Another one bites the dust

Our lawnmower died today.

Why did it die, you ask?

Because it no longer has enough bolts to hold the engine onto the frame.

Why?

Because the mower shakes a lot when running, and the bolts eventually were shaken off.

Why does it shake?

Because the boy mowing ran over a stump.

Why did he run over the stump?

Because he was too lazy to go AROUND the stump.

I can't WAIT until he gets the immense privilege of paying for things himself!

Grrrrr.

In Case You're Hungry...

Here is our first BLT sandwich with our own tomatoes! Yummmmmmm.... Nothing like the zippiness of the FRESH tomato and the mayo, with the saltiness of the bacon, the crunch of the lettuce and the toasted bread.

And our nice neighbor, just as he did last year, brought us a huge bucket of fresh peaches. Last year I made peach preserves. I guess I'd better get after it! Perhaps a peach pie too?

A Lively Site

I've spent a bit of time the last several days at the Jan Karon Online Bulletin Board Site. This is just a place on the internet for fans of her books to congregate and talk about all kinds of things. They don't necessarily talk about her books, although generally speaking a tone of sunshiny spirituality and tea-drinking pervades the site. I've never seen such a BUSY bulletin board! Granted, I don't visit many online bulletin boards, but I mean to say, the topics fly fast and furious at this place! And the members, mostly ladies, gab and share as if they were sisters.

If you like this kind of entertainment, I'd encourage you to join:

www.mitfordbooks.com

Just click on "Grapevine" to find the bulletin board.

An appropriate title

When was the last time you cried while watching a movie? We women do this often. I cried while watching the end of "Bella." Adam didn't, of course.

But this morning, as I nibbled on breakfast, I continued my reading of "Cry, the Beloved Country."

When was the last time you cried while reading a book? I did, this morning.

Now, this is tricky. A movie pulls all the heart strings. It is a first hand, auditory and visual account. You could almost step into the movie, past the lip of your TV screen.

How does an author master this skill? He must get you close to the characters, into their faces and into their feelings. He can't do this with his own plain description, really. Description gets you into scene. He does it with dialogue. Paton is a master of dialogue. It was the passage in which the old man, Kumalo, goes to see the father (Jarvis) of the man Kumalo's son has murdered. The intense pain of the old man, his humiliation and anxiety -- all are expressed through the eyes of Jarvis as he studies him, and in their brief words. Description is there, but it's from Jarvis, describing a man whose face is twisted with pain that Jarvis does not yet comprehend, because he doesn't yet know who this old man is.

I've been told that modern fiction that sells must be written in 3rd person limited narration. No one writes in 3rd person omniscient narration anymore. I'm sure glad Paton didn't think that, or the nuances of this book, and all its varied characters, would be impossible. Jarvis is not the main character. But for a portion of the book, we are given a glimpse into his life, his thoughts, his development.

Aren't you tired of books in which you only get to know one character's mind, and everyone else is flat?

I'm wandering. But I will note that the book's title was appropriate for me, this morning.

What we did yesterday

Adam had some help with his oven yesterday, and a lot was done. This is Blake, a young man from our church. They put the concrete and bricks in to make the shelf in front of the oven. Blake wrote his name in the concrete, and later Adam will put tile there for the real shelf. They also built up quite a bit of the side of the oven, as you see on the left, next to Blake.
And the kids went swimming too, as you see.
Our church's high schoolers are leaving on a mission trip this Friday, and Anna and Philip will go. I made some Rice Krispie Treats for them.

And FINALLY, I made my second cherry pie.

July 1st Tomato

Our tomatoes suffered much in the recent hail storm, but they're still ripening, albeit with scars. I was surprised to find the large ripe one, this early! Hooray for the South and our fast growing season.

Along with those proverbial bon-bons:

What does a teacher do on vacation? Well, as you already know, I'm in the beginning stages of planning a trip to England next January for somewhere between 9-18 people.

And then there's the reading. It's just a constant. Last summer I did not enjoy it much, but for some reason it's not a burden this summer. I'm on "Cry, the Beloved Country" right now, and am really enjoying it. In fact, the past 3 books have been great. A good read is always in the back of your mind; it's the thing that you want to get back to, if you could just get done with all these little tasks.

And Adam and I are taking an online education course this summer, through a local community college. It's a class about incorporating the internet into your classroom and teaching. It's been very informative thus far. We're 1/4 through the course.

And I have a stack of education books I'm supposed to read, the least enjoyable task of all. I like my field, literature. I do not like studying modern education trends, methods or philosophies. As soon as an educator begins to wax eloquent about his field, his voice morphs into Charlie Brown's teacher's voice, and my brain goes to sleep.

Lastly, I have to write a 6 page paper on my own philosophy of Christian education. I already typed out a pretty thorough outline for it. For me to blab about this topic is about as easy as breathing, so that will not be a challenge, thankfully.

Now, all this fun resting you see me doing? It happens between those things. Well, minus the education books, because I haven't opened one of those yet.