Barbara Curtis

Today I read on Elizabeth Foss' blog that Barbara Curtis had a serious stroke and is not expected to regain consciousness.  I haven't read Barbara's blog in quite some time or followed it regularly for several years, but still the news brought me to tears.  I first "met" Barbara when she posted a comment in 2005 on an old blog of mine, saying she appreciated my take on an article we both had read and inviting me to read her take on it.  I read her regularly for some time, finding her such an encouraging voice as I, a new Christian, tried to figure out how to talk about God to my then three year old daughter.  Her words, especially in her book Lord, Please Meet Me in the Laundry Room, gave me a new and richer perspective on my life as a mother.  Tonight I am praying for Barbara and her family, and I hope you will do so as well.

A Little Nature Walk - And Field Guide Failure

Isn't this cosmo beautiful?  And I am amazed at its height!  It is a volunteer and just came into bloom around the beginning of October.  I love that I can see it from my kitchen window.

We spent some time on Friday morning walking around our area and saw a red tailed hawk, seven turkeys, lots and lots of squirrels.  We also visited our animal graveyard (where my husband buries animals who meet their untimely demise on our property) and found evidence of grave robbers.  This is a skunk skull, remarkably clean considering it was only buried about four months ago.  The kids are trying to dig up more, but the ground was too hard for them to get very far.

And I sure would like to know what this is!  My husband found this lower down on our property on Thursday and showed it to me, and I showed it to the kids on Friday.  We have found two more in our general area.  They all are made on top of fallen trees or stumps, and have at least two entrances, one dug under the log or stump, and one coming up a little distance away.  Sometimes field guides are very frustrating!  I've had several things I have tried to look up but without any success.  And I can't even think of a good way to search for it on Google!

The Debate

I wasn't sure what my kids would make of the debate last night, but we watched it streaming on the computer and used this presidential debate bingo card to make it a little more engaging.

The response?  Afterwards the kids spontaneously held a presidential debate of their own.  Here were their closing statements.

The four year old:  I will help mom!

The six year old:  I will lower taxes!

The ten year old:  First, if you vote for me, you will help make history as I will be the first woman president.  Second, I will lower taxes.  Third, I will help people get better health care.  Thank you, that is all.

My husband:  We're doomed.  (I'll leave it as an exercise for the reader if he's referring to the children's debate or the actual debate...)

The four year old has my vote - bread and circuses and what's in it for me wins out every time, right?