It was one of those mornings when everything went just as planned. I even remembered to pack extra snacks and refill the water bottles for everyone. But the perfect plan didn't quite buy me time to sit back and savor... Continue reading

We ran into a number of friends and neighbors at the Cahaba Lily Festival this past weekend. Today, one of our kind neighbors shared the photos she took of our family while we played in the Cahaba. I am so... Continue reading

Those Saturday visits to West Blocton always leave the ruffling of favorite memories in their wake. Actually, the Cahaba Lily Festival is not a secret at all- it is well-publicized and you can find details at the Cahaba Lily website.... Continue reading

Photo credit and source: Terence Bunch and war-torn Afghanistan. The Boston Review published Dara Wier's prose poem, "Declining Public Appetite for Large Wars of Occupation", and I love it. So I'm sharing it- and tipping my hat to the poet as well as her publisher. Unlike before, unlike in prehistoric times, unlike during the good old days when the public’s appetite for large wars of occupation made for lively, crisp, contoured news reporting filled with edifying dramas of mass slaughters and satisfying banquets of blood and guts and sinew-strewn sidewalks. Those were the better days, the past times, the public... Continue reading

A husband and wife should never read divergent Russian authors at the same time on the same nights swapping out the same chairs. Especially not if the same husband and wife agree on "The IT Crowd". There are too many... Continue reading

The order of the day nestled around Norton Juster and chess problems. Read Write Think has a great free lesson plan on "Finding Figurative Language in The Phantom Tollbooth:". The printable figurative language chart led to some mutual and fun... Continue reading

There is more than one way to play with balloons. Just ask the residents of the Coryell Castle, who have numbered at least 27 different ways to play. The only part that no one wants to do is the blowing-them-up... Continue reading

Max has determined that our garden friend is none other than the showy evening primrose, also known as Oenothera speciosa. Of course, we had a little help from Carol, who explained that primroses are not poppies (we were hot on... Continue reading

Thanks to Candace and Mary, we started the day with a field trip to Hewett's Honey Farm in Duncanville, Alabama. I created an information sheet about how bees live and make honey which also includes a few interview questions to... Continue reading

On Saturday, May the 18th, Westboro Baptist Church is planning a picket on The Campus of The University of Alabama. Like everything planned by the Westboro Baptist Church, this picket will be targeted against social diversity and will probably attempt... Continue reading

Hendrik Hertzberg made a name for himself as a liberal Democrat who wrote speeches for presidents and essays for The New Republic. The best way to read Hertzberg is as a summation of recent history in American liberal thinking, simplified by the publication of Politics: Observations and Arguments, 1966-2004 (though you can also catch his most recent thoughts at his New Yorker blog). While I disagree with Hertzberg on a number of things, I also assent to his wisdom on others. And Hertzberg's paen to George Macdonald in the author's note only suggests how different-looking plants often bloom from the... Continue reading

The time has come for Max and I to bond over one of my absolute favorite books in the world. Max cackles as he reads it, and I find myself begging him to tell him which part he's reading. For... Continue reading

Malik and Awadallah discuss an Arab Marshall plan. Non-Arab countries, like Afghanistan and Iran, seem to be left out of the important geostrategic scenario. More than 60 lawmakers rely mostly on out-of-state to win their seats. Representing the people- and the cash. Five experimental short films on everyday life in postcommunist Georgia. Tariq Ali shares his thoughts on what the US did wrong in Afghanistan. Hint: mirages are involved. Chris Christie insists that he is a "damn good Republican"- whatever that means. At least 71 kids have been killed by firearms in the US since the Newton shooting. Loose guns... Continue reading

Eventually, Romania will have to decide whether it wants to be a part of Europe or a stomping-ground for US interests. The two have never been identical, although Cold Warriors long for the days when that might have at least been the truth told by propaganda. In August 2012, a complaint was brought before the European Court of Human Rights alleging that Romania assisted the CIA in landing a secret flight that brought al-Nashiri to Romania sometime after June 2003, then allowing him to be held for an unknown period of time before he was flown out on another secret... Continue reading

When the end justifies any means, a poet's desires to tell the truth is suicidal. In November 1933, Russian poet Osip Mandelstam wrote a poem about Stalin which he then shared with a small of coterie of friends in his Moscow apartment. Among those present for the reading of "The Stalin Epigram" were Boris Pasternak, Anna Ahkmatova, Sergei Petrovich, and Nahdezha Yakovlevna (Osip's wife), among six or so others. To this mixture of listeners, Robert Littell adds a "Zanaida Zaitseva-Antonova" known to be a "theatre actress" and "poetry-lover"- and suggests that the actress and mistress was the one who turned... Continue reading

Isla loved it when Micah and Milla chatted with her about the ponies and breast milk- two topics that run heavy currency. The girls decided to set up a pony train to visit Isla because "Isla has a throne and... Continue reading

Me and Bunicu on Transylvania. Nine years of incessant change and sweetness spiked by the realization that I am not the ideal mother I always thought I'd be. As Bunicu sails across the seas somewhere with his wife and friends,... Continue reading

Something fun to plan for the summer solstice on June 21st this year. To participate in Budburst's Summer Solstice Event, all you need is an internet connection and a desire to learn more about the plants around you. Of course,... Continue reading

The days of periodic tabling have arrived in the Coryell Castle. It's a challenge to teach because it wasn't always my strong point, but Max has been pushing to learn it despite state standards that don't map it to our... Continue reading

should I greet you as if we had merely eaten together one night when the white birches dripped wet and lightning etched black trees on your walls? it is not love I am asking love comes from years of breathing... Continue reading

It's easy to love through a cold spring when the poles of the willows turn green pollen falls like a yellow curtain and the scent of Paper Whites clots the air but to love for a lifetime takes talent you... Continue reading

Buford Rogers is the 24-year-old dude arrested by the FBI today in Minnesota on suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack. According to the legal complaint filed by the FBI, Rogers could not legally possess a firearm that has been transported across state or international boundaries because he is a convicted felon. He is being held on the basis of this charge at the present. The assault rifle in question was a Romanian AKM model. My 20 questions for "Bucky" Rogers would go something like this (the minute he put that gun down, of course. Rule of thumb- never talk to... Continue reading

Because I can't get enough of the French aesthetic today.... and because there's a free ecology-based coloring project manned by French illustrators. From Filles Couloriers "I limit the number of washes". From e-coloriages (PDF download) "I turn off the lights... Continue reading

I found a charming little flower press on sale at Barnes and Noble and decided it was absolutely necessary for our learning this summer. It's unusual for me to be enchanted or inspired by a brand, but if it happens,... Continue reading

Reading Bob Woodward's Obama's Wars, I came across a line that got stuck in my head and led me to a little goose chasing: "Out of more than 40 US allies, only the Romanian soldiers stationed in Zabul province consistently recorded what Harvey wanted to know." In 2006, Romanian troops at Forward Operating Base Maisam were beginning to express concern over the IED's and the increase in Taliban attacks. In 2011, there were more than 1,300 Romanian troops deployed in Zabul in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, mostly along Highway 1, the “ring road” that links major Afghan cities. "Romanian... Continue reading