Peaches

I was reading fellow homeschooler Sarah's blog today about picking peaches, and she was lamenting that she couldn't find a good peach poem to go along with her entry. I absolutely have to share on of my very, very favorite poems from one of my favorite poets, Li-Young Lee. In fact, he is my favorite living poet. This is the poem, from Lee's collection Rose, I was going to read for my brother's wedding, except that I guess he forgot that he asked me to read a poem. But he would understand why I picked this poem. We spent many, many summers of our life immersed in peaches, and he still does.

From Blossoms


From blossoms comes
this brown paper bag of peaches
we bought from the boy
at the bend in the road where we turned toward
signs painted Peaches.

From laden boughs, from hands,
from sweet fellowship in the bins,
comes nectar at the roadside, succulent
peaches we devour, dusty skin and all,
comes the familiar dust of summer, dust we eat.

O, to take what we love inside,
to carry within us an orchard, to eat
not only the skin, but the shade,
not only the sugar, but the days, to hold
the fruit in our hands, adore it, then bite into
the round jubilance of peach.

There are days we live
as if death were nowhere
in the background; from joy
to joy to joy, from wing to wing,
from blossom to blossom to
impossible blossom, to sweet impossible blossom.

- Li-Young Lee

Kick-off Week

I can hardly believe it's already time for our support group's annual Kick-off. I had the luxury of being out of the planning loop for the past two summers, but I've been back on the council this year after a two-year hiatus. Watching from the sidelines was nice.

I am blessed to live in an area with a large and vibrant homeschooling community. In our group alone we have about 230 families, representing over 600 school-aged kids. We offer loads of activities and probably the most popular feature is our enrichment class program. It's really fantastic, and we have an amazing enrichment team who work really hard to put it all together. Having been on the team years ago, I know what an incredibly hard job it is to schedule the classes, stick by your schedule, and experience the wrath of parents who "just can't find a class for my child at that hour" or who "just don't think the classes look as good this year as they did last year." Wah. Really, the vast majority of people are tremendously grateful and thrilled with the yearly line-up.

But I digress. Our kick-off is coming up on Tuesday night. I've been taking early sign-ups for my classes and signing my kids up early (teachers and council members do get special privileges!), so I've had school on my mind a lot this week. The kids and I even spent an hour or so straightening up our school rooms.

But first I really have to end last year. I have yet to document our year of American History, write reviews of some books, or even write out what all the kids did this year. I am woefully behind.

Then again, it's only July. It's all Walmart's fault with their back-to-school sales. We have over a month left before we ease back into our bookwork, and two months until most of our activities kick back into high gear.

After this week's kick-off, I'm heading back into summer.

Our Girl

"The father of a daughter is nothing but a high-class hostage. A father turns a stony face to his sons, berates them, shakes his antlers, paws the ground, snorts, runs them off into the underbrush, but when his daughter puts her arm over his shoulder and says, 'Daddy, I need to ask you something,' he is a pat of butter in a hot frying pan."
~Garrison Keillor

Tuesday Miscellany

* We're down to a family of 4 again for the next week. Our oldest has gone on vacation, and he really deserves it. He spent 12 arduous days hiking at Philmont Boy Scout Ranch in New Mexico, 4 days driving to and from Philmont, and then a week at Group Workcamp in Athens, GA, painting homes for disadvantaged families. For a kid who thinks that it's torture for me to awaken him at 10 a.m. during the school year, 23 days of waking up between 5 and 6:30 a.m. is deserving of a week of utter relaxation. His best friend graduated from high school in May, and a family friend invited them to spend a week with him in Florida, just being beach bums and eating at nice restaurants. I'm happy for the boys and their week of luxury, but I really need rich friends with Florida condos.

* My kids and I are meeting two college friends and their kids at a waterpark tomorrow. It's kinda weird to be driving 2 hours to go to a waterpark when we have the amazing Splash Country so nearby, but it's all about the people, right? And I love having immense amount of free time so that we could just do this at the spur-of-the-moment.

* We had our American Heritage Girls leaders' meeting today. One of our leaders opened her home and pool and provided her oldest son as a lifeguard, so 20 or so kids happily splashed about while we moms planned. It was a very productive afternoon, and I'm so thankful for our fantastic leaders.

* For some weird reason, we're all obsessing about kickball around here in my group of friends. I keep hearing friends say they've been playing kickball in the evenings. I really need to do a Monday Memory about kickball, because it's a powerful one. As soon as Dr. H and I digest our hamburgers, we're headed out to the backyard to play a rousing game of kickball with the kids and their friends. The girls are going to kick some butt, if we don't get malaria first from all the mosquitoes.

* And here is the biggest news of late: my parents have a buyer for their house in New York. I don't know why I haven't blogged about that yet. It's a really, really big deal. Last summer I blogged a lot about it. Like here, when I was helping my mom go through boxes. The house didn't sell last summer, but just last week they signed preliminary papers. In just a few weeks, we're headed up to my hometown, and this time it really will be the last time I stay in that house. But I can't really think about that right now.

* Also that week will be my 25 year high-school reunion. There's been lots of reconnecting on Facebook after the past year, and I'm looking forward to re-meeting lots of people face to face. One thing I've learned in the 25 years since I graduated: growing up in western, upstate New York is a unique experience. It'll be nice to be with people who understand good chicken wings, the importance of graduation parties, the smell of Seneca Lake on a hot summer night, and a slice of Cam's pizza.

* Our time is up. Two little boys and two pretty girls are ready for kick-ball.

Weekly Wrap-Up

Last week was full of appointments and places to be; this week was much more relaxed. In fact, sometimes the hours seemed to stretch e-n-d-lessly. Jesse has been gone all week, having left early Sunday morning for a mission trip. This is his second year working with Group Workcamps to do home repair to disadvantaged families. This year our youth group went to Athens, Georgia.

On Monday Laurel and I got out the sewing machine and began making a baby quilt for a friend's new baby. Laurel got enthused and pulled out a doll quilt she'd started on back in the winter, and all week she's been adding onto her quilt. Her doll quilt has now become a lap quilt for herself. I knew all that scrap fabric would come in handy one of these days!


Tuesday was spent making my house sparkly in preparation for a baby shower that I hosted here that evening. The shower was lovely, and my house is still clean, four days later!

Wednesday my friend Tammy brought her girls over while she taught a math class in Knoxville, so both the kids had playmates. We went to the pool for a couple of hours when they all started getting a bit restless. I also worked more on the baby quilt and made a book bag for Laurel.

Thursday morning we had our first visit from our new veterinarian. He's a homeschooling Dad in our support group, and he's working on building a house-call visit. This works perfectly for us. Not only is it difficult getting 2 cats and a dog to the vet's office, but our dog has serious vet's office issues anyway. Dr. Jinks was fantastic, and now our animals are all up-to-date with shots and whatever else they needed.


Thursdays are also flute lesson and grocery shopping days, so we don't go to the pool generally on Thursdays.

Today we played a good game of kickball in the morning and spent over 3 hours at the pool this afternoon. Laurel is heading over to a friend's house to spend the night, so Duncan will get to enjoy having us all to himself.

That's about all for this week. Laurel's been busy this week with her quilt, but Duncan does tend to get a bit bored. This is one of his favorite boredom busters:

I always save the leftover science supplies from the Sonlight kits, and every now and then I'll get out the box, add some kitchen items like vinegar, baking soda, and oil, and let Duncan just experiment. He'll do this for a couple of hours with great enthusiasm. After a few years of this, the kits are dwindling down. I really need to just order a bunch of random science supplies.

We've also been playing lots of morning and evening kickball and frisbee. I keep thinking that I need to have a big party and have a rousing game of kickball. Somehow playing with three people isn't quite the same as the neighborhood games of my childhood…

Jesse is due back home tomorrow and then takes off for a week in Florida on Tuesday. I am quite sure that with him being gone 16 days at Philmont, 6.5 days at work camp, and 8 days in Florida, God is preparing me for what our life will be like in just one year, when he goes away to college. I will miss that sweet boy, but I'm happy for his adventurous life.

(Got a weekly wrap-up? Visit Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers here.)

Doing a Good Job: No One Asked Me

I read "A Little Word of Encouragement" in the latest issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine that, rather than encouraging me, really disturbed me. There are six or so half-page "letters" written by popular homeschooling authors in this article, and this particular blurb is by Todd Wilson of Familyman Ministries. Here's how it starts out:

"For the last several years, I've conducted an informal poll asking homeschooling moms a single question: Do you feel as though you're doing a good job homeschooling your children? Would you care to wager a guess as to what percentage of moms feel as though they are succeeding? Let me just tell you—0%. So far, not a single homeschooling mom has told me that she thinks she's doing a great job."

I don't find that at all encouraging; in fact, I find that downright discouraging. And sad. But he didn't ask me, and he didn't ask a bunch of people I know.

Because, actually, I do think I'm doing a good job of homeschooling, and I do think we're succeeding. We wouldn't be doing this if we didn't think we could do it successfully. I say "we" because homeschooling is a family endeavor. It's not just me doing it all. The kids are partners in this, and of course Dr. H. is too. And God blessed me with gifts and abilities perfectly suited for being a mom and a teacher. I know that many women have reluctant kids and husbands who don't support homeschooling wholeheartedly, but please tell me I'm not the only mom who thinks I'm doing a good job homeschooling.

I understand the motivation of the article; it's supposed to convey a "you're not alone" message as well as to encourage husbands to encourage their wives who are heavily burdened with the task of homeschooling and who feel like failures. I do know a lot of moms who feel inadequate. I know a lot of moms who question their decision on a daily basis.

But I also know moms who approach this journey with determination and confidence and who are homeschooling because they believe they can do a better job than the school system. One of the primary reasons we chose to homeschool was because we refused to settle for the mediocrity that was evident in our state's public education system. I'm certainly not going to settle for mediocrity in my home education.

Why are people even homeschooling if they don't have a modicum of confidence in their capabilities? Please don't get me wrong. I know we all have our ups and downs; we have days when we wonder why we're doing this. But at the end of 12 years, is it really acceptable to say, "Well, we made it but I don't think I did a good job!"?

Of course not.

I think the "I suck at homeschooling" mentality needs to be tossed into the trashcan. God gave us big brains and a desire for learning. Teaching one's children should be a time of continual learning and growth for the parent. However our yardsticks measure success—academic, character, spiritual, athletic, or some combination—we need to have the confidence that we are doing a good job.

Anyone else?

Wednesday Miscellany

* I love waking up to a clean house. I had a baby shower at my house last night, and my house is so nice and clean today. If only…

* I have nothing to say about Michael Jackson, and I apologize to my friends about that. They were watching his funeral and crying yesterday while I was cleaning. They were horrified that I wasn't crying and even accused me of having a heart of stone (in the most loving way, of course). I can't conjure up any real feelings about him, but I was really sad 20 years ago when Andy Gibb died.

* My daughter and I are making a baby quilt, and I can hardly wait to get my machine set up today and get started. We have the cutting out all done, so now the fun part begins. I am by no means a quilter, but I do enjoy the quiet and precision of quilt-making. It's a kind of poetry, matching colors and patterns, and the joy of creation is similar. Working with my little girl makes the experience all the sweeter.

* I'm teaching a lot of classes at our support group's enrichment class program this fall: World Lit/Geography for high school; and Basic Essay Writing, Literature Circle and Debate for middle schoolers (I'm co-teaching those last two). I really need to buckle down and do some serious lesson planning.

* But the pool beckons. I love where we live. The pools are so lovely and the weather divine. And, of course, those mountains.

The Rest of the Holiday Weekend

Fireworks at my brother John's house is a family tradition. A scary family tradition. My brothers take a giant leap back into teenager-hood when they get around fireworks, and the only thing you can really do is duck.


Here's the fireworks tent where we make our purchases. Fortunately, my brother lives in a county where fireworks are legal. Not that it really seems to matter around here.


The girls are ready for the fireworks to begin, but eating always comes first.


Laurel loves to make this flag cake every year.


After dinner we begin the groundworks: tanks, snakes, smoke bombs, and all that fun stuff. My nephew Xavier, chief fireworks lighter, is following in his Grandpa John's footsteps.

Duncan isn't quite as comfortable around fire as his cousin, but he did enjoy smoke-bomb leaping.

We all did a lot of this. When people all over the neighborhood are setting off fireworks, things get rather noisy!

It was a fabulous evening of celebration and tradition.

We were tired on Sunday after all that excitement and a late night, and the day turned out perfectly. It began raining early in the morning and continued all day.

Perfect for Sunday afternoon naps and sheer sluggishness.

Holiday Weekend, Day 1

For the first 15 years or so of our marriage—which was comprised of 10 years of undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate school and then 6 years of working toward tenure, Dr. H. rarely took off university holidays except for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day. Even then he only took off a couple of days rather than the allotted vacation time. (The reasoning here: he could get a huge amount of work done in his lab when no one else was around.) But about four years ago he became a tenured professor, and in the past few years he has actually started taking vacation days. I'm still not used to it, so it always comes as a surprise when he says, "So what are we going to do on my day off?"

I love it.

So our first stop on the holiday 3-day weekend was the pool. We were expecting a huge crowd, but it was strangely sparse. We spent a couple of hours there and then came home to get ready for the real holiday getaway: the mountains.


Have I ever mentioned before how much I relish living 20 minutes from the Great Smoky Mountain National Park? Hmmm, maybe once or twice. We have our favorite spots for quick afternoon hikes or river play, but we also like to find new trails—and there are hundreds of miles of those. Dr. H. got out his stack of guide books and found one that met all the requirements: water, a short drive, and a short hike. We settled on Spruce Flat Falls, and it was fantastic. (Locals, to get there: pull into Tremont's parking area. Park and take the paved road marked "employee housing" or something like that to a path that is marked "falls." The trail will turn left and climb a ridge past the water tank for Tremont. There are several signs along the way. It's a 2-mile round trip hike.)


Jesse and his two best friends went, too, and they took off as soon as we got to the falls and, of course, had to climb above the falls and do all sorts of dangerous things that we'd rather not know about. One bloody knee and an hour or so later, they returned, sweaty and tired.

Basil and Mozzerella Pasta Salad

If you are faced with bringing a side dish or salad to an event, please bring this. Trust me. The only problem is that you'll keep craving it long after it's gone…

Basil and Mozzerella Pasta Salad

1-8 oz. block mozzerella, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
About a cup of cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup julienne-sliced fresh basil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 box farfalle, penne, or whatever you like
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

1. Combine first 7 ingredients and toss well. Let stand at room temperature for at least 2 hours.
2. Cook pasta. Drain and toss with sauce. Top with Parmesan. Serve room temperature. Makes 6-8 one cup servings.

So simple. Outrageously delicious.