genius at work

Each Monday afternoon I spend an enjoyable hour tutoring a 4th grader from South Wayne Elementary. Most of the sessions are spent reading and working on math, especially multiplication. But today, since the students had been taking Istep tests for several hours we were instructed to let our students color spring theme pictures, the best of which will be selected to be reprinted on thank you notes to be sent to the tutor volunteers. It was fun to watch my young lady get to work on this project. I gave her the paper and brand new box of crayons (doesn't everyone love a new box of crayons?) and explained the project to her. I also gave her a small white board and marker that are part of our regular equipment. I thought she might use it if she wanted to practice drawing some detail but she quickly sketched out her whole composition on the white board then proceeded to translate it into a full color drawing on the paper.  I particularly enjoyed her running commentary on her grandma's flower garden as she created her masterpiece of flowers, sun and butterflies, based on colors she had seen there.  I am sooo ready for spring now.

a thank you to the Oscars

All this winter I've been skipping Downton Abbey, even though I really enjoy the series, because there were other programs I wanted to see more on Sunday evenings. But tonight, thanks to the Oscars, the programs I usually watch are not on. But PBS, in a stroke of genius, reran the whole season of episodes of Downton Abbey this afternoon and evening, so now I am all caught up. I might even take a quick look at the Oscars later this evening, maybe.

the art of conversation

I am of an age when, with friends, our conversation often focuses on our ills and/or our grandchildren.  Nothing wrong with that,  I'm as guilty as anyone. Those are the things we have in common.  However, this evening was different.  Friends of a friend whom I had met once before invited us to dinner which was very good indeed. She was an art teacher and he's an engineer so they are people with whom I have a lot in common. During the course of the evening we four sat at the table and enjoyed a wide ranging conversation.  We touched on home remodeling, art, theater, travel, ancestors, birds and animals in our back yards, politics, teaching, grandchildren and more but I realized as I was driving away that no one mentioned a single health complaint all evening. That's probably a new record.

understanding foreign languages

I'm going on two trips this year, one to Spain and one to Scotland and I've realized something about these trips.  I don't speak Spanish at all so I have no expectations of understanding people there except through translators or the hope that they speak English as a second language (which, I've happily discovered, many people in other countries do and I admire them for it). But somehow I feel that I ought to be able to understand the people of Scotland. After all they do speak English, sort of. I remember a conversation I had with a local the only other time  I've been in Scotland.  He was giving me directions and it was just lucky that he pointed while he talked because I couldn't understand a word he said.  I am doing my homework though.  I've gotten hooked on a Net Flix series called "Monarch of the Glen", a fun soap opera in hour long episodes that takes place in the Scottish Highlands.  The scenery is fabulous, the characters are interesting, and, depending on how thick the accents are, I can generally understand at least most of what is being said.  I love this homework.

An articulate athlete

I happened to catch an interview this morning on Good Morning America with Hope Solo, an Olympic soccer star. It was an interesting and wide ranging interview and I realized after a few minutes that this woman was speaking in complete sentences. Not only that, she never once started a sentence with "so". Now nothing against athletes but I've heard many interviews with athletes (and for that matter, movie and TV stars) that seldom got beyond one syllable words and grunts, so this was a real pleasure.  I will be cheering for Hope in the Brazil Olympics.

Do geese have parties?

For the last three nights geese have been gathering and flying around my apartment building and they don't do it quietly. You have never heard such a cacophony of noise. Other birds chirp quietly, or at least musically, but geese honk and honk and honk some more. I'm not sure what their problem is.  They sound like they are trying to understand something. Perhaps it's the wild swings in weather we've been experiencing lately or maybe they are struggling with their own political elections. That's what it sounds like to me. Lots of promises, lots of insults, lots of noise, noise, noise....

Reading to Live Longer

As heard on TV: Reading, and especially reading and belonging to a book club can help you live longer.  If that's the case, based on all the books I've read over the years, I should live to be 100 while my friend Sandy, who always has a book in her hand and three in her purse, should make it to 150.  Turns out though, as I listened further, that the age benefit seems to come from the socialization, being part of any group, rather than the actual reading.  It made me think of the book club meeting I attended last week.  I've recently joined this club at the urging of a friend and so far the books we've read have been interesting but not necessarily what I would have chosen on my own. At last week's meeting we were served a lovely snack, all sweets and nuts, then began our discussion of the book. With our leader's help we stayed focused on the book and author for about 20 minutes, but then focus started to shift. Before I knew it the group was talking about presidential politics, scams being perpetrated on  the elderly, what happened last week on The Bachelor, and a myriad of other topics.  Our gallant leader tried to get us back on topic a few times but eventually gave it up as a lost cause. So now I'm left with this question - will belonging to this club help me live longer or will it just seem longer?