"If you think education is expensive, try ignorance"

"Back to school", those three little words every mother longs to hear in August.

And mothers across the country give a big sigh of relief.  Or maybe that's just me.  I remember those chilly dew laden mornings of September when I had to wait for the bus to come and take me off to the first day of a new school year.  The squeaky clean school suddenly coming back to life after a rejuvenating summer.  New pencils, new crayons, new notebooks, and the fresh smell of minds ready to learn something new. 

Okay, maybe that is just an idyllic version of my childhood.  The reality was a bit more of pressing the snooze button until you barely had time to dress and eat breakfast before running out the door to catch the bus.  The dread of homework.  Beautiful fall days with your body inside the classroom while your mind wandered around outside.  Day after day of peanut butter or pressed meat sandwiches, with a slightly bruised apple for dessert.  Falling asleep on the bus on the way home from school.  Having to go to bed early so that you could get up early again the next morning and start the cycle yet once more. 

I didn't love school, I didn't hate school.  I was good at some things and bad at others. (Can you say physical education?  I can't even say it without spraining something.)  I had friends, and people I didn't particularly care for.  I was always much happier reading something from the library than anything I was supposed to be reading for school.  Hunh, imagine that.  In high school, I could walk the halls from one class to another while reading.  This sometimes included a set of stairs.  Yep, I think I ended up exactly where I should be.

Everyone has their own memories of school starting.  Good or bad, we've all got them.  I'm glad my kids are so excited to start school.  I don't remember having that same excitement after kindergarten when getting to ride the bus was such a huge event.  I wish all kids could be as excited about school as my kids are.  But, I know many of them aren't.  For many, it's more than just missing out on those sunny September days.  You hear more and more about toxic schools, bullying, lack of funding, teaching to the tests, and mounting pressure to excel: it's a wonder kids can think of school as a happy place with all the bad press out there.   Of course, kids feed off of their parents worries and fears.  Maybe that's why my kids are so excited.  I don't have any worries or fears when it comes to sending them off to school.  I don't expect them to have insurmountable problems, and they don't.  Little problems, yes.  Insurmountable, no.  But we've got time yet, I've got kids in school for the next 14 years. 

So; next Tuesday morning, I'll head out to the bus stop for the first and last time of the school year.  Cup of coffee in one hand, camera in the other.  As the bus pulls away I'll skip back to the house with a big smile on my face and a "Hip, Hip, Hooray, School Begins Today!"

I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework. ~Lily Tomlin as "Edith Ann"

Bittersweet On A Stick

It's time for the Great Minnesota Get Together.  The Minnesota State Fair.  We go every year, and it's always a nice farewell to summer.  The State Fair means summer is pretty much over, and fall is just around the corner.  Say good-bye to the lazy hot humid days and hello to the crisp early mornings at the bus stop.  But first one last summer-fun event!

 For a couple weeks the kids have been planning the rides they'll ride and the food they'll eat.  Everyone seems to have their favorites.  But the #1 must-have is the ice cream from the Dairy building. Or the stuffed olives on a stick. Or the corn on the cob. Or the bucket of Sweet Martha's cookies, or. . .

cheese curds.  Yep, definitely the cheese curds.  That's the must have.  Although everything else mentioned above is a must have.  So, I guess we've got a few favorites.  We always do a little research before we go to see what is new at the fair, or the stuff we haven't tried yet.  I've heard good things about the bacon on a stick and it's on our list this year.  One new food we'll be trying is the Minneapple Pie--apple pie on a stick.  Since it's by the Dairy Building's must-have ice cream, it's kind of a no-brainer.  That, and I do love pie.  We're going on Monday, so we may hear about things to add to the list. 


It's a lot of walking.  Good thing, with the list of must have foods that are fried.  My mom always wears her pedometer when they go.  I'm thinking I might wear mine this year.  If I can find it.  I probably should have started my training already.  I know we walk miles and miles, but I never feel too sore the next day.  I suppose that's because it isn't marathon walking but leisurely strolling with lots of stops to look at exhibits and pick up your next fried delicacy on a stick.

The more I look at pictures, the more excited I am.  WCCO has a whole hour at the fair at 4:00 pm.  If I weren't here at work at that time, I'd be home watching it. 


There are a few people we know that are going the same day we are.  There are probably a few people we know that we'll run into unexpectedly.  It's always kind of fun to see people you know amidst the thousands of people at the fair.  I come from a very large extended family, and have run into relatives in the past.  One year we ran into the woman who delivers the newspapers in town.  Seems that when we meet other people we know, the conversation is about what we've seen and what we've eaten.  I think I should probably bring along a little notebook to keep track of all the food we digest over the course of the day.  We go every year, so I could use it over and over.  Then maybe we'd have a better idea who got to experience the fried fruit on a stick whatever year that was.


And the rides.  The kids love them.  I like it when I have to ride along with one of them.  Rides are much more fun with a kid who is excited.  Bumper boats, tilt-a-whirl, Ferris wheel, merry-go-round, "that thing that Mom and I went on last year", it'll be interesting to see which rides they pick.  They usually only get two rides each.  It's not like those tickets are free. 


The girls have been discussing all there is to see.  They like walking through the Agriculture-Horticulture building and seeing all the sights in there.  Flower arrangements, seed art, scarecrows, and the bee exhibit.  You can also get a cool, crisp apple, apple juice or apple popsicle.  (Food is a major part of the day, obviously.)  The kids enjoy walking through the barns.  Pet the biggest pig, see them milking the cows, watch them shearing sheep.  A couple years ago our daughter Maeve; then two, had the most fun in the poultry barn.  I love walking through that barn, it reminds me of my chicken loving Great Grandma Mamie.  (The summer before she died, she and I perused a chicken catalog and she would exclaim over the various breeds--how crazy some of them looked.)  I may not want to raise chickens of my own, but they're fun to look at.

The DNR building, and their big pond of native fish is always a hit.  They usually have some sort of litter sculpture that has look and find activity page to go along with it.  We sit down to watch the news live in the evening.  The Creative Activities & Annex is right up there by Machinery Hill.  I don't care much to look at tractors, and my husband doesn't care much to look at what people have knit, sewn, or crafted.  Divide and conquer.  We let the kids go with whoever they want to go with.  I used to get to go by myself, but the kids are older now and much less interested in the farm machinery than they used to be.  We go through the 4-H building and see what some talented kids are showcasing.  I go through the Fine Arts building while the rest of the family sees something on the stage at Baldwin Park, although this year I may have a few kids along with me.  By this time we're getting to the end of the day, and everyone is getting tired.  It's a good time to sit down for awhile. 

On our way out, we swing by Sweet Martha's Cookies and pick up a bucket of cookies, then we head over to all the milk you can drink for $1.00--talk about divine.  Walk back to the car, and these weary travelers head home. 

Summer is about over, but it goes out with one of the highlights of the season.  I couldn't possibly hit all of them with this blog post, there's so much to see (and eat).  We look forward to going, and at the same time regret that those slow sultry days of summer are coming to a close. 

Bittersweet on a stick, indeed.

housework vs. a good book

There's nothing to match curling up with a good book when there's a repair job to be done around the house. ~Joe Ryan

I wish I liked cleaning better than I do.  I hate housework.  I love a clean home, I just don't want to be the one to do it.  Unfortunately, working off of library wages means I can't afford a maid.  I only work a couple days a week anyway, so it's not like I don't have time to clean my house, I'd just rather do other things.  With kids and their accessories (toys, books, crayons, etc.) living in my house, it means mopping the floor is a bit more involved.  Right, right; I've heard it before, eventually the children move away and you miss their junk scattered all over the house.  I look forward to that day.  I may regret saying that in a few years, but for now. . .


I got an Ipod for Christmas.  I haven't used it for much other than Sudoku, to be perfectly honest.  I have some of my CDs (okay, 1/2 of them are kids music) downloaded to it, but I rarely listen to it.  Last week I finally downloaded a book that I really wanted to listen to.  (Okay, it was a book club book that I didn't want to read while trying to finish Pillars of the Earth.)  I finally set myself up to listen to it yesterday.  Oh My Stars, by Lorna Landvik was the book.  I had read it several years ago, but really didn't remember much about it.  Yes, I could have read it a lot faster than it was read to me, but I wouldn't have gotten nearly as much done. 


The master bath is now spic and span, like it hasn't been for months.  I sorted through some bins of clothing, and found some stuff to pass along to other girls in the family.  The basement shows remarkable improvement.  You can actually walk from the bottom of the stairs to the ironing board without traversing an obstacle course.  The kitchen got cleaned.  (And it was well before midnight!!)   I don't think I even thought about how much I hate cleaning while I was doing it.  Hunh.  Who knew I'd be able to get so much done while being entertained.  All right, our library board president has been doing this for years--I don't know why I didn't listen to her words of wisdom sooner.


Listening to a book is a bit different than reading it for yourself.  I didn't have to pause every time I came across the leading man's name to think about how it sounded.  Kjel: pause before you get to it, pronounce it SHELL and move on.  Someone at book club mentioned they had to do that, and I didn't.  Of course, I didn't completely finish listening.  I have now spent some time going back and forth between listening and reading, and have found that I have to do the same thing when I come across that name while reading.   The way people talk isn't left up to your interpretation, but someone else's.  You know that when Berit asks her mother, "Why don't I help you out in here?" it's because she's been lovingly asked to leave the room and she's trying to save face.  Many years ago, I listened to Frank McCourt reading his book Angela's Ashes.  I thought at the time that the book would be awfully depressing, but listening to the author read his own story shed humor on it, where you might not have read it in the printed word.  There's a different feel listening to someone reading a book than reading it yourself.  Not bad, just different.


So, I'm a convert.  I will now regularly download books and clean my house.  Probably.

If the shelves are dusty and the pots don't shine,

it's because I have better things to do with my time.

~Author Unknown

Don't mention the book?

In literature, as in love, we are astonished at the choice made by other people.
-Andre Maurois

If you're a Facebook junkie; like me, you may have seen the postings for National Book Week.  Here are the directions:


It's National Book Week. The rules: Grab the closest book to you. Go to page 56. Copy the 5th sentence as your status. Don't mention the book. Post these rules as part of your status.

Nuts, you can't mention the book??  What kind of Book Week is that?  How am I supposed to get an idea for what might be a good read?  How does it help me not to know the name of the book you're quoting?  How does it celebrate reading to not give the name of the book you've got closest to you?  Does the author get any credit for the line he/she wrote?  I object. 


No, this book week isn't in any way affiliated with the American Library Association.  It's a Facebook thing.  The ALA has Banned Books Week from September 24th-October 1st this year.  They have Teen Read Week from October 16th-22nd.  National Library Week is April 8th-14th, 2012.  Library Card Sign-Up month is September (next month!!).


I wonder where this Book Week came from.  I can't figure it out.  Who thought of it?  Why?  What was the intent?  Why page 56?  Why the 5th complete sentence?  Why not page 43, and the 8th complete sentence?  Why not just give the title of the book that's closest to you and answer whether you're reading it, or if it's just been hanging around.  How about, pick up the book closest to you and tell us what that book means to you.  (i.e. It's just some fluff to help me forget about life, I'm hoping to learn something from this book, I only have kid's books next to me--Sandra Boynton's board books aren't numbered.)


So, I typed "national book week" into the search area of Facebook.  It found a few different pages.  The only one that had any information beyond the directions pointed me to The Children's Book Council of Australia.  This year's Children's Book Week marks the 66th annual event.  And, it's this year: August 20th-August 26th.  Hmmmm.  The theme is One World, Many Stories.  That sounds a bit familiar.  So, I'm still not sure how Facebook got a National Book Week from Australia, a couple weeks early.  Ahhhh, but people are sheep. 


I guess I'm a bit of a rule breaker.  The last time this thing came around (and I questioned it this time mainly because it felt like it hadn't been that long since I had done it.) I just searched through my profile, and found that I did this on February 24th, 2011.  Then, the directions were:

Game rules: Grab the book closest to you right now. Open to page 56 and choose the 5th sentence. Publish it as your status and write the rules as a comment. Don't choose the book you like the most or think will make you look cool, just the ...closest.

Okay, so in February it was just a game.  Now it's an event.  Same page, same sentence.  I didn't pick the closest then, which was a 1929 copy of The Complete Home Landscape by Arthur Jennings but instead picked the book I was currently reading.  And of course, I let all my friends know the name of the book and the author.  (That wasn't verboten in February.) 


I want everyone to mention the book.  I also want them to mention the author.  I think the author should get some credit.  I think I should be able to read the book you're reading if page 56, sentence 5 appeals to me.  Pick whatever book you want.  Search through all of your close books to find the best fifth sentence on page 56.

Of all the books I have close to me, the best fifth sentence on page 56 comes from the book Cabins of Minnesota by Bill Holm with photographs by Doug Ohman. 


"The north wind howled in through the rattly windows, and honey from the bees trapped in the walls oozed out between loose cracks."


Now there's a sentence that makes you want to read the rest of the book.  Page 56, sentence 5 should make you want to read sentence 6, 7, 8, and beyond. So, go. Go beyond. Break the rules, mention the book.


"Tell me what you read and I'll tell you who you are" is true enough, but I'd know you better if you told me what you reread.  ~François Mauriac

That book will build some muscle.

It is necessary to relax your muscles when you can. Relaxing your brain is fatal.
Stirling Moss


I brought three books with me on vacation.  I left the heaviest one for last.  I suppose I was kind of hoping I wouldn't get to it, and could put off reading it for awhile longer.  And by "for awhile longer", I mean until I had worked up some bigger arm muscles.  The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett is the heaviest book I've ever read.  Or at least it feels like it is.

So, I thought I'd take a little look back on the heavy tomes I've read in the past.  And here they are starting with the shortest of the long books that I remember:

Children of the Earth Series by Jean Auel: the first five books I read average in at 584 pages.  The Clan of the Cave Bear (#1) was the shortest at 495 pages.  Each continuing book got longer.  I really enjoyed the books.  I haven't read the latest in the series which just came out this summer, but eventually. . .I might.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy had considerably less pages than I remembered.  Only 736, but it felt like it must have been thousands.  I read a complete and unabridged version.  It was brutal.  And, I was reading it for my own pleasure (of which there was very little.)  But, I got through it.  Others may love this book, but I didn't.  Maybe the abridged version is better.  I've got Tolstoy's War and Peace in my "to read" pile, here's hoping that's better.

The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon averaged 902 pages with the 5 books I read in the series.  Action/adventure/romance/and a smidgy bit of sci-fi with the main character traveling back in time via Stonehenge.  (Or maybe not--but for me, time travel=science fiction.)  For as long as these books are, they didn't take long to read.  Maybe because I didn't get anything else done until I was finished with them.  Lots of reading into the wee hours with them.  If you want an escape book, check them out.

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett: this book weighs in at over 3lbs.  It's not the longest book I've ever read at 973 pages, just the heaviest.  Pretty much everyone who has ever read it places it in on their favorites list.  I don't know why I was so hesitant to start.  Maybe because it's so darn heavy.  Not exactly light reading.  Literally or figuratively.  I'm all of 144 pages into it, and I can see that tonight is going to be another late night of reading, just like last night, and probably the next few nights. It sucks you right in at the begining, and I'm glad it's going to take awhile to let go.

Maia by Richard Adams was the first over 1000 page book I ever read.  1062 pages that I tore through in less than a week.  I was in my late teens and had finished Watership Down by the same author and moved on to some of his other books.  Maia may not be the book for your average teen reader.  For one thing, it's about a concubine.  Yeah, I didn't know what a concubine was until I got into the book.  If you don't know either, pull up the dictionary.  I read it more than once.  And thinking back on it now, I'd like to read it again.  Maybe once winter starts to set in.

And the longest book I ever read:  drum roll:  Sacajawea by Anna Lee Waldo gets top honor with 1408 pages.  About the woman who helps Lewis and Clark; and what happens before, during, and after that expedition.  A great read.  If you like historical fiction, this would be the book for you. 


And those are the books that first came to mind.  I suppose it's more of a list of best and worst. (Anna Karenina being the only worst on the list.)  I took a stroll around the library and came up with a few other long books that I've read.  But they were neither super great nor super bad--so I'm not going to change my list. 

Like age, number of pages is just a number.  There may be a lot of them, but that's doesn't have anything to do with the quality of the book, or how much you'll enjoy it.  Only one way to find out.  Jump in and read for awhile.  In this modern era of instant gratification, it's a bit off putting to think about reading a lengthy book.  At least it is for me, but maybe I'm just out of practice.  This book is a nice reminder of how good it is to soak in a storyline for an extended length of time.   Maybe I won't be so hesitant to start the next big book. 

I know there are other long books I haven't read yet and want to read.  The last three Harry Potter books, Lonesome Dove, War and Peace, Gone with the Wind, and of course--World Without End by Ken Follett.  But first I need to finish The Pillars of the Earth.  I think I'll work on that right now!

Want to see slides from our vacation??

Sometimes the best walks are the ones you didn't plan on taking.  

Miner's Falls, a photo by aawikstrom on Flickr.

Learning something on our walk, a photo by aawikstrom on Flickr.

We took a road trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula.  Our first day was a travel day, followed by a day touring from Munising to Grand Marais.  A lot of walks: waterfalls, dunes, painted rocks.  We were tired and hungry for supper when we stopped at Sable Falls (which wasn't on our agenda).  But, the falls were only 500 feet from the parking lot so it didn't seem like more than we could handle.  Some members of our family are more adventurous than others, and we couldn't stop ourselves from continuing down the trail.  The trail ended .6 miles from the parking lot at Lake Superior.  Sand dunes on the left, forested shoreline on the right, and smooth, water-worn rocks on the beach in front of us.  The river that made Sable Falls forms a bit of a pool before emptying into the big lake.  A gorgeous encore for our day of exploring.

Sable Falls, a photo by aawikstrom on Flickr.

Lake Superior, a photo by aawikstrom on Flickr.

The drive from home to Munising is pretty long.  The drive from Munising to Sault Ste. Marie was a shorter trip, but was an all day affair with the stops mentioned above.  We saw the Soo Locks and even got to see a ship travel through them before getting ice cream cones and heading back out on the road.  The drive to Cheboygan ended up being longer than expected with the advent of a flat tire.  Oh well, at least everyone but the driver had something good to read.

Our family takes road trips without a portable DVD player.  We figure they watch enough TV at home and that there's a greater likely-hood of the kids noticing the scenery if their eyes aren't glued to a screen.    Before vacations, I check the "for sale" pile at our local libraries and pick up a few new to us books for the girls to read.  Sure, they're discards; so they might not be what is currently popular (and with our small libraries, currently means in the past 20 years) but that doesn't mean they're bad books.  My seven-year-old never would have met Mrs. Pickerell if it weren't for library discards.

While my husband got new tires, the girls and I walked around downtown Cheboygan.  Lots of cute little shops that we didn't enter.  One little bookstore where we made ourselves at home.  By this time in our travels, our 10-year-old had already finished 4 books and only had one left.  (I knew I should have packed along that really thick one she's been hesitant to start.)  The majority of books for kids her age were series books (i.e. Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Lightening Thief, and Hank Zipper)  There weren't a lot of stand alone books.  Of the 15 or so, only one looked good to her.  Should've bought it then and there, but I thought we'd come back and get it instead of lugging it all over town.

And off we went.  Down the street a little further, then across the road to the other side and back.  What's that??  A library sign?  Let's go!!  Ahhh, but the only library we found was the old "Carnagie Free Library".  A beautiful building fallen into disrepair.  Having worked in the Carnagie Library in Coleraine, MN; it was a bit saddening to see the building sitting there empty.  The girls were not eager to walk on in search of a new library, so back to Main Street we went.  My husband picked us up there a few minutes later.

Carnegie Free Library Cheboygan, MI, a photo by aawikstrom on Flickr.

Cheboygan, MI, a photo by aawikstrom on Flickr.

weather vane, a photo by aawikstrom on Flickr.

Dinner at a local restaurant (where I had the best chicken salad sandwich of my life and the girls had the best BLT's of theirs) and onto the ferry to take us to Bois Blanc Island.  Boblo to the locals.  A cabin on the Lake Huron lake shore has been our home now for a couple of days.  The kids love jumping the waves and donning their life jackets to ride the waves back to shore.  Chicken, corn, and sweet potatoes on the grill, with marshmallows roasted over the fire by the lake and made into s'mores for dessert.  The quiet.  Watching the ships pass.  Listening to the waves roll in.  What a great place to relax with a book (or two).

s'mores, a photo by aawikstrom on Flickr.

                                                         reading and relaxing, a photo by aawikstrom on Flickr.

Everyone else went off to pick raspberries this afternoon while I worked on this post: outside, in the shade with a glass of iced tea, with nothing but the sound of waves crashing and the wind in the trees.  A perfect afternoon.  

writing the blog longhand, a photo by aawikstrom on Flickr.

Once everyone returned, we headed down to the only store on the island for some ice cream.  A late supper of hot dogs roasted over the fire followed by some more s'mores for dessert.  Kids bathed and hopped into bed.  We packed our stuff back up and our relaxing family vacation comes to a close.  We'll take the 8:00am ferry in the morning.  (The girls are having raspberries for pre-breakfast.  We plan on stopping for breakfast at the place that gave us some of the best sandwiches of our lives.)

Here's hoping I don't stay up too late reading my book, but I get the feeling that I'll be glad I brought along three books for this trip.  (Yep, the coffee post is set to go in the morning!) 

girls at the shore, a photo by aawikstrom on Flickr.

And just so you know that I know, this quote is for those who didn't care for the slide show.

There is probably no more obnoxious class of citizen, taken end for end, than the returning vacationist. ~Robert Benchley

Real mail, not junk mail

What a wonderful thing is the mail, capable of conveying across continents a warm human hand-clasp.  ~Author Unknown

One world many stories.  Today we said "auf Wiedersehn".  It was the last day of the summer reading program.  The kids traded their book logs for library dollars and got to buy whatever prizes they wanted.  The summer reading program may be over, but summer reading isn't.  Sure, some people don't have enough time during the summer to read.  What with planting, weeding, harvesting, canning, and playing at the beach; where's the time to crack open a book?  Ha!  Remember those heat advisory days we just had?  Yep; there I was, sitting next to the air conditioner with a book in one hand and a glass of iced tea in the other.  

We've gotten quite a few postcards in the past few weeks.  It's been pretty exciting to get them.  In this electronic age, it's a rare event to get something handwritten in the mail.  It sure is more meaningful.  Those postcards show us that someone took the time to write a line or more, address it, affix a stamp, and mail it to us.  It's really fun to get that kind of mail.  So, if you haven't gotten to it yet; send us a postcard.  If you'd like some postal excitement of your own, include your address and we'll send a postcard back to you.

When I was a kid, there was no email.  I was in second grade before our elementary school got computers.  So, my friends and I wrote letters.  I've got many of them in a box somewhere.  I should dig them out and see what kind of correspondence we had as 10-year-olds.  It was always an extra special day when you got a letter or postcard in the mail.  It still is.  It just doesn't happen as often.  Perhaps we could all try to bring some of that magic back.  Send a letter, card, or postcard to someone.  Draw a picture and send it off.  

Maybe I should add "Mail something to someone" to my summer bucket list.      

The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.  ~St. Augustine

 

To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart.  ~Phyllis Theroux

Life lessons learned in Kindergarten

The most valuable of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it has to be done, whether you like it or not. --Aldous Huxley









What did we learn in kindergarten? We learned to share, cooperate with others, listen, and keep our hands to ourselves. We learned to work together, be kind to one another, and clean up after ourselves. We learned that we have a lot to learn. Or something like that. It's been a long time since I was in kindergarten. It's been a long time since I read Robert Fulghum's Everything I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. But I think I get the gist of the life lessons learned in kindergarten.

At what point do we forget those lessons? Or at what point to we just stoop to the levels of the people who never learned those lessons?

So, it appears the Minnesota government shut-down is almost at an end. Problem solved? Not really, seems like the problem is just put off for another season. I'm fed up with politicians who never learned to listen, play nice, or cooperate. Seems like there's a fight brewing at the national level as well. It appears that there aren't many in D.C. who learned those lessons. Or, maybe we just hear the bad news. "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." I suppose we wouldn't hear from the people who learned that lesson.

I appreciate that there are differences of opinion on how this country should be run. I just wish the powers that be would work together instead of beating each other into the ground over their differences. One world, many stories. So, let's take a listen and see the story from another vantage point.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty. --Thomas Jefferson

Try to be nice to everyone, even the boy who eats paste. --Jane Wiitala

Real Fun vs. Fake Fun

Life ain't easy. Terrible things happen to everyone. You have to keep your sense of humor, give something of yourself to others, make friends who are younger than you, learn new things, and have fun.
-George Vaillant

Fun:

–noun
1. something that provides mirth or amusement: A picnic would be fun.

2. enjoyment or playfulness: She's full of fun.

A&N in the waves, a photo by aawikstrom on Flickr.

So that's what fun is! What's fun for one person may not be fun for another. My dad would often say, "Hey, kids, let's go have some fun!!" which would be met by groans from my siblings and I. My dad's version of fun often involved picking rock, fixing fence, and making wood. That was not fun for us. Now, of course, it is kind of fun for me to haul wood. It's an activity that gets me moving in the crisp autumn air. It's "real" fun. I'm accomplishing something, I'm moving, I'm enjoying the outdoors.

I had a bit of an epiphany the other day as I was playing a game online. It occurred to me that what I was doing was fake fun. I sat like a rock on my chair, playing a game without any physical interaction. Fake fun. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not about to get offline anytime soon. Facebook and I are about as tight as two friends can be. I have just come to the realization that I should spend more time having real fun than fake fun.

So, what is the difference between the two? I'm not really sure. I would think that real fun is something where you are having a good time, with other people or alone, doing something tangible, smiling, laughing, and moving. (Even if it's just moving the coffee cup from the table to your mouth.) Adults have a different idea of what fun is than kids do. I suppose all the various stages of life have their own ideas of what fun is. Candyland is fun when you're 3, but not much fun when you're 38 and playing Candyland for the fourth time in a day. Fun is sitting outside watching the bees buzz around your flower beds when you're 38, but as boring as watching paint dry for a 7 year old.

Reading can be fun. Right now I'm reading Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith and it's FUN! A lot of years ago I read Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. That wasn't fun. But I did it anyway. There are books that are fun, books that are a struggle to get through, books that teach you things, and books that spark thought. We've got them all here at the library. I have a tendency to do more fun reading in the summer. There's something about laying in the warm summer sunshine with a good book.

Go outside and have some real fun. Go ahead and leave a comment on your thoughts on real fun vs. fake fun. What is real fun for you? What is fake fun for you? Let us know, it would make for some fun reading for me!

There is something self-defeating in the too-conscious pursuit of pleasure. ~Max Eastman

EVERYONE has a story.

The world does not need tourists who ride by in a bus clucking their tongues. The world as it is needs those who will love it enough to change it, with what they have, where they are.
-Robert Fulghum


One world, many stories. Everyone has one. Some are just more interesting than others. Other people's stories broaden our views. By hearing the tales of how other people live, we expand our way of thinking. The world is more than just you. The world is more than just your community. The world is vast. Everyone is different, and yet we all share some remarkable similarities. I don't think I need to list them. You can probably figure those similarities out for yourself. If you're having trouble figuring the similarities out, stop in at your local library and pick up some books about people living a life different than the one you're living.

To be perfectly honest, I wasn't originally very excited about the summer reading theme this year. It seemed a bit too much for me to tackle. I liked the theme, I just didn't know which direction to go in with it. One World, Many Stories. I decided to focus on one country per week over the course of our six week program. I wasn't sure how that would go over with the kids. I was kind of thinking they wouldn't be interested. Ahhh, but I forgot, kids don't have that same kind of self-centeredness that we adults sometimes have. They don't have the same kind of baggage attached to other nations. The people of China cannot be summed up by everything "made in China". The people of Mexico are not all the U.S.'s illegal immigrants. While we may see Africa as a place of starving children, that does not sum up the lives of all of the people living there. Afghanistan is more than the Taliban, Nebraska is more than just cornfields.

The kids have enjoyed learning about other countries. I'm not much of a linguist, and the books I've chosen have had some words in the language of the week. I'm thankful to those people yesterday who helped me out with those Spanish words that I was massacring.

I'm glad that the theme of the year that I thought might be a dud, has been one of the best ones we've had in a few years. The kids have gotten the chance to think about other places in the world besides their own communities. It may sink in a bit more than it does in the school setting, simply because it's done in a different way. It's done through stories.


If you don't know the trees you may be lost in the forest, but if you don't know the stories you may be lost in life. --Anonymous

Chicken vs. Pig

The pig and the chicken were on their way to breakfast, trying to decide what to have. When chicken said, "Let's have ham and eggs." The pig then replied, "That's fine for you; it's a small donation on your part, but it's a total sacrifice for me."


We're now only a week away from a possible government shut-down here in Minnesota. I'm a bit fed up with the trash talk of all politicians at this point in time. They're acting like a bunch of spoiled brats. They all seem to enjoy tattling to the press about the offenses of others. I don't know that I've heard anyone say anything positive about anyone else's ideas.

If we're supposed to teach our kids how to work together, what kind of example is that?

I'd like to send them all to their rooms and have them make a list of ten things the other side is doing right. Seriously. "Everyone to their rooms, it seems like you can't be friends right now, so you get to take a time out. Make your list, and you can join the rest of us when you're done."

Oh wait. The time out may be coming next week. Unfortunately, I don't think anyone is being sent to their rooms to make postive lists. We'll probably get to hear more tattling about how no one wants to get along.

How would a government shut-down affect our small library? We don't really know. Worst case scenario, we shut down for an indefinite period of time. Right now is not a great time for that with us in the middle of the summer reading program, tween book club, and summer vacation. We have a pretty big crowd of kids coming in on a daily basis. No, not all of them are reading. But every time they come through the door, they are one step closer to reading. Everyone knows about the summer brain drain that happens over summer vacations, right? The summer reading program is one way to help reduce the drain. A lot of our young patrons are latch-key kids with no where else to go, and not a lot of parental involvement. Harsh, but true. We do what we can over here to encourage them on to bigger and better things. If we have to shut our doors, I won't stop the summer reading program. I'll just be doing it outside the building without getting paid to do my job.

If pigs could vote, the man with the slop bucket would be elected swineherd every time, no matter how much slaughtering he did on the side.
-Orson Scott Card

Summer Reading Program, Day One

Today we made passports for our imaginary or hoped for travels around the world. I brought in my own passport as a show and tell for those who had never seen one before. There were a lot of questions, and it was a lot of fun! It's kind of amazing the places people want to travel to--places I'd like to go that they wouldn't and vice versa.

It was interesting to see what the kids chose for destinations they'd like to travel to in the future. I had a few world atlases for them to look through. Madagascar and Ecuador where two places chosen by one boy. I appreciated his choices, they are a lot more interesting than the Florida/Disney World type selections made by others. Given the option to pick where ever in the world they want to go, I like when they pick something extraordinary. If you're going to dream, you might as well dream big.

We also had the first meeting of the tween book club. It was pretty interesting. For our first meeting there were 5 members sitting around the table with me. A couple of them had only read up to page 50 (like I told them they'd have to do if they wanted a cookie). It didn't really matter, those that hadn't read the book had seen the movie and were kind of able to discuss the book. It became apparent to them after a bit that there are some differences between the two and they will have to read the book to find out what happens. I didn't finish it either, so I'll be doing that this afternoon (I fell asleep while reading last night--but it's such a good book, I didn't want to put it down!) In two weeks we'll be discussing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. Now there's a book discussion that won't be helped much by watching the movie.

We're still hoping for some postcards. I just hung the postcards up yesterday, and the kids have been pretty fascinated with them. We've gotten four, and would really like to get some more. Drop a line and tell us what you're reading. Save yourself some postage and drop them off in person. If that's not possible, our address is:

Marble Public Library

PO Box 409

Marble, MN 55764

Travel and change of place impart new vigor to the mind. ~Seneca

The rain is dropping and the library is hopping.

It has been a pretty drizzly day outside today. And the library has been b-u-s-y! Adults, young adults, kids, little kids, we've seen just about everyone today. The kids are mostly here for the computers, but since we only have five of them and there are generally more than five kids hoping to use the computer at any given time, they end up waiting. Tween book club meets tomorrow for the first time, and I've got a couple copies of Holes behind the desk. Guess what some of the kids have been doing while they're waiting?

I did hear, "I hate reading" from one kid. And then another piped in with , "I die every time I read". My response, "It is a chancy thing to read, you never know when you might soak up too much knowledge for your brain to accommodate thus causing your head to explode." Or something like that. I think the only part they caught was "head explode", and I don't suppose the sarcasm could be caught with only those two words.

When I mentioned that there will be snacks at book club tomorrow, a few ears perked up. A few tweens walked out of here this evening with the intent to read at least 50 pages of Holes by Louis Sachar by tomorrow afternoon so that they can have a cookie. They are good cookies, well worth the 50 pages. If they had gotten to sample one of my cookies before, they would probably be willing to read 100 pages.

I haven't gotten around to reading the book either. I read it a few years ago, but I've forgotten a lot of it. I haven't seen the movie either. I'm on page 26 and typing quickly here so that I can go pop a bowl of popcorn and settle under a blanket on this dreary evening to read the rest of the book. So, you'll have to forgive me if this posting of the Marble Public Library blog is a bit stilted. But I've got some popcorn and a good book calling me.

The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain. ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

A Summer Vacation Bucket List

Summer vacation has begun. Long hot days with nothing to do are all fine and dandy, but I had my girls make a list of things they want to do around home this summer. I made one for myself . My list is more like a to-do list than a list of things I'd like to do. I think I need to add some fun to my list. I did add "Spend 10 minutes outside each day; rain or shine, appreciating summer." Of course, I haven't exactly done that yet. I've spent time outside, but it hasn't been just soaking in the season. It's been: planting, watering, weeding, and watching for army worms. My summer bucket list needs some revising.


My middle daughter has "walk 6 steps on hands by the end of summer" on her list. I'm pretty sure she'll be doing more than that by the end of July. It got me to thinking, when was the last time I wanted to practice/learn something that was purely for my pleasure? Something that was for my enjoyment alone? As adults, how many of us practice or learn things simply because we want to? When was the last time you set about learning something unrelated to your job? When was the last time you spent a week or more practicing something fun? I know I get a bit too caught up in daily life to take the time to learn something new and interesting unless I have to for some reason. I'm sure I learn things all the time, just not consciously. I certainly don't practice anything consciously.

I'm going to add Learn Something Fun to my summer bucket list. Ai Yi Yi, already I'm thinking I can't do it. Think of something fun to learn, that is. One of the problems with adult-hood is that inability to forget about the logistics of things. The how's, the why-I can't's, the lack of time: the list of reasons not to learn something new can go on and on. At what point do we change from a kid who says "why not?", into an adult who can list the reasons?

There are adults that stay children at heart and push forward with new and different things. Who think outside the box. Who dare to live a life less ordinary. You don't have to go to extremes and bungee jump off a bridge to stay young, but you do have to keep an open mind. Allow yourself to learn new things and experience life as a new day every day. Take time to breathe in the smells of summer like you did when you were a kid and the days stretched out in front with no end in sight. Can you see the glaringly bright sun, feel the cool green grass, smell the heat shimmering in the air? Do you remember what it was like to have the days spread out before you, passing by so slowly?

Take the time to soak up summer, at least 10 minutes each day. Give yourself permission to learn something new and completely frivolous.

When was the last time you walked six steps on your hands?

"No, you never get any fun out of the things you haven't done."
Ogden Nash

School's Out for Summer

Often, when I am reading a good book, I stop and thank my teacher. That is, I used to, until she got an unlisted number. ~Author Unknown


Today is the last day of school until September. I hear shouts of joy coming from the kids out there, and sighs coming from the mothers. Or maybe the sigh is just coming from me. How does a parent prevent themselves from going crazy over the next few months when they're used to less commotion during the day? I know!! Find them a great library program that will encourage them to read. While they're reading, there's a bit more silence in the house! It's a win/win. Not only are you helping to prevent summer brain drain, but you're also getting some quiet time.


We had book club here last week for the adults. One of our regulars under the age of 13 was asking a bunch of questions when we started (it may have had something to do with the cookies and dessert being served.) After the adults left, a group of kids came up to the desk to ask some questions about getting a book club started for themselves. Hip Hip Hooray!! We've decided to start one up here at our little library. We will be discussing Holes by Louis Sachar on June 16th at 2:30. Our young patrons decided to hold book club every other week this summer at the Marble Public Library. This book club is only open to people 8 - 12 years old! I'm looking forward to it. I'm glad they suggested it.

For the younger crowd, we also have the summer reading program starting on June 16th. (Everyone remembers the theme, right?) Thursdays from 1:00-2:00, June 16th to July 21st at the Marble Public Library we'll have stories, games, and fun. (And perhaps some moms can have a few moments of silence during that time.) On our last day we will be handing out prizes for all the reading that has been done.

If can't fit either of these activities into your summer schedule, stop on in and we'll point you in the direction of some books of activities for you and your child/ren.

School may be out for the summer, but it isn't out forever--no matter what Alice Cooper says.

Even if you are no where near the town of Marble, MN--chances are that your local library has a summer reading program for the kids. My guess is that there is more than just the summer reading program going on at your local library, give them a call a find out for yourself.

If you're closer to Coleraine, MN than Marble, MN--I run the summer reading program over there too. Same days/different time (10-11am).