Thursday, April 30, 2009

Libraries and Bookstores

Where: My car
When: Just picked up Sophie
What: Deciding what to do during our time together

Note: it was "poem in a pocket day"
Me: I have a poem in my pocket for you.
Sophie: I have a poem in my backpack.
We read our poems and then talked about what to do together:
Me: We could go to the zoo, a museum, a park, playground, library, bookstore. . . .
Sophie: A library and bookstore are different!
Me: "That's interesting--tell me more."
Sophie: "In a library you have to be quiet. Someone shows you a book and you decide if you want to take it home but you can't keep it. In a bookstore you get to pick out what you like and take it with you and keep it."
Me: You mean you can keep it after you pay for it at the bookstore.
Sophie: Yes, but you can return it if you want to, like sometimes we have to return clothes."

p.s. we went to a woodland park with climbing equipment. Sophie is happy to share my enthusiasm as I point out all the things my mother pointed out to me, oh, so many years ago--skunk cabbage, violets and dog-tooth violets, may apples, etc.

Mother's Day

I cut and pasted this from the National Women's History Project. For more information, check out: www.nwhp.org
History of Mother's Day
Given the following possibilities, how many of us could pick the right answer?
Mother's Day began:
* In 1858, when Anna Jarvis, a young Appalachian homemaker, organized "Mother's Work Days" to improve the sanitation and avert deaths from disease-bearing insects and seepage of polluted water.
* In 1872, when Boston poet, pacifist and women's suffragist Julia Ward Howe established a special day for mothers --and for peace-- not long after the bloody Franco-Prussian War.
* In 1905, when Anna Jarvis died, her daughter, also named Anna, decided to memorialize her mother's lifelong activism, and began a campaign that culminated in 1914 when Congress passed a Mother's Day resolution.
The correct answer: All of the above. Each woman and all of these events have contributed to the present occasion now celebrated on the second Sunday in May.
The cause of world peace was the impetus for Julia Ward Howe's establishment, over a century ago, of a special day for mothers. Following unsuccessful efforts to pull together an international pacifist conference after the Franco-Prussian War, Howe began to think of a global appeal to women.
"While the war was still in progress," she wrote, she keenly felt the "cruel and unnecessary character of the contest." She believed, as any woman might, that it could have been settled without bloodshed. And, she wondered, "Why do not the mothers of mankind interfere in these matters to prevent the waste of that human life of which they alone bear and know the cost?"
Howe's version of Mother's Day, which served as an occasion for advocating peace, was held successfully in Boston and elsewhere for several years, but eventually lost popularity and disappeared from public notice in the years preceding World War I.
For Anna Jarvis, also known as "Mother Jarvis," community improvement by mothers was only a beginning. Throughout the Civil War she organized women's brigades, asking her workers to do all they could without regard for which side their men had chosen. And, in 1868, she took the initiative to heal the bitter rifts between her Confederate and Union neighbors.
The younger Anna Jarvis was only twelve years old in 1878 when she listened to her mother teach a Sunday school lesson on mothers in the Bible. "I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will found a memorial mother's day," the senior Jarvis said. "There are many days for men, but none for mothers."
Following her mother's death, Anna Jarvis embarked on a remarkable campaign. She poured out a constant stream of letters to men of prominence -- President William Taft and former President Theodore Roosevelt among them -- and enlisted considerable help from Philadelphia merchant John Wannamaker. By May of 1907, a Mother's Day service had been arranged on the second Sunday in May at the Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, where Mother Jarvis had taught. That same day a special service was held at the Wannamaker Auditorium in Philadelphia, which could seat no more than a third of the 15,000 people who showed up.
The custom spread to churches in 45 states and in Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Mexico and Canada. The Governor of West Virginia proclaimed Mother's Day in 1912; Pennsylvania's governor in 1913 did the same. The following year saw the Congressional Resolution, which was promptly signed by President Woodrow Wilson.
Mother's Day has endured. It serves now, as it originally did, to recognize the contributions of women. Mother's Day, like the job of "mothering," is varied and diverse. Perhaps that's only appropriate for a day honoring the multiple ways women find to nurture their families, and the ways in which so many have nurtured their communities, their countries, and the larger world.

Monday, April 27, 2009

Sophie & Yankee Doodle

Where & When: my car, last week
What: singing all the verses of "Yankee Doodle"
Why: the kindergarten kids are singing it as part of a show

I'm navigating traffic & half listening to the lyrics, which I don't really remember 'cept for the part about riding on a pony and sticking "a feather in his hat" and calling " it macaroni." I hear Sophie sing something about girls being "handy." Then she stops and says, "Grammy, girls certainly are handy."
"What? What do you mean?" I reply.
"When the boys carry the tables, sometimes they need the girls to put their hands under the table and help them."
"The boys carry the tables? Why?"
"Because they are strong."
"But, so are you, Sophie. You are really strong. Think about how you just climbed the climbing wall and ran very fast."

This morning I was repeating this dialogue to Linda, who just returned from speaking at a conference in Mallorca, & commenting about gender socialization when she interrupted me to say, "The lyrics are 'and with the girls be handy.''"
Oh! Oh, well, on the one hand, neither Sophie or I understood that; but on the other hand, now that I "got it" she undoubtedly will too before too long.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Sophie, Birds' Nests and Books

I picked up Sophie today. Before driving, I gave her a snack. While she ate, we sat together in the backseat & I showed her the pictures I took to document what her birds' nests look like on day 2, and day 3. First I showed her the photo I took the day she made the nests (see previous post), then the day 2 photo. Quickly pointing to the empty dish, she said, "They ate the food!"
When I showed her day 3. She was silent, then said: "The birds came." "What do you think they did?' I asked. "Danced," she replied. "Made a cape," she said gesturing to her shoulders. "And a skirt," she added, dropping her hands to her hips.
I told her we had brought the towels in the house because it was going to rain. "Do you think that was a good idea?" "No, because the birds came," she replied. "Should I put them back?" "Yes, but you don't need to put the dishes back."
I took the third picture at Acorn, a wonderful independent book story. Sophie asked for a book on how to draw animals. "We have several," the bookseller said. "Come I'll show you."
As you can see--she did!!! Very cool experience!!!!!
During our time together, we were stopped at a red light, when I heard her say in a reflective voice, "The white goes well with the blue." I figured the white was a blossoming spring tree. But what was the "blue." I glanced back & saw the white tree, just as Sophie added, "the blue sky."
day 2

day 3

Sunday, April 19, 2009

SBA

Susan "died" at 10:46 p.m. I ended the story of their friendship at 10:55 p.m. About then, I heard Linda come downstairs.
She comes to the basement. I look up:
"I just finished. Do you want to hear the ending?"
"Yes."
I read it.
"Perfect," she says. "It's moving & perfect."

Writing books is a miraculous process--it's so hard & then so easy, or so it seems.

ECS

As if she had just died now, I noted what time it was when I wrote the sentence "Two weeks before Elizabeth’s birthday, Harriot sent a telegram to Susan with the news: 'Mother passed away at three o’clock.'”
For the record I wrote that at: 8:08 p.m., April 19, 2009, page 266 of my manuscript Stirring Up the World: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, a Biography of a Powerful Friendship. I'm teary eyed; writing biographies is an intense experience. Now to write about Susan's reaction. First, I should go upstairs and tell Linda.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

End stretch

I'm pressing onward to finish Stirring Up The World: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, a Biography of a Powerful Friendship. My editor is waiting. Spring break is over, back to teaching 3 classes at Queens next week, plus a author visit at a school on Friday, etc. Yikes! I'm close, but I think torn between the pressure of needing to get to the end of their friendship and not wanting to have them die! My music for this end stretch is Beethoven's piano concertos--over and over they play. Right now I'm struggling with a section I wrote last night & realllllly like, but in the light of day I think it slows down the narrative---plus I can't go forward & that always means I have to unravel until I can.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Sophie's Experiment


Sophie & I were working in the garden. (We both love gardening, in particular digging holes.) A cardinal was singing and singing.
"Grammy, wouldn't it be a good idea to make a nest for the birds?"
"Well, that's an interesting idea." Briefly I considered pointing out that we don't get birds that nest on the ground, but I was tired and she was so enthusiastic, her imagination was in high gear.
"We could dig a hole, put soft things in it. . ."
"Well, yes, I guess we could start collecting things," I replied. (Yes, it was an attempt to stall.)
"We could use a towel," she said & dashed off to the house.
She returned with a hand towel & asked me if that was OK to use. "Yes," I absentmindedly replied and went in to make dinner. As I left, she said, "We need to leave food for the birds. Do you have bird seed?"
"No, it's gone, but I'll look for something else."
In a few minutes, she was in the kitchen asking for the food. I got some bread crumbs.
"Do you want to sprinkle some on or put them in a dish?"
"A dish."
Out she went with a half-filled glass custard dish.
While I cooked, she made a second nest with another dish of food.
She ate & then I drove her home. On the way, she said, "Grammy, tomorrow, don't forget to check the nest to see if the bird is there."
"Ok"
"Check everyday. You can make a chart."
"Ok"
"Check the food too. Even if the bird isn't there, it might eat the food. You can put that on the chart too."
Ok.
I returned home & went back to writing Stirring. When Linda arrived, I told her the story. She figured that Sophie must had gotten the good guest hand towels from the downstairs bathroom (because Linda put them there for our weekend guests). We went out to look. The sight was so sweet--the "nests," each with a dish of food, carefully arranged side-by-side between the daffodils and hyacinths. "Let's leave it. We can wash the towels," Linda said. "Yes," I replied. "Besides I have to make a chart."

Sophie's Observation

What: Snippet from our conversation
Where: My car
When: Driving Sophie home this evening

Sophie: I passed my swimming test. I moved to a different level.

Me: Wow, that’s great.

Sophie: Now I have a boy teacher in the deeper end. All the boy teachers are in the deep end. The girl teachers are in the shallow end. But that’s not fair.

Me: Why isn't it fair?

Sophie: Because what if a boy teacher likes little kids and wants to teach them in the shallow end?

Me: Oh, that's a good point. Did you talk to someone about that?

Sophie: Yes, Scott (her boy teacher) said he likes to teach big and little kids and they’re going to make another pool . . . (Sophie continued with the explanation but I got distracted navigating the traffic on the George Washington Bridge & couldn't track it.)

p.s. No, I've never done that type of gender analysis i.e. "all the boys teachers are in the deep end. . ." with Sophie.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Sophie, Bee-Eaters & Writing


We spent yesterday at the Bronx Zoo. Here are pictures and a brief video of the zoo biologist feeding crickets to the White-Throated-Bee-Eaters, birds that lives free in East Africa. L to R: Sophie (with pigtails) watching the biologist reach into a plastic bag full of live crickets. Bee-Eaters on branches. They catch a cricket mid-flight and then "smack" it on a branch to make it easier to eat. The"cliff" is where they build nests (last year they produced 9 fledglings). In captivity, the birds eat "cat chow" (you're not hearing things in the video; that's what she says), softened with water, enriched with calcium. The cricket feeding activity, she explained, is for "fun," i.e., to keep the birds from "getting bored." When the weather gets warmer, she collects bees from the hives that are on the top of the building (The World of Birds) and releases them for the birds to chase and consume. The exhibit is open, i.e., above the railing in the first picture (the birds stay put because of the branches, "cliff", and food), except when the bees are released. Then a curtain is drawn to keep the bees from escaping. The "smacking" ejects the toxin and stinger from the bees.
Later while we were eating dinner, I asked Sophie what she liked about writing:
"Using my imagination," she replied, rolling her eyes. "Looking in my brain."
"Imagination is interesting," I said. "You can use it to make up things to write or you can use it to remember something that really happened to write about. That's what I mostly write about--things that really happened."
As an example, I suggested, we use our imagination to describe the White-Throated Bee-Eaters.
"Their beaks are like bananas," she said.


Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Up at 3 am

I've been up since 3 a.m.--no, that is not typical, in fact, I've never done that--but my editor is waiting for my manuscript for Stirring Up The World: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, a Biography of a Powerful Friendship. Plus Elizabeth and Susan are soooooo on/in my mind that I decided to get up and write. It's now 12 hours later--I'm drinking iced coffee (from the breakfast left-over) and popping popcorn--no, not typical, in fact, I've never done that either; maybe I'm delirious!? Back to work!

Saturday, April 04, 2009

Reading with Sophie


I thought Sophie would be intrigued by Sylvia A. Earle's first-hand account, Dive!: My Adventures in the Deep Frontier (National Geographic Society, 1999). Earle, a legendary marine biologist and ocean explorer, starts off with a note that immediately engaged Sophie. "If you want to . . ., " Earle begins and continues with a series of possibilities. She concludes: “I know such things are possible because I have had the fun of doing them and have glimpsed how much more there is to discover.” Opposite the note is a full page color photo of Earle wearing scuba equipment & eyeballing a jellyfish, with the caption: “Jellies, such as this lacy beauty, collapse into great gobs of goo on the beach. The best way to get to know them and other sea creatures is to go where they live—underwater.” Sophie & I laughed at the descriptive phrase “great gobs of goo” (and delighted in the alliteration!) because we’ve seen them during our many walks along the beach at the Jersey Shore. There’s lots of text, but Earle’s personal style held Sophie’s attention until I read about the summer she went to “the whales’ dining room—the plankton-rich waters of Glacier Bay, Alaska." Then she interrupted me to ask:
“Grammy, why did she say ‘dining room?’”
“That’s an interesting question. I wondered about that too,” I replied. “Perhaps she thought it would be easier for readers to understand that that’s where humpback whales go to eat. Sometimes writers do things like that. What do you think? Did she need to write ‘dining room’? Was it a good idea?”
“No,” she said. “But keep reading, Grammy.”

Earlier in the book Earle reported that humpback whales make “short grunts and squeals.” At which point, I interrupted my reading to say, “That's the sound I made when I sat down on the floor to read this book with you!” She laughed; me too!

Friday, April 03, 2009

The Met

Lucky, lucky us--two nights in a row of going to the Metropolitan Opera, and tomorrow is the radio broadcast! It happened this way because we had to exchange tickets once my teaching schedule got set. It's a wonderful happenstance because my writing on Stirring Up the World has been flowing--I'm right up against the deadline--and going to the opera will not disrupt that (nor does my time with Sophie); everything else does to some extent.