Back in the saddle

Vacation is officially over and we're back to our regular schedule. It hasn't been quite as dreadful as I had thought might be. There have been a few tears, but nothing out of the ordinary. I am actually feeling refreshed from our break and not minding having a schedule once more. As things begin to return to normal and we adjust to having 9 children, I'm realizing exactly how far from normal the past 15 months have been. And then when I factor in K.'s first year home with all his therapists which was preceded by the horrible 18 month wait for K., I wonder when the last time was that we had 'normal' around here. It's been several years of a lot of transitions and I'm now feeling able to start digging out of the chaos left behind. One of the things I accomplished over Christmas vacation was to clean off my desk. I no longer have a fear of being trapped in an avalanche of papers. Even better, I like to look at it now... at it's clean, paper-free surfaces. It makes me smile. Unfortunately we did not find the Netflix copy of Kung Fu Panda which has gone missing in the house and we still can't find it. Our last best hope was that it was buried in the papers on the desk.

Along with starting back with schoolwork, we also started back to our daily read-aloud session at lunch time. We are currently reading Little Britches by Ralph Moody. We are all loving it. It's funny what triggers memories one hasn't thought of in a while. The chapter we read today was titled 'Irrigation Wars'. Before we began I thought we should discuss what irrigation is because living in an urban area of the Midwest, it's not something we come across on a regular basis. So, I was describing irrigation and was suddenly transported to my childhood in Arizona where irrigation was a regular occurrence. Yards and playgrounds would be flooded by the city once(?) a month, and we would have to play on the concrete during recess while the water soaked into the ground. My children were fascinated by the idea and I was left smelling the remembered, none-too-pleasant scent of standing water as it soaked in and evaporated.

Comments

Angie Butcher said…
I also grew up in AZ and remember that as well - I never knew why they did it though, it was just part of life. Kindof like painting the orange trees trunks white...
thecurryseven said…
Angie -- I can help you with the orange trees. They are supposed to be allowed to grow with their branches growing towards the ground...it helps to shade the trunks. But many people liked to prune them to give them some shape. The white paint is to protect the trunks so they don't sunburn.

e

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