17
Mar, 2006

save our swamps

today, i visited some very specialized libraries on the local state university campus. namely, the geography library and the map library (and yes, they actually are two separate entities). i’m doing a project for my graduate class on dr. seuss (did you know that his name is supposed to be pronounced “zoice”?) and we have a list of different types of materials that we’re supposed to look our person up in. one of those types of materials is maps and atlases. not really sure how that’s supposed to related to him (his birthplace? where he’s buried?) but i thought i’d check out these odd libraries anyway.

i went to the geography library first and when i explained what i was looking for the librarian lit up and showed me the book “there’s a map in my lap” written in the style of dr. seuss, in which the cat in the hat, aided by thing 1 and thing 2, explain to the children about maps–how to read them, the many different kinds of maps that exist, etc. i was not impressed much with the writing (pay attention to meter, people! it’s important! seuss would have wanted you to!) but the illustrations were okay (if just a bit more strictly educational and less zany than the original). i was mostly impressed that the library had anything at all that related to my project! i think it might have been the first time anyone had actually looked at that book.

next, i visited the map library. this library is full of flat drawers, loaded with maps of all kinds. all. kinds. plus, they have a large collection of aerial photographs. i asked about seuss and got the impression that if i could tell them where he was buried (or whatever) that they could show me a map of where the cemetary is, but other than that, there wasn’t much. so i decided to explore the aerial photographs a bit. i found photographs of the area i live in now from 1937 and 1950. they were so cool. apparently, sometime around 1937, they tried to put in a housing development right around where i live today, but the ground was too soft and swampy and things kept sinking. the few streets around my house are all that still exist. on the 1937 photograph, you can clearly see roads that, if they do still exist, are completely overgrown and not drive-able. in the 1950 photograph, parts of the road are missing and my house doesn’t exist yet (i think it was built in 1952). today, on the land that couldn’t be developed, they have created a “nature preserve.” i am fascinated by the way cities are shaped. before i learned all of this, i thought it was just a nice thing to have this forest in the middle of town. that maybe the city planners were being considerate and leaving a bit of nature in the middle of an urban space. now i know that if we could have built on top of it, we would have. the aerial photographs make that so clear. the “city” as it was then was still very small and the area i live in now was bordered by fields. and really, 1937 wasn’t really all that long ago. crazy.

Posted in library stuff | Comments Off on save our swamps
16
Mar, 2006

real mail

today in the mail, i only received one piece of junk and three pieces that were actually addressed by a real live person specifically to us.

in high school, i had a collection of pen pals. it was during this time that i learned that the only way to actually keep up a written correspondence was to write back to the person immediately after reading their letter. if i waited, then… it got put off, and put off… and put… off……… granted, these letters didn’t have tons of content (what we’d done that day, our favorite movies, trivial messages written in secret code, etc.) but it was the thrill of receiving an envelope (often colored or bestickered or scented… or some combination of the above) with my name written on it that made me smile.

does anyone write letters anymore? other than thank you notes and cards at christmas and birthdays? don’t get me wrong, i’m not a big letter writer myself anymore either (e-mail is so much faster and easier!) but i think we’re really missing out on something if every trip to the mailbox is just to receive evidence of our commercial society (bills, flyers, catalogues, occasional respite in a magazine–sorta…). it almost makes me want to start a chain letter just to get mail. but those would probably be even less fun to read than the pizza hut coupons. hey, how about a circulating notebook that we fill with poems and artwork and whatever we want to add? the only requirement is that you have to add something the same day that you open it (in other words, if you don’t have time to respond that day, then you have to wait to open it!) and then send it on to the next person. minimum contribution will be one word or a picture no smaller than 1/2 inch square. no maximum contribution. everyone has time for that much! and no fair passing it off in person even if you live nearby–the thrill is the mailbox discovery! i wonder if we could send it “book rate”? anyone interested?

Posted in fun stuff, trip down memory lane | 4 Comments
15
Mar, 2006

pussywillow

tonight, i went for a run while i was cooking the rice for supper. it’s the first run i’ve been able to go on for awhile since the weather’s been wet and cold. i thought it felt “warm” (39), so i went without a hat or scarf, but the air was kind of cold on the back of my throat and in my lungs, so i was trying to inhale through my nose which slows me down just a little bit. as i neared the end of my block, i happened to turn my head and look into the wilderness of trees and i noticed that the pussywillow buds were out and fuzzy! oh ye harbinger of spring, you fuzzy little paws, how lovely to see you! so…i ran only a mile, then stopped at home, checked on the rice and left the house with my camera and some small garden snips. i tried to get some good pictures, but i fear dusk had fallen too far already. i also clipped three small branches (probably illegal as mr. h-s pointed out) from inconspicuous spots and added them to the current “black and white” display in the bathroom.

Posted in stuff that makes me smile, winter | Comments Off on pussywillow
12
Mar, 2006

a boost to independence

about half an hour ago, we got back from our weekend trip. for a long story full of reasons, we had to drive two cars back, so i couldn’t get out of driving. mostly, i leave long car trips to mr. h-s. he likes to drive and i tend to not-so-much like driving. especially eleven hours of it. so last night, we drove the first three hours of the trip and stayed in a hotel to break the trip into smaller pieces. we got up this morning and enjoyed the free continental breakfast (hey, fresh waffles from a real waffle iron (as opposed to a toaster) made it one of the best free hotel breakfasts i’ve had in a loooonnng time. possibly ever.) and headed out. poor mr. h-s. today is his birthday and not only are we looking at driving eight hours in weather that is threatening to “thunder drizzle” all the way home, but he is also experiencing some gastrointestinal discomfort that necessitates us stopping every hour or so at a “mc-restroom”. i felt so bad because i couldn’t even offer to drive and relieve him of responsibility! i suppose the bright side was that i probably would have wanted to stop just as frequently to stretch my legs and rest my brain even if he’d been feeling fine, so neither one of us was upset about having to stop more often (just a bit irritated on his part for the reason we had to stop).

i was thrilled that he agreed to take a teeny tiny detour in desmoines to the art center to see an outdoor sculpture by andy goldsworthy. i found it beautiful and a lovely break from travel. one of the concave pieces was in the light in such a way that the inside top was in shadow and the outside front face was well-lit. for some reason, that gave it this weird almost 3-d pop-out effect if you looked at it just right.

the boost to my independence that the title refers to is the fact that we made it home safely and since i had a good audiobook to listen to (maeve binchy’s book, copper beech, read by barbara caruso) i didn’t even get super antsy like i usually do on car trips. just have a very foggy head. but… now i know that if i really want to make a long car trip, i am capable of doing so. yay!

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments
10
Mar, 2006

traveling smiles

on the road yesterday, i was pleased to be eating chocolates from alkelda under the brand name “the chocolate traveler”–how appropriate. and yummy!

we also found ourselves behind a vehicle that made me smile–a collapsible carnival ride being pulled behind a truck called “dizzy dragons.” there were four, brightly colored dragons and a tiny purple castle. we passed them once, then got off the highway for supper and later, passed them again. way more interesting to look at than a semi truck trailer.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on traveling smiles
08
Mar, 2006

the zen of grapefruit

i got a big crate of grapefruits from a fundraiser at church. they are wonderfully sweet and delicious. i noticed this morning as i ate mine that it forced me to focus on what i was doing. i find it difficult to eat grapefruit and read at the same time, or check my e-mail. the process of scooping out each section with my serrated spoon demands my whole attention. i realized that maybe eating grapefruit could be a mindfulness meditation exercise. you can’t really “hurry up and eat” a grapefruit. you can’t grab one to eat in the car. plus, if you’re at all compulsive like me, you can take pleasure in scraping out every bit of the pulp and then squeezing out all of the leftover juice. you can choose whether you want to eat the sections one right after the other, or eat every other section the first time around and the second time around finish off all of the “odd” sections. you can choose whether you want to dig out the easy stuff first and then go back for the bits that stuck to the edges, or clean each section all the way to the pith as you go along. you can even choose whether you’d like to eat the grapefruit like an orange and forego the spoon altogether! anyone else have a favorite grapefruit zen method?

Posted in yum | 1 Comment
07
Mar, 2006

life

sometimes we are reminded to be happy and thankful for the most elemental things. unfortunately, sometimes the reminders themselves can be very sad.

we got news yesterday that a cousin of my husband, who would have turned 16 next week, was killed in a motorcycle accident over the weekend. please give your loved ones a hug or a phone call in honor of danny.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments
05
Mar, 2006

a silent movie

last night, mr. h-s and i went to see a silent movie. about once a month, they play one downtown. it’s preceded by a “vaudeville” show (basically short sample acts from several of the local entertainment companies). i think my favorite part was watching the woman who was doing sign language interpreting while she was signing “poor wandering one” from the pirates of penzance. she was great!

the music during the movie is played live on an organ. i didn’t realize before i went that the music that they play isn’t scripted by the movie makers. the organist plans (and extemporizes) his own sound track to the whole movie! we saw an old harold lloyd movie–one where he hangs off of a giant clock face on the side of a building. perhaps the original “hanging off the hands of a clock” movie! it was definitely not your average movie-going experience. the audience laughed together, i heard audible responses to the actor as he wavered about on the edge of the roof and when it was all over, people stood to applaud the organist. definitely unique. i truly enjoyed it.

Posted in fun stuff | 3 Comments
03
Mar, 2006

a quick summary and an apology

sorry! i seem to have been remiss in my blogging and i haven’t had an entry since sunday! the only problem with that is that sometimes the littlest happy things get forgotten. so here are a few i remember:

–i found another “humility tile” in the bathroom at work–a green and orange tile were switched.

–snow this morning was beautiful (although it melted by lunchtime)

–the glitter workshop agreed to sell some of the pidoodle items.

–i got to do a “monkey” storytime at work today. do you know how many fun monkey stories, fingerplays, songs and books there are?? tons! loved it! i was also thrown off by the appearance of a family from my old library, only they weren’t all sitting together and i kept trying to assimilate this familiar face with the family he was sitting near and it was really playing with my head. i finally knew that i did know him from the old library when he asked me to “do the mad face” in the “if you’re happy and you know it” book i do at the end of storytime. only a loyal follower would know about “the mad face” (one verse has an owl “winking” when he’s happy. it’s a book with moving parts and the owl winks by having the piece that covers up one eye swivel to cover the other eye. if you leave the covering-up piece somewhere between the two eyes, it looks like the owl is frowning. i then delight in singing “if you happy and you know it, make a mad face!”).

one of the newer monkey books i discovered through the use of this storytime theme was “soon, baboon, soon” which is a simple story but has fabulous rhythm considering how few words are on the page. i experimented today by reading it with the kids patting their knees in a steady beat as i read the book and it added an extra element that i liked (plus kept the kids attention better than reading it without their participation.). plus, i had a real triangle at the end to add an element of realism to the story.

–new toaster oven! ok, this may be a little materialistic of me. i already owned a toaster oven that worked perfectly well, but it was probably near 10 years old, it had scorch marks and some words that had melted off of bread bags too close to the heat at some point. so, i decided to use some of the christmas money from my grandma and upgrade. the new toaster oven is big enough to bake pies! and still doesn’t take up much more room on the counter than the last one. go figure. and it’s black, so… no scorch marks!

–an “a” on the first paper i’ve written in ten years.

–someone brought fresh bakery cheese bread to work to share–yum.

–finally passed the three-years-since-my-last-accident mark and my insurance rates went down. hooray! let’s hope i can keep it that way.

–went to go hear john degraaf (author of “affluenza“) speak. makes me want to move to finland. also lovely to be in a room full of like-minded people for whom time is more valuable than money and who would like to figure out a way to simplify life so that there is less rushing around and more time to live–even if that means making less money.

ok, that’s enough for one night. i’ve got a kitty curled up in the crook of my arm telling me it’s time for bed. good night everyone.

Posted in fun stuff, library stuff | Comments Off on a quick summary and an apology
26
Feb, 2006

oh heavenly day!

last night i fell asleep while reading a book somewhere around 9:00. this is extremely unusual for me and i was pretty sure i was going to wake up around 11:00 and not be able to sleep again until 2:00. what actually happened was that my lovely husband came over and talked me into stumbling up the stairs (i purposefully did not notice the time. i was trying my best to convince my brain that i was still asleep.) when he went to bed and despite the fact that i stopped to brush my teeth i had no problems sleeping through the night. i woke up around 7:30 and decided to take advantage of my early start by reading in bed. i am still trying to come up with a list of books for kids to read this summer (work project: deadline mid-march) and i’m trying to push through a bunch of possible titles. sometime in the very late morning, mr. h-s was kind enough to bring me breakfast in bed (gasp!) (in case you’re curious it was… sticky buns!) and i’m ashamed to say that i “worked” until (get ready for this) three-thirty in the afternoon. in my bed. with kitties on top. i pushed through two whole books and the last part of another one and the first three quarters of a fourth title. i am a jumble of mixed feelings. i sort of feel like i’ve had a completely unproductive day and feel a bit guilty about that. on the other hand, i’ve actually gotten quite far in this work project with its looming deadline and i feel great about that! on the third hand, i am flung back into my childhood when i would spend days on end doing exactly this same thing. i suppose that since the day is already over (pretty much) and there’s nothing i can do to “be more productive” i should just revel in the fact that i was able to afford a day of reading and get “more stuff done” on tuesday, my next day off. (have i mentioned that i love working 80%?)

to combat the utter couch-potatoe-y-ness of the day, the first thing i did when i got up was to go for a two mile run. on the way back, i curb-shopped a metal bar stool with a ripped seat that will be really cool once i replace the seat. i also saw the cutest little snowman in my neighbor’s yard, so with a quick stop home for the camera… i have engaged in more illegal trespassing activity and gotten this cute photo to share with you. something about the expression on its face reminds me of a certain gorilla… who would never be caught dead in a red beret…

Posted in library stuff, sporty stuff, stuff that makes me smile, winter | 1 Comment