september remember

The hurricane missed us. Sorry Port Arthur. And New Orleans for that matter. Next week - October, all over. So hopefully this will be the thump on the head for Homeland Security to get their asses in gear. It is certainly the thump on the head for us. We have to take the boat cruising, hopefully with a destination not in the constant path of hurricanes. There really is not a lot to recommend the Gulf Coast, besides its proximity to Austin. And now they want us to pay Texas registration on our documented boat. Really. Do you know, Lewes has existed for 350 years and never been hit by a hurricane? We need to check out slip rates -- chances are the New Yorkers have driven those prices up too, but you never know.

By the way it is in the low 70s here. Time to bring out the sweaters. :-) Wish we could come home for Halloween this year though. It couldn't be as much fun as it is in Georgetown. Well if we weren't going to Morocco we could probably justify an airline trip, but you can't have everything.

Went to open studio last night and had to paint again because I forgot my eraser. I think I'm starting to prefer acrylics for sketching over charcoal. One advantage with paint is that when it dries, you can stick your drawing anywhere. Charcoal is forever skidding off and smudging everything. There was no model so we all took turns for 20 minutes each. (with clothes on. of course.) It was a little like being at the dentist's office. Excruciating and sleep inducing at the same time. I have had that feeling in traffic, when first learning how to drive: it is terrifying.

this morning

Didn't sleep much last night. Just checked and the path of the hurricane seems to have turned north. Is it enough to hope that Palacios will be spared the worst of it? Still too soon to know for sure though. There are so many people in Houston. I hope that everyone who left in their own car checked to make sure their neighbors got out. The poor Katrina refugees. They have to go through a second evacuation. Let's hope that New Orleans was the wake up call, and we don't have a repeat of the atrocities.

Did I understand correctly that inland Texas will get 15-30 inches of rain?!? I can't imagine that much water even in our swamp of a neighborhood :-)

David has a fever and headache but it seems to be getting better. If he does we might go and get a set of bed sheets (we only brought enough for 1 kids bed) and a box to hold the very cool new lego set Arthur chose for his birthday. We can't afford the $200 Mindstorm Robot set, but the record & play set (Arthur calls it the "Repeat Robot") is only 20 bucks. There is a book of 12 robot ideas. The robot brain wil repeat a simple action you record on it. We'll try to upload the picture after breakfast.

There is an offer for a Lego magazine (really an ad catalog). You can get it in French and we were really excited to order a copy, but the fine print says you have to reside in Canada. The English Language Nazis strike again.

Rotten Rita

We are watching the reports from weather underground and holding our breaths.

early risers

People who hear we homeschool sometimes imagine me sleeping in while they drive off to their commutes in darkness. In reality my morning-person baby gets up sometime before dawn, and I give up on sleep by 6AM. I have another morning-person, who hears the commotion of us moving about, and now we have three moving around. Only Arthur sleeps on, oblivious to our busy-ness for another couple of hours.

Good for him.

I was up until 1 or 2 last night, partly to clear up the kitchen, make the list of school lessons for today, leave notes and various other things, but I did have to browse the internet and eat ice cream. Only self to blame. As you tell yourself in college: I'll make up the sleep in four years. :-)

One place I viisited, inadvertantly, was the blog of William Gibson (http://www.williamgibsonbooks.com/blog/archive.asp). The diffrence between writers and the Rest of Us. I don't know whether he goes back and edits the original post to make it succinct and free of boring BS, or whether it's just a by-product of practice (like when I doodle on a napkin it generally impresses people; and likewise it works as a daily limbering up exercise.)

Another place that I shouldn't have gone but still thinking about: Amanda De Cadenet (http://www.amandadecadenet.com/site.htm). I guess she is a photographer now. I actually do enjoy the photographs, but I think it's rather beside the point. The link in question was a picture of John Taylor's and her daughter Atlanta (who is 13 now. 13!) The picture of her is a good argument of raising sons. I'm sure JT is getting a few gray hairs worrying about her getting into trouble. After all he probably met a few 13 year olds in his earlier Wild Boy days.

The more interesting thing though, is the little details in the background. Where is this taken? A vacation house? Are they remodeling? What must it be like being Atlanta De Cadenet Taylor? By 13, your normal life is cocooned in exclusive privilege and glamour: you would have flown first class from toddlerhood. You would be aware that a lot of total strangers regard you with a familiarity bordering on scary. Remember poor little Tatjana Rhodes? Every time I read all the airline rules about children traveling alone overseas, I think of the famous court case, and the two year old who had already run through several nanies. I can only hope that her life stabilized after her parents' divorce became final.

Ha ha. So much for succinct. I was actually going to use today's space to run down our current school routine. Today is a good sample.

Math - David does a section of his Optimath (still working on CE1 book) - this is an evaluation. (what he's doing now)
Arthur is still working on identifying numbers, especially out of context. In French it is 6, 8, and 9. In English we have most of the numbers 1-100 but there are gaps. Today we'll cover 61-69.

French - David is re-reading the CE1 Ratus, one chapter at a time, and writing a sentence about each chapter (in cursive) in a notebook.
Arthur is singing a song or repeating a poem in French.

English - We are covering the ui/ew/ue sound. At this point Arthur merely copies the letters, says the sound, and helps to think of words with that sound. David is expected to write them in cursive, and to help come up with spelling rules for each phonogram.
We are also doing a chapter from First Language Lessons - I think it's still pronouns.

History - We are reading Story of the World part 2, one chapter at a time. We also have some library books on related subjects (I'm trying to introduce the chapters that will relate to countries we will be visiting), but no formal activities.

Science - On Saturday we captured a bright green frog and made sketches before setting him loose. I think today we will use our big animal book and the internet to identify him and to answer a few questions about his diet, life cycle, etc.

That's about it for now. I'm also teaching Arthur (and hopefully, David) a little about painting. Arthur did a very nice still life of an apple yesterday.

Time to go because I bribed David to finish his math, his reward is 1/2 hour on the computer.

at the beach house

It is mid-September and we moved into our house just over a week ago. It is really nice to have amenities such as indoor bathrooms and clean floors. We got an internet hookup so we can keep in touch a lot better now.

The house is about two blocks from the beach. We can get there and back in about fifteen minutes. We are on the Delaware Bay, not as dramatic as the Atlantic Ocean but the State Park is about 5 minutes away if we want more wave action.

Since Labor Day, we have seen the town slow down a bit but there is still plenty of activity. The owner of the house came by today to bring the garage door opener. He said that when they bought the house in the early 90s, Lewes was very sleepy and relaxed compared to today. Then someone wrote an article in a national magazine about the quaint little vacation spot, and everything changed. If only we could find the little town that hasn't been the subject of a magazine article or Travel Channel report. The mythical spot where house prices are still cheap. Definitely doesn't exist here though.

Oliver has two molars! The top ones. Also he can put the heads on little Lego characters. David and Arthur have been building like crazy with legos since we moved in. Arthur used an Amazon birthday gift certificate to buy some kind of robotic lego gadget. Every morning he wakes up and asks how many days until the "repeat robot" comes in the mail. It's supposed to be here by Friday.

Yesterday we went on a historical tour of Lewes: all the museums were free. There were a bunch of activities (interesting talks, musicians, etc.) but we arrived late so we just walked through the museums. The most interesting was the Ryves-Holt House. It is the oldest house in Delaware (ca. 1665). It is amazing to think the house was already over 100 years old when the American Revolution took place. Dendochronology - examine the rings in a piece of wood - was used to determine the age of the house.

We just recently watched a DVD on Irish history and a scientist in this video was studying pieces of wood found in peat bogs. Between that and scientific finds in other countries, they are pretty sure that there was a worldwide climate disaster in about AD 1200. Fascinating.

But back to Lewes. The Ryves-Holt house was originally built as a dwelling, but used as a tavern until it was shut down for card playing. It was fascinating to see so much of the house, when a lot of historic buildings are roped off like a Disney theme park. You can't touch anything and everything is freshly painted or restored. Down in the basement you can really see the structure of the house. There is a wall of sun-dried bricks that are basically turning to dust. I hope someone figures out what can be done to preserve them. The exposed wood in the ceiling (floor of ground floor) have bark on them. The docent said that although it gets damp here in winter, the basement of this house doesn't have a problem. I thought that probably the builder just picked the best spot. Other houses, built in damp and unstable places, gradually fell into structural disrepair. This was the one that was still good after 350 years.

There were also artist studio tours going on and the funeral of a former (and apparently, much loved) mayor of Lewes. Cops were stationed on every corner in anticipation of the traffic they would have to direct once the procession began. Fortunately for us, we were leaving just before the parade of cars started, and we were going the other way, over the bridge.

We also stopped in at the Swaanendal (sp?) Museum, which was interesting and had lots of relics from the shipwreck (more on that later) but we didn't stay as the kids were starting to fray at the edges. It's free, though, being a state museum, so we'll be back. The shipwreck was something they found just off the shore when they were dredging the bay. Unwittingly, the workers continued to dredge, though, so they crunched up a lot of it. Lots of booty was found washed up on the shore, and we talked to a woman (who was making here way along the beach early one morning with a metal detector) who found a Dutch belt buckle from the 1700s. Now they are asking everyone who finds treasure to hand it in so it can go into a museum, but it would still be exciting to unearth something.

the last day of summer

Today we went on a birdwatching walk in Cape Henlopen Park. Novices, we learned how to hold the binoculars and what to look for. Among birds we spotted were: ospreys, turkey vultures, herring gulls, nuthatches, and a tern. David picked up another horseshoe crab carcass and found one of the invasive "green crabs" sheltering under a big shell. There were tracks of different kinds of gulls, and lots of ghost crab holes. The guide showed us a toad, and pointed out a few plants we had seen on the Nature Walk. We got to try wild plums (tiny) and a lemonade tasting leaf whose name I forget. I get an idea what a hunter-gatherer's day might be like. Collecting enough tiny morsels to make a meal.

Back at the campsite David and Arthur found that they had won the campground Art Contest (we all suspected they and their friend Molly were the only entrants, but no matter: they all got prizes) so they came home with loot from the camp store and proceeded to catch a frog with an older boy, David has been hanging around with but doesn't remember his name. We all gaped at it for a few minutes and put it back in its sticky pond.

Tonight the kids play in the growing dusk with the other vacation kids. There is a sense in the air of something fleeting, the sound of cicadas in the air and the iconic smell of hamburgers grilling. This is the last night of the Labor day weekend: tomorrow night the campers will have packed up and gone. This week the schools open and the tourists clear out. The kids will say goodbye to their (nearly) single serving friends. Next weekend we will be in a house in Lewes, and something new will begin.

As I write this the shadows have already been gathering under the trees and the bustle of activity is dying down, most people likely eating their dinners. David and Arthur have moved their game inside, and occasionally call out a "hi" to a kid outdoors. Tom has gone to get a bottle of wine. I am listening to Tom waits "Nighthawks at the Diner" on the CD and Oliver is taking a nap.

on this wet wet wet day

We have put up a screen tent so we have a lot more room. The camp ground owner dropped a little sand on the corner of our site: I don't think it will be enough to make a difference when it rains, but we now have our own little patch of beach for the kids to play in. We are starting to get into the swing of camping, I think. The worst day was last Thursday when I thought I would have a nervous breakdown, but I suspect it was 50% PMS.

David and Arthur are using their radios to make some new friends. There are plenty of kids around. Since it is Sunday night the campground is a little quieter than it was last Friday. I need to do laundry, but I might wait until tomorrow on the ground.

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monday
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up early at the sound of thunder. Tom had to scurry out and move stuff off the floor of our screen tent and close windows. Don't know how water-resistant it will be and we never did get additional sand to prevent flooding. He puts up "rain roof". Oliver nursing & I can't find a pacifier, so I can't help. Hope for the best.

He's off at 6 for work. My first day here without a car and I have more trepidation now than yesterday when I suggested him taking the car, and the weather was more pleasant. As soon as Oliver is sleeping without me, I check outside for anything Tom missed. Find radio on floor of screen tent: I think he must expect it to protect contnets. I treat like our garrage at home: anything not encased in a plastic box goes up on the picnic table. We have a massive leak between the pop-up awning and screen tent: Starting to fill with water. Hopefully closing the center doors will hold off flooding if it happens. I worry because there was a round of thunder earlier, suggesting huge rainstorm. Maybe Delaware weather not like Texas weather, and we won't get flooded every time it rains. I put the kettle on for tea: I don't know when kids will wake up and tea is quicker, and anyway this is tea weather. Aside from flooding (and the question of how the bloody hell are we going to get our laundry done now) I quite like this weather. I make my cup of tea and go back inside: thankfully kids are asleep (it's not 7am yet, so no surprise). Thank the gods for a laptop I can work on without fears of power surge. I don't have much battery left though, so I hope the storm doesn't pound on all morning. I want to shut off the A/C but don't because any climate change might rouse the kids. This morning I'm a bit fragile and I can use the extra quiet time. Tempted to use remaining battery power to play computer game rather than responsibly trying to write. Should also do taxes. Remember David is expecting to have computer privileges restored today, so will have to battle him for time. Want to start school again today: if rain subsides we can do it out in screen tent, but if not we can still do it in here. Screen tent was mainly supposed to give us bug-free place to eat, and dry place to store clothes. Stirring indicates David getting up. Not sure how he will handle having to go to bathroom in rain. But we do have porta-potty. Remind Tom tonight that he volunteered to empty porta-potty. Yuck. Remember I need to find internet connection to send JSFirm post for Tom. South America would be great even if I can't go. Morocco would also be exciting if scary without Tom. Canada would be better. Someone is crying: Oliver. Bye.
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Mid-morning sees us watching Mousehunt on the Rec Room TV. We have a load of laundry going, with many more to come. I bought a roll of quarters for $10: I hope we have a few left over. Camping out, the weather matters much more from day to day.

last week in the tent

It is an eclectic crowd here at Big Oaks. Across from us tonight are an tattooed guy with a shiny black Harley who raked up the leaves and started his fire with them, a lesbian couple with colored Hello Kitty lights strung around their screen tent, the Michelin Man family (the kids sucking on sodas and the grownups sucking on cigarettes), and the Russian girls who've been here all summer (one works at McDonald's and the other for the campground as bathroom cleaner and pool guard). Everywhere there are Confederate flags, declarations of good-ol-boy-ness, and exhortations to "Get 'er done". It shocked us to find that Delaware considers itself to be part of the South.

A week from now we will be sleeping in a real bed, and if we have to go to the bathroom we will not need to dress and find a flashlight. What a treat. No more changing the rug under the drippy A/C unit. No more having to close all the windows at nightfall because of the smelly fires. (One night we left the tent open, and for the next week it reeked of someone's bacon or menudo or whatever they were making) Best of all, we will have a washer and dryer and a fence around the yard. Only downsides are no pool, no free wireless up the hill, and no crowds of kids on the weekends, but I am determined we will find some friends in Lewes. We already met one boy from the town who hangs out at the toy shop. There's probably a homeschool group that meets somewhere in Sussex county.

Morocco. It's really going to happen now. I bought the tickets over the course of two days, and roughly half the price the travel agent quoted. My itinerary also includes layovers in two additional countries, so I am feeling a bit smug. So what if we arrive at midnight and will have to drag the kids through the streets to a hotel? So what if I don't know how we will haul the kids and all the gear we will need (including a car seat) from aircraft to trains and streets? At the price I found, Tom can afford to go.

gas - yikes!

It looks like Morocco is going to happen. We got Oliver's passport in the mail the other day and it was exciting to look at the Visa page and imagine that he will have stamps on it before he is old enough to talk. I think found

I have an embarrassed confession: I drove Tom to work today. After all my admonishments that he should try riding the bus to work, that we all have a choice not to drive in this time of spiraling gas prices, I was going to put the proverbial money where the mouth is and let Tom take the van to work, and take the bus into Lewes (or the grocery store) and stay at the pop-up. Well last night in a moment of weakness I went ahead and loaded the van with clothes and books for tomorrow.

We are hearing the appalling reports of deteriorating conditions in New Orleans. Complete anarchy. It is as if the Iraq war were transported to the US. And we see the same mismanagement of the situation. The same two dead bodies are still lying outside the convention center that John Burnett reported on yesterday. We saw War of the Worlds the other day and it was eerily familiar: I had to remind the kids that this is real because they were saying it looked like The Day After Tomorrow. It is baffling why the looters are shooting at the relief workers, but anyone should be able to understand why there is so much violence: has anyone every visited New Orleans before? I think there should have been a plan already put into place: aren't the Homeland Security people supposed to be getting us ready for a disaster? Being prepared doesn't necessarily mean for war and terrorism. This should be a wake-up call that the same thing could happen, nation-wide, albeit not as dire a situation in less impoverished parts of the country. But the complete lack of a plan is disturbing.

Today we are parked at a public lot in Lewes (total cost for 9-4 parking would be $3.50, one gallon of gas or 20 miles of driving). Thank you "sam" whoever you are for your wi-fi connection.

I feel so terrible for the people on the Gulf. I wish there was something we could do. I know there will be some kind of fund drive but really, if I were to give every dime we could spare on to the relief effort -- it would be a drop in the bucket. One business could more than that without feeling it. Yet it feels selfish to say we need the money when there are people who lost everything they own and don't even have food and water. The old paradox of charity. It would be easy to come up with stuff to donate if we were at home: we have so much extra clothing, housewares, etc. I hear they are asking Austin people to put up refugees in their homes. I am uncomfortably reminded of all those fairy tales where some powerful entity disguised as a beggar begs from door to door. Would we be that one house who takes them in? Or would we worry about theft? Things you don't have to contemplate living in a tent.

Arthur and I both need haircuts. Tom needs a trim too, I may try to cut his hair myself.

I heard on the radio that they rescued Fats Domino from the flooding: his family didn't know if he'd made it. There are a lot of famous people who made N.O. their home. I wonder if Anne Rice's famous house is flooded? Just like the plantation house in the Mayfair Witches books. She could live on an upper floor and come in by boat.