Out and About

The cessation of snow and ice has led to the resurgence of field trips to explore the area, and I'm finding more and more things to develop a fondness for in this strange land of Northern Illinois.

Arboretum

 The other week, a friend from knit group very generously invited the boys and I to come to the Morton Arboretum on her member pass, and that was a lovely day. I learned quite a bit about local flora: myriad varieties of oak and magnolia (not the ones I'm used to) and maple (so many maples!), ash and beech and birch and larch and spruce. Lilac is a novelty, as are cherry trees and crabapple, viburnum and peonies. Holy wow, PEONIES.

 There were tree houses connected by rope bridges for the boys to climb (they even convinced me to haul myself across the skyway once -- Trixy kindly but firmly declined), and ponds where you could wade and catch tadpoles. I was out in the sun for hours and got burnt -- but not heat exhausted. I seldom got burnt in Florida, because I couldn't be out in the heat long enough. WEIRDNESS. I like it.

 Feel-Good Farming

 Last week, the boys and I went on a homeschool group expedition to an organic farm. I still haven't really connected with anyone in that group, but the tour was excellent. Farmer Nate knew what was up. We learned about microgreens and soil blocks and transplant shock and bacterial pest control and the importance of living soil. We saw the greenhouses and portable hoop houses and learned how they're able to grow spinach even with snow outside. We learned that after mid-February the angle of the sun shifts so that it no longer has to shine through so much atmosphere before hitting ground, and that's when you can harvest enough of its energy to start seedlings. It's like scientific magic.

The farm supplies restaurants in Chicago as well as more local Whole Foods-type grocers. After the tour, Seth told Farmer Nate that he planned to be a chef in a restaurant some day. Nate confided that he had BEEN a chef, and he got so interested from talking to his organic suppliers that he made the transition to farming, and now he still dabbles in haute cuisine with his own produce. Talk about creative control.

 The farm also has bee hives, which we unfortunately did not get to see. We did purchase raw honey from their market, though, and I had to exercise great control not to purchase one of every flavor: they had lavender-infused, cinnamon, rosemary, and cocoa honeys. So intriguing, but so expensive, alas.

 Suburban Sun-Dancing 

Yesterday, we all went on a field trip with the church's RE group to the home of a retired Lakota Sioux sun dancer and his wife. We learned about the medicine wheel and the prayers to spirits in the 7 directions, we got to smell burning sage and sweetgrass and cedar, see the sweat lodge, and participate in a pipe ceremony. I sat in their living room while the drum beat and they sang in a language of First Americans, and I marveled that my white self was being granted this experience. It's a really good thing to be taken out of your usual modes of cognition sometimes and to glimpse that others' can be so different, and that it works so well. I feel this morning that we're all aliens with a common planet.

 Well. My teapot is empty, and laundry awaits. Happy June, everyone.

Cupid, Draw Back Your Bow...

So, Thursdays include Art in our homeschool schedule, and naturally the boys decided to make valentines in honor of the day.  I'm busily checking over their math work, and Seth asks, "do we have any white paper?"

"Sure, look on the shelf."

He finds it and starts applying scissors.  "Do you know what I'm going to do with it?" he asks slyly.

"White valentines?  That will be pretty," I murmur absently, then Gabriel and I settle in for a round of American history.  Oh, Columbus, you magnificent nutjob.

Midway through the lesson, Cupid struck:

Seth made wings and attached them all by himself.

I just about died.  That kid.

It kind of looks like Cupid has been into the Magic Dust.

So, Happy Valentine's Day!

In other news, Rick scored these yesterday:

We're all big Gaelic Storm fans, and I can't believe they're coming to teeny-tiny DeKalb!  I look forward to checking out the historic Egyptian Theatre while we're rocking out.  It'll be the boys' first concert, and we're all very excited.

Tiny snowmen

The snow we got was pretty dry and powdery, but by using some buckets from the sandbox we were able to pack it well enough to make a few pint-sized snowmen.

Let it Snow... Please...

Okay, there probably aren't many adults who say that, but we promised the boys Winter Wonderland when we were pitching this whole, "Move Away From All Your Family and Friends" idea, and so far, they haven't been impressed.

We DID have a White Christmas.  The first big snowstorm of the year swooped in 4 days before, and it left enough on the ground to count as we celebrated.  This past week, though, it warmed up into the mid-50s and rained a lot, and they've been quite disgruntled.

Mother Nature must have heard their grumbling, because she threw a bit our way last night.  All of my guys are out in the yard experimenting with Snow Sculpture right now:

Yes, Rick is wearing a Marvin the Martian hat.  I know you're jealous.

Well, I finally registered the kids for music lessons through NIU.  Seth will study piano, and Gabriel will study violin.  On Friday, we took the Family Heirloom (my great-uncle's violin that hung on Grandma's wall for 50 years -- thanks again, Aunt Becky!) to a violin shop over in Sugar Grove, and they're going to refurbish it for use.  New pegs, new strings, new bridge and tailpiece, smooth out the fretboard (there was a fancy term for it that eludes me at the moment), the works.

It turns out, though, that it's too big for Gabriel at this time.  So we have also rented a half-sized violin from them for his use -- it was surprisingly affordable.  The restoration is going to be a bit steeper, but it'll be worth it.  And hey, with two working violins in the house, maybe Gabriel can teach me a tune.

We're learning the states and capitals to the tune of "Turkey in the Straw" right now, so my ultimate goal is to have Gabriel play it on fiddle, while I back up on dulcimer chords and Seth sings.  It will be epic.  Seth wants to be a YouTube celebrity.

New Year's Resolutions

• No more wheat. Not even "just a little."
• No more sugar.  I mean it.
• At least 20 minutes of exercise per day.
• Knit/crochet more.
• Practice the dulcimer more.
• Attend church weekly.
• Update blog every weekend so that extended family doesn't kill me.*

Happy 2013, everyone!

*I have no idea where to start.  The backlog in my brain has reached critical overload.  Ask me a question, any question!