LFLF Editor's Blog

Changes

The magazine is evolving.  There will be a "spotlight" section, focusing on un/homeschooling groups, unschooling authors, nonprofits or other opportunities for unschoolers, etc.  There will also be instructions for an activity, whether it's kid-friendly knitting, cool science experiments, geocaching, bookmaking, building a bat house, beginning genealogy, or mask making....  Also, we'll soon include a review section.  Within the next few days, I'll put up a form on the website allowing visitors to submit reviews on whatever they like: unschooling books, board games, magazines, children's books, etc.  I'll just have to figure out how to work with cgi, first!

Pack Rats and Black Witch Moths

Over the past week, Kenzie decided to cull his toys - I mean, really cull his toys.  He's gotten rid of about half, as well as lots of games and old books.  He kept only those things which he truly enjoyed, and he keeps telling me how wonderful it is to be able to find what he's looking for.  Looks like we have a garage sale in our future. 

I was never one to get rid of things.  Pack rat, that's me.  Everything ends up having sentimental value, if you look at it the right way.  Kenzie's not like that, fortunately, and I was thrilled to watch him joyfully separating into piles those things he loved and those which were just taking up space. 

We did, however, add a few new toys to his stash.  We received a package of beautiful, hand-carved, hand-painted wooden figures in the mail today from a wonderful woman named Anne Moze.  He chose a wizard figure (that came with a full-size wand), a baby dragon and cave, three fairies, two trolls, and two trees.  Everything is simply lovely, and he's been playing with it all day.  He even decided to gather acorns, flowers and leaves for the real fairies, and he poured them a wine glass half-full of grape juice.

He's also been spending several hours each day with his Prismacolor pencils, drawing and coloring.  Kenzie's never been much interested in creating artwork before, so this is definitely a change.  I've set up a basket full of paper and Prismacolors on the dresser so he can work next to the bed (his favorite drawing spot) whenever he likes. 

Tonight, Terry and I played Scrabble with my brother, Sean, while Kenzie immersed himself in a Pokemon Gameboy game.  As Sean left, we saw a giant, male black witch moth resting on the porch light.  It's still there, now.  This moth is huge, with a wingspan of about six inches, though the edges of his wings are rather tattered. I'm wondering why he's still in Texas.  Usually, they migrate in June or July.  He's an impressive guy, though, and I'm glad he stopped by.  Our camera is on the fritz, so here's a generic photo of a male black witch moth. 

Now Kenzie is back playing, again, with his wooden figures and singing.

No Name

For months, I've watched one of our five bettas, No Name, the most energetic and, perhaps, the most beautiful of them, cope with a growing tumor on his face.  It slowly blinded him and pushed his mouth over to the side, hindering his ability to eat.  Over the past week, it grew so massive that he was unable to eat at all, despite my putting him in a small jar a few times a day and sprinkling dozens and dozens of tiny food pellets (rather than just sprinkling a few in his huge bowl).  He tried to eat, lunging at the food, but still couldn't get anything.  So, I began crumbling lots of freeze dried blood worms into his bowl.  They floated nicely on the top, and he was able to get a tiny bit each time he tried.  We kept him beside our bed for the past three nights, watching over him, crying, talking to him, and discussing death. 

Kenzie believes that the spirits of those who die pass through the spirits of those who love them and leave a bit of themselves behind on their way to the (Greek) underworld.  He wondered if No Name would pass through him and, if so, what part of himself he would leave in Kenzie.  Would Kenzie be able to swim quickly and smoothly underwater, or perhaps be better able to hold his breath? 

No Name died during the night as we slept beside him.  When Kenzie awoke in the morning, I told him that No Name was dead, and he said, "So that's why I had that dream!"  Apparently, just before he woke, he'd dreamed that I'd told him about No Name's death.  He took that as a sign that his spirit already knew about the fish's passing because No Name had left Kenzie a part of himself. 

Does he feel more fishy?  Well, he wasn't too keen on taking a bath today, so he'll have one tomorrow.  I guess we'll find out then.

(I was never able to get a decent photo of him, and as much as I search for a similar-looking betta in Google images, I'm unable to find one.  I've never seen another betta like him - a dark teal, beautiful and vibrant.  And, he loved to flare more than the others, showing off his gorgeous coloring over and over throughout the day.)

Rediscovering Our Piano

Kenzie and I watched the movie Shine tonight for the first time.   There were several parts that Kenzie didn't want to sit through (mostly involving the father's character), and we discussed many scenes, but by the time Rachmaninoff's music was introduced, Kenzie had pulled out the piano bench and was focused on playing his own concerto. 

For the most part, I watched the remainder of the movie on my own, sporadically.  At Kenzie's request, I drew up a staff and penciled in the notes of the treble clef, showing him the corresponding keys.  We've done this before, but it's been a while.  He lost interest for several months.  We talked about chords, about the pedals, about the clef, etc.  He enthusiastically played several of his own pieces for me. 

Then, he sat down with colored pencils and paper and drew up his own treble clef and staff.  He filled in notes and compared them to my labeled version so he would know which keys to press.  He wrote his own song.  After a bit more time spent with colored pencils, he showed me his new "schedule," complete with illustrations showing him eating breakfast from 9:00 to 9:03 (he's a fast eater), practicing piano from 11:00 to 11:30, and playing outside from 1:30 to 2:01.  He's taped it to the fridge so he'll remember when he wakes up tomorrow. 

Looks like our old piano won't have to feel so neglected - at least for a while.

Getting Ready

Well, we've decorated for Halloween - cobwebs on the bushes, spiders hanging from tree branches, a caped skeleton swinging from the porch eaves, and a huge cloth door hanging filled with monsters and witches.  I'll have to see if I can dig up some old white sheets so we can hang ghosts from the tree, as well. 

Kenzie's costume this year?  A giant blue cape with a hood.  Yes, after reading  Wizardology, he's going to be a wizard.  He's planning to borrow my brother's staff (I had one once, but don't remember where it is), and he'll be set.  When he wears the cape, all that can be seen is his face, so we don't have to worry about any other clothing, or even footwear.  He's already counting down the days.

We found the cape at a thrift store a while back.  Because of his supply of costumes, we always have something cool for Halloween - no store-bought cartoon characters and such.  Lots of capes, coats, masks, wands, hats, accessories, etc.  Even a few full-fledged costumes - a unicorn, a couple of witches, a dinosaur (which he wore everywhere for about a year)....  Costumes have been a big part of his life for several years now. 

Anyway, we're ready for Halloween.  Well, except for the goodies.  Hmm....  And the pumpkin!  How could I forget?  I'm not much for carving, but I sure do enjoy the roasted seeds!

Embracing the Tragic

I was considering favorite artists and photographers today.  I am drawn to Käthe Kollwitz and her desperate, haunting images of women and children caught in war, though I can't bear to look long at them.  And, I am in love with the photographs of Dorothea Lange, which, again, I can hardly look at.  Perhaps my spirit has a need for terrible realism....  Strangely, I have never considered this before.

My poetry tends in this direction, as well.  In fact, I once wrote on one of Lange's most well-known photographs, "Child and Her Mother," because I couldn't get it out of my mind.  What had happened?  What was this young girl thinking?

        There is the house, the laundry -
        she knows
                            - the dishes
        to be washed and carefully
        dried.  She will not break
        another bowl,
        its slick curve with
        hidden cracks.

There's just something about me that turns toward the tragic.  In most of the images that grab me as I look through rusted metal tubs filled with old photographs, there is something tragic, or at least something I perceive as tragic.  Generally, I'm a happy person, so why this strange bend toward haunting images?

Dorothea Lange's "Child and Her Mother, Wapato, Yakima Valley, Washington"  Click to enlarge.

Tootsie Pops and Candy Factories

So, how many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?  540, according to Kenzie. 

Yesterday, he finished Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and declared, "This is the best book I've ever, ever read!"  So, now I'm on the lookout for Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator - the one illustrated by Quentin Blake, because Kenzie adores the pictures.  I'm sure we'll move on to James and the Giant Peach, The Witches, and goodness-knows-what-else soon.

Frog - By Kenzie

Dreaming of British Comedies

Saturday night is British comedy night on our local PBS station.  Usually, I'm not able to watch - real life gets in the way - but tonight, I sat down for the last hour of it and caught both The Vicar of Dibley and Chef!  There are several they show that I could do without - Last of the Summer Wine is one.  And, though they don't air it, Ab Fab comes to mind as a particular non-favorite.  I started thinking about which actually were my favorites and came up with a tentative list - a dream night of British comedy, I suppose.  In no particular order:

Waiting for God
Chef!
Black Adder
Monty Python
Fawlty Towers
Vicar of Dibley
Are You Being Served?
Red Dwarf
Good Neighbors (Called The Good Life in England)
To the Manor Born
Yes (Prime) Minister
The Rise and Fall of Reginald Perrin

And, occasionally, Open All Hours and Keeping Up Appearances.  Both are extremely repetitive (and it really isn't all that funny to see an entire town treating a middle aged man as if he were 16, as they do in Open All Hours), but they're funny if watched in small doses, and I do love Patricia Routledge (look for her in my all-time favorite Sidney Poitier movie, To Sir With Love).

That's quite a bit of television, now that I think about it.  Perhaps this should really be more of a dream weekend of British comedy....

Candlewick Press

At Costco today, Kenzie discovered the new "Ology" book from Candlewick Press - Wizardology.  He's entranced, casting spells to turn himself into mythical creatures, reading secret Wizard lore....

Candlewick Press has been publishing beautiful and interesting children's books books for years.  Berlie Doherty's Fairy Tales is, hands down, the most enjoyable book of fairy tales we've found, and it served as bedtime fare for many months.  Jane Ray's illustrations are stunningly beautiful.

Helen Oxenbury's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland illustrations are superb - cheerful and lighthearted.

 

 

And, their History News series is wonderful.  We usually have a least a few of them checked out from the library, but we've finally bought our first, Aztec News, after finding it in hardback for a few dollars.  Currently, only the paperbacks are in print, but we're holding out for the hardbacks, if we can find them.

 

Actually, I'm notorious for refusing to buy books new, but each of the books above (save for the History News) I purchased off the shelves - including the entire "Ology" series (Egyptology, Dragonology and Wizardology).  I couldn't help myself; they're all so beautifully illustrated and so utterly engaging.