Picking Fruit

When I was little I remember going on hikes and filling up little snack bags we had on hand with wild berries. One memorable walk we filled our frisbee with raspberries, blueberries, and black caps. Another year, my sister and I went to a farm and picked buckets of strawberries.
The last little while I have helped pick pears, apricots, plums, and apples. I really enjoy picking fruit. Tree fruit is fun too because I enjoy climbing trees, negotiating the branches and reaching for the fruit. There is just something simple but fulfilling about picking fruit. Plus it tastes good.

Books Out Loud

This summer I went on several road trips and listened to more books on CD/tape than I have since I was little and they rang a little bell when you are supposed to turn the page. On some of my other road trips I didn't listen to books I read them out loud to nieces and nephews. Also, I have spent some time reading my own book out loud to myself as a form of editing. So here are some thoughts on books out loud.

I enjoy reading out loud, I find it fun to try to get into the characters a little bit.

I have found listening to other people read annoying. Women often read men in a breathy, false deep voice. It's weird. Men sometimes read women or girls in an overly falsetto tone that makes it hard to take anything they are saying seriously. And the books that aren't as exciting are even less so when I hear them read because they take longer to get through the boring parts. 

Perhaps I would prefer reader theater types where there are different voices for the different characters. 

I just think it is weird that I enjoy reading out loud, but don't really like the books on tape or CD. Strangely, I don't mind people I know reading out loud. Maybe I'm not expecting as much or something...

Always and Never

I never know what to post about on here, but I always come up with something eventually.
That statement is only true for moderate values of never, and high values of always.
It's the same principle as 2+2=4 except for exceptionally high values of 2.
And yet that is how I always speak. It is so easy to talk like that. Using words that are very extreme in ways that are not.
This is somewhat ironic though. Have you ever seen those questionnaires that have options Always/Almost Always/Sometimes/Almost Never/Never or 1 is Horrible and 10 is Amazing, or some such thing? Those I rarely will put down the extreme answers, I always stick to something more moderate. For some reason putting "I always brush my teeth twice a day" on paper seems more inaccurate than if I just said it. Because it is only true for moderately high values of always.
I hope you all read my blog every week!

Ownership: Part 2: Creativity

I wanted a CD case for multiple CDs so I went to a thrift store and found one for a dollar. The only problem was that someone had painted "DVD" on it badly. And crossed something else off of it. It was kind of ugly. But I decided that instead of always looking at it and thinking "wow that's ugly" I would so something about it. So I painted it. (Too bad I didn't take before and after pictures, just after).

Now everytime I look at it, it makes me happy.
So going back to my first post on ownership... This was a choice, but the choice was only half the battle, I also had to be creative with it.

Bird Morality

I apologize before hand if you think this post is gross.
Early this spring I was out in the garden and found a dead bird. I buried it, but noted where it was buried. This week with the help of one of my nieces and some nephews I dug it back up in the hopes of finding the bones, because I like bones and I have kind of been experimenting with making myself a comparative collection. I felt kind of bad though, digging up a burial I had buried. I won't go so far as to say it felt wrong, but it was along those lines. One thing I did learn in my osteology class, when we were dealing primarily with human remains, was that the bones we work with were real people and we must treat them with respect. I dug up the flicker (that's what kind of bird it was) not because I wanted to make Halloween decorations or scare someone. I dug it up to learn. I'm sure that the words: "in the name of science" can not clear all actions, but I think motive is important, and knowledge is a very powerful one. I'm also not saying that people with cow skulls in their front yards are bad. In fact I think they look cool. But it is more of a moral subject than I had thought about previously. So here is my thoughtful but unrepentant picture of the bones we did find of the flicker (I will clean them up later).