MARY TAYLOR WELCOMES YOU TO THESCHOOLMARM.COM

A few weeks ago I sent an email to 17 men. I am most grateful to the 8 who responded. I asked them three questions: Why did you become --- (butcher, baker, candlestick maker); what is the greatest challenge on your job; what is your greatest satisfaction? Sincere thanks to Don Nibert, Devin Borland, Tom Dobson, Randy Allison, Tommy Carpenter, Cal Slayton, Tim Taylor and Mark Million. May God bless each of you, on the job and in your personal life. You sound like wonderful men and from what I know of you - you are! If you other guys would like to participate, it isn't too late, just send your responses to mtaylor56@ca.rr.com. I am really interested to hear your answers.

I became a potter because I’m driven to create objects, and make questionable decisions. ( donnibert.com)

  The greatest challenge in my work is surviving the market changes and bad weather.

Don's daughter, Maja

I get the most satisfaction at work from being able to create something of beauty with mud and scrap metal that will inhabit a home and perhaps help promote a sense of well being, and collect dust.

 

bat illustration by Aletha Reppel, Bat Conservation International Educator’s Activity Book

EARS:   Bats have very good hearing.  They use it for finding food and locating their babies.  For insect and fish eaters, the big ears help with echolocation.   Usually, echoes are received by funnel-shaped ears that face forward.

NOSE:   The sense of smell is well developed in most bats.  It is used to find and identify certain foods and to recognize roost mates and young.  Fruit eating bats can find their food by the smell of the ripening fruit.   Nectar seeking bats gather pollen on their snout, and by going from flower to flower help create new plants.

EYES: Bats are not blind!  For example, flying fox bats have very good eyesight and they use their eyes along with their excellent sense of smell to help find food in the dark.  Bats’ eyes are better at seeing in the dark.   Most see objects only in black and white, but color vision is known to exist in some old world fruit bats.

FEET:  With their strong claws, bats are able to hang upside down in their roosts. Fishing bats also use their claws to scoop up the fish they will eat.

HANDS AND WINGS:  Bats fly by using their hands and wings. While the wings are flapping, bats can go up or down by moving the membrane between the body and fifth finger.  This is called “lift.”  Bats move forward (called “thrust”) by changing the shape of the membrane between the second and fifth fingers. 

FUR ON THEIR BODY:  You can tell that a bat is a mammal because it has fur or hair on its body.  The fur protects the bat because different colors and designs can serve as camouflage and they can hide from danger.  The fur is kept clean by regular licking, somewhat like what a cat does.   In the winter it helps keep the bat warm.

bats4kids.org

Skateboarding was probably born sometime in the late 1940s or early 1950s when surfers in California wanted something to surf when the waves were flat. No one knows who made the first board; it seems that several people came up with similar ideas at around the same time.

These first skateboarders started with wooden boxes or boards with roller skate wheels attached to the bottom. The boxes turned into planks, and eventually companies were producing decks of pressed layers of wood – similar to the skateboard decks of today. During this time, skateboarding was seen as something to do for fun besides surfing, and was therefore often referred to as “Sidewalk Surfing”.

 A 2002 report found that there were 18.5 million skateboarders in the world. 85 percent of skateboarders polled who had used a board in the last year were under the age of 18, and 74 percent were male.

With the evolution of skateparks  and ramp skating, the skateboard began to change. Early skate tricks had consisted mainly of two-dimensional maneuvers like riding on only two wheels (“wheelie” or “manual”), spinning only on the back wheels (a “pivot”), high jumping over a bar and landing on the board again, also known as a “hippie jump”, long jumping from one board to another (often over small barrels or fearless teenagers) or slalom. Another popular trick was the Bertlemann slide named after Larry Bertelemann’s surfing maneuvers.

In 1976, skateboarding was transformed by the invention of the ollie by Alan “Ollie” Gelfand. It remained largely a unique Florida trick until the summer of 1978, when Gelfand made his first visit to California. Gelfand and his revolutionary maneuvers caught the attention of the West Coast skaters and the media where it began to spread worldwide. The ollie was adapted to flat ground by Rodney Mullen in 1982. Mullen also invented the “Magic Flip”, which was later renamed the kickflip, as well many other tricks including, the 360 Kickflip, which is a 360 pop shove it  and a kickflip in the same motion. The flat ground ollie allowed skateboarders to perform tricks in mid-air without any more equipment than the skateboard itself, it has formed the basis of many street skating tricks.

 

Reviews:  

Janet Maslin, The New York Times – ” A haunting debut novel . . . mesmerizing.”

Nancy Pearl, NPR – “Devastatingly awesome . . . Its one of those books that I didn’t want to put down – I resented everything else that I needed to do in my life, because I didn’t want to stop reading it.”

People Magazine – “Some thirty-five years after the fall of Saigon, Soli’s entrancing debut brings you close enough to feel a part of it.”

Tim O’Brien, author of The Things They Carried – ” A haunting world of war, betrayal, courage, obsession, and love.”

Janice Y.K. Lee, author of The Piano Teacher – “The very steam from Vietnam’s jungles seems to rise from the pages of Tatjana Soli’s tremendously evocative debut . . . A beautiful book.”

Mary Taylor, the Schoolmarm –  ”I usually avoid movies or books about Vietnam because they bring back such painful memories of that terrible era that I remember all too well, but when this book was suggested to me I thought it was time that I faced it – and I am glad I did. It helped me to understand more about the country, so far away, that took so much from us – and gave so little in return.”

Cauliflower

is low in fat, low in carbs but high in dietary fiber, folate, water, and vitamin C, possessing a high nutritional density.  Cauliflower contains several phytochemicals common in the cabbage family,  that may be beneficial to human health.

• Sulforaphane,  a compound released when cauliflower is chopped or chewed, may protect against cancer.
• Other glucosinolates 
• Carotenoids 
• Indole-3-carbinol, a chemical that enhances DNA repair, and acts as an estrogen  antagonist, slowing the growth of cancer cells.

Boiling reduces the levels of these compounds, with losses of 20–30% after five minutes, 40–50% after ten minutes, and 75% after thirty minutes. However, other preparation methods, such as steaming, microwaving, and stir frying,  had no significant effect on the compounds.

A high intake of cauliflower has been associated with reduced risk of aggressive prostate cancer. 

100g of cauliflower contains the following nutritional information according to the USDA:

• Calories : 25
• Fat: 0.28
• Carbohydrates: 4.97
• Fibers: 2
• Protein: 1.92
• I like the taste and crunch of cauliflower, and after reading this, I’m glad I do!

Well, no one said we were very wild in my neighborhood!

Ralphie still enjoys his strolls around the backyard.  He is a plant eater, so he seeks out bamboo leaves and fresh grass to chew on.  It either aids digestion or just tastes good to him.  I’ve given up on trying to stop him.  He seems to be very selective in his choice, so I figure he knows what he’s doing.  Of course why he eats Kleenex is still a mystery to me and he won’t tell.

He is looking a big weary these days and his cough has gotten worse, but he is hanging in there and we still enjoy his company very much.  He’s still our ‘good boy’.

I was intrigued as a child when I read about the wooden shoes of Holland.  So, when I traveled to Amsterdam as a young teacher I was thrilled to buy a pair.  I brought back a large set in bright red as seen on this video. I can’t imagine being able to dance in them, but these girls certainly do.  Dressed in traditional Dutch style, they dance with Andre Rieux, handsome orchestra leader that I have seen on PBS, maybe you have too. 

Thanks to Cindy for the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVZi_JLbTYw&feature=email

Washington’s Birthday, also known as Presidents’ Day, is a federal holiday held on the third Monday of February. The day honors presidents of the United States, including George Washington, the USA’s first president.

The federal holiday Washington’s Birthday honors the accomplishments of the man known as “The Father of his Country”. Celebrated for his leadership in the founding of the nation, he was the Electoral College’s  unanimous choice to become the first President; he was seen as a unifying force for the new republic and set an example for future holders of the office.

The holiday is also a tribute to the general who created the first military badge of merit for the common soldier. Revived on Washington’s 200th birthday in 1932, the Purple Heart  medal (which bears Washington’s image) is awarded to soldiers who are injured in battle. As with Memorial Day and Veterans Day,  Washington’s Birthday offers another opportunity to honor the country’s veterans.

 

John Tyler (1790-1862)
Tenth President (1841-1845)

In rallying to the cry of “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too” in 1840, voters had their eyes fixed on the Whig White House contender referred to in the first half of that catchy slogan William Henry Harrison, hero of the Battle of Tippecanoe.

For most, his vice-presidential running mate, John Tyler, represented merely a poetically fortunate afterthought. Within a month of his inauguration, however, Harrison was dead, and Tyler became the first Vice President to be made President upon the death of his predecessor.

Tyler claimed the full powers of the presidency on taking office and thereby set a valuable precedent for future Vice Presidents who faced his situation. But Tyler’s White House tenure was tempestuous.

When his belief in the limited powers of federal government led him to veto a measure of his fellow Whigs for reestablishing a national bank, he found himself deserted by his cabinet, formally read out of his party, and branded “His Accidency” by former allies.

Tyler sat for this portrait by George P. A. Healy at his plantation home in Virginia. Although he was nearing seventy, still apparent was the proud stubbornness that he had brought to bear in his struggle with the Whigs during his White House years. 

George P. A. Healy (1813-1894)

oil on canvas, 1859 
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
transfer from the National Museum of American Art;
gift of the Friends of the National Institute, 1859 
NPG.70.23