Tag: photos

Posted in Believe it or not!, Good ol' days

The Last Snowing Hurricane

Posted on by Katharine
From his vantage point high above the earth in...
From his vantage point high above the earth in the International Space Station, Astronaut Ed Lu captured this broad view of Hurricane Isabel. The image was taken with a 50 mm lens on a digital camera. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Lewis and Clark had just started out for points unknown.

Jefferson was President and was incumbent during the soon-coming election. Clinton was his running mate. George Clinton, that is.

The Electoral College had new rules to try out.

Then it hit.

No one alive had ever seen anything like it.

With no means of early warning, and few places out west for evacuation, many died.

People venturing outdoors the next day were shocked at being able to see nearby villages, a view normally obstructed by dense woods.

In some locales, the snow was 3 feet deep. And in some places it stayed on all winter.

Fruit trees laden with fruit snapped off at ground level; potatoes froze beneath the earth.

Ships in eastern harbors dragged anchor or broke the chains to their anchors and crashed together or floated to sea, killing many sailors.

Steeples, chimneys, and even entire roofs blew away.

Most trees were flattened, ruining the ship-building industry for years.

Estimated as a category 2-3, it landed near Atlantic City, which was 50 years in the future at that time.

It was the Atlantic snowing hurricane of October 9-10, 1804.

And though these were more primitive times — no snow-plows, for instance — the election was carried out in a timely manner.

Posted in Health, Home School, Wisdom

Who Should Home School?

Posted on by Katharine

Physical bullying at school, as depicted in th...
Physical bullying at school, as depicted in the film Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Are you on this list?

  1. Those who think ketchup is not a vegetable
  2. Those who think ketchup is a vegetable
  3. Those who know what bullying feels like
  4. Those who don’t know what bullying feels like.
  5. Those who know there is always free cheese in a mousetrap
  6. Those who care about their children
  7. Those whose conscience is bothering them about lack of school choice
  8. Those whose minds are not concrete (mixed up and permanently set)
  9. Those whose children need to pray before an algebra test
  10. Those who have good horse sense and want their children to have it, too
  11. Those who know the best way to get a life worth living is to make it that way
  12. Those who want to guide their children’s experiences
  13. Those whose hearts are telling them things their minds are not sure about
  14. Those who realize little ones do not learn by the clock.
  15. Those who long for a simpler life
  16. Those who want everything green for their kids
  17. Those whose children have roach allergies
  18. Those whose children stay sick all during the school year
  19. Those who are at home
  20. Those who must travel all the time

You don’t have to cry over spilled milk if you own the cow.

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Pencils need erasers like I need the Lord.
Posted in Inspiring, Wisdom

I’m a very good pencil.

Posted on by Katharine

 

A pencil is only as good as its eraser, otherwise it might as well be a pen.     —S. W. Orren

A pencil does stuff like I do.

It creates things—me too.

It can communicate deep thoughts—so deep I’d drown without a pencil.

It can keep track of all needed groceries—which actually is more than I can do.

It sometimes even tells jokes.

A pencil often works best when it is sharp, as do I.

A sharp pencil can do math and keep track of appointments.

Yet the most beloved pencil often is the soft kind that yields to slight pressure to produce a better work. This type seldom is really sharp, but no one really cares.

I’m hoping my soft answers make up for my lack of sharpness . . .

A pencil can make mistakes. The lead can break. It can form letters wrong. It can misplace a few jots and tittles. Mostly, though, the pencil is a very good study partner.

The pen:

Pens also can make mistakes. The ink can blob. The ink can run dry. The ink can smear. The ink can drip. The ink seems to be the main trouble with a pen.

Yet what good is a pen without ink?

About as good as a pencil without lead.

Ah, but enter the eraser!

This wonderful remover of the past, this delete button for the pencil, is most recognized for its worth during times of trouble.

In fact, having an eraser can make me, as a pencil, less prone to mistakes—more relaxed, I guess.

I have a very good Eraser. My Eraser can fix anything. My Eraser makes all things new—a very present help in trouble.

And I am very glad.

But how about you? Do you make mistakes? Do you cringe when I ask? Do you wish you could get rid of the past? It’s a simple walk to a stationery store for a decent eraser, you know. The Eraser of all life mistakes is a simple contact, too. Best thing is He wants to be yours. He longs to be in your life, so much so, that He comes running to meet you more than half-way. Your pain is killing Him, especially because He could fix it. Really. He won’t be shocked at your life—He’s been watching it since before you were born.

Get yourself this Good Eraser.

He will change the past and even the future.

You will never be sorry.

 

Posted in Home School, Inspiring, Sayings, Scripture, Who's the mom here?, Wisdom

A Cure for “The Quits” – Part 3

Posted on by Katharine

bunsen burnerOkay, we’ll take on the last two reasons for quitting today.

Another reason we sometimes feel like quitting is that we grow weary and faint. (Hebrews 12:3)

Let’s face it: to work at home is work. When someone asks me if I work, I tell them, “All mothers work.” Perhaps that is not universally true, but I am persnickety enough to make the point.

Yes, I work, and so do you. Therefore, it feels like work.

Not all people are accustomed to real work. Being breathless or perspiring can make some of us have panic attacks because we think it is unbearable.

It wears us out, sometimes.

It makes us feel like escaping, sometimes.

It leaves us depleted, left over from yesterday, sometimes.

We want to relax. We want to play hooky. We want to read novels and eat chocolate.

Sometimes, we just weary of the discipline.

We are doing well when suddenly, out of nowhere, we find that rebellion is not only for children. We simply do not want to be sober-minded and take leadership over a pack of unruly ones. We feel like going on strike. Sometimes we act on all these feelings.

Last, but not least, we ignore our enemy. (1 Peter 5:8)

This is, possibly, the most dangerous reason for quitting that there is. Our enemy is looking for someone to devour. He tells us ridiculous things that we are dumb enough to believe.

You are ruining your child’s potential. You did poorly in math. You cannot provide a Bunsen burner. You will lose the love of your child. You will get arrested.

So run the insidious remarks of the enemy of our souls, of our children’s souls, and of our entire existence.

He stands to gain if he can make God’s people look ridiculous, so he does all he can to make us do the ridiculous.

We do not realize how ridiculous it is to be able to home school, even to have begun, and then to fail to reap the benefits in our children’s lives.

To hear, to believe God, to have the means, and to know better, and then to quit is just beyond explanation, beyond understanding.

Of course, someone may have a unique circumstance (although I have never met that one) but almost all do not. Most are simply listening to the enemy without even knowing that he exists. Most are simply quitting because of the dark things they heard whispered into their ears, dark things that they failed to negate, failed to fight, and failed to turn over to the Lover of our souls.

Okay, now we have examined the four main reasons we quit. Tomorrow WILL come the answers.

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Posted in Uncategorized

Weekly Photo Challenge: MINE!!!!!

Posted on by Katharine
mine
At the Reception for Our Youngest and His New Bride
I am his and he is mine.

I am as tired as I look, here, but after two weeks of no rest, yet, I am beginning to feel better.

So much going on.

Bathroom repair necessitating my painting two walls.

Special events at church.

Taking a few short video courses.

Internet flailing. I think that must be an epidemic, as WordPress AND Social Triggers both have also played into my lateness, here, due to malfunctions. Ah, well.

Several large pieces of furniture vanishing when the last two left the nest, and needing replacements.

Empty rooms to spring clean. I know; it’s autumn.

And — drumroll, here — with moderate rains arriving, the blessings of mowing chores.

Still, this photo just gives me a glow. I seldom look this good, so I guess he brings out the best in me.

Posted in Blessings of Habit, Home School, Inspiring, Pre-schoolers, Who's the mom here?, Wisdom

If Only They Were Perfect — If Only WE Were!

Posted on by Katharine

Toothbrush, photo taken in Sweden

If a child is non-compliant on purpose, he needs far more than another reminder.

This is the hardest part: Requiring.

Children do not automatically walk in goodness, contrary to popular opinion. Some want to stay in bed in the morning. Some want to skip brushing their teeth. Some want to play during chore time. Dogs eat a lot of homework.

We know it is better for them if they have good sleep, health, and work habits. Our good plans for them must cross their wills.

That is why God put them in homes with parents. Parents can place requirements on children for their own good. This is common knowledge in all cultures, except the current permissive. People who follow the original ways of requiring children to act sensibly, have produced sensible offspring.

Stating the obvious is necessary, these days.

I believe my children will always practice brushing their teeth daily, because they are accustomed to having white, clean-feeling teeth, so brown, fuzzy teeth bother them. The same is true for bathing, eating healthful foods, and Bible reading.

Oh, they may experiment with departure from the absolute best, but they also will sense a difference, a loss, and choose the right way. For instance, my daughter became a ramen junkie during college, but the other day she said, “You know, I am just starving for a good, crisp salad.”

Yes!

They were not born this way. We required it of them.

The child who habitually eats cake and cola will not sense the ill feeling from it in adulthood.

The child who habitually reads everything but the Word will not miss the Word as an adult.

The difference between those generalities is most usually the differing requirements they faced as children.

Who wants to raise a loud, interrupting, unhealthy, illiterate adult with crumbling teeth and no knowledge of the sacred?

Draw your lines.

Repeat.

Remind.

And require your children to heed.

Help them have the excellent gift of good habits.

_____________________

photo credit: wikipedia