marieqrogers

THE MAGIC OF CHRISTMAS

November 29, 2013 by Marie Q Rogers

Every year, the commercial Christmas season seems to distend earlier into autumn. This year, stores set out Christmas decorations before Halloween and soon broadcast Christmas music.

Bah! Humbug! Even store employees agreed.

I remember Grandma Rogers, one of the nicest people I’ve ever known, saying, “I’m going to join the Jehovah’s Witnesses”. This seemed so out of character. She was no Scrooge, but grew up in a family of modest means and reared her children during the Great Depression. The increasing commercialization of Christmas must have grated on her. Now I understand. I find myself making the same threat.

But TODAY is the day after Thanksgiving. The Spirit of Christmas beckons. Don’t worry, you won’t find me at the mall, or even a convenience store. I may or may not glance through the stack of catalogs that have cluttered my mailbox for weeks, but I will start making lists. After almost two months of Scrooge, it is time to welcome Christmas.

This holiday embodies a magic unrelated to material things and goes beyond the joy of giving. Remember the Christmas Truce of 1914? During World War I, Allied and German soldiers in the trenches spontaneously stopped fighting, sang Christmas carols, and crossed battle lines to exchange fellowship, food, and souvenirs. Unsanctioned by their superiors, this event will long be remembered as a triumph, however brief, of love over hate.

The magic of Christmas survives adversity. In 1989, we had an ice storm. On December 22^nd, my children and I visited my parents in Scrambletown, planning to spend one night. My parents didn’t know that my sister Lorraine, a missionary in Africa, was coming home for Christmas. She arrived with the freezing rain and snow. Our parents were surprised and overjoyed and no one minded the bitter cold.

But we cold not get home. The Ocala National Forest is a veritable island, surrounded on two sides by the Ocklawaha River and the St. Johns River on a third. The bridges were iced and closed. The only way out was south through Lake County, but weather conditions made travel inadvisable. Our northern friends may scoff, but they do not want to share icy roads with Floridians. We are a menace.

Sunshine melted the ice and I drove home Christmas Eve. Patches of frost remained on shady areas of roadway, but we arrived safely. We came home to no electricity or heat. Water left in a jar was frozen and my houseplants were history. However, our spirits were not chilled. With a gas stove, we could cook. Somehow I procured a kerosene heater. We survived and celebrated a very happy Christmas.

Of course, Christmas cannot overcome all misfortune. A neighbor of my parents was killed one Christmas Eve riding home on a mini-bike intended for his children. These things happen. Lesser troubles occur. When I was about eleven, some of my brothers and sisters came down with measles and my mother had to stay home with them while the rest of us visited our grandparents on Christmas. The last year of my marriage, I was heartbroken when my spouse neglected to give me a gift. But my children’s generosity buoyed my spirits.

Christmas brings anxiety. As a parent, I always worried I wasn’t doing enough for my children. Then one year, when my oldest boy was about five, he remarked that he got too many presents. I used to have a recurring dream, that it was Christmas Eve and I did not have gifts for some of my loved ones. After a few years, the dream ceased to bother me. Then one year the dream did not come! I worried that I would actually forget someone.

Most of my memories of Christmas are happy. As a child, we would wake at 3:00 am and find our stockings filled. Santa must have come by at 2:30. One Christmas we woke to a living room full of child-size wicker chairs, one for each of us. I still wonder how Santa managed that. One season we tried to peek into what our parents had bought us. That ruined our fun and we never did it again. Before we moved to Florida, Christmas lasted all day. We ate breakfast at home and opened presents. Then we went to Grandma Rogers’ for dinner and more gifts. For supper, we went to Grandma Masters’ for aunts, uncles, cousins, and even more presents.

Maybe that’s why I still try to make Christmas last all day. My children were allowed to get their stockings when they woke up, but they were not to open presents until Mama had a cup of coffee. Even then, my preference was to limit it to one gift before breakfast, which of course drove the kids nuts.

Occasionally, we went to the Christmas Eve service at church, but I prefer to spend that night at home. Before my children grew up and moved away, we had a tradition of snacking on hors d’oeuvres and wrapping gifts until bedtime. Last year, my daughter-in-law’s gift was to take me to the Christmas Eve matinee at the Alhambra Dinner Theatre in Jacksonville. The food was delicious and “White Christmas” brought me to tears. Although the cast faced an evening performance, their spirits were high and some took time to chat with us afterwards and sign autographs for my granddaughter.

The magic didn’t end there. We stopped at the riverfront on the way home and enjoyed the scenery and the cool but pleasant evening. A handful of other pedestrians and bicyclists were abroad. Total strangers, we greeted one another with, “Merry Christmas!”

Today, after I post this, I will start my lists: cards, gifts, cookies, fruitcakes, and groceries. I will retrieve decorations from the attic and stick plastic poinsettias in my houseplants. That makes them happy. In a few weeks I will search the woods for a suitable tree.

Today is the day after Thanksgiving. Scrooge has been visited by his ghosts. It is now the time to look forward to Christmas.

Posted in Marie's Musings | Tagged Adversity, Christmas, Grandparents, Memories, Scrooge, Thanksgiving, Tradition, White Christmas | 6 Comments »

THE COLORS OF OCTOBER

October 23, 2013 by Marie Q Rogers

October begins bright yellow. Helianthus and Goldenrod literally glow on the roadsides and vacant lots. Goldenrod grows along my driveway and on the margins of my garden, but I had been unsuccessful in coaxing wild sunflowers to take root here. Then one gloomy day last fall, as I glanced toward a fallow area of my garden, a splash of sunshine greeted me. A Helianthus had burst into bloom when I wasn’t looking. It reseeded itself and they are back this year, shining in greater numbers.

White is also the color of October. Bidens alba grows in neglected places everywhere, especially in my yard. I keep them for the butterflies, but if I walk too close, the seeds, called Spanish needles, will spring out and cover my clothing. I appreciate these weeds because the butterflies love them. Unless we have a hard freeze, they will bloom all winter, providing nectar when all else is gone. On the roadsides, white banks of Bidens grow a foot high. The air above those little daisy-like flowers teems with butterflies. The county could not have provided a better show if they had planned it.

Every year I look for the date the Dog Fennel starts to bloom. They predict six weeks until the first frost. I have been watching this phenomenon for years and it seems to be pretty accurate. This year, they began to bloom on October 1^st. Look for frost in mid November. Did you know these little white fountains have a scent? A very delicate one and you have to get close to detect it, but please, take the time to smell the Dog Fennel.

The colors of October are also purple and blue and pink and red. Earlier this month, I was cheered by the tiny, purple blossoms of Elephant’s Foot winking up at me against their intense green foliage. By now they have gone to seed but the purple spikes of Blazing Star have replaced them in the landscape. In wet areas, alongside ditches, in both sun and shade, Blue Mistflower blooms in dense clouds. Asters and other wildflowers too numerous to list brighten my daily walks along the dirt road. Spotted Horsemint is abundant. This is a wildflower you may overlook as they are not ostentatious, but familiarity breeds appreciation. Most are white, but last year I found purple Horsemint, and they are more numerous this season. I have collected seeds to plant along my driveway. Various colors of Morning Glory climb atop brush or twine across mowed spaces, mostly pink or blue or white. In similar areas, the Scarlet Creeper’s diminutive red blossoms are a pleasant surprise.

Besides collecting seeds, in coming seasons I will happily move some of the volunteers to areas where I want wildflowers to grow. But I must expect an argument out of them. They do not take kindly to domestication.

You cannot ignore the flying flowers. The butterflies are busy drinking their fill against encroaching winter. Yellow sulfurs everywhere dance in pairs high above the ground. Swallowtails of various colors, brown Hairstreaks, skippers, and the orange Gulf Fritillaries and Little Metalmarks delight in the sunshine while the Zebra Longwing enjoys the shade of my woods.

The butterflies are wise to seize the day because the season is fading. November approaches. Many wildflowers have lost their maiden glory and are gone to seed. Here in North Florida, we do not get the flashy fall foliage of the northern states. Some of our trees will turn yellow or red, but not in the profusion seen there. When northern trees have lost their autumn show and become bare and brown, my oak trees will still be green. They will clutch their frostbitten leaves all winter, then discard them in time for new growth and pollen-laden blossoms. I rake my yard more in spring than in fall. But while northern trees still sleep, our maples will announce Spring with their beautiful red florescence.

Posted in Marie's Musings | Tagged Bidens, Butterflies, Dog Fennel, Helianthus, Spotted Horsemint, Wildflowers | 1 Comment »

THE WRONG WAY TO DO THINGS

September 30, 2013 by Marie Q Rogers

As I look back on my life, I realize that since childhood I have been taught the wrong way to do things. When I brush my teeth, I think about elementary school, when we had lessons on dental hygiene every year. They told us never to brush sideways. We were to place the brush at the gum line and brush away, to remove the food particles and what not. At some point in the intervening years, this “wisdom” changed. Now you are supposed to brush sideways and use floss to remove the food particles and what not. To be on the safe side, I now do both, brushing up and down first, then sideways. If “wisdom” reverses itself again, my bases are covered.

They also told us to brush after every meal, without fail. I guess we were supposed to take a tooth brush to school, but no one ever did. Nor did they give us the time or opportunity to brush after lunch. Now I hear that brushing immediately after a meal is the wrong thing to do. Now, food softens the tooth enamel and makes it susceptible to damage. You should wait at least twenty minutes before brushing. Or go to bed with dirty teeth if you snack within twenty minutes of bedtime.

In fourth grade, our elementary school campaigned for better nutrition at breakfast. They ran a contest, giving points for each “healthy” thing students ate: eggs, bacon, juice, and toast. In those days, most mothers did not work outside the home and had the time and energy to cook breakfast. Of course, the economically advantaged families could afford bacon, eggs, and juice, so their children won the contest. My mother was a good cook but we had a large family. Although we lived on a farm, we did not have chickens at the time and had to buy eggs, not to mention bacon and juice. Our breakfast was usually bran flakes and milk. Today, as far as I know, juice is still acceptable, but bacon is verboten and eggs are sometimes the wrong thing to eat, depending on how the “experts” feel about cholesterol this week. What is the recommended breakfast today? Bran flakes and milk.

Do you remember when you should never go swimming for at least an hour after eating? After spending half a day driving to the beach and arriving at lunch time, you had to wait an hour before getting your feet wet. Why? Because you would get cramps and drown. Now I understand this prohibition has been lifted. Eating has nothing to do with life threatening cramps. Eat, and enjoy your swim.

When I became a mother, we were told never to put a baby on his back. He would spit up and choke to death. Since I wanted to be a good mother, I always laid my babies on their bellies. By the time I became a grandmother, “wisdom” had changed. Putting a baby on his belly is now the wrong thing to do. He will suffocate. Now you must put them on their backs. I guess they no longer spit up and choke. As a middle ground, you can lay them on their sides. Right. They’ll stay that way and not roll over onto their backs or bellies to certain death.

Don’t get me wrong. I am all for having experts to advise us. After all, they are supposed to be up to date on knowledge and research. But sometimes I wish they would make up their minds. In the meantime, I think I will rely on common sense.

Posted in Marie's Musings | Tagged Advice, Memories, Wisdom | 5 Comments »

IN QUEST OF MY ANCESTOR

August 30, 2013 by Marie Q Rogers

Before I became more than casually interested in my family’s history, William Lewis Rogers had been a shadowy figure in our past. I knew two of his sons, Uncle Will and Grandad, who were old men when I was a child. Family lore proclaimed W.L. was wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg and spent the night hiding in a corn crib where he had to fend off rats. We knew this about him because he kept a journal. But no one knew what became of the journal. It has been lost.

One summer, my sister Sue, our family genealogist, and I visited the county in Pennsylvania where W.L. had lived as a child. I helped her search records at their historical society for information on his family. We visited his mother’s grave.

Threads from diverse sources gather to weave a tale.

My daughter lived in Virginia Beach for a time. Traveling to or from her home, I took back ways to break the monotony of the usual route. Once I noticed a large bear by the road. It was a sign for a park, but later I could not recall where I was, or indeed what highway I’d traveled. On a later trip, back roads again, I spotted the bear and this time I stopped. Neuseway Nature Park in Kinston, NC has become one of my favorite places to visit when I’m in the neighborhood. There is no admission charge and the camping fee is almost indecently low.

Then my son moved to West Virginia. Well, we had ancestors in that state, too. Once Sue learned about my plans to visit there, she set me on the quest. Given a list of ancestor’s names and the location of the Hampshire County Library, which has a genealogical section, I reported, like a dutiful sister, intending to spend two hours in research. After three hours, I had to make myself stop. Not only did I need fresh air, I had to digest the volume of information I had acquired. I was hooked on genealogy.

W.L. Rogers had been born in Connecticut and died in West Virginia. Grandad always said, “Don’t go to West Virginia. They’ll kill you there.” Well, who killed William, and why? Unfortunately, my hours of research failed to solve the mystery. Could we find old newspaper stories or police reports that would answer the question? I would have to wait for another trip.

After West Virginia I proceeded to Virginia Beach. On my way home, I drove through Kinston. This visit was bittersweet because my daughter was moving from Virginia Beach and I thought I would have no reason to come through here again.

The following year, on my return to West Virginia, I searched through death records and learned the identity of my ancestor’s murderer–cancer! Cancer? So why did Grandad say he had been killed? Who knows! Grandad was more than a little paranoid. Knowing where W.L. was buried, I visited his grave. Below his name and the dates of birth and death was engraved, “Co. A 85^thRegt. NY Vol.”

One mystery solved, another reared its head. Sue obtained W.L.’s military records. Guess what – Gettysburg was fought in 1863 and he did not enlist until the following year. So much for family lore! What about the corncrib and the rats? Was that part true or did the family once have possession of some other soldier’s journal? We will not know until it surfaces.

But we did learn that W.L.’s regiment had fought in the Battle of Wyse Fork which took place near Kinston, NC. Was that what kept drawing me to the place? Now I had an excuse to go back.

Wherever I go seeking historical information, I find people who are not only proud of their history, but willing to share what they know. This was no exception. I had a nice visit with Shirley at the Kinston/Lenoir County Visitor’s Center and left with a wealth of information, including a driving tour of the Battle of Wyse Fork. Armed with the pamphlet and my camera, I set out to trace the footsteps of my ancestor.

W. L. may be forever nameless in the history books, but what a thrill it was to drive around the battle area thinking, I am in the footsteps of my ancestor. I could not help imagining what this young man, only 21 at the time, was thinking and feeling amid the noise and terror of the guns, death, and suffering. No, W.L. did not fight through three sweaty days in July, but through three cold days in March, in rain and mud and snow. I followed his path from Wyse Fork, through Kinston, and as far as Goldsboro but I lacked the time to visit everywhere his regiment went.

My quest is far from complete. We have documentation that after the war W.L. married Nancy Turk who, we believe, was part Cherokee. He taught school in Pepin, Wisconsin, then homesteaded in Kansas. Family lore has stories of the family’s experiences in Kansas. How much is true? I hope to find out.

Why did they leave Kansas? What adventures took him to West Virginia? I am still on the quest for this ancestor.

Posted in Family History, Marie's Musings | Tagged Battle of Wyse Fork, Family Heritage, Genealogy, Kinston NC, William Lewis Rogers | 7 Comments »

MY PATCH SKIRT

July 31, 2013 by Marie Q Rogers

I must have been six or seven when Grandma Masters made this skirt for me out of brown corduroy. She cut several autumn leaves out of brightly colored fabric and applied them to the front, where they appeared to drift down from waist to hem like falling leaves. I was proud of that skirt. It was unique. But Grandpa Rogers would tease me every time he saw me wear it. He’d say something like, “There you go again, with that old patched-up skirt.” I’d argue and try to tell him that they were leaves, not patches. Of course, he’d tease me just to hear me protest.

Grandma must have put a large hem in the skirt to be let out as I grew taller, which took quite some time. Even today I’m often accused of lying about my height.

I remember the teachers at Harry L. School saying that I was a nervous child. They would tell me not to “ring” my hands. I had no idea what they were talking about and they never explained. Of course I was a nervous child. After attending a one-room school house in the first grade, I was out of my element in the big city school. None of my schoolmates from Barnum Hill School were in my second grade class. I was alone with the more savvy city kids and strange new customs and rules. I was suffering from mild PTSD long before such a label was thought of!

Eventually, I grew enough for the hem to be let out of my skirt. I’m not sure if Mom didn’t have the time to press it (which I doubt because she always ironed) or if the crease was just so ingrained by then that it couldn’t be pressed out. I remember fingering the hem and crease to keep my hands busy at school. I guess the teacher thought I had put the crease in the skirt by playing with it. “Now look at what you’ve done,” she scolded. I don’t remember being allowed to say anything in my defense.

It’s a wonder I ever learned anything under those conditions.

Posted in Marie's Musings | Tagged Clothes, Family Memories, Grandparents, Sewing | 1 Comment »

JOE AND SALLY

June 30, 2013 by Marie Q Rogers

Several years ago, I bought a third hand, 1989 Dodge Road Trek camper van which takes me on most of my adventures. While its V8 engine is well up to Montana highway speeds, the driver is not. My occasional ventures onto interstate highways are brief, due to my fear of being run over. So, armed with good road maps and a lackadaisical attitude about getting lost, I travel mostly on two lane rural highways.

My grandson Tristan has accompanied me on several trips. He is a great traveling companion. The “Are we there yet?”s are kept to a minimum as long as we make frequent stops at interesting places. Indeed, when I get to the point of wanting to reach a campground before nightfall, he will complain if we pass one of those brown signs, which indicate historical or other places of interest, without stopping.

In July, 2008, after visiting my parents in Blackfork, Arkansas (I challenge you to find it on the map), we headed back to Florida. From Mena, we took Arkansas Route 8 through some pretty countryside: mountains, hills, farmland, and forests. We stopped for a late lunch at Marks Mill Battleground, a quiet roadside park where we could stretch our legs.

But before we could de-camper, we were met by two dogs. They did not appear to be litter mates. One looked mostly hound and the other was a black and white mutt. I wouldn’t let Tristan out of the van until I was sure of his safety. Both dogs turned out to be quite friendly. Tristan dubbed them Joe and Sally and he played with them until we had to leave. Then he wanted to take them with us. I didn’t try to explain how inadvisable it would be to take two stray dogs with no shot records 1000 miles while staying at public campgrounds. I just reminded him that we already had a dog and Teddy might be jealous if we brought two more dogs home.

I have little clue as to Joe and Sally’s history but people had been taking care of them. Both looked quite healthy, in no way neglected. In the picnic area was a small bag of dog food that had been cut open so they could eat. A water bowl nearby was almost empty, so we filled it for them before we left. All the way home, Tristan talked about Joe and Sally and wondered how they were. I told him that they were such nice dogs, someone who had no dog would come by and take them home. And I’m sure that is what happened. In a rural area which has no animal shelter, people who could not provide them with a home, myself included, nevertheless had the goodness of heart to take the time and expense of providing food and water until their fortunes improved.

Whenever I travel on Route 8, I stop at Marks Mill for a break. I think about Joe and Sally at such times, but of course I have never them seen again.

Posted in Marie's Musings | Tagged Arkansas, Back Roads, dogs, Grandchildren, Travel | Leave a Comment »

THE WORMHOLE IN MY KITCHEN CUPBOARD

May 17, 2013 by Marie Q Rogers

You know those plastic tubs margarine and cottage cheese come in? They make handy storage containers for leftovers. As good caretakers of the Earth, we don’t throw them in the garbage. We wash them and store them in the cupboards until they are needed. After holiday dinners, the excess from the feast can go home with guests and no one needs to worry about returning bowls. But if virtue is its own reward, that’s about as far as it goes. How many times have you fished one of these tubs out of the cabinet only to be unable to locate its lid? Conversely, how often have you found a lid that fits no container?

When my children lived at home, I always had someone to blame. I would accuse them of throwing out a bowl or a cover, but not both, instead of washing them. Or they would carry off one part or the other for some unknown reason and never return it. I would be left with useless, mis-matched dishes. One of the joys of parenthood is having someone else to blame.

After the last of my offspring moved out for the last time, and I had the house to myself, I set about righting wrongs, bringing order out of chaos. I went through my cupboards and paired every storage container with its lid. The lids with no mates, I discarded. The bowls with no covers were sent to the garden shed. They make handy flower pots and saucers. Order had been restored to my kitchen.

Or so I thought. As the only cook and consumer, I had total control over what was in my cabinets, right? Wrong. The sad day came when the lid for just the right size tub for a certain volume of leftovers was nowhere to be found. Again, I went through the cupboards making matches. I was astounded by the number of pieces that had lost their mates. Unless my kids came in when I was asleep and purposely removed them, they could not be blamed. How, then, could I account for this enigma?

One day, I was in my church’s kitchen putting away leftovers after a dinner. In the cabinet labeled “storage containers” I found a neat stack of Cool Whip and hummus tubs. Next to it was a basket full of lids. Not one matched! I was not the only victim of this mysterious occurrence.

Finally, I have figured it out. You have heard about wormholes in space? You see them all the time in science fiction movies, and serious scientists believe they actually exist. They have no proof, but they have theories. Wormholes would be shortcuts in space-time that would allow travel from one part of the universe to another, or from one universe to another. These theories aren’t even new. Almost 100 years ago, a mathematician named Hermann Weyl had such an idea.

The reason the scientists have as yet no proof of wormholes’ existence is that they are looking in the wrong place. I have no better theory about my disappearing containers and lids than the existence of a wormhole somewhere in my cupboards. It’s a small wormhole, too small for a space ship. Other kitchens have them as well, including the one at my church. Maybe you have one, too. From time to time a bowl or its cover will slip through the wormhole and end up in some other kitchen. Since I have found unfamiliar containers and lids in mine, I know it works both ways. Maybe this is where the idea of flying saucers came from.

If only we could figure out which kitchens are connected to which others by these wormholes, we might be able to retrieve our prodigal dishes. A thorough study of this phenomenon could result in a major breakthrough in physics. It might even win a Nobel Prize. I invite any serious scientist to come explore my cupboards.

Posted in Marie's Musings | Tagged children, kitchen cupboards, plastic dishes, recycling, Science Fiction, space-time, wormholes | 1 Comment »

OUR INTIMATE CONNECTION WITH NATURE

April 26, 2013 by Marie Q Rogers

When I feel stressed out and in need of a tranquilizer, I go out to my greenhouse and re-pot some plants. Dirt therapy. Afterwards, I feel better. We have known for a long time that contact with nature makes us feel better, whether it’s yard or garden work, walking or working in the woods, or even hunting and fishing. We used to think the effects were purely psychological, “all in your head”, but now scientists have learned that it’s also in your blood stream, nervous system, and who knows where else. Don’t you love it when scientists find evidence for things that we have known all along?

Warning: this will be more serious than some of my postings and you will encounter some big words. Don’t let that phase you. The words are not as important as the ideas behind them. Let’s get one big word out of the way: Mycobacterium vaccae. If you want to pronounce it, try Mike-o-bac-ter-ium va-kay. Scientists abbreviate it as M. vaccae. Let’s just call it Mv.

I first heard about this last spring at the Garden Club convention in Jacksonville. One of the speakers, a scientist, said that certain soil bacteria interact with chemicals in your skin, and this boosts your immune system and improves your mood. What a fascinating idea! Did I hear him right? I decided to find out more. It seems that there is a harmless soil bacterium, Mv, which does indeed have this effect on us. Scientists first found Mv in cow dung (vacca is Latin for cow) and started exploring its possible uses in medicine. About a decade or so ago, a London oncologist, Mary O’Brien, injected her cancer patients with Mv. (What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.) Her patients’ symptoms improved. Not only did their pain and nausea decrease, but they felt better emotionally, had more energy, and could think more clearly.

Since then, researchers have injected mice with Mv and found that it stimulates the growth of certain brain cells and lowers anxiety. They fed it to mice and the mice could find their way through a maze twice as fast, swim twice as long, and had less anxiety. After they stopped feeding it to the mice, the effects lasted about three weeks. No wonder I feel better with dirt under my fingernails, but it seems that we need to be exposed to Mv on a continuous basis to benefit from it.

Doctors are still doing research with Mv on people with a variety of illnesses including asthma, depression, rheumatoid arthritis, and several skin conditions. In humans, the bacteria activate immune cells which release chemicals which affect the nerves. They have found, as in mice, Mv stimulates the growth of nerve cells that increase serotonin and nor epinephrine, and these chemicals improve mood and cognitive functioning. This is the same way that Prozac works.

So, with dirt under my nails, not only do I feel better, I can think more clearly, too. But how does Mv get into my body? I do not eat dirt by choice and I certainly don’t inject it. Scientists aren’t really certain. They think the bacteria get into the air and we inhale it, or some gets into our food and we eat it, or it may enter through cuts in our skin. I haven’t found anything that verifies that it can interact with unbroken skin, but I may not have looked hard enough.

All this applies to children also, so if you want them to learn better and do better on those standardized tests, instead of making them spend all day with their noses in books, let them play outside and get dirty. Scientists believe that the rise in asthma and allergies is due to our living “too clean”. Children growing up on traditional farms have fewer of these problems than do other children. They are exposed to harmless micro-organisms that train their immune systems to ignore pollen and other common allergens. Remember, Mv was first found in cow manure.

So, what does all this really mean? It means that our relationship to our world is much more complex than we realize. We really are one with Nature. We need more than air, water, and food. On the physical level, our bodies interact with lowly things in the natural world just as our minds and hearts interact with its beauty. We have known that our intestines are home to bacteria and such that aid digestion. Now we find out that another bacterium makes us healthier, happier, and smarter. What other beneficial things are out there to be discovered?

When we humans venture out into space, we need to be cognizant of these unseen things our bodies need. And when we travel to other worlds, we will need to bring some of our home with us to keep us healthy and happy. By the same token, we must be cautious of microorganisms we find there. The implications of all this are astronomical in extent.

Posted in Marie's Musings | Tagged Dirt therapy, Health, Helpful bacteria, M. Vaccae, Nature, Science | 3 Comments »

MY FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

April 1, 2013 by Marie Q Rogers

Let me take you back in time to a place that no longer exists.

On a warm day in early September, my mother walked me up the road to the corner of my grandparents’ hay field, where their property abutted my great-grandfather’s farm. There my cousin Mike, some two years older than I, met us. Mom returned to the house and the younger children, and Mike walked me the half mile up East Maine Road to Barnum Hill School. This one room schoolhouse had seen the education of my father and his brother and my grandfather and his brothers. Now I was the third generation, and Mike and I were the last of the family to attend.

Over time, memories become incomplete or altered but this is what I remember. I had not been introduced to the teacher or my classmates before this day. Having led a sheltered life, I felt intimidated by all those new people. There seemed to be such a crowd, but I estimate the whole school consisted of fewer than twenty children.

Small for my age, I sat in a front seat, the second row from the north windows. These were the old fashioned desks you see in pictures, the kind that were bolted to the floor. My “desk” was actually part of two units. Underneath the writing surface was a shelf-like compartment for books , and in front was a seat where another student could sit if an additional desk were added to the row. Those front seats generally remained folded up and not used, except on occasion to hold books or papers. My seat was attached to the front part of the desk behind me. To my left were three more rows. As you looked in that direction and towards the rear wall, the desks got larger, for the older children.

I was five and a half and this was my first school experience. The city schools offered Kindergarten to familiarize young children to the disciplines of formal education, but Barnum Hill started at first grade. As a concession, the first and second graders attended only until lunch time. Mrs. Cobley, our teacher, was able to give the older children more individualized instruction in the afternoons when her attention was less divided.

My mother had taught me to read and write my name, but in those days you did not learn to read until you were in first grade. Mrs. Cobley gave us a list of rules and wrote them on the blackboard. To avoid constant disruptions, we were to make silent requests by holding up a certain number of fingers. Mrs. Cobley could then grant permission for a student to sharpen his pencil, go the bathroom, etc. with a nod. The list seemed long and complicated. Since I could not read the rules, when I had to use the bathroom, I was in a quandary. I took a chance and held up one finger. Thank goodness, it was the correct signal and I was allowed to go.

We had electricity at Barnum Hill but no running water. Behind the school were two outhouses. The girls’ had three holes in the seat and the boys’ had two. That was in the days before potty parity, but it was an acknowledgement that girls usually needed more time to do their business than did boys. I don’t remember whether we had any way to wash our hands, but we did have a water cooler and paper cups in the classroom, and an oil furnace stood in the back of the room.

The school technically had more than one room. You entered through a small chamber where coats were hung in cold weather. Opening from this were two closet size spaces where an older student occasionally worked with a small handful of us younger children on reading.

That half day seemed very long to me. It was broken up by recess when we could eat snacks we brought and spend a few minutes playing outdoors. The school yard was a long triangle, boarded on one side by the road and the other two sides by farmland. The right size for a baseball diamond, the older children had time for a short inning during recess. Along the fences, chokecherry trees and other wild things had grown up into a hedge.

A first grade girl named Esther sat next to me in the first row. A few of the other children I remember were Marcene Ritch and her older sister Karen. They lived not far from me, on Lindberg Street. Granddad had sold a row of building lots and named the road after the great hero, Charles Lindbergh Another first grader was Larry who had a brother in the second grade, but I do not recall his name. They lived up Reynolds Road, at the top of the hill. Then there was Johnny McNish who lived next door to the school. The first and second grades were largest classes, then class size dwindled down to only two students in the sixth grade, a boy and a girl. They looked so big and mature to me.

I do not remember any child being driven to school. In those days the country road had little traffic and parents had less to worry about. Also, children then had more autonomy than they are given now. After the long morning, we were excused to go home. Those of us who lived down hill from the school walked together until our ways parted. The Ritch girls walked with me as far as Lindberg Street, and I was almost home, ready for lunch and a well earned nap

Today, few of the familiar places remain. My grandparents’ farm is now a school bus facility. Granddad’s house burned down a number of years ago. The old folks have passed on and my cousins live far away. I Google “Barnum Hill School (historical)” and find a website that shows its location, now overgrown with trees. Maybe it’s time to revive some memories.

http://www.placekeeper.com/New_York/Barnum_Hill_School-2492967.html

Posted in Marie's Musings | Tagged Barnum Hill School, Family Heritage, Memories, One Room Schoolhouse, Tradition | 4 Comments »

E-CIGARETTES (or Living in a Cave)

March 1, 2013 by Marie Q Rogers

I went to Wal-Mart the other day for a few things and the nearest express lane happened to be the one that sells cigarettes. As I loaded my goods onto the counter, I noticed a sign advertising “E-Cigarettes”. Now, I wondered, what could an e-cigarette be? The cashier was a savvy-looking young woman, so I confessed to her that I had been “living in a cave” and asked her what an e-cigarette was. She admitted she was not sure, either.

When I lack the energy to do anything constructive, I sometimes resort to thinking. So I gave this matter some thought.

I know what an e-book is. You read it on an e-reader. I’ve even e-published one from my cave. Some people send e-greeting cards. These can be cute and can include music and animation, but you can’t display them on your desk or by your sick bed or use them to label Christmas gifts. I’ve heard about E Trade and that people can get in as much trouble with that as they can with the real stock market.

I know what an e-mail is. It’s a message you read on a computer rather than holding it in your hand like a real letter. So, instead of trying to decipher someone’s handwriting, you resort to deciphering their abbreviations. Even in my cave, I use e-mail. It saves paper and can take minutes rather than days to get a reply, provided your correspondent reads his e-mail in a timely fashion. Just like regular mail, I get all kinds of junk e-mail, called spam. (Not the kind of spam you hoard for the Zombie Apocalypse.) Unless the computer beats me to it, I always delete those spam-mails. Sometimes I get spam from something called e Harmony. I suspect it’s a computer dating service, but the idea of an e-man doesn’t appeal to me.

I also get requests for donations from worthy causes, questionable causes, and even from people with more money than I have, such as politicians. These are easy to delete, too. Unlike regular junk mail they don’t clog up the landfill. However, I suspect those political mailings that clog my mailbox before every election would be good garden fertilizer. The only problem with email from worthy causes is that they are not accompanied by those nice address labels that are so handy if you still use real mail.

So, if e-mail is paperless, I suspect e-cigarettes are as well, but what good are they? Are they tobacco-less? I doubt that this would appeal to my friends who are dedicated smokers. After smoking was banned in buildings, my co-workers would go outdoors to smoke. We had a picnic table under an oak tree and it was a pleasant place when the weather was nice. They would spend so much time out there, we called it the “branch office”. If you wanted to talk with one of them you had to go to the branch office and inhale second hand smoke. After I retired, my sinuses cleared up dramatically.

I am picturing an e-cigarette as something you plug into your computer. Then what? Do you sit in front of a smoky screen and inhale? Does it give you a picture of a pleasant day, complete with picnic table and oak tree? Can it satisfy the craving for nicotine?

So to satisfy my curiosity about e-cigarettes, I go to Google. A wonderful invention, it’s like having both a secretary and a private detective at your beck and call 24 hours a day. I type in “e” and several choices immediately come up. E coli. Those are real bacteria. Nothing virtual about them. E-learning is offered through brick and mortar schools as well as e-academies. An e-Sword, however, turns out to be not a sword used in computer games but a Bible study software. Companies are copyrighting all kinds of e-words.

Google directs me to Wikipedia, an e-encyclopedia. Now this is definitely one of the world’s greatest inventions. Remember the old Encyclopedia Britannica? You had to take out a second mortgage on your house to buy a set, and then a third mortgage to build on a new room to house all those books. Unfortunately, with the rapid rate that knowledge increased during the 20th century, the whole thing was obsolete by the time you made your first payment.

There aren’t enough trees to put all of Wikipedia’s information on paper. Even in my cave, I use it all the time. Once in a blue moon, they’ll ask for donations and even though they don’t give me free address labels, I’ll send them some money. It’s cheaper than buying a set of Britannica. The only drawback is that when the Zombie Apocalypse comes we won’t have the electricity to access this vast store of information. Maybe we need to hold on to those old encyclopedias just in case.

Wikipedia informs me that an e-cigarette is a “personal vaporizer”, an “electronic inhaler that vaporizes a liquid solution”, thereby delivering nicotine to the lungs. The first patent for something like this was in 1963, before there was e-anything (except E coli, of course). In those days, computers were the size of a mid size car and data was stored on punch cards. Remember them? Do not fold, staple, spindle, or mutilate. (There are e- dictionaries for any of you youngsters who don’t understand these archaic words.) The e-cigarettes of the 60’s didn’t catch on because very few people at the time had computers to plug them into.

The Chinese began developing e-cigarettes before (the recent) turn of the century and started exporting them in 2005. I guess it’s been seven years or so since I was in Wal-Mart. E-cigarettes are smokeless, but they still are not good for you. They are powered by a small battery. The battery can be recharged with an A/C adapter, in your car, or by your computer using a USB port. I scroll down the Wikipedia page and what do I see?

I kid you not: