Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Working Today.

I worked all day today on the schoolroom/studio. Very pleasant work I must say. As I cleaned and scrubbed, and went through books and threw away  used workbooks and notebooks. I had kept every thing that all six of my kids did for twenty five years. Remember I started homeschooling in the dark ages when you went to jail for being a home educator. I have filled up three trash cans. Am I a pack rat? Not normally, but my thinking was if I was ever approached by the authorities along with my records I would give them work for each student. No one ever asked. :) I cleaned out drawers and drawers of crayons, pencils, colored pencils, colored markers, and dry erase markers. Lots and lots of flotsam and jetsam. The hard part was when I would run across a old photo of when they were all small.


I ran across my favorite kinds of children's literature. I started putting all of my Meindert DeJong books together. Books I love like Wheel on the School, or Along Came a Dog. ( which is really about a hen whose  feet freeze off.) The House of Sixty Fathers. Those are his most famous. I thought it might be nice to sit and read him this summer. I am thinking of reading all of the Melendy books by Elisabeth Enright. She is such a beautiful writer it is almost like reading prose. The quartet of Melendy books are The Saturdays, The Four Story Mistake, Then There Were Five ( My favorite) and Spiderweb for Two. She wrote Gone Away Lake and Return to Gone away Lake which I just loved.





 All of these books remind me of hot summer afternoons, sitting in my reading tree and watching the clouds sail by in the blue, blue sky, and listening to the sound of the wind in the trees. As the days grew hotter the leaves would start to smell of dirt and crunchy, hot, green. Sitting in a tree reading a book was one of my favorite past times as a child. Sitting and dreaming of how life would be someday.

I ran across all of the Walter Farly books that we have. How many afternoons did I spend reading those over and over and dreaming of riding a horse all summer long. I think when I finally did get a horse and lived on horse back in the summer then there would be the lovely pace of going down a dirt road and seeing where it went. I have always been sad that my children didn't have the luxury of running down a dirt road with powdery dirt squishing up between their bare toes, because who ever wore shoes in the summer?

I found all of the Albert Payson Terhune dog books today. I loved those as much. My favorite of that one being Gray Dawn. I always have been a big fan of horse books and dog books.
It is a big job going through boxes and boxes of books but it is a wonderful job too. I get to look at old friends and touch their lovely spines and know that this summer, I will make time to go inside their covers and remember all of the good things the authors wrote. I guess the reason I love books is because it is not just meeting old friends, but it is listening to really good story tellers enrich my life through their words.


 Thank you for stopping by today.
 I am so thankful for all of you who stop by to read
my blog. You enrich my life every day.

Blessings to you all,
~Kim~

21 comments:

Alica said...

I had forgotten about some of those books! I remember reading The House of Sixty Fathers, and The Four Story Mistake...couldn't tell you what they were about, it was that long ago :), but I recognize the titles! You must have had mixed feelings, going through all those things!

http://bitsandpieces-sonja.blogspot.com/ said...

Let me just say that YOU enrich our lives! I am in awe of all of you have home schooled and planted such strong seeds into the lives of your children. I think it is one of the most beautiful things a child will ever receive. I never even thought about it when my kids were growing up, but I am so appreciative of all I have read and seen about home schooling moms. I have a strong hunch that whether your kids ever ran down the dirt path with bare feet or not... their mom planted those pictures and dreams into their hearts. You've done it in mine, through your words and sharing on these pages.

I also share your nostalgia when you go through those boxes and see those old photos. I've done that many times, and it always makes me feel just like you do.

xo

camp and cottage living said...

Kim
I bet it felt good to get rid of so much un-needed stuff, but I would imagine it was hard too.
Oh my, where would we be without our books...
I think I need to start reading more again!

WhiteWhispers2u said...

Wow what an accomplishment 25 years of teaching and then 25 years of cleaning out. Wooshta!

Kessie said...

Oh man, those are my books! I'm going to come get them someday. Or maybe start my collection from scratch. I know I could get some of them pretty easily, but some of the Terhunes are rare. I need my own copy of Gray Dawn. I think it was my favorite, too.

I'll bet the pictures are precious. Save them! I've discovered that heat and humidity melt pictures together, and I fear for my vast stores of them out in the shed. I wish I'd put them into albums.

From Beyond My Kitchen Window said...

I remember the first book that I couldn't put down. I was in seventh grade and found a copy of Gone with the Wind. I was completely enthralled with the characters and of course the history of the Civil War.I have enjoyed reading ever since. This was such a nice post.

Pom Pom said...

Wheel on the School is one of Jeff (our number 3) and I's favorites!
I LOVED Gone Away Lake.
You and I have the same taste in books.
I think we should read the first Anne together this summer. We can think of some fun Anne activities for ourselves, too. (like searching for and taking photos of a Lake of Shining Waters!)

Kim said...

Kim, your post sounds happy and with a sense of renewal, not a sad post of days gone by. That makes me happy.
I love the sound of a reading tree. It sounds very peaceful and calm.

annie said...

What a great accomplishment for you, all those years of blessing your children! Hope you enjoy your summer reads, I started reading as a kid, mine were tales of Nancy Drew, Juliet Lowe, and on and on. I still love to read. Nothing like an old friend whose name is 'Book'!! Have a great day!

Debbie said...

I know I have said it before, but what a wonderful accomplishment! 25 years of teaching your children and enriching their lives in more ways than you might ever know! How I admire that...I am not sure if I could have done that. And now all those books. I am like you I think. Books are like personal friends that can carry me back to a certain point in time by merely opening their pages and peering in. I imagine your heart is soo full of memories as you sort and clean through all of this. Take it all in, and enjoy!

Janettessage.blogspot.com said...

Kim I am standing applauding you and the fact you went all the way to the finish line. I send my hugs and I wished I could send you flowers.
It looks like I will not go across the finish line with Benjamin, so we are cleaning out the school room so I can adjust to not being his teacher, so I sooooooooooooo get this post. You and I were doing the same thing this week. So bittersweet, isn't it?
Blessings as God opens all the new doors He has for you in this new season of your life. Blessings as you reap all the seed you have sewn into your children's lives.
Enjoy each memory as you pack things up...and the tears that easily flow in gratefulness to the times of them all being younger.
Blessings fellow home school mom, I pat you on the back.

Kathy ... aka Nana said...

While the other kids in the neighborhood were out playing ball, I preferred to sit in my "reading corner" with a good book. I don't recall reading any of the books you've mentioned ... I think I need to remedy that this summer. ;-)

TexWisGirl said...

sweet memories (and gorgeous blooms!) 25 yrs of workbooks, etc. wow!

Nellie said...

Going through books is like finding treasure in a treasure chest! You have wonderful memories tied to each one!

Have a good Thursday!

xo Nellie

no spring chicken said...

Mmm. I was there with you, in that tree, running down back roads with dirt squishing between my toes... Yes, a story told well does that. You are a story teller my friend.

Blessings, Debbie

Sue said...

A beautiful read for me this morning Kim, your childhood memories remind me so much of mine,I still like to sit outside and read, while looking at the sky and dreaming.
I am also thinking as I read this of all the memories you and your children have stored from homeschooling, memories that will last a lifetime, I am also thinking of a woman who gave so much to her children's education both from books and life experiences, and that her children will rise and call her blessed, and her husband praises her,too.
I think of you so often, even when I am away from blogging,especially when I have a chicken episode, like getting the new chicks for the grandchildren, you know we chicken gals have to stick together. smiling!
Enjoy your day, I am hoping to get by soon and really catchup.
Hugs,
Sue

Julia said...

After you read the books again, you can pass them on to your grandkids to enrich their lives. A content of a closed book has little value until it's opened and read.

It's nice seeing you with more free time on your hands. Enjoy it all you can.
Hugs,
JB

Debbie said...

your gardens are providing lot's of beautiful blooms to look at!!

a cleaning projest that is bitter-sweet, i would imagine!!

Ruby and Arthur said...

I really love books too. I always felt like I was falling into another world! I've been cleaning out the school papers for my kids, too. A bittersweet job! Have a great day, Jean

Lynn said...

What a lovely post, Kim! So many of the books you mention I haven't heard of (guess that's what I get for not being a homeschooler ;) ). But I did immediately spring to the bookshelf and find my (very) old copy of The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright. I will put that in the bookcase in my bedroom, to remind me to reread it soon. I am currently on the last of the three volumes of the Lord of the Rings books. I have never read them before and am thoroughly enjoying them. It is amazing how many good books there are out there, and so many as yet unread. My parents got me a little wooden plaque a Christmas or two ago: Life is Short, Read Fast. I'm trying! Happy reading, and happy nostalgia, too. The years do fly by, don't they?

Empty Nester said...

All that reminiscing always leaves me with a plethora of emotions. Which is why I haven't attempted it again since the last time. LOL I kept everything from the lovelies too- when I homeschooled and when I didn't. It's crazy how much stuff gets accumulated. I've given all of Breezy's to her since she has a 'real' house and life. LOL The rest are still using me as a storage unit. Still trying to catch up!