The Post
I've been lax in seeing to this blog and am hoping there is still someone out there to read it! I had planned to do a flight-themed post for June, but June and almost all of July have passed...so I'll do flight later. For now, I'm thinking of family and vacation (for some strange reason!) and I have some books in mind that cover both, so I'll focus on those instead.
Before I get to the family/vacation picks, I'll mention what we've been reading this summer. My 12- and 15-year-old have been devouring The Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney. I read the first book, in which the lead starts his training as a "Spook," which protects society against witches, boggarts, etc., and found it intriguing but dark, maybe a bit too dark. I just finished The Mysterious Benedict Society, a NY Times bestseller by Trenton Lee Stewart about a group of orphans sent on a mission to save the world from a mind-controlling madman. It might be a bit long for kids who aren't avid readers, but it was a lot of fun. My 10-year-old is working on Peter and the Starcatchers, by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, and if we're readling aloud everyone stops to listen.
The Books:
Picture Book: Arthur's Vacation, by Marc Brown.
Even my older kids still stop and listen if they hear me reading this to my five-year-old, and we all laugh at the tiny hotel pool and our favorite picture spread with everyone crammed into a green motel room on a rainy morning.
Middle Grade:
Fudge-a-Mania, by Judy Blume
I've only read pieces of this one, but my ten-year-old son loves the whole series. I just focused on Fudge-a-Mania because it takes place on a family vacation to Maine. Every time my son reads it, he sits and snickers through the whole thing.
The Penderwicks, by Jeanne Birdsall
I think I've mentioned this book before, but it's so much fun I had to put it in. A family of four girls and their widowed dad vacations at a cottage behind a mansion (somewhere in the east, but I can't remember the state, sorry), getting into all kinds of mischief.
The Etymology: "vacation"
I haven't looked this up before, so I'm curious. I imagine it has the same root as "vacate," although I can't help but wonder if it has something to do with cows, as in "vaccination" (vaca meaning cow, & the small pox vaccination discovery coming from immune milkmaids who had been exposed to the similar cowpox). Okay, here it goes:
From L. vacationem (nom. vacatio) "leisure, a being free from duty," from vacare "be empty, free, or at leisure" (see vain). http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=vacation
Okay, so it's similar to vacate, not vaccinate. And vain comes from the same root, too. I wouldn't have come up with that.
The PHP (Personal History Prompt):
What are some of your favorite vacation memories? You could start with childhood or most recent. Did your family have vacation traditions (we always had pastrami with cream cheese on onion roll sandwiches)?
OR What are some favorite summertime reads for you? How do you associate them with your summers? (For example, I always used to read The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder to counteract long, hot Arizona summers.)
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Friday, July 24, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
For the Birds
The Blog:
Since my boys and I have been bird watching for scouting requirements over the past couple of months, I thought I'd do a bird/flight theme for May. But May is almost over, so it'll be birds for May and flight for June.
The following is an entry I posted on a different blog a few months ago about trimming my parakeet's beak. It seemed to fit the bill. No pun intended. Really.
Recently I trimmed my parakeet’s beak. I’ve had parakeets most of my life, but this was the first time one of my birds’ beaks ever grew too long. The beak became monstrous, actually, curving and scaly like a rusted scimitar poking into poor Gordy’s green chest. Ew. I had no idea how it happened, being a faithful hanger of cuttlebones and sprinkler of gravel on the cage floor.
Was this vet-worthy? I wondered and vacillated, not being a subscriber to parakeet insurance. Somehow Gordy managed to eat and clamber, but I knew something had to be done. Finally one day I walked into the bathroom—yes, due to cat issues we keep two parakeets in the master bathroom—and something snapped.
Grabbing a pair of fingernail clippers and a washcloth, I took a deep breath and approached the cage. “This won’t hurt a bit,” I cooed, sliding open the door and inserting a washcloth-draped hand. Gordy didn’t believe me and exploded into squawking green fireworks. Persistence paid and I caught her, gently, and proceeded with the trim. When I finished, both of us felt a bit shaken. However, not being a farm girl accustomed to animal husbandry and the like, I felt a bit heady also. I clipped the beak!
It was a Minor Triumph. I like Minor Triumphs, little surprises that pop into days often filled with perplexing problems that require long-term efforts to solve, or at least manage. Small or quirky as they may be, they are still triumphs, worth a little smile and a lingering savor.
The PHP (Personal History Prompt):
Do you have any memories of birds? Pets? Birds that lived or nested near you? Finding a nest or trying to make one? Did you know someone who liked birds? Or did you ever try to fly or wish you could?
The Etymology: Bird
O.E. bridd, originally "young bird" (the usual O.E. for "bird" being fugol), of uncertain origin with no cognates in any other Gmc. language.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=bird
I thought it interesting that bird actually came from Old English--not Latin through French or a Germanic language. Hmm.
The Links:
This looks like a fun site with coloring, games, and facts about birds for kids.
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/Birds/ForKids/default.cfm
Here's a site about the "corridors" hummingbirds use when migrating and the loss of this habitat:
http://desertgardens.suite101.com/article.cfm/hummingbirds_as_desert_pollinators
How about identifying bird songs? I think this is cool.
http://www.enature.com/birding/audio.asp
The Book: Guardians of GaHoole Series, by Kathryn Lasky
My oldest three kids, two boys and one girl, with an age range spanning five years, all got into this fantasy series a few years ago. It's about good owls fighting the evil ones. I only read a couple, but they were fun. Might be a good summer read.
Since my boys and I have been bird watching for scouting requirements over the past couple of months, I thought I'd do a bird/flight theme for May. But May is almost over, so it'll be birds for May and flight for June.
The following is an entry I posted on a different blog a few months ago about trimming my parakeet's beak. It seemed to fit the bill. No pun intended. Really.
Recently I trimmed my parakeet’s beak. I’ve had parakeets most of my life, but this was the first time one of my birds’ beaks ever grew too long. The beak became monstrous, actually, curving and scaly like a rusted scimitar poking into poor Gordy’s green chest. Ew. I had no idea how it happened, being a faithful hanger of cuttlebones and sprinkler of gravel on the cage floor.
Was this vet-worthy? I wondered and vacillated, not being a subscriber to parakeet insurance. Somehow Gordy managed to eat and clamber, but I knew something had to be done. Finally one day I walked into the bathroom—yes, due to cat issues we keep two parakeets in the master bathroom—and something snapped.
Grabbing a pair of fingernail clippers and a washcloth, I took a deep breath and approached the cage. “This won’t hurt a bit,” I cooed, sliding open the door and inserting a washcloth-draped hand. Gordy didn’t believe me and exploded into squawking green fireworks. Persistence paid and I caught her, gently, and proceeded with the trim. When I finished, both of us felt a bit shaken. However, not being a farm girl accustomed to animal husbandry and the like, I felt a bit heady also. I clipped the beak!
It was a Minor Triumph. I like Minor Triumphs, little surprises that pop into days often filled with perplexing problems that require long-term efforts to solve, or at least manage. Small or quirky as they may be, they are still triumphs, worth a little smile and a lingering savor.
The PHP (Personal History Prompt):
Do you have any memories of birds? Pets? Birds that lived or nested near you? Finding a nest or trying to make one? Did you know someone who liked birds? Or did you ever try to fly or wish you could?
The Etymology: Bird
O.E. bridd, originally "young bird" (the usual O.E. for "bird" being fugol), of uncertain origin with no cognates in any other Gmc. language.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=bird
I thought it interesting that bird actually came from Old English--not Latin through French or a Germanic language. Hmm.
The Links:
This looks like a fun site with coloring, games, and facts about birds for kids.
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/Birds/ForKids/default.cfm
Here's a site about the "corridors" hummingbirds use when migrating and the loss of this habitat:
http://desertgardens.suite101.com/article.cfm/hummingbirds_as_desert_pollinators
How about identifying bird songs? I think this is cool.
http://www.enature.com/birding/audio.asp
The Book: Guardians of GaHoole Series, by Kathryn Lasky
My oldest three kids, two boys and one girl, with an age range spanning five years, all got into this fantasy series a few years ago. It's about good owls fighting the evil ones. I only read a couple, but they were fun. Might be a good summer read.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Into the Game: About this Blog
After months of thinking about blogging, reading about blogging, and dipping my toes into the blogging world, I'm finally ready to give this a try. I think. Coming off the technology sidelines into the game is a bit scary.
Exciting, too. I've always want to share thoughts on reading and writing and language and here's a forum. Wahoo! I'm envisioning posts from etymology to book reviews to general family matters; I'd like to bring in guest bloggers to mix things up a bit.
My hope for this blog is that the content will be thought-provoking, fun, and worth discovery. Maybe a mom will read a post or something off a list that will serve as fodder for a dinner-time discussion; maybe a child will try a book off the list or find a new tongue-twister. Maybe a grandma will find a link that will help a grandchild with a report.
I hope! So if you visit here, please let me know what you think, what could be improved, what you'd like to see--and tell your friends.
See you later!
Sarah
Exciting, too. I've always want to share thoughts on reading and writing and language and here's a forum. Wahoo! I'm envisioning posts from etymology to book reviews to general family matters; I'd like to bring in guest bloggers to mix things up a bit.
My hope for this blog is that the content will be thought-provoking, fun, and worth discovery. Maybe a mom will read a post or something off a list that will serve as fodder for a dinner-time discussion; maybe a child will try a book off the list or find a new tongue-twister. Maybe a grandma will find a link that will help a grandchild with a report.
I hope! So if you visit here, please let me know what you think, what could be improved, what you'd like to see--and tell your friends.
See you later!
Sarah
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