We have been busy. We've read stories, gathered and observed creatures, planned for Christmas, and enjoyed one another. I hope you've all had a similarly enjoyable weekend.
We have two new additions to the family: a woolly slug, and a spotted garden slug. The woolly slug may be dead- I'll check after the boys are in bed. It's not terribly active, and the only way to tell if it's dead yet seems to be to give it a little shake. If it balls up, well then, we're good. If not, ah, well, it happens to the best of us. (We all seem to be over the homicidal goldfish episode, which is encouraging.)
The spotted garden slug, however, is a happy little gastropod. He's quick, too. Since he survived two full days with us, we made his living arrangements a little more permanent. He now has a two-part condo with all the amenities the most discriminating slug desires. The boys have named him Speedy Stretcher Slug, "Speedy," for short.
I'm not nearly as grossed out now as I was two days ago, when I was feelin' pretty cool for having thought to bring the thing inside at all. Slugs are quite fascinating! We're hoping for babies. I'll let y'all know.
****
Spent the weekend reading Stephen King's On Writing. I need to buy this book. Big thanks to MFS & Staci for recommending it. Thank you, both.
****
In reading and pondering, I've realized something that's, erm, a little disturbing. Evidently I'm not naturally drawn to works of fiction. I had no idea. My recent flings with fiction (King's The Dark Tower series and O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin novels, in particular) have been enjoyable, positive experiences. So. What's the mindblock there? It's not intentional. Really. I only just realized this tidbit after an exploratory expedition this weekend. I perused all of our books, only to find, other than the boys' books (where fiction abounds!) I have, erm, *mumble, mumble*, four titles on my shelves.
Yes, four. We aren't bereft of books. We have history books, biographies, science writings, nature books, math of all levels. We have books on any trade or skill you could want to read up on, and books in several languages, as well. We have books in every (yes, every) room in the house. And only four fiction titles. Mm-hmmm. That's not good. That's a new goal for me. How can I extol the beauty of fiction to the boys if I don't venture into that world myself? Sometimes I worry about the kind of eccentric old lady I will become.
What fiction do you read and why? Discuss. :-)
****
We have a great week of school ahead. It will be short, as structured lessons go, but we have some lovely titles to read, a few exciting new lessons in math, another set of vocabulary words for Latin.
This week we began taking more in-depth looks at each article of the Bill of Rights. We've just taken one article at a time and explored it at the boys' paces. The discussions have been downright fun! I highly recommend this exercise for little ones. It's interesting how they comprehend certain things and draw parallels themselves to the hooks they've hung in their minds. Wow. Just... wow.
****
For those of you who come to the front porch regularly to visit, I apologize for having been somewhat sporadic in posting lately. Evenings have been filled with great books, wonderful family time, writing (yes, writing), truly superb one-on-one time with Zorak, and an overwhelming sense of settling down, working out the restless that has pervaded my soul as of late. This is the good stuff. This is what it's all about. It is, at least, for me. Sometimes, though, the night moves on and the computer desk just doesn't look as inviting as the couch or the reading chair. Sometimes, from under the fleece throw, I can't bring myself to move. I'm thinking of you, though, hoping all is well for you and yours, and hope to hear from you soon, as well.. Thanks for coming around and sharing some time here.
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
5 comments:
Fiction - for me it is all about disengaging my brain. I like to read Southern fiction with characters I would love to meet in settings I've already known. I don't like heavy fiction. When I feel like thinking, I gravitate to what you have on your shelves.
I was hoping for some really good school this week, since all of our outside activities are off. Turns out that the local schools are out all week, so the doorbell will be ringing around 9:30. Good and bad I suppose.
We lost Jumpy this week, but Mummy Man is getting fatter and happier every day. Enjoy your slugs!
I like to read fiction because I find people very intereesting. I like books that show the complexity human beings, their emotions, how they change, how they come to know themselves better. I like a good story, with twists and turns, and I like to see emotion in fiction. I'm not a suspense reader, or intrigue, or science fiction. I love books about people. I guess I like them so much because I was (and am, still) very shy at heart, and reading about people is kind of a "safe" way to see inside of people.
Now that you mention it, a quick glance at our shelves of books reveals a lack of fiction. We too have a large collection of trade and skill manuals, books on local and regional history, reference texts, and scores of botanical tomes.
My fiction in the past had been limited to Stephen King and Carl Hiaasen. That of course was pre-homeschooling. I'm now catching up on all those wonderful classics I somehow missed out on in my youth. That's the real motivation behind our read-alouds! ; )
I lean heavily toward nonfiction too. It's not that I don't enjoy fiction, it's that I enjoy gaining new knowledge more. I do very much enjoy British authors, particularly Thomas Hardy. - JS
Oh, my. I've always said I don't trust people who don't read fiction, but I like you so much, Dy, that I'll have to revise that opinion!
I have the reverse problem, my shelves are bursting with fiction. I do have non-fiction, but I often leave those books unfinished.
My love affair with ficiton started in 2nd grade with the Little House books and went from there. My favorites are Anne Tyler and Rosamunde Pilcher. Rosamunde Pilcher tends to write sweet love stories, but I love how she develops characters that you still love in spite of their faults (so hard to do, but so much closer to real life). And as for Anne Tyler, the best description I've ever read of her work is this: "Bottomless intelligence, but yet doesn't exclude." Spot on. Her books make me think, but they're not hard to read. Other recent favorites are The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver and The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan. Poisonwood was an Oprah book, but don't hold that against it. Oprah tends to pick extremely depressing books, in my opinion. This one isn't exactly light, but again, it made me think.
Post a Comment