Easter Bunny

The "Easter Hare" was a sacred companion of the old goddess of spring Eastre. It has its origin in the pre-Christian fertility lore. (most fertile) They served as symbols of new life during the Spring season long before Jesus Christ was born. Parents told their children that the magic hare would bring them presents at the spring festival...painted eggs. In most places the Easter rabbit (bunny) has replaced the Easter hare completely.
The bunny was first used as a symbol of Easter in the l6th century Germany. The first edible Easter bunnies were made of pastry and sugar around the 1800's.
Children would make nests of grass and place them in their yards. They believed the bunny would fill these "baskets" with colored eggs during the night.
The Easter bunny was introduced to American folklore by the German settlers around the 1700's. The arrival of the "Oschter Haws" was considered "childhood's greatest pleasure next to a visit from Christ-Kindel on Christmas eve.
Later, the boys would use their caps and girls their bonnets to make the nests. Elaborate Easter baskets would come later.
Now, what is the difference between a hare and a rabbit. They both belong to the genus Lepus. Hares are very fast moving. The European Brown Hare can run at speeds of up to 45 mph. Hares are larger than most rabbits, with longer ears, and have black markings on their fur. Hares bear their young in a shallow flattened nest of grass called a form. Babies are born fully furred and with eyes open. The related rabbits and cottontail rabbits have their young in burrows below ground. They are born hairless and blind.
The hare in African folk tales is a trickster...Brer Rabbit. In English folklore the hare appears in the saying "as mad as a March hare". In Irish folklore the hare is often seen as an evil creature....with witches.

Just a little info to read while you eat your hard-boiled eggs.

Easter

Happy Easter. I thought I would share with you my little Easter project. I did not have an Easter basket, so I crocheted a rag basket. This was a good way to get rid of some of my little pieces of spring fabrics. It was fun and quick. If you need the directions, please let me know.

It's twins! Yes, we went out this morning to drive through the cattle. The calving is just about finished. There are 13 more to calve. We found a cow that had just had her calf. But then, we found a little one all curled up away from the herd. We got it up and realized the cow had had two calves. When a cow has two, they usually get confused and take care of only one. They do not realize they had two. But, like they say,"when a cow blinks, they think it is a new day." Many things happen with these cows to support this. The three of them are in a pen together and "mama cow" is doing a good job taking care of both.

Have you ever watched the movie, "Pollyanna"? this movie should be shown in schools at least once a week. I cannot remember what school showed this to its students, but it taught them to respect each other and look for the good in people. they fought less and performed better academically. What made me think of this? Well, I have had a crystal hanging in an east window for quite a while now. In "Pollyanna" crystals are very important in cheering up some of the people in the community. They brighten their days and lives. Anyway, when the sun comes up the crystal refracts the light and surrounds the room with rainbows. My 2-year old grandchild can't wait to get up to go in the room and chase the rainbows. She is already learning the colors of the rainbow. Remember Roy G Biv? Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet? I think I need to put up a couple more crystals. This starts my day off on a positive note, also.

Go fish

I realized this morning that spring is here according to my koi fish. Starting around the time we get some serious frost, I stop feeding them. They snuggle together at the bottom of the pond and appear to be sleeping. They are hibernating. They will move a little during the winter but do not require food. Since they are not eating, the water does not become polluted as it does the rest of the year. Well, this morning they are swimming more around the top of the pond. The temperature will reach 65-70 today. So, I guess these are the signs I need to get with it and clean the pond, get the waterfall going, and feed the fish. No more sewing, drawing, writing, knitting, crocheting, painting. My jobs will be working on the yard and pond. Tomato seeds are sprouting in the house, and onions and radishes and lettuce will be planted out side this week. For some reason, these jobs are not as easy or fun as they used to be. I am sure it has nothing to do with age. I keep telling myself that 60 is the new 40. I say this over and over again. It has not made a difference yet.. Well, out I go to the new spring adventure.

Good morning. Today on the TV news I heard some more wrong grammar usage. How many times do you hear, "for you and I" ? for is a preposition and therefore uses the demonstrative case for its subjects.
Nominative case pronouns: I, we, he, she, they, who...it, you
Demonstrative case pronouns: me, us, him, her them, whom.....it, you
Try saying this....This cake is for us. Or...This cake is for we. You know it would be us. So, you would say ....This cake is for you and me. Thanks for listening.

Good morning. Today I am going to show you a math pattern that is fun.
1x1=1 There is one 1
11x11=121 There are two 1's
111x111=12,321 There are three 1's
1111x1111=1,234,321 There are...
11,111x11,111=123,454,321
111,111x111,111=12,345,654,321
1,111,111x1,111,111=1,234,567,654,321
11,111,111x11,111,111=123,456,787,654,321
111,111,111x111,111,111=12,345,678,987,654,321
Now watch what happens when there is one more 1...
1,111,111,111x1,111,111,111=1,234,567,900,987,654,321
There is no 8 and 0's begin...
11,111,111,111x11,111,111,111=123,456,790,120,987,654,321
111,111,111,111x111,111,111,111=12,345,679,012,320,987,654,321
1,111,111,111,111x1,111,111,111,111 = 1,234,567,901,234,320,987,654,321
And so forth... I love to find patterns in math. These patterns may be come rules.

So sorry that there has been a delay in this new entry. If there were 36 hours in a day I would still be behind. Today I want to talk some more about grammar. I hear wrong usage on TV and read wrong usage in the paper and other articles with copulative verbs. A copulative verb is a verb that joins the subject to an adjective. These are examples of copulative verbs:
feels
smells
appears
looks
These verbs(there are others) are to be modified by an adjective...not an adverb.
You would say "feels bad" "smells sweet" "appears sad" "looks mean"
How many times do you hear.."feels badly"? ending in an ly means that it is an adverb. If you put the adjective back to the subject...you can tell more easily that this is right or wrong. "Sarah feels bad ( or badly). Is it bad Sarah or badly Sarah? The flower smells sweet (or sweetly). Is it sweet flower or sweetly flower. I am sure there are many more rules you can use to remember this. But, this helps me.

After reading this morning's newspaper I felt I had to contact the paper and ask them where their editor was hiding. I see so many grammatical errors. One of this morning's headlines was "businessmen was...." I think I am going to share with you some of the grammatical rules that are fun to learn or memorize that will always help with the English language whether writing or speaking. I am sure you learned these. But, like everything else...when not used...forgotten. Today's lesson is helping verbs. Here is a cute little rhyme....(learned in 7th grade)
is am be are was were been
have has had
could would should
may can will
might must shall
do did does seems done

Presidents' Day

Happy Presidents' Day. ( Washington, Feb. 22 and Lincoln, Feb. 12.) As I hung out my flag this morning I realized my grandchild, Penelope, would ask questions about the flag. When she noticed it she just stared and stared. I got her to say flag and USA. I was trying to teach her to say, "I pledge allegiance...." But, she is not yet two. As I went through this process with her I realized that so many children today do not know the reason for the flag and what it stands for. I know there is anger in the country right now and a lot of criticism. But, I still have the love, some days not so much, for my country. It is my home. I will defend it as long as I am alive. I still have freedoms, even though some seem to be not so free anymore. I will not give up on America. I still shed a tear when singing or hearing the National Anthem. By the way,do you know the words to the National Anthem? When Francis Scott Key saw through the smoke "...that our Flag was still there..." the words came to him for this anthem. I saw this flag in Washington D.C. It was in this very large room spread out across many tables while it was being carefully cleaned. There were many signs of history and years on this flag. I could not move my eyes from this sight. Our forefathers looked at this same flag. But, I am sure their feelings were so much stronger than mine. Their fight for freedom and their new country were all that was important at the time. Can you imagine putting your hand over your heart as the National Anthem is being performed and thinking about these same things other than who was going to win the Super Bowl? I am sorry that I can not express in words my very emotional strong feelings about the flag as well as others. But..I do have these feelings and always will.

colors

I thought I would share with you an idea I had for helping teach my two-year old grandchild how to organize, learn colors, matching, and how to say the colors and the numbers. Here is a picture. If you need directions, please write to me. I found the buttons at http://www.clownantics.com Here is the picture.

website

I finally finished it. I now have a web site for my math workshops. I have been working on this for quite a while and hope that I will get at least one chance to conduct a workshop with my math ideas. I love math so much and hate to see adults and students showing dislike for the subject. It can be fun, and I am determined to help these people see this and not be afraid. Too many students would tell me that their parents hated math and could not see the point in taking all of these classes. So, many of these children say the same thing. It is something we use every day, and I hope I can make a little difference in these attitudes. www.chocolatemath.net

Perigee

I hope you noticed that the moon was exceptionally bright on Friday night. It is what you call a perigee (per'i je). This is the point in the orbit of a heavenly body such as the moon or even an artificial satellite at which it is the closest to the earth. That night it was about 30% brighter. It was so amazing. This can happen once or twice a year when the moon is full. Just thought you would want to know why it was so bright and beautiful.

Embarrassed

I read today that Nevada rates 50th of the 50 states for k-12 education. They received a "D". The US average was a "C". Yes, I live in Nevada and taught here. I am embarrassed. When some of us would suggest some changes to our education system, we were laughed at or told everything was working just right or more money was needed to accomplish better scores. Money is not the solution. We need to go back to basics and let these students know from the beginning that there is discipline. We have academic standards (which have caused so many problems), but where are the discipline standards? I have been finding more and more educators and parents who believe the same. I guess we just have to continuing trying to be heard. I will get down off of my soap box for now. Let me leave you with this thought. In the 60's math decided it needed to make things more complicated. We learned 1+1=2. But, that was not enough. What if you had 1 apple +1 apple =2 and one of those apples had a bite taken out of it. Then you had 1+1<2. And it went on and on from there.

Quick dish

No pogonip today, just rain and snow.  The perfect dish for today is what we call slumgullion.  I use an electric skillet and put in a pound or two of hamburger depending on how much meat you like.  I brown this then add one or two cans of diced tomatoes, frozen mixed vegetables, canned mushroom pieces, sometimes zucchini, chopped onions.  Let this simmer until all vegetables are done.  Then I sprinkle jack cheese on the top and let it melt.  Serve with French bread or sheepherder bread....or no bread.  Enjoy.  

Our troops

Today I am not in as jolly a mood as I would like.  When I see what has happened in Haiti, I feel so sad but so lucky at the same time.  Then of course we have the soldiers putting their lives on the line for our freedom and safety.  At this time I would like to share a poem with you that I wrote a while ago.

 TO ALL OF OUR TROOPS FIGHTING FOR US:

You give me hope for the future of “We the People of The United States..”

And the rights, freedoms and happiness this document conveys.

Hope to not lose the freedoms of yesterday and feelings of pride

In the Red, White, and Blue as it waves high in the sky.

Hope to awaken tomorrow knowing my family, home and farm are still mine,

And making a living that keeps us happy and comfortable most of the time.

Hope to still have my own thoughts, prayers, and freedom of speech

And have arguments with others who disagree but respect my beliefs.

Hope to be able to dream about my children’s future of a job, home, and children

And hopes that these dreams will come true as mine did so very often.

Hope that my students still feel the pride and emotion from their trip to The Capital

When they visited Mt. Vernon, Lincoln, and the Viet Nam Wall.

Hope that I will never forget the expressions and tears from my adult choir in DC

When they stood on the steps in front of  Lincoln  …their  American songs to sing.

Hope that I will no longer take for granted all of these blessings,

Thank you for helping us fight for these rights..”The Bell of Freedom” rings.

A little history

One of the many things I wanted to do was be a math teacher...very much like the ones I had in high school.  These men were very good.  My college profs were not too bad.  One really did not like females in the classes and had an ego that got in the way of his teaching. I have always loved math...loved to solve problems and look for patterns. I graduated from college with a math/music/elem.ed teaching degree.  Every math job I applied for asked if I could coach anything or wondered why I had math and music.  To make a long story short, I finally taught math my last thirteen years of teaching in a public school. Sometimes my students would laugh because they said that I got too excited about things.  And, I did.  Solving quadratic equations... so fun. Triangles and hexagons... great fun.  I could go on and on.                                                       Here is something that I do when I am driving.  I look at the license plate numbers and try to do find patterns or just turn the numbers into problems.  What is it divisible by?  What is the square root?  What would the next number be?  What is the sum?, etc.  See, I think this is fun.  I would love to show many students and parents how fun math can be.  And, music and math do go together.  Those of us who teach music have been trying to show for years how music and rhythm help you learn math facts, alphabet (the alphabet song), English grammar rules, etc.  In the paper this morning there is an article about a school district receiving a grant to "infuse" music with math and English.  "Teachers said music helps build better brains."  This is not new data. I hope to share some of my ideas of "infusing" music with math, English, and other subjects.  For now, I will leave you with this silly story.  When my children and I were driving through the city one day, I noticed a sign on a shoe store that read SAS .  I excitedly yelled out, "Look, that is side-angle side."

A New Year, A New Blog

The pogonip returned to my valley this winter (2009), and I found myself staring out at its beautiful crystals and freeing my mind to do what it does best…wander.  This blog will allow me to share with you those thoughts.  Simple recipes, crafty how-tos, entertaining anecdotes and more will be the topics of my blogs.   And, being a life-long educator, I will certainly throw in teaching techniques that I have found useful in years past and my reactions to current education news.

While this blog will be a healthy outlet for me, my main objective is to make you smile and feel inspired.

Happy 2010!!!

Here are some interesting facts about pogonip.