Thursday, August 21, 2014

Homeschool Freedom Day!

I didn't make up that holiday; a friend of mine did. She says that if you homeschool, then whatever day the local schools around you launch into their new school year and return to the classrooms, THAT day is a holiday for you, dear homeschooler. It's your "Homeschool Freedom Day"!
These two! They were adorable, sitting together in the surf, chatting.
We decided to go to the beach on Homeschool Freedom Day to celebrate. There were no school kids on the sand today. Adam went along too. He generally dislikes the beach but has decided he would rather be with us in the nasty sand, than be apart from us without the sand between his toes. Bless him!
 The Neuse lay flat as we crossed on the ferry. I've never seen so many bird sitting on the water.
Julia gave me That Look when I snapped a picture.
 We settled into the ride and engaged ourselves in our activities:


I'm not sure how much sketching she got done.
At the beach I began my usual shell hunt. Slim pickin's today.
 I looked for large broken ones to use a shards in the bottoms of my big herb pots.
And I found this:
 He's quite big. In spite of the wind I painted for a while, and I painted him. He graciously posed, perfectly still. It helps that he's dead.
This is part of a Scotch bonnet shell. I've never found a whole one myself.

 Adam spent most of the time in the surf, sitting, working his weakened hip and leg muscles.

 We saw our friends, the gulls.
 This fellow tried for about 30 minutes to get his parasail up and running, but it kept collapsing on him. He gave up. I was looking forward to a show over the water, but all for naught.
 These lettered olive shells are broken in half. I wrote a short (rather bad) poem about them, and penned it in the back of the Gladys Taber book I'm reading presently. I didn't think she would mind.



 Someday I shall try to get in the house and find it's full of seashells, with no room for humans. It's an issue.
Well, we left the beach just in the nick of time, before the storm hit at 2:00. Folks were fleeing for vehicles, coolers and chairs in tow.
 It didn't seem like much of a storm, but we've had lots of rain lately and I suppose some of it was a deluge. Anyway, as we drove along hwy. 70 away from the beach, the flooding in parking lots was significant. Some stores were clearly overcome.
 Quite a few emergency vehicles flashed past us, and our lanes of traffic slowed to a standstill. At last we came upon the hold-up:  a patch of road (in all four lanes, both ways) covered with deep water (rushing in a current!). We did as others did -- stopped, viewed the water, viewed other cars attempting to cross.  We decided we would not risk it, pulled into the opposite lanes and returned the way we came. We found another route home, thankfully.
This little church is near the ferry. Each year they do something rather unusual.
 In the side yard, they have a big pile of ...
 Sweet potatoes! Lots and lots of sweet potatoes.
 This year we stopped to look. All of them were either huge or tiny. But they are free for the taking, for anyone wanting potatoes. I think it's a kind thing to do. The pile sits there for weeks, slowly dwindling.
We noted the school buses making their first-day deliveries of students at 4:00 p.m.
 Julia was a bit worn out. We don't actually start school until Monday, but I think this was a successful homeschool holiday.
(Disclaimer: nothing in this post is meant to be insulting or derogatory of other methods of education. We are simply noting the joys we find in the mode of education we've chosen -- celebrating our school, as all other types of schools do too. I hope everyone is able to choose the kind of education they prefer.)

10 comments:

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

What a great outing you had!

Have a nice weekend before school starts on Monday.

FlowerLady

Pom Pom said...

How wonderful! Excellent idea!
I can't tell you how happy I am to be free from all the work, work, work, AND the long day. Our Kelli is just finishing her first week of homeschool. It's going well! Yay!
I love your photos of family fun at the shore! I hope Julia has a fantastic year of mind-expanding inspiration!

Lisa Richards said...

Loved the disclaimer! :) I chose homeschooling and love the idea of Homeschool Freedom Day! Beautiful shells and the coolest beetle ever! My step-son in Maryland goes to a church that does a lot of that sort of thing. Giving away free firewood, helping the homeless, etc. It's a good thing.
My daughter wants to homeschool. Her hubby is against it. We'll see how that comes out!

Ida said...

How fun for you all. I would love a holiday at the beach. I could spend hours there. School doesn't start here until Sept. 2nd.

melissa said...

Love the pink here. :) And your holiday sounds so sweet.....and your daughter is growing up (she doesn't want to hear that), but is so lovely. Beautiful girl.

I was looking at my husband's website just now, and he's linked to some boats his dad has made...models. Thought you might enjoy seeing them. http://myfathersworkshop.com/Boats.htm

Mary Ann Potter said...

A perfectly lovely day! Home schooling itself is a kind of freedom. Our children and grand-children aren't meant to be "socialized" the way schools do now, and they shouldn't have to fight for a good education in spite of all the distractions in public schools.

Kezzie said...

What a great idea!!! I love it.
The shells are gorgeous- I love the one that looks like it has a fish on it! Poor Julia, exhausted!!!
x

Leslie said...

Great idea! I wish I liked sweet potatoes. I keep trying to no avail.

Debbie Harris said...

Looks like a beautiful day filled with many memories and one tired young lady.
May your school year be blessed.
Joy to you! Debbie

Deborah Montgomery said...

Looks like you had a wonderful day. I love the picture of your husband and daughter sitting in the water! And yes, I think Gladys Taber would kind of like a poem about shells in her book!