This is What 900 Looks Like

A personal milestone passed unrecognized yesterday-- even though I did not realize it until today, it was my 900th consecutive post on this blog. In honor of that fact, I did a bit o' research using the "edit post" feature. Here's a little almanac of WtD so far:

Number of posts that include the word...

walk 98
dog 65

write 160
teach 336
read 356
student 397

family 109
mom 118
sister 60
brother 60 (I know, right?)
nephew 56
niece 11 (That's a fair ratio: we have 5 nephews and 1 niece.)
dad 41

cook 65
garden 52
bike 19
hike 12

lobster 6
potato 14
tomato 23

hate 64
love 143
friend 152
we 862

Yep. That seems like a pretty fair representation of the last couple of years to me.

1000 here I come!

Line in the Sand

We are visiting family in Buffalo and today they proposed a visit to Niagara on the Lake, a lovely town not far from here. Unfortunately, NoL is in Canada, and US Citizens may not exit and re-enter our country without either a passport or secure driver's license. Our home state, Virginia, is rolling out the SDL as each of ours expires after its five-year term, although residents can request one sooner. Even so, neither of us have one, nor do we commonly travel with a passport, so no border crossing for us.

In the grand scheme of things, such security measures are neither surprising nor completely unreasonable, and it is really not a big deal; we simply made other plans. But still, how strange to stand by the side of a river in the land of the free with the knowledge that the opposite bank is off-limits. after traveling the world in my younger years, it is just not the sort of experience I associate with being American.

Sliced Tomaydas

When we were kids there was a plate of sliced tomatoes on our dinner table almost every night in summer. Some we grew in our garden and others came from the tomato man who lived down the street. He had a card table set up in his front yard and when we were out and about on summer afternoons my mom would often make a stop there and choose a few tomatoes for dinner, and it was vine to plate before the sun set.

I remembered how shocked I was the first time I met someone who didn't like tomatoes; such a thing had literally been inconceivable to me until that day. Over the years I've met several non-tomato eating folks, and I've found that there is consistency to their objections. For example, they are usually a bit defensive when questioned about the fact that they like pizza, spaghetti, and/or lasagna-- evidently cooked, pureed tomatoes are not the problem. Neither is ketchup, although in my opinion, the only thing ketchup and tomatoes have in common is the color red. For those who can not stand fresh, vine-ripened tomatoes, it has something to do with texture, mouth feel, and a certain "watery" flavor(!). I'm afraid I can't explain any more specifically than that, because those people happen to abhor one of my favorite foods on the planet.

This summer, we have a ton of tomatoes from our garden. It's not a problem at all though, because for us, there really is no such thing as too many tomatoes. We have already canned 25 quarts (Heidi's goal is 104-- 2 per week until tomatoes come in next season), and of course we have a plate of sliced tomatoes every night at dinner. All is as it should be.

Summer Break

There has been an imperceptible change in the weather the last few mornings and evenings. The unrelenting heat of the hottest July EVER is still around, but there are fleeting moments when the trees stir just a bit and you can tell that it's not really going to be hot forever.

Old School of Thumb

I heard a coach use that phrase while being interviewed about new concussion policies for football players, and although I laughed a little when he said it, I've decided I rather like it.

In fact many changes are afoot within our school system, so I think I may have ample opportunity to use it. Stay tuned.

Cost Analysis

I didn't really start gardening to save money, although I bet that was in the back of my mind. Rather, I wanted to produce at least some of my own food, and a vegetable garden seemed the natural place to start. I figured there would be an initial investment-- how-to books, tools, fertilizer, and then later seeds, plants, and of course time. That last one's easy for me to sort of gloss over when constructing my mental spreadsheet, but to be honest, even though I like it, the garden does take time we might have spent elsewhere. I also get that there's a learning curve and that gardening is dependent on many variables-- weather, critters, soil, weeds, what have you, and so I would say I am prepared to lose a little cash in the grand scheme of things.

We went to our local farmers market this morning and there were samples of a delicious green variety of heirloom tomato. Despite our own bountiful harvest, we decided to buy one. One. (Okay, it was a pretty big tomato, but not to brag, I've grown bigger.) $5.25!

Recalculating. Just a moment. Yeah. I'm breaking even this year.

First Things First

I heard a piece on the radio tonight about the importance of preschool in helping people develop the skills that are essential in today's job market: compromise, curiosity, and cooperation. It made sense. There was also a companion piece about the wildly expensive, uber-exclusive preschools in Manhattan. It seems that children younger than two are "interviewed" for places in these institutions. The reporter hastened to assure us that they are not real interviews, but more like play date observations. What comprises a successful examination? Well, they are looking for tots who show the three C's mentioned above.

The educator in me scratched my head when I heard that. If we are saying that kids need those essential skills to be successful, then does it not seem counter-intuitive that the "best" schools only accept those children who have already developed them? What's the point in that? As a writing teacher, I know how much fun it is to have kids who are good writers in class, but I don't for a minute think that's my mission. If anything, it's the kids who most need support who should have it, not at the expense of any other child, but certainly as a priority.