Showing Uniqueness in Each Open Window

Libby left 11 windows open.

For those readers who are looking for more outdoor education tidbits...check back later! These "open windows" are on my computer, and have titles like "Essay for XYZ Conservatory" or "Personal Statement for ABC University". There are currently 5 Word windows in use, and 5 web browsers open to college application sites. There is also an online thesaurus open. Libby's computer is not working, so she is occupying mine. Today she is at music, so I have a few minutes to post. I am afraid to close these windows, though!

Advice to college applicants: Make sure the "auto save" function is functioning on your word processor! Reconstructing an hour of typing is not fun (fortunately, I did have auto save turned on...I just had to find the folder...).

One of the fun things about homeschooling is watching the kids become proficient writers. Like hearing your child say her first words, or teaching her to read, watching her prose become more fluent and mature, and her sentence structure more interesting, is a joy! As she writes, she sometimes asks me to check something for her, or read a sentence out loud. We often come up with the same solution at the same time, and laugh. She's no clone, but we do think alike, and often use the same turn of phrase.

So far, she has only been satisfied enough to press "send" once. That means that only one-of-eight applications is in. She wants each one to be different, while keeping with the requirements of the topics, which vary little with each school.

Deadlines are looming.

Choosing a Catholic College

Disclaimer: I do not have a child who is looking at any Catholic colleges right now...at least not as a first choice. Since my firstborn is hoping to go to a music conservatory, and there are very few Catholic music schools in the US, we are limited. But we did see Patrick Reilly, president of the Cardinal Newman Society, speak last week about the new book called Choosing a Catholic College. The book reviews only those colleges with a true Catholic identity...and a few that are trying hard to be Catholic.


Of those in the book, Catholic University has a music school (the Rome School of Music), so we visited CUA last Friday, and had a wonderful time. One graduate student spoke to us at length, explaining that she had become a Catholic as a student there...the faculty was welcoming, and we were even allowed to sit in on a private lesson with the violin professor. Libby knows the dean of the music school from Aspen, where he heads the conducting program. He answered all our questions.

But back to the book. So the book has what most big guides don't: Answers to questions that we Catholic parents have about the schools...things like pro-life (or anti-life) organizations on campus, single-sex housing options, theology offerings, the presence of religious on campus, ex corde ecclesiae information, and more. It is a resource that Catholic parents should look at more than once, especially if more than one child will be heading to college soon.

Big dog, Little Dog

Just had to add a photo of the two dogs getting along. We were a bit worried, but things are OK, as long as Circe takes her signals from Indy, especially when he has a rawhide!

For the Love of Literature!

Please check out this news--this is a book I have been waiting for:

Click here: Maureen Wittmann: Awesome News!

Because I can't resist...

a puppy face...we now have a new puppy.

This is Circe, a 10 week old Australian shepherd puppy. She joins Indy, our 10 year old Aussie. She is driving him crazy with her antics. Overall, though, she is mighty good!

Red Sox Nation

...a small enclave in NY. In Don's office, late at night, a few Sox fans got together. They had a Bostonian snack (but the pizza was from NY, no doubt the best in the world). And
they cheered! We have no TV reception at home, so the basement of the office is the official Red Sox Nation Embassy on the turnpike.

Screwtape!

Last night the older kids went into the city to see a staged production of C. S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters. If you live in NY, and you have older teens (or want to see it yourself), it's a wonderful play! They thought it was "awesome" "weird" and "thought provoking". They both liked Screwtape's smoking jacket...the link has photos, clips and theater information.

More Wildlife--Yellowstone

In spite of the near disaster with the elk, our main goal in our visit to Yellowstone was to see as much wildlife as possible. I am not sure if we were simply very lucky, or if this is a typical roster of animals seen during a visit to the park, but we were delighted to see so many!

We saw bison the first night in the park--really the first we had seen. Up to our entering the part, we had see more cows than we ever thought possible, and the cows were simply everywhere. We also saw small herds of pronghorn antelope all over the west. I had never seen one in person except in zoos, so this was a big thrill.

Once in the park, however, we realized there was a trick to wildlife viewing: If there are cars pulled over, there is likely something to see. One of the best things we saw--and the photos don't really show this well at all--was a coyote preparing to pounce on, and then actually pouncing on, and then looking up, right at us, and munching on a small bit of prey. This photo is a reminder that I need a telephoto lens...

I know that Yellowstone is known for its bears, so we expected to see them everywhere in the park. We did not see any in the campsite, as we have in other parks (in Algonquin when I was 12, we had to chase the black bears out of our campsite with flaming sticks from the fire!). Instead, we heard rumors of bears, and followed up on them. The most interesting rumor was of a grizzly sow (female bear) with four cubs. Typically, a bear has two cubs, occasionally three. 4 cubs is rare, even among black bears, but it was most unusual for grizzlies. The chatter at the park suggested that she might have adopted the smaller cubs. Either way, we saw her! She was well below us on a hill,and followed closely by two cubs, with two others trailing a bit behind. While we only got a few good photos, we did manage to catch momma and one cub fairly well. Yet another reminder that I need a better lens. Can you see them in this photo? Their heads are behind trees, but you can make out the backs of both bears.

Habemus Dishwasher!

Hey, it's been two years since I pulled it out. What a relief! I could not find enough dishes to fill it tonight, as we have been using paper since we pulled the sink out three weeks ago. The dishwasher was installed that same day, but T didn't tell me that it would work until tonight. Gotta get that boy to talk more, initiate conversations, give out information more freely...

Physics and Gore?

Monday, Libby and I attended an open house at a local women's liberal arts college. As part of the program to introduce young women to the college, the students were invited to choose a class to attend. With neither music nor chemistry available during her time slot, Libby chose physics. Imagine her surprise when she sat in a class of about 80 students to view a film by a certain Nobel Laureate! She almost walked out...but to her amusement, the students began to laugh as the film rolled. Better yet, the professor provided an atmosphere of serious science, taking a critical look at the film, its star, and his ideas. Libby was delighted, and began her application essay as soon as she got home.