glass castles

yesterday i got to check something off my "things i want to do someday" list. i sat down and read a book in one day. it was the glass castle. the book was good, though i read it out of sheer determination to check off something from the invisible list than being unable to put it down. it's a heartbreaking memoir of a child to two adventure junkie parents, by some accounts putting themselves willingly in a constant state of chronic extreme poverty. (i.e. they owned land worth $1million dollars and yet they grew up largely in the most squalor of conditions in the heart of a west virginian coal mining town) the kids were rarely in school, instead being taught at home through life experiences. this book is both a hand swat and nod to unschooling oddly enough. the dad was an alcoholic genius and the mom a depressed artist. anyways so much of the book makes sense in terms of voluntary simplicity but what to some might be unschooling i think was more just neglect and self interest on the part of the parents. i mean isn't that just frosting on a turd sometimes to say kids were "unschooled" when really their parents just let them wander around aimlessly exploring? i have some fanatical & fantastic homeschooling friends one of which i've spoken with about her experiences with unschooled kids, who in her opinion by and large turn into video gaming, unpassionate teenagers. if that's how you roll, do it with all your heart and soul i say. but come on, balance folks.


that's a little ditty about the book from the author.

needless to say we ate leftovers all day because mama was on the couch under a warm blanket, cup o' hot tea in hand, turning page after page after page until the window no longer provided enough light to read. only then did i peel myself free from the pages long enough to switch couches and flip on the light. depending on your opinion this day was wildly productive or wildly unproductive.

i dont know what kind of hippy dippy children im raising up but aug said he wanted a tree for his birthday and a telescope for christmas. this delights me. now if only i can convince my landlord to let us plant a tree then we're all set! i wonder how much "indoctrinating" im doing to aug. we all like to think we are raising our kids in a PC way but that just isnt the case. we have feelings and passions and we of course think these things are right and true. so we pass these "truths" on to our kids who turn into non-PC adults. i realized this when we were driving to pick david up from work and we passed, as always, a mercedes dealership. this is the same dealership that months ago augustine commented that our car was "embarrassing" by comparison. this time though he said, without any lead in to a conversation "mommy, people don't need new cars. all that matters is that they get you where you're going." YES SON! i was very happy that he had come to that conclusion. a conclusion no doubt that we in our house believe about all sorts of stuff. anyways, i gave him a really big hug for such mature deductions about the world. now i've just got to teach my kids to raise their fists in the air and scream FIGHT THE POWER or something and im all set.

onward to photos, more on flickr


our kids with their cousins (david's sisters kids) i miss them already! boston had better treat them well.






oh and my lovelies came in the mail today