The View from Here

Community Service

Yes…I’m on my soapbox again!

A group of us met last night to plan the upcoming BBQ fund raiser that follows the annual Rodeo Parade on Saturday, August the 8^th. There are usually six to ten of us at such meetings. There are another dozen or so who will actually work at the event. And there are at least a dozen “behind the scenes” people who help with cooking. I’ve always been told that ten percent of any given group does all the work and the rest enjoy it.  Still, a group of thirty+ people does not even represent the standard “ten percent” of our population of 950. I’d be thrilled if we ever had ten percent working!!

I’m not worried about the BBQ. It’s an annual event that always turns out well. The people who do work for it do their work exceedingly well. We eat a great meal, do some quality visiting, enjoy good music, have a silent auction, and raise money for community projects.

What does worry me is the future. Heritage Day is coming up. Then the annual children’s Christmas party. There are things around town that need attention. There are good projects and ideas that can’t be started for lack of workers. I’d love to landscape the old community building, but we simply can’t take on another flower project without people to weed and water. It would be great to finish and paint the inside of the Boland Park building. It would be wonderful to have a covered eating area just outside the building. We need to paint the welcome arch. We need another arch at the other end of town.  The cemetery needs more trees…

I’ve been told by two other civic groups that their numbers are dwindling. Older members, who have worked so diligently for so many years, are simply getting too old to do the same work as before. Younger residents are too involved with their families and school events to devote much time to community service, especially if meetings are required. Many fine people in our town are dedicated to church work, and rightfully so, but with little extra time for other things.

Those of us who are trying to keep things going get discouraged, but we feel compelled to continue. We truly enjoy what we do. We like to make things better for our community. We want our friends and families to live in a good place. But the reality is that we won’t live forever. A few good people need to step forward and begin training for the future. Every group in town needs new members to begin now as apprentices. I can speak for my own group and tell you that we will welcome you with open arms. We won’t expect you to attend each meeting or work on every project. We just want you to be willing to help when you can and do what you can. We just want to know that you will be prepared to take our place sometime in the future.

If you have ever considered community service I have a suggestion for you. Sit down and give serious thought to what you can do, and how many hours you are willing to spend doing it. You might feel that you can volunteer once a month or once a year. There may a project or event that interests you. You may have expertise in one or more areas. Can you cook? Can you sit at a booth and collect money? Can you weed a flower bed? Can you type a letter? Can you dig a hole and plant a tree? Can you sew a curtain or paint a wall? Can you mail publicity flyers or make phone calls? Can you organize a children’s game? Can you sell tickets?  Jot down your plan and then call someone you know who is a member of a community organization. Explain your abilities and how many hours you can give them. I can almost guarantee they will be thrilled to add you to a list or pass your name on to a committee chairman and you will be called to work when needed.

Call someone today and let them know that you have skills and you can work! 

Cleomes

Just a quick post this morning because I want to be downtown soon . The flowerbed at Boland Park needs some serious weeding!

My cleomes are blooming and that makes me so happy. They are one of my favorite flowers. Difficult to photograph because the slightest breeze makes them dance! They produce LOTS of seeds so I should have plenty for next year.

Also caught our little bandit last night. I just gently opened the door and snapped a couple of photos.

Fairy Wings and Magic Things

Before I was old enough to work in the cotton fields I sat at the end of the rows and played with the other small children. One of our favorite games was “rabbit”. We tore cotton seeds loose, leaving them covered in just a bit of white downy fiber, and pretended they were rabbits. We dug elaborate tunnels and burrows for our rabbits and I made up wonderful stories about them. We created rabbit families and rabbit towns.

I always had a vivid imagination. It kept me occupied and also helped me escape the more unpleasant aspects of my life. Once I heard book stories and saw television I expanded my own stories to include fairies, elves, and other little creatures. I was captivated by the idea of a little world beneath our own. There were several places in our yard where I walked carefully so as not to ruin the elf homes. My first written story was about an elf named Lucky. The ten-page tale was written in the fifth grade. (No my memory isn’t that good- I still have it and I looked at it this morning!)

One of the treasures at my grandmother’s house was a “winter scene” made from glass and a mirror. The flat mirror rested on the coffee table and the little glass trees glued to it gave the illusion of an ice pond in the winter. I found it absolutely mesmerizing and imaged all sorts of things going on in that little world. My elves didn’t like winter, but I imagined that they did their best to endure it, just as I did.

During our recent trip to my niece’s home, her daughter Jocelyn showed me her “fairy house” tucked away in the corner of the garden. She has created an adorable little world for her tiny friends to visit! I promised her that when I returned to my garden I would make a fairy house, too. I have started, as evidenced by the photo below, but I will have to work quite hard to make it as inviting as Jocelyn’s. Her fairies leave her gifts! I’m not sure mine will be so generous.

I suppose my love of such things as fairies is one reason I enjoy kindergarten so much. Imagination is the spark that keeps us young. It keeps us from succumbing to the dull repetitions of responsibility. Imagining something better also helps us solve the problems of the world. “What if” is a powerful tool I learned from children.

Thank you Jocelyn for reminding me that the world is a magical place. I will work on my fairy house again this week!

 

Baby Names

There is an article on the MSN home page today about a possible link between a boy’s name and his chances of landing in jail in the future. Nonsense, but it reminded me of one of my pet peeves these days- odd spellings.

It is difficult enough for a teacher to learn twenty names and match them to parents, personalities, and learning styles. Nowadays we must add to that the task of memorizing the spelling of twenty names that may not adhere to any traditional spelling rules at all. I understand names with ethnic origins. What I do NOT understand are names that are just spelled in some random fashion because parents think that will somehow make their child unique. Here are some actual examples from years past: Jon, Alecsander, Mari, Austun, Jasin. The MSN author’s contention is that children who get teased about their names end up bitter and resentful. I think the children with misspelled names are just going to become weary of people saying “Can you spell that again?”

I also cringe when I hear actors and actresses give their children odd names because I know those will end up in my classroom in five years. People love to copy the lives of stars! In fact they will copy almost anything. I’ve already met children named Beautiful, Cinnamon, Candy, Shady, and Cinderella.

I know names go in cycles. You can read lists of the top ten names for the past five decades and recognize trends and origins. What I’m hoping for soon is a return to the basics: James, Robert, Mary, Andrew, Paul- or at least just the standard spellings!

We're all in trouble...

When I get together with either of my daughters our conversation eventually turns to school- school budgets, school problems, and school improvement. My friends and I often “talk shop” about curriculum planning, school supplies, discipline methods, and parent communication.  I can even strike up a conversation with a stranger and get a strong opinion about any aspect of education I choose to discuss. School is something we all have some experience with and an opinion about.

Yesterday I ordered $100 worth of supplies for my classroom. That isn’t an outrageous sum, and it won’t be my last order. I’ll need a few more books and a book shelf and a new reading carpet and a new doll this year. I routinely spend about $25 a week on general supplies such as tissues, paper plates, paper towels, pencils, stickers, writing paper, and treats. I also spend about $20 per child, annually, for their memory book. I tell you this because I’m confident that my expenditures are quite average, perhaps even low by the standards of some teachers. It is a fact of life that school budgets were not designed to cover all the expenses of an education, especially in the lower grades.

During my vacation I was made painfully aware of the problems raging in my home state. Yes, I claim Oklahoma as my home, but I was born and educated in California and it hurts me to see the problems they are facing. While we were there the nightly news was filled with stories of teacher layoffs and “contract buyouts” and budget deadlines. My daughter, Karen, and her friend told me about things they will have to do without this coming year- including teacher friends who are now unemployed. My granddaughter will have to survive much larger classes and will get fewer extra-curricular activities. Katrina is fighting her own battles in Vermont, where cuts are being made in advanced classes and the arts.  My friends in other states tell me the same stories.

It has always bothered me that the quality of education constantly boils down to one thing- money. We either spend it on our children, and our future, or we don’t. And in most cases, we don’t. There are schools in America with crumbling buildings and leaking plumbing. There are classrooms where children aren’t allowed to take their books home because they must share them with other students. There are classrooms built for twenty students that are stuffed with thirty-five. There are teachers struggling to do their best with what they have- but the toll in stress and discouragement is affecting them, and their students.

We can’t view our education system as just another business enterprise. We can’t let the market place take care of the problems. It doesn’t benefit anyone if the schools in California are totally different from the schools in Idaho or Florida or Oklahoma. We can’t just let the best get better and the worst fail and see how it turns out. I can tell you for a fact that the government isn’t going to bail out a bankrupt school! And it’s not okay if ANY of our schools fail. If our education system fails we are all in trouble. Our children will be taking over the leadership of this nation. They will be inventing new products and taking care of the old ones. They will be growing our food and curing our diseases. They deserve, and we deserve, the best education they can get.

We’re all familiar with the “no child left behind” mantra. I say we abandon that tired and impossible fantasy and go with a better one- No School Left Behind. If we create a standard for schools and go about making it a reality we will benefit far more students. Every child deserves to attend a school that is safe, clean, modern, and well-supplied with the tools of education. Every child deserves to be in a class of no more than 15 students with a teacher who is well-educated and ready for the challenges of teaching. Every child deserves the opportunity to excel in the arts as well as academics. Every child deserves the opportunity to participate in a variety of physical activities.

Where are our priorities? As I watch this country cope with the burden of the financial mistakes of our leaders it frightens me to see how our money is spent. Greed and lust seem to dominate business. Greed and lust certainly control our politicians. When did we stop sacrificing for a better world, a better future, for our children? That’s what my parents did for me. That’s what my grandparents did for them.

So…I am willing to give up some of my money to improve the education of my students. My colleagues routinely do the same. What we are waiting for is for the leaders of our country to join us.

 

Catching Up...

At last I think I’m making progress on my post-vacation “to do” list. The lawn is mowed, but not completely raked. The garden is weeded, and we are picking cucumbers and peppers each day. There will be ripe tomatoes by the weekend! My flower beds still need to be weeded, but at least my cleomes are blooming and that makes me happy. We cleaned the downtown wildflower bed. Now I just have three more community beds to work on next week when it is supposed to be cooler.

I’ve been to the genealogy library twice and found some more great stories about Caddo. I’m going to stay home now and finish my book. I’m not going to go back to the library until I have a list of items I need to finish it. I expect to finish and have a book for sale by Heritage Day or all my friends in Caddo will stop speaking to me. lol

Gary is out of his boot and will be going back to work Monday. He has to attend a few sessions of physical therapy to strengthen his ankle.

Our ice cream maker finally arrived yesterday. I don’t know if I mentioned it before. Karen has a new ice cream maker and likes it, so when we got home I ordered one for us.  When the big box arrived I eagerly opened it and found…a twin comforter set!! Oops!! Called and re-ordered and now we have our little Cuisinart sitting on the counter waiting for tonight. We’re going to try vanilla first, then orange sherbet, then…

I bought two new book shelves for Robert’s old room and I’m busy converting it. I was going to paint it, but have decided I’m just not going to be that ambitious until fall break. I can always pull things away from the wall and throw a tarp over them.

We’re taking “yard of the month” photos today, as well as a couple of headstone requests. Back to the basics.

I went to the library while Gary was in therapy Tuesday and got some books to read. I haven’t been reading much lately and that is sad. Need to get back to it!

Our photos from vacation arrived yesterday. I had a few prints made and also some enlargements. I’m very pleased with them! I think I will have some great reminders for my desk at school.

School!! Things to do.. I will not panic…

 

 

Bring me a fork...

I’m not really that fond of eating out. I love good food and good company- I just have this paranoia. Too many visions of what really goes on in the kitchen + memories of a couple of bad experiences. Eating out is not something I just spontaneously suggest as a dinner option. However, when you are on the road there aren’t many other choices.

We carried snacks- nuts, fruit, water, juice, chips, crackers- and ate those while driving. Those “100 calorie” packages are great! We bought supplies and made sandwiches for dinner once, but it turned out to be expensive and wasteful. So…restaurants were our main source of food while on the road.

Breakfast was easy. Motels offer “continental” breakfast bars which usually include cereal, muffins, bagels, waffles, coffee, and juice. I’ve already mentioned that our stay in Amarillo included a full breakfast. The worst offering was soggy doughnuts at one motel. I think they had been frozen and thawed. My biggest gripe about motel breakfasts is the milk! Please do not offer me milk in a pitcher. I just can’t bring myself to do that. What’s wrong with little sanitary cartons like schools buy?

I’m sad to say that most of our lunches were at fast food diners. It is a fact of life that the five most familiar signs are everywhere! They are always just off the freeway and have easy access. Their prices are predictable. The food is predictable. The only real surprise was a DQ in Henrietta, TX. It actually has a Mexican menu and a Sunday special. The place was packed and after eating the food I understood why!

For dinner I like to use a fork! No fast food. No sandwiches. My husband has an affinity for Chinese buffets, so we found two of those along the way. I can’t say that Chinese food is any different in Texas than it is in Utah. The buffet has become the food equivalent of the shopping mall. Can’t tell where you are, and don’t really care. We found some great Mexican food, and also ate pizza one night. In Nevada I put away an enormous chicken fried steak. I should be ashamed, but I won’t lie to you, it was great!

Our real dining experiences didn’t take place until we reached California. We were taken to some great places by friends and family! We ate at The Elephant Bar Restaurant, Phil's Fish Market , and Bubba Gump's , among others. We also had some great home cooking! My daughter, Karen, is an excellent cook. So is my friend Marilyn. Then we went on to Utah to enjoy my niece Megan’s homemade treats!

Needless to say, we are now back to reality and dieting. Eighteen days of “eating out” has me craving raw vegetables and fruit. That’s a good thing in this heat!

A Good Night's Sleep

I loved staying in motels when I was a kid! The rooms were nice and clean and the beds were big and there was a television. They usually had those machines you could drop quarters into to make the bed shake. There were free soap samples and fresh towels. What more could you want? And staying in a motel was something we very seldom did so that made it all the more special.

My father believed in “hitting the road” early (3am) and driving long hours. We usually ate breakfast at a diner of some sort, made sandwiches at a rest stop for lunch, and ate cheap hamburgers for dinner. Dad drove until he was too tired to continue, then pulled over to the side of the road and slept. Yes, we slept in the car on the side of the road- many times. If my memory serves me at all, I would say we averaged one night in a motel for every three or four days of a trip. Ironic then, that I clearly remember us staying at a motel once so my parents could watch the Miss America Pageant! Apparently that was a major event!

Gary and I took a more traditional approach to travel and stayed in a motel every night! However, we did take one risk- we didn’t make any reservations. Since it had been so long since our last trip, and I was doing all the driving this time, we just weren’t sure where we would be each night. And heading west presents two standard travel problems- lots of summer road construction, and long stretches between towns.  So, adhering to any kind of schedule wasn’t practical.

We got off to a late start (sorry Dad) and by the time we reached Amarillo I was tired, so we looked around for a room. Lucky us! We arrived with literally hundreds of boys and girls and their parents for a tumbling/gymnastics competition! We were fortunate to get a room on the second floor of a huge 1950’s vintage motel in various stages of remodeling. Thank goodness they had an elevator (remember Gary’s leg). The lobby was filled with dozens and dozens of giggling girls in matching purple t-shirts.  The whole place smelled of chlorine, thanks to the giant indoor pool, but our rooms were down a quiet hall and we did get a good night’s sleep. I think the majority of the tumbling group chose the rooms overlooking the pool. The next morning we were pleasantly surprised to learn that our stay included a full breakfast- scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, coffee, juice.

We weren’t so lucky in Flagstaff, AR. We hit town on “game night” (college), so not only were rooms scarce, but the room we got was double the normal price. The poor guy next to us had been in the motel for three days, working on a local construction job, and was very upset that his fourth night had been doubled. When you are in the middle of nowhere you don’t have many options.

Most of our motel rooms were clean and comfortable. Some had very strange showers. Most had good television reception. The one in Monterey had a huge flat screen TV! All included a hair dryer, ironing board, coffee maker, refrigerator, and microwave. Our room in Texas also included two fly swatters, which we needed. All but one had a decent breakfast bar (I hate soggy doughnuts). But the bed is the most important item. When you have been driving for 400-600 miles all you want is a good shower, a few minutes of television, and a good night’s sleep. Most motel beds are far too firm and the pillows are terrible. We always travel with our own pillows.

All in all, we were fortunate to get a good night’s sleep most nights. Of course the nights we stayed with friends and family were the best- free lodging and good food! You can’t beat that.

Next year when we travel to Vermont we should be able to make reservations. We know how far we can drive in a day and there are far more places to choose from along the way. When you are traveling east you don’t see signs that say “next services 125 miles”! J

Road Hazards

During our vacation I said frequent prayers of thanksgiving for our safety. Being on the road, anywhere, anytime, is dangerous. Being on the road every day for 4000+ miles is a lesson in survival!

First of all we had to endure at least 100 miles a day of road construction. This does two things- slows down traffic, and brings out the “stupid” gene in people. My favorite stupid driver is the one who ignores all warning signs, cones, and lights, and at the very last possible second merges to the left/right, thereby disrupting the flow of traffic and making at least three other drivers angry. Then there are the drivers who ignore the slower speeds of construction zones and try to intimidate me into doing the same. At least this time I was driving the pickup!

I am amazed by how fast people drive! If the speed limit was posted at 70 mph I set my cruise control for 70 mph- then got passed by every other driver on the road. Even in areas where the speed was 80 mph, drivers routinely exceeded that! Why? Stupid gene in action again. The worst was posted deer areas. Obviously most people have never hit a deer at 70 mph or they would slow down to 60 mph and keep their eyes peeled for the beasts. I can tell you from experience that a deer can wipe out your car in a heartbeat.  There was one grazing on the shoulder in NM- nearly gave me heart failure!

And people do NOT know how to drive in the mountains and around curves. Either they went way too fast or far too slow. I was however, impressed by the sheer willpower of a guy riding a bicycle over the Rockies. Don’t know if he made it, but what a challenge! Message to the crazy guy in the convertible: I hope you have GREAT insurance buddy! Somewhere down the road you are surely going to need it!

Encountered some dangers produced by Mother Nature as well. The wind gusts in the desert caught us a couple of times and nearly made me change lanes. Little critters in the road made me grit my teeth because I knew I couldn’t afford to swerve to save a chicken, dog, mouse or squirrel. I also drove in blinding rain a couple of times.

The oddest road hazard was a jogger. Or I should say “dancer”. He was dressed in white and was wearing headphones. He was jogging along the side of the road, but suddenly swirled and danced in a circle while waving his arms. I’m glad he was enjoying his music and his run, but I don’t think he realized he was on the white line and could have easily gotten sucked into the wind current created by passing trucks.

My driving time in the cities was a reminder of why I LOVE living in the country. You could not pay me enough to make me endure the daily gridlock traffic in most cities. The feeling of desperation on city roads is almost palpable. Drivers take terrible risks and do alarming things in order to make it to the next exit. However, my biggest driving problem in the city is not the increased number of cars, or the actions of other drivers, but ignorance of the layout of the city. When I was in Fresno, where I lived for twenty years, the traffic did not bother me because I had a sense of where I was and where I needed to be. I could anticipate turns and exits and watch traffic flow and make progressive moves toward my destination. In strange cities I had to rely on Gary’s map reading and wait for him to say “you need to be in the left lane to make the next exit”. Then I would realize I couldn’t get into the left lane without causing an accident! Needless to say, there were a couple of tense moments in strange cities. And I apologize for misreading that left turn signal light. I’m sure Gary’s life flashed before his eyes during those moments when the little gray car was speeding toward his door. Yet another hazard- not recognizing odd traffic light configurations, or knowing how soon a light will change.

And what is up with these strange “turning circles” or whatever they are called? I was nearly hit by a car that failed to yield while we were all going around the circle to reach our streets. It reminded me of being on a carousel.

Well, I’m home now. All I have to do is watch out for slow tractors, fast gravel trucks, drunks,  deer, rabbits, dogs, chickens, cows, and those crazy tourists!

Sammy...or was it Monte?

Thank goodness we had to stop at the public restroom near the beach! When you travel with old people you get used to frequent stops, but this one really turned out to be a blessing. As they were waiting for us, Taylor and Karen spotted a young seal on the rocks below. We all went down to investigate and we thought at first that the baby might be hurt. We looked around for companions, but couldn’t see any, even in the waters nearby.

Naturally we started talking to the little fellow and eventually he got tired of ignoring us, raised his head, and stretched a bit. Then he tried to enjoy a little more sunshine, but I guess we were just too annoying! Lol He crawled down and waddled to the shore. There was a nice sandy path to the water, but he ignored it, instead crawling up over the rocks and into the water. He swam out to the floating seaweed where his friends were probably waiting for him.

Later, at the souvenir shop, Gary and Taylor each bought a little stuffed seal as a remembrance of the day. Taylor named hers Sammy and Papa Gary’s Monte. (Monte is sitting here surrounded by elephants and I can’t say that he looks very happy!)

Love these photos!