Poem of the Week: The Chairs

The Chairs That No One Sits In

By Billy Collins

You see them on porches and on lawns

down by the lakeside,

usually arranged in pairs implying a couple

who might sit there and look out

at the water or the big shade trees.

The trouble is you never see anyone

sitting in these forlorn chairs

though at one time it must have seemed   

a good place to stop and do nothing for a while.

Sometimes there is a little table

between the chairs where no one   

is resting a glass or placing a book facedown.

It might be none of my business,

but it might be a good idea one day

for everyone who placed those vacant chairs

on a veranda or a dock to sit down in them

for the sake of remembering

whatever it was they thought deserved

to be viewed from two chairs   

side by side with a table in between.

The clouds are high and massive that day.

The woman looks up from her book.

The man takes a sip of his drink.

Then there is nothing but the sound of their looking,

the lapping of lake water, and a call of one bird

then another, cries of joy or warning—

it passes the time to wonder which.

HT: Poetry Foundation

Poem of the Week: In Lovely Blue

from In Lovely Blue

By Friedrich Hölderlin

Translated by George Kalogeris

Like the stamen inside a flower 
The steeple stands in lovely blue 
And the day unfolds around its needle; 

The flock of swallows that circles the steeple 
Flies there each day through the same blue air 
That carries their cries from me to you; 

We know how high the sun is now 
As long as the roof of the steeple glows, 
The roof that’s covered with sheets of tin; 

Up there in the wind, where the wind is not 
Turning the vane of the weathercock, 
The weathercock silently crows in the wind.

HT: Poetry Foundation   
Image HT: Klenda from North Dakota

Portfolio Review Round 2: Science, Social Studies and Whatnot

Science:  I'm pretty sure I mentioned my epic high school science survey course where we did Astronomy, Geology, Oceanography, and Genetics.
Here are a few of the books I used to develop the class.

It was a toss up between Oceanography and Paleontology, but the squids won, and I did Paleontology for the younger kids in the spring. So fun!



Choclo and Oob and I also did some Great Courses on The Science of Birds, and Birding in North America, both of which Oob had gotten for Christmas,  We also did a lot of birding...  Oooh!  We loved Blue Planet II!

And we often watch science based YouTubes during lunch.  We like Veratasium, It's OK to be Smart, Smarter Every Day, TED ED Lessons, Lesley the Bird Nerd,  and The Kid Should See This.

Social Studies: The big thing this year was the Awesome Geography Class, supported by the excellent Geography Now. Links coming to the sidebar soon!

We also did CNN 10 for current events, and lots of rabbit holes and reading based on historical interests.

I guess we could stick Philosophy and Business classes here?

Whatnot: PE: So many outings, hiking, biking, climbing!  This was the year I felt we really got active as a family.










Special to Zorg: He's continued doing work on role playing games and  working out his own stories.  He's found a great love of philosophy, a possible vocation to the priesthood, and a real heart for service.  Right now he's volunteering at a summer camp for reservation kids in North Dakota.  This year he made Eagle Scout, and graduated high school!

Special to Leena: This year she started getting paid commissions for art, voice acting,  and composing music.  She wrote a novella, then turned it into an audio book that she is publishing a chapter at a time on her You Tube channel.  She's doing the art, composing the music, acting, writing, and directing.  She's also doing voice work on dozens of projects, and composing and acting for Red Star Games. Her Sound Cloud is here.

Special to Choclo and Oob: They have been writing and illustrating books, doing photography, making videos and creating fun games that we all play!  They have also been creating skits and plays to entertain family and friends.  And they've been doing a lot of biking, birding, and Legos!

Portfolio Review Round 1: Religion, English, and Math

Now, at long last, you can assauge your endless curiosity of the nitty gritty of our educational progress!

First off, this portfolio post will look different because I am trying out an umbrella group after 15 years of doing our reviews with our county school system.  The short story of why I switched: Yes, I was always getting positive reviews, but they were changing things constantly, including who was interviewing me...during the interview.  That was enough for me!  I'm now trying out Tower of Ivory with a few close friends who are long term home schoolers.

Keep in mind, these are resources that worked for me, but my experience has been that God will put in your path what will work for you.

Religion: Here's something new: I'm getting reviewed on teaching religion for the very first time!

Besides these books, we did a bunch of Ascension Presents DVDs.

We started out with The Bible Timeline, then did Altaration (on the Mass), and No Greater Love during Holy Week.  Of course we also did a bunch of Fr. Mike Schmitz podcasts on our Lenten Video Retreat.

If you're wondering how I afforded that many programs, I was sharing them with my mom  and sister.

The Emperor was doing sections of the Docat after dinner with all the kids, similar to the way he went through the Youcat.

With Zorg and Leena we also did selections of our favorite religious books to expose them to some of the books that had important effects in our religious lives. 

Choclo and Oob did more saint stories and the Education in Virtue stuff.  And altar serving!  And all the Lent and Advent stuff, of course.

We also do a daily prayer time and Bible time together, often using the Gospel of the day. What I hope to pass on to my kids: Sacraments, Scripture, Service!

English: This is a bit weird because Zorg and Leena took a bunch of college classes that checked this box (Drama, Expository Writing, and Speech) but also Philosophy and Business Management which also required research papers.

We also did a deep dive with Frankenstein and watched and discussed a total of seven Shakespeare movies (thank you BBC).

 For younger kids we did tons of reading and writing, and lots of fun workbooks.

We have a set of the excellent Language of Literature textbooks, and we enjoyed going through the grade 6 and 7 volumes.

Plus I like poetry, so, you know how that goes.

And then all 4 kids did pages and pages of creative writing, because everyone is always writing a book.  I have nothing to do with this, it just happens.

Math: Older kids did Math U See's Stewardship and reviewed Geometry and Algebra 2.  They also did the Accuplacer Math Test Prep book, since the computerized test determines which math class you can take at college, and doing math on the computer looks different when you've only done it on paper.




Younger kids did Life of Fred: Fractions and Life of Fred:Decimals, plus a variety of math workbooks, test preps, and games.

More tomorrow!

Poem of the Week: Extenuating Circumstances

Ideally, listen to about 68 seconds, then keep it playing as you scroll down to read the poem.  I did this accidentally yesterday and now I don't want to read this poem any other way!

Extenuating Circumstances

By Paul Violi

I don’t know how fast I was going

but, even so, that’s still

an intriguing question, officer,

and deserves a thoughtful response.

With the radio unfurling

Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, you might

consider anything under 80 sacrilege.

Particularly on a parkway as lovely

as the one you’re fortunate enough

to patrol—and patrol so diligently.

A loveliness that, if observed

at an appropriate rate of speed,

affords the kind of pleasure

which is in itself a reminder

of how civilization depends

on an assurance of order and measure,

and the devotion of someone

like yourself to help maintain it.

Yes, man the measurer!

The incorrigible measurer.

And admirably precise measurements

they are—Not, of course, as an end

in themselves but, lest we

forget, as a means to propel

us into the immeasurable,

where it would be anybody’s guess how fast

the west wind was blowing

when it strummed a rainbow

and gave birth to Eros.

Never forget that a parkway

is a work of art, and the faster

one goes the greater the tribute

to its power of inspiration,

a lyrical propulsion that approaches

the spiritual and tempts—demands

the more intrepid of us

to take it from there.

That sense of the illimitable,

when we feel we are more the glory

than the jest or riddle of the world

—that’s what kicked in, albeit

briefly, as I approached

the Croton Reservoir Bridge.

And on a night like this, starlight

reignited above a snowfall’s last

flurry,  cockeyed headlights scanning

the girders overhead, eggshell

snowcrust flying off the hood,

hatching me on the wing

like a song breaking through prose,

the kind I usually sing

through my nose:

       So much to love,

          A bit less to scorn.

          What have I done?

          To what end was I born?

       To teach and delight.

          Delight … or offend.

          Luck’s been no lady,

          Truth a sneaky friend.

       Got the heater on full blast,

          Window jammed down,

          Odometer busted,

          Speedometer dead wrong:

       Can’t tell how fast I’m going,

       Don’t care how far I’ve gone.

HT: Poetry Foundation

Video HT: Audio Network  and, you know, Beethoven

Off to North Dakota

Mxyl, Klenda, and Zorg are off in North Dakota with my sister, helping out with a summer camp.



Off they went, flying on their own like adults...

Which they are!!

And hopefully having a great time!

Meanwhile, back home with only 3 kids, we are missing them and figuring out how to do things with only five people.

It's tough, but we're managing...

Wordless Wednesday: In the Garden

Happy Birthday, Choclo!

 Can Choclo really be 14?!

And 5'8"?!!!

He's both!

And he had a very nice birthday

 He asked me to surprise him with his cake, so he got a mango raspberry swirl cake with chocolate chips!





14 Great Things About Choclo

1. He is a Minecraft master!
2. He took his dad to Disneyland!
3. He loves to create interesting games.
3. He has a great sense of humor.
4. He loves babies.
5. He makes great paper airplanes.
5. He likes to cook special snacks with lots of hot sauce!
6. He knows a lot about sharks.
6. He knows even more about penguins!
6. Actually, he knows a lot about Ancient Egypt, too.
7. He can build pretty much anything out of Legos.
8. He has lots of great story ideas.
8. He's a Tenderfoot Boy Scout.
9. He's an angelic altar server!
9. He's a fan of The Hobbit (the book).
10. He's a Duck fan.
10. He has dissected almost everything in the science catalog.
11. He really likes garlic.
11. More garlic than you're thinking of.
12. He's a sweet and loving brother and son.
13. He likes to play games with "smash" in the title, and he's a good sport
13. He cooks amazing soups.
14. He has a fantastic imagination.
14. He's interested in everything!

Zorg's Graduation!

 Tis the season for graduations!

Zorg graduated high school, choosing the school name: St. Ann's Academy, in honor of our dear friend, Fr. Santan Pinto (his first name means Saint Ann).









 He will continue on with PGCC as a full time student to get his AA, then he's hoping to transfer to Catholic University to fill out a four year degree in Philosophy.


 It was a lovely time with family and friends to celebrate all of his hard work!

And we are, in a sense, half way through our home school!

Poem of the Week: It Couldn't Be Done

It Couldn’t Be Done

By Edgar Albert Guest

Somebody said that it couldn’t be done

      But he with a chuckle replied

That “maybe it couldn’t,” but he would be one

      Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.

So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin

      On his face. If he worried he hid it.

He started to sing as he tackled the thing

      That couldn’t be done, and he did it!

Somebody scoffed: “Oh, you’ll never do that;

      At least no one ever has done it;”

But he took off his coat and he took off his hat

      And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.

With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,

      Without any doubting or quiddit,

He started to sing as he tackled the thing

      That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,

      There are thousands to prophesy failure,

There are thousands to point out to you one by one,

      The dangers that wait to assail you.

But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,

      Just take off your coat and go to it;

Just start in to sing as you tackle the thing

      That “cannot be done,” and you’ll do it.

HT: Poetry Foundation