Unicorns and Stuff

This is what I did last Wednesday.

Amish Country

I love that I'm only about 1.5 hours from Amish Country.  Mar was visiting a few weeks ago and we spent the day there.  We bought all kinds of yummy pastries, candies and jams.  We demolished a delicious loaf of freshly made bread and were especially smitten with the peanut brittle.  We saw lots of beautiful countryside dotted with Amish homes and 'English' homes.  We saw lots of cute Amish kids doing their chores.  They were so calm and confident in what they were doing.  We smelled lots of cow manure, fires and stoves burning, and people who work hard but don't bathe often.

One of the highlights for me was to discover that there was an Amish 'fabric' shop.  We followed the verbal directions we had gotten and read all the hand-painted signs and eventually found it - a very small shop full of durable denims and other durable cloth in blacks, blues and whites.  The small thread section had only black, blue and white threads.  I found a random bolt of navy corduroy (they don't use corduroy) with about 10 yards on it.  It was only $2 a yard.  I had to get it, the whole bolt.  We'll use it for next year's smile bags.  I also bought 10 yards of muslin for only $1.75 a yard.

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I was looking for and found an upholsterer, Moses Yoder.  His work is amazing and he charges next to nothing.  We happened to be there when one of his customers was picking up some reupholstered boat seats.  The captain's seat was particularly stunning.  It was blue and off-white and had curved piecing like the 'premium pontoon' above.  It had way more pieces and piping than the 'designer series'.  I always wonder what goes through an Amish tarp maker or upholsterers mind when he works on projects for vehicles that he's never been in and maybe never even seen in action.  Once I find the 'perfect' craigslist chair, I'm totally taking it to Moses.  It will be an adventure.  I'd much rather have cheap furniture with character and a story than expensive furniture from a fancy schmancy shop.

Mar and I went to the Lawrenceburg Walmart to soak up some local color.  I squealed with delight when we came across this special parking area for buggies with a sign that read "Reserved for Horse-drawn Vehicles Only".  We saw a few Amish shoppers in the store.  Of course, we had to peak into their fairly empty carts and see what they were buying - socks, peanut butter (interesting because some of them sell home-made peanut butter), coffee, cereal.

Here's a Google satellite picture of the Lawrenceburg Walmart.  You can see the buggy parking area at the bottom of the picture in the center, at the end of Manor Drive.  It's the unpaved area surrounded by some trees.

What a fantastic day!  I loved spending the day with Mar and visiting the Amish.  I often wish I could live in an Amish household for a week or so, to get a feel for life without modern conveniences.  I'd love to hang out and quilt with the women.  By the way, they charge about $.60 per yard of thread if you want to have them hand quilt your quilt.  Just thought I'd mention that.

Ghosts of Christmas Past

Christmas of 1963

The only toy I remember is the clock on the left, 

but I look pretty excited about getting those dishes.

Now there's a very happy student, a future teacher.

Mom has always enjoyed spoiling us at Christmas.

 Posing in front of the fireplace that dad built,

in the house that dad built.

We had those stockings forever!

I wish I could actually remember this day, but I can't.  Howard has lots of memories of when he was this big.  He can even remember what he was thinking when he was this big.  I would have very few visual images of what my childhood was like if my parents hadn't take pictures like these when we were little.  Thanks mom and dad.

Homecoming

It's been many decades since I've experienced high school homecoming festivities.  We tried to learn some Spanish amidst Hat Day, Holiday Day, Dynamic Duo Day, but I finally had to succumb to the chaos on Friday, Parade Day.  We just 'chilled' in 1st and 2nd period.  And after attendance in 3rd period, who knows where everyone really went.  Most of us loaded up on buses for a quick trip to downtown Franklin for the homecoming parade.

The JROTC kicked off the parade.  I remember my astonishment at seeing all the JROTC groups when I stumbled upon the Veteran's Day Parade a few years ago.

Then the band came by.  When I enter the high school each morning, this kid is always leaning against the wall with drumsticks in motion.  The drummers stopped right in front of me and I couldn't believe the energy coming off those drums.  The rhythm was seriously messing with my heartbeat.

One of those tuba players is in my 7th period class.  He always tells me he's a bad tuba player.  When I look at him with doubting expressions, his fellow band members assure me that it's true.

The physics teacher has an after-school robotics class.  This robot zipped around the parade and stole the show at times.

Each class worked all week on a float.  I'm not sure who did this one or why Batman was the theme.

I love this float and their disclaimer sign.

When I was in high school, I joined the swim team one year.  It was very strange behavior for me.  I was probably the slowest swimmer on the team but was so proud of myself for surviving the rigorous workouts and hanging in there.  So, swimmers have a special place in my heart.

This was my favorite float, the Junior Float.  It's pretty awesome for high school, right?

I like this picture even though you can't see anyone's faces.

What's a homecoming parade without cheerleaders...

and a football team?  It was a fun and exciting day.

Anyone? Anyone?

For the last five weeks I've been subbing in a high school Spanish class.  It all came about very suddenly.  It's been exhausting, challenging, sleep-depriving and fun at times.  Did I mention exhausting?  It has consumed my life with newness: teaching high school kids for the first time, teaching Spanish 3 and IB Spanish, and finally being fully immersed in Southern (suburban) culture after having lived here for two years.

So, it's hard to get used to having students with facial hair who tower over me.  And, I can't get used to students saying things like, "Can I go get my book?  I left it in my car."  What?  You have a car?  Oh yeah, you people drive.  And that's why the parking lot is so much bigger than my middle school parking lots.  And that's why if I leave at 6:25 AM instead of 6:20 AM, it takes me 10 minutes to complete the last half mile of my 30-minute commute.

I'm teaching mostly sophomores and I've come to the conclusion that they're not much different than 8th graders.  Of course, they'd be insulted to hear me say that, but it's kind of true.  Most of the girls are delightful and quite mature, but a handful of mean girls can still ruin a day or at least a class period.  Some of the boys are more mature than 8th grade boys, but most are just taller.  I have to say, though, goofy boys make my day.  I'd much rather have to deal with channeling and focusing excessive energy than having to try to create it.

Teaching something other than Spanish I has been really great.  You can only teach "uno, dos, tres" so many times before your eyeballs start to roll around in your head.  Of course, I think I only taught "uno, dos, tres" for one year in Needham before I discovered the storytelling technique (TPRS) which made a huge difference for me and my students.

It's fun to feel like I've finally been immersed in Southern culture for the first time in two years.  It's been eye opening.  I'm not sure I like some of what I've experienced, and I'm not sure that what I've experienced can be attributed to the South or to difference in working with high school staff and students rather than middle school.  

For the most part, the students and the teachers are very friendly.  I've really enjoyed the quick acculturation that comes through getting to know the staff and students in a new area.  In the staff workroom/lunchroom I find myself mostly listening and trying to figure who and what they're talking about.

In the classroom I always have to get clarification on names and acronyms.  When I first started teaching in the Bay Area, I noticed all my students talked about Piece o' My Heart, which really turned out to be their favorite pizza place, Pizza My Heart.  Here, Zaxby's, a chicken place near the school, gets mentioned often - until someone brings up Chick-fil-A.  When I ask which one they like better, Chick-fil-A always wins.

So, that's what I've been up to for the last five weeks if you've been wondering where I ran off to.