...sudden like a Summer storm; standing out from everything...
...spinning like a Dervish; yet, "roots" running deep...
...fruit of the Earth; begging you to consume me as my "roots" reach up to greet your foot prints...
July 31, 2009
:: Snake ::
I believe this tiny baby snake to be an Eastern Ribbon Snake. He doesn’t have the black lines/marks on the side of his lips like a garter snake, but he does have the spotted pattern of a garter…any ideas out there folks? For what it’s worth, I have seen mostly Eastern Garter Snake adults around here, but I have seen a few E Ribbon adults…this is the first (of either kind of) baby for us though.
what a sweet tiny face
Glistening in the sunlight
Lovely spots & stripes
In the last picture it is in the bottom of a 1/2 pint mason jar to give you an idea of just how small this little guy is. I have yarn that is thicker than he is! Very sweet, tiny and fragile baby snake. We spent some time together this early morning and then again in the late afternoon — I found him in the same spot almost both times. Elijah and I thought about keeping him, but we don’t have anything to keep him in — though, feeding him my slugs from the garden would have been nice 
:: Squirrel ::
8 feet away...he likes almonds
3 feet away...he really likes almonds (and me too!)
Crouched on my belly/elbows approx. 1 foot away... we are becoming fast friends.
This little guy/gal was on my balcony this morning when I went out to toss some left over food over the rail (I’m lazy about that whole composting thing some days, but the wildlife appreciates it). It was on the balcony, right in front of me and only backed up slightly. I tossed food over and tossed a couple almonds his way. I went back inside to grab camera and more almonds. When I opened the door again, he was RIGHT THERE and looking at me. I stuck my hand out to toss the almonds towards him and in what seemed like a nanosecond, he ran up to my hand and grabbed an almond. I almost peed myself! He backed off to go eat it. I tossed the almonds at him and began taking pictures.
The first picture was from the door way. The next, I am out on the balcony. The last, I am down on my elbows and stomach about 1 foot away from this little guy. He hung around for some time and would come closer to me if I talked to him and moved almonds closer to him.
Later, I went out to check on my garden and he was in the maple tree just barking and chattering up a storm at me. Once I went back inside and went back out onto the balcony to see if he was still in the tree carrying on, he was back on the balcony and checking me out while getting more almonds off the floor.
We have friends a couple streets over who have a squirrel that hangs out in their yard and they feed it peanuts by hand…I wonder if this is the same squirrel…
Park Date in Sewickley
Yesterday we went to the park date that we host for home/unschooling peoples. It was hot, crowded (park is right next door to YMCA) and loud. We saw one person we knew and met another person. It was rather interesting watching just how mean the average mainstream kid is…not to mention how mean most parents & YMCA counselors are (I know I wasn’t mean when I was a YMCA counselor). But, I feel for these kids. They spend most of their time cooped up inside and “under control” (oppressed) by tons of crazy-ass rules and then once Summer hits and if they are allowed outside, they go at it full force and give little care about who is around them or what they are doing. I was practically knocked over three times and all three times, the child turned and game me a hateful look — like I can’t stand around at the playground…I *should* be out of their way! They practically binge on playing outside…like a child who binges on sweets when they can, because they never know when they will get more, because their parents limit & control their food. “Summer” isn’t forever for these kids.
Besides from lamenting the plight of all the otherwise awesome smiley children out and about, we had a good time. After the park we went to the Village Candy shop and then picked up our CSA and had a drink at Hoi Polloi.
Tubular
Happy
Climbing
9th CSA of 2009
Green Leaf Lettuce
Carrots!
Yum-tastic!
In this week’s crate:
2 heads Green Leaf Lettuce
1 gigantic head Purple (Red) Cabbage
8 ears Sweet Corn
1 gigantic Zucchini and 1 sm. Zucchini
1 sm. Yellow Squash
3 Cucumbers (I made pickles out of all the cucumbers that I received last week)
1 lg. Sweet Onion
Sm.bunch Green Onions
1 pnt. Blueberries
1 lb. Carrots
Sm. bunch Flat Leaf Parsley
Lg. bunch Basil
Kindergarten at the Children’s Museum
No, it’s not nearly as “cool” as it might sound. The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh is hosting it’s 5th annual hey-let’s-convince-parents-and-kids-that-prolonged-separation-and-early-indoctrination-is-awesome celebration. What’s better, you ask…it’s FREE and they give you stuff!
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh’s 5th Annual Kindergarten!…Here I Come! Celebration
A free celebration will be held from 9 am to 1 pm on August 15 for children going to kindergarten this fall. This is an exciting event to celebrate this milestone and create a healthy transition not just for children, but for their parents as well. We also work to strengthen the idea that community support that is essential as part of our kids’ development of character and emotional well-being.
Children can:
Meet Mr. McFeely
Receive a “Class of 2022″ t-shirt and kindergarten story book
Meet community helpers such as a crossing guard
Climb aboard a real school bus
Take part in activities such as making a craft for their first memories of school and a lot of other “fun” hands-on activities
Have free hearing, vision, speech and language screenings
Take part in a live radio broadcast
Parents and caregivers receive valuable information on preparing children for kindergarten and can consult with experts in nutrition, after school programs, bullying, proper immunization and more.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
While I do give the museum credit for having good intentions and trying to make the inevitable transition from home to school for lots of 5/6 year olds less stressful and seem fun, I have a much much better idea. Why don’t all these children whose parents think that they *have to* send their children to school, want to send their kids to school or need to because of family/financial dynamics get to spend kindergarten at the museum? What I mean is that instead of being trotted off to an institution and made to sit still, color in the lines and ask permission to go to the bathroom (this one really gets my goat — prison-like…no wait, most prisoners have toilets or at least holes in the ground in their cells), they would get to PLAY at the museum during normal school day hours. No actual compulsory “classes”, no testing, no grades, just an open building of fun stuff to explore and LEARN from. AND what is even best about this is that they would be exposed to older and younger children who are members and attending with their families throughout the day as well as an ever changing traveling exhibit and all the neat special events, story times, plays and so on that the museum is known for doing. The children would still experience (and better experience) the “community support that is essential as part of our kids’ development…” as the museum claims it’s Celebration thingy promotes, socializing with diverse groups of people and develop meaningful skills (aka, learn stuff).
What’s EVEN better…is that it wouldn’t have to stop with just kindergarten…
I don’t find this solution better than being free and at home or at worst attending an actual Free School, but it does sound better than going to school in the traditional sense of the word. I’d divert my tax dollars to this effort and even throw in a few extra dollars…
So, how about it? Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, are you up for the challenge?
