A coworker gave me a big bag of lilikoi and now my office smells strongly of the fruit. It is a combination of sharp, sour, and sweet and it is making me hungry. I like to eat it with cottage cheese, because it has a very strong taste - particularly the yellow ones, which these are. The purple ones are a bit more mellow.
I promised her bananas and eggs in exchange - we have a lot of very ripe bananas, so it is nice to move them on out. Another co-worker asked to buy a dozen eggs, so that will pay for my daughter to replace her lost school ID. I love bartering, and I love that my chickens can pay for themselves. I used to sell manure, which helped the horses pay for themselves, but now I think I need all my composted manure. I suppose that is another way that the horses pay for themselves: by improving my garden soil and giving me good seed starting medium for my greenhouse. Love the cycle of things.
The best thing about the smell of the lilikoi is that it covers up the smell of the moldy blinds. I have put in a work request to have them removed, but for now, I am putting up with itchy, red eyes, sore throats, and headaches - which may be attributed to the moldy blinds or maybe to the sun pouring into the windows because I can't put my blinds down or the whole room stinks.
I had the opportunity to go in and present a mini-lesson to another teacher's class of 12th graders today. What a blast. I had given her a couple suggestions for a reading response strategy, and she adapted it to her text (a re-telling of the legend of Hi'iaka and Pele - one of my favorites). The main goal was to get kids to write good strong thesis statements. I had a quick chance to preview what they wrote and to figure out the issues going on with them, and then I got up and talked to them and then they got to work - it was wonderful and effective and fun. Ninth graders are their own kind of wonderful, but working with seniors was also fun. Fortunately, my son is in the OTHER English teacher's classroom, so he won't have to deal with my embarassing presence in his classroom. I believe he has forgotten that I was his English teacher for all of 7th grade, and he was fine with it back then.
The word may have gotten out, so another teacher asked me to come in and do the same lesson with her ninth graders, too. I am looking forward to that - and the science teachers are coming back with good reports about the suggestions I gave them. Since the relationship between me and my EA is puzzling and she keeps forwarding my emails to various administrators (believe me, I am not being rude or whatever in these emails - just asking her to work with particular students on particular tasks), I have been feeling really sad about certain aspects of my work. Having these positive interactions with other teachers and seeing that things are working is just what I needed.
I really have never had such a negative relationship with an EA before. I have had the privilege of working with so many good EAs that it is discouraging to have someone sitting in the back, making negative judgements - particularly one whom I feel is going behind my back instead of asking directly. I have had EAs who spoke up and questioned - in fact, my favorite person to work with, ever, was a woman who questioned and argued, but also listened - we learned from each other. I have just started copying everyone she would feel necessary to forward anything to up front. I am sure they are annoyed by the amount of email they are getting.
Plants and animals are easier in so many ways.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
Country Western Day
It's Spirit Week this week at school which this year means each day of the week has a different music genre theme. Today is Country Western Day. I wore my hat and my actual riding boots and casual pants I actually would ride in and which are NOT work clothes. I feel good, but it's lunch - and I have this strong urge to go ride Crazy Horse. I am enjoying the music drifting in the windows from the hula pā area.
Tomorrow is Hip Hop/Rap day - kind of thinking I won't dress for that one - and I may go hide where I can't hear the music.... my biases are definitely showing. I don't own anything that can count as "bling".
Has anyone grown quinoa? I am thinking about trying to grow either this grain or amaranth. It might be too wet to grow either, but I would like to have some sort of grain from my own land. ALthough we had some wheat grow as volunteers from not completely composted scratch feed, I don't think they did that well - so looking for something from a warmer climate.
Tomorrow is Hip Hop/Rap day - kind of thinking I won't dress for that one - and I may go hide where I can't hear the music.... my biases are definitely showing. I don't own anything that can count as "bling".
Has anyone grown quinoa? I am thinking about trying to grow either this grain or amaranth. It might be too wet to grow either, but I would like to have some sort of grain from my own land. ALthough we had some wheat grow as volunteers from not completely composted scratch feed, I don't think they did that well - so looking for something from a warmer climate.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Ride
I don't know if it was the sobering 10th anniversary of 9/11 or just a general feeling that life is short, but instead of cleaning, baking, or gardening today, I rode my horse.
I still pulled a few potatoes and a few weeds, but when I was done with that, I pulled on my riding boots and caught that Crazy Horse. Ohia (should be 'Ōhi'a now that I have diacritical marks available) just followed us around like a dog - no halter necessary. He hasn't had much work since I started my new job, so I spent a good hour reminding him how to stand, bend, lunge (not terribly successfullywith , but some progress - at least the pulling out to the end of the 30 foot lunge line reminded him he can't get away from me, even if it also left me with a rope burn). When he stood still while I thumped on his saddle and generally made a lot of fuss, it was time to mount up.
He had a brief second when he thought about spinning and running away. I wonder if he has ever successfully dumped someone with this maneuver, because it seems to be a favorite avoidance technique for him. He's never gotten me off, but it does mean a lot of tight circles until he stops blowing hard and pulling. Today, though, he just tensed, thought about it and then calmed down. We did a lot of suppling exercises - figure eights, spirals, alternating bends around the line of trees in front of the barn. He was walking calmly but energentically and chewing and smacking his lips, which means happy submission for a horse. He has such a light response to aides when he isn't in flee mode - you just have to look in the direction you want to go and that little shift in weight cues him to bend in that direction. Really lovely. The few good circles I got out of him on the lunge showed his elevated trot, too. He looks like a chunky old ranch horse, but this horse has some dressage and jumper potential, too - if everyone ignores his rope burns from his cowboy beginnings.
If he can ever stop being afraid, this horse is going to be a great joy to ride. Now, he just isn't all that trustworthy - even his reflection in the window glass of the workshop in the barn spooks him. A rider who isn't experienced or is even momentarily inattentive couldn't trust this horse - he needs someone to think for him and anticipate what will scare him.
I hear Winston Churchill said, "There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man." Internet quotes are unreliable, but whomever said, I agree. It was good for me to ride - I feel both physically and emotionally better than I have in quite awhile. This definitely needs to be a regular part of my weekly schedule. It will do Crazy Horse Gib a good service, too; if I do end up having to sell him, at least he will have a better chance at being less scared of people.
I still pulled a few potatoes and a few weeds, but when I was done with that, I pulled on my riding boots and caught that Crazy Horse. Ohia (should be 'Ōhi'a now that I have diacritical marks available) just followed us around like a dog - no halter necessary. He hasn't had much work since I started my new job, so I spent a good hour reminding him how to stand, bend, lunge (not terribly successfullywith , but some progress - at least the pulling out to the end of the 30 foot lunge line reminded him he can't get away from me, even if it also left me with a rope burn). When he stood still while I thumped on his saddle and generally made a lot of fuss, it was time to mount up.
He had a brief second when he thought about spinning and running away. I wonder if he has ever successfully dumped someone with this maneuver, because it seems to be a favorite avoidance technique for him. He's never gotten me off, but it does mean a lot of tight circles until he stops blowing hard and pulling. Today, though, he just tensed, thought about it and then calmed down. We did a lot of suppling exercises - figure eights, spirals, alternating bends around the line of trees in front of the barn. He was walking calmly but energentically and chewing and smacking his lips, which means happy submission for a horse. He has such a light response to aides when he isn't in flee mode - you just have to look in the direction you want to go and that little shift in weight cues him to bend in that direction. Really lovely. The few good circles I got out of him on the lunge showed his elevated trot, too. He looks like a chunky old ranch horse, but this horse has some dressage and jumper potential, too - if everyone ignores his rope burns from his cowboy beginnings.
If he can ever stop being afraid, this horse is going to be a great joy to ride. Now, he just isn't all that trustworthy - even his reflection in the window glass of the workshop in the barn spooks him. A rider who isn't experienced or is even momentarily inattentive couldn't trust this horse - he needs someone to think for him and anticipate what will scare him.
I hear Winston Churchill said, "There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man." Internet quotes are unreliable, but whomever said, I agree. It was good for me to ride - I feel both physically and emotionally better than I have in quite awhile. This definitely needs to be a regular part of my weekly schedule. It will do Crazy Horse Gib a good service, too; if I do end up having to sell him, at least he will have a better chance at being less scared of people.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Absolutely Tired....
It was a big Cross Country day - the big Invitational race at our school with six or seven visiting teams, which meant a big potluck and pool party. Along with a couple of other "team moms", I emailed incessantly and today I felt a little superfluous. There were plenty of course marshalls, chute workes, and far too much food. I am proud of my son, who had his personal record today, kept his top three spot on the team and made his personal goal of being in the top 20 in the Hawaii runners. He didn't make his personal goal for beating all the mainland girls (time wise), but for our new relationship of 17 year old and mom-who-is-not-allowed-to-be-proud that just gives me something safe to talk about. The kids they bring from the mainland, particularly the California teams are FAST. This year, actually, they weren't superhuman, but one team still pretty much swept all the awards. We're still talking about the Dana Hills kids from three-four years ago - I am sure many of those runners went on to be top college athletes. They had one girl who finished the three mile course in just over 16 minutes - on our course, that is amazingly fast.
At least this year, we didn't have ambulances carting kids off - I was worried because it was hot, and many of the mainland kids aren't used to our humidity.
My husband cleared a spot for a new greenhouse on the side of the house. It's a big muddy mess right now, like anything we clear at first. It reminds me of the sea of mud when we first moved here. I am trying to write down some of our experiences in the beginning when we had no real running water and were living in the small cabin. I write a little every day, because I don't think my older kids remember much and our younger kids remember almost nothing of what it took to get where we are now. Even I forget sometimes, when I want things to go faster or smoother.
I am actually feeling a bit down, in spite of things going so well today - leftover feeling from wearing too many hats and feeling only middling good at any of them, I suppose.
At least this year, we didn't have ambulances carting kids off - I was worried because it was hot, and many of the mainland kids aren't used to our humidity.
My husband cleared a spot for a new greenhouse on the side of the house. It's a big muddy mess right now, like anything we clear at first. It reminds me of the sea of mud when we first moved here. I am trying to write down some of our experiences in the beginning when we had no real running water and were living in the small cabin. I write a little every day, because I don't think my older kids remember much and our younger kids remember almost nothing of what it took to get where we are now. Even I forget sometimes, when I want things to go faster or smoother.
I am actually feeling a bit down, in spite of things going so well today - leftover feeling from wearing too many hats and feeling only middling good at any of them, I suppose.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
If Wishes Were Horses....
I would have a pretty full stable - more than I could feed on my 7 1/2 acres anyway.
But that's a good thing, right? Wishes are the start of plans. When you have a plan, you can start the actions that propel you where you want to go.
I wish so many things for my kids, but I have to trust that I wished for and with them wisely and long enough that they can go out and accomplish those wishes. My oldest daughter was just signed as a model with an agency in Honolulu - they are interested in her for the Japanese market, which is what I always thought would be her niche. And my oldest son is getting recognition all over the place for the skills he has quietly been developing since he was 11.
The tech coordinator at our school emailed me to ask if he would be interested in teaching the middle school kids, or making online tutorials, to teach game development. I told her to ask him directly, because the 17 year old developmental stage kicked in. The other day, I mentioned to him that his dad had made a trade of eggs for bananas and that eating a banana when we got home would be a good idea since 1) we had so many and 2) the athletic trainer told me that he should eat within 90 minutes of a hard workout. He replied, "I don't know why, but when you tell me to do something, it automatically makes me not want to do it - even if I was going to anyway."
I thought about it for a minute and realized how well I remembered that feeling, and how hard it was for me to explain to my mother when I was 17 and told him, "You are right on developmental schedule. Congratulations - but you should still eat the banana. If it helps, imagine that it's the trainer telling you and not me."
I have the two middle schoolers at home, too. I think they are just starting to make their first grown-up wishes. I wonder where these wishes will take them? I wonder, too, if middle-aged me has any wishes left, or if I am just in hard-scrabble existing mode? Probably it is just somewhere in the middle. I do have some plans for the land, for my work, but a large chunk of self-doubt that just wasn't there when I was 20 is intruding - and here I thought by my 40's I would be so much more competent....
But that's a good thing, right? Wishes are the start of plans. When you have a plan, you can start the actions that propel you where you want to go.
I wish so many things for my kids, but I have to trust that I wished for and with them wisely and long enough that they can go out and accomplish those wishes. My oldest daughter was just signed as a model with an agency in Honolulu - they are interested in her for the Japanese market, which is what I always thought would be her niche. And my oldest son is getting recognition all over the place for the skills he has quietly been developing since he was 11.
The tech coordinator at our school emailed me to ask if he would be interested in teaching the middle school kids, or making online tutorials, to teach game development. I told her to ask him directly, because the 17 year old developmental stage kicked in. The other day, I mentioned to him that his dad had made a trade of eggs for bananas and that eating a banana when we got home would be a good idea since 1) we had so many and 2) the athletic trainer told me that he should eat within 90 minutes of a hard workout. He replied, "I don't know why, but when you tell me to do something, it automatically makes me not want to do it - even if I was going to anyway."
I thought about it for a minute and realized how well I remembered that feeling, and how hard it was for me to explain to my mother when I was 17 and told him, "You are right on developmental schedule. Congratulations - but you should still eat the banana. If it helps, imagine that it's the trainer telling you and not me."
I have the two middle schoolers at home, too. I think they are just starting to make their first grown-up wishes. I wonder where these wishes will take them? I wonder, too, if middle-aged me has any wishes left, or if I am just in hard-scrabble existing mode? Probably it is just somewhere in the middle. I do have some plans for the land, for my work, but a large chunk of self-doubt that just wasn't there when I was 20 is intruding - and here I thought by my 40's I would be so much more competent....
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Walking Around
Spent a few minutes walking around the farm today.
Two banana plants are putting out the precursor (the infloresence, I have seen it called) to a stalk of banana fruit. In 8-9 months we'll have probably a hundred plus pounds of bananas to deal with. I love bananas, but 50 lb stalks - and this time there will be two at one time - can get overwhelming. I do let them get really ripe and then freeze them for smoothies and for baking banana bread, but our freezer space is limited.
The lilikoi is recovering from the sheep and chicken depredations; I am not sure how long a vine has to grow before it produces fruit, but hopefully, some time in the next year, we'll have lilikoi. (Oops, that reminds me, a coworker traded me juice for eggs, and I left the frozen juice in the freezer at work - definitely need to recover that, if it is still there).
The pipnola is starting to climb up the waiawi clump - that should be a nice addition to stir fry at some point.
The sweet potatoes are spreading like crazy. A bit worried the compost I planted them in is too nitrogen rich and it will be all leaves - the leaves are good in stir fry, but I am crazy about the local purple sweet potatoes, so I hope they grow, too.
There are just about enough lemons to make marmalade, so that is a project to do soon, but the rest of the citrus are resting. I went out and gave the tangerine, grapefruit, orange, and calamansi lime trees a pep talk. Probably a good dose of compost would do a better job of motivating everyone.
It is a lovely, sunny, just-warm-enough day here in upslope Puna. Everything smells heavenly; the ginger flowers are blooming, the spider lily just put out a big stalk of flowers, and there are even some roses blooming. The anthuriums I have planted in a little bed in front of the house have put out a lot of flowers (in spite of my broad neglect). They have no smell, but they are pretty. We're heading out to church and then to a church picnic, and I am actually regretting it, because I would like to stay home and putter a bit and not have to putter in the near constant drizzle that is a regular part of living up in a rainforest.
Two banana plants are putting out the precursor (the infloresence, I have seen it called) to a stalk of banana fruit. In 8-9 months we'll have probably a hundred plus pounds of bananas to deal with. I love bananas, but 50 lb stalks - and this time there will be two at one time - can get overwhelming. I do let them get really ripe and then freeze them for smoothies and for baking banana bread, but our freezer space is limited.
The lilikoi is recovering from the sheep and chicken depredations; I am not sure how long a vine has to grow before it produces fruit, but hopefully, some time in the next year, we'll have lilikoi. (Oops, that reminds me, a coworker traded me juice for eggs, and I left the frozen juice in the freezer at work - definitely need to recover that, if it is still there).
The pipnola is starting to climb up the waiawi clump - that should be a nice addition to stir fry at some point.
The sweet potatoes are spreading like crazy. A bit worried the compost I planted them in is too nitrogen rich and it will be all leaves - the leaves are good in stir fry, but I am crazy about the local purple sweet potatoes, so I hope they grow, too.
There are just about enough lemons to make marmalade, so that is a project to do soon, but the rest of the citrus are resting. I went out and gave the tangerine, grapefruit, orange, and calamansi lime trees a pep talk. Probably a good dose of compost would do a better job of motivating everyone.
It is a lovely, sunny, just-warm-enough day here in upslope Puna. Everything smells heavenly; the ginger flowers are blooming, the spider lily just put out a big stalk of flowers, and there are even some roses blooming. The anthuriums I have planted in a little bed in front of the house have put out a lot of flowers (in spite of my broad neglect). They have no smell, but they are pretty. We're heading out to church and then to a church picnic, and I am actually regretting it, because I would like to stay home and putter a bit and not have to putter in the near constant drizzle that is a regular part of living up in a rainforest.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Sweetpea has a Lot of Personality
I came home the other day to find Sweetpea standing on Sammy's back - sort of pawing at him. He was absolutely unbothered, so it almost looked like she was giving him a massage. She still finds chasing chickens quite amusing, but she is learning about the wider world of the pasture.
My husband and daughter rigged up a run line that pretty much gives one dog the same range he/she used on a daily basis - from the front lanai to the big tree where they love to lie down. We found if we tied up one dog, the other one doesn't chase sheep alone, so the old dog (ie the "instigator") may be able to stay at home.
I had to discontinue the penicillin because Sammy was getting scours, and have resumed hand cleaning the draining wound. He looks much happier than he did last week.
Tomorrow is a race out in Waimea, which is so pretty. The air is so crisp and it is just nice to see a different part of our island. I tend to make this shuttle run up and down the same road, with a once or twice a week detour into Hilo town proper, and so it is nice to get out and drive up to the northern end of the Big Island. Waimea is an old cattle ranching town, full of history. The race is challenging with a rather long run up a steep hill, but there are lots of places the spectators can see the kids running through. Some cross country courses have the kids running off and away from the spectators. (I know my daughter preferred it like that - she could walk at times! She was more of a social runner. My son is more serious).
I attended a conference today on using technology in the classroom. My son was invited to be on a student panel. I was amused because the facilitator was really trying to elicit from the panel that their teachers needed to use more tech, but even though my son is quite an amazing programmer, he really prefers to have the teacher facilitate discussions more than anything else. I was also amused because my son is no better at using a microphone than I am.... I had better learn, though, to become more comfortable....I think it will increasingly become part of my job.
"Business" is booming at work - I have had several teachers ask for help with tweaking reading assignments and one direct request for aid for some kids. The administrators told me not to overload myself, because they are hoping I will be designing more program-wide stuff. I think the fear was that if I got too involved at the direct service level and then pull back later - it wouldn't be so good. I can see their point, but it is so hard for me to see a kid needing help, or hear about a kid needing help, and not just jump in! On the other hand, I really want to look into creating an online writing lab...and there is a learning curve for the software and platform for me, not to mention just writing all the curriculum for it....
Another project I thought might be a good idea is to write a few of the "Hapless Stories", as well. We had quite a colorful start here on the Big Island - starting in a tent, having no real running water for a good long time, living in the cabin for 6 years....lots of stories. I thought I should write them down for the kids, who were so small while it was all happening, and might not quite appreciate how far we've come as much as they could.
So with all of these things on top of the gardening, sheep and horse tending, and wife- and - mothering, I am grateful to say my plate if full.
My husband and daughter rigged up a run line that pretty much gives one dog the same range he/she used on a daily basis - from the front lanai to the big tree where they love to lie down. We found if we tied up one dog, the other one doesn't chase sheep alone, so the old dog (ie the "instigator") may be able to stay at home.
I had to discontinue the penicillin because Sammy was getting scours, and have resumed hand cleaning the draining wound. He looks much happier than he did last week.
Tomorrow is a race out in Waimea, which is so pretty. The air is so crisp and it is just nice to see a different part of our island. I tend to make this shuttle run up and down the same road, with a once or twice a week detour into Hilo town proper, and so it is nice to get out and drive up to the northern end of the Big Island. Waimea is an old cattle ranching town, full of history. The race is challenging with a rather long run up a steep hill, but there are lots of places the spectators can see the kids running through. Some cross country courses have the kids running off and away from the spectators. (I know my daughter preferred it like that - she could walk at times! She was more of a social runner. My son is more serious).
I attended a conference today on using technology in the classroom. My son was invited to be on a student panel. I was amused because the facilitator was really trying to elicit from the panel that their teachers needed to use more tech, but even though my son is quite an amazing programmer, he really prefers to have the teacher facilitate discussions more than anything else. I was also amused because my son is no better at using a microphone than I am.... I had better learn, though, to become more comfortable....I think it will increasingly become part of my job.
"Business" is booming at work - I have had several teachers ask for help with tweaking reading assignments and one direct request for aid for some kids. The administrators told me not to overload myself, because they are hoping I will be designing more program-wide stuff. I think the fear was that if I got too involved at the direct service level and then pull back later - it wouldn't be so good. I can see their point, but it is so hard for me to see a kid needing help, or hear about a kid needing help, and not just jump in! On the other hand, I really want to look into creating an online writing lab...and there is a learning curve for the software and platform for me, not to mention just writing all the curriculum for it....
Another project I thought might be a good idea is to write a few of the "Hapless Stories", as well. We had quite a colorful start here on the Big Island - starting in a tent, having no real running water for a good long time, living in the cabin for 6 years....lots of stories. I thought I should write them down for the kids, who were so small while it was all happening, and might not quite appreciate how far we've come as much as they could.
So with all of these things on top of the gardening, sheep and horse tending, and wife- and - mothering, I am grateful to say my plate if full.
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