in still soggy camping gear. For Labor Day weekend we packed up several hundred pounds of then dry sleeping bags, tents, rations, bug spray and the like, and wound our way into the mountains of North Carolina to meet a good friend and to glory in nature. The Weather Channel said that there was little chance of precipitation and the radar was clear. I think they a) were on vacation themselves b) lost their forecasts and were winging it or c) have a twisted sense of humor. It rained for three days.Luckily, children love being wet and friendship is not hampered by a good drenching. Plus, our friend lives only 20 min from the campground and has plenty of warm beds and a dryer!

Yesterday we alternated between school and positioning air mattresses and luggage carriers in sunshine. The girls had a fun homework assignment for their creative writing class. They had to replace "weak verbs" with "strong verbs" i.e. eat became gobble, devour or chomp. We needed a thesaurus so we searched on-line and found a REALLY neat site the Visual Thesaurus. It is an interactive dictionary and thesaurus. Search for a word i.e. camping and it shows a think pad/word web type diagram that shows : camping in the center marked with a dot color coded for part of speech (red - noun). From this extend lines to the synonyms encampment, bivouacking, and tenting. Click on one of the synonyms and it redraws the diagram with that term in the center and all new synonyms. On the right hand sidebar the definitions are listed with the part of speech. Try it! They even have a foreign language beta version. You can type in "camping" in English and ask it to search in French/Spanish etc. and results for both languages show up. Very cool! You can only try it a limited number of times before they ask you to subscribe, but you can return to the site and start anew. If one was doing much writing it would be worth the $2.95/month. Ack! mildew is one fungus we do not like and I have a lot of work to do on that front. Off to disinfect and dry. . .

-- Marjorie