Activities for children ~ and for adults/teens

CHILDREN

"This is a fun exercise for children (of all ages!)," my friend Barbara said on Facebook.  When I clicked on it, I found other scavenger hunts.  Like this one:

Children can practice counting, adding, subtracting — and eating exactly four crackers as part of the fun and games.  I'm a word person (and a "bookie"), but I am also a numbers person.  Have I ever told you about "grandma's favorite number"?  It's a story I told one of my grandchildren when she was riding in the backseat — alone in the car with grandma and bored.

ADULTS and TEENS

There are 16 books of the Bible in the paragraph below, 8 from the Hebrew scriptures and 8 from the Greek.  Can you find them?

I once made a remark about the hidden books of the Bible (merely a fluke).  It kept people looking so hard for the facts, and for some it was a revelation.  Some were in a jam, especially since names of the books are not capitalized, but the truth finally struck home to numbers of readers.  For others, searching was a real job.  I want this to be a most fascinating few moments for you.  Yes, there will be some really easy ones to spot.  Others may require judges to help them.  I admit it usually takes a minister to find one of them, and there will be loud lamentations when it is found.  A little lady says she brews a cup of tea so she can concentrate better.  See how well you can compete.  Relax now, and have fun searching.

The Hallelujah Chorus

Enjoy "The Hallelujah Chorus" sung by silent monks.  If the video quits working, view it on YouTube.

And now, here are the Doughboy and his friend Matzoboy wishing you a Happy Easter and a Happy Passover.

If you haven't read Colleen Redman's short poem (four lines with four photos of birds) that she posted on her blog yesterday, click the title and read it on her blog:  When Your Bluebird of Happiness is Golden.  You'll also see why she says "the Golden Girls are boys."  By saving it here on MY blog, I'll always be able to find it on HER blog.

Beginning ~ with a new arrival

"Please, sir, is this Plumfield?" asked a ragged boy of the man who opened the great gate at which the omnibus left him.

Little Men, or Life at Plumfield with Jo's Boys ~ by Louisa May Alcott, 1871, fiction

This sequel to Little Women covers six months in the life of the students at Plumfield, a school run by German Professor Friedrich Bhaer and his wife, Jo Bhaer (née March).  The idea of the school was suggested at the very end of Little Women when Jo inherited Plumfield Estate after Aunt March died.  The story begins with the arrival of Nat Blake, a shy young orphan who is gifted at playing the violin and telling fibs.

The whole series ends with Jo's Boys, and How They Turned Out (1886), which I plan to re-read next.  Little Men, thus far, seems to be presenting Alcott's philosophy about education and how children learn best.  Her father, an educational reformer, stressed the need for school to be as homelike as possible.

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Unprecedented life adjustments

CARING and SHARING

Last night, someone posted on our Nextdoor neighborhood listserv.*

"We have a sewing machine in our house, but alas no one who knows how to sew.  If anyone could put the sewing machine to good use making masks, etc. we're willing to give it to the first taker."

This morning, someone replied.  Here's the online "conversation," which has garnered several "LOVE" reactions.

"I would love to have this if it still available.  I am part of a group of Facebook making masks for medical professionals and essential workers.  Let me know if it still available and I will pick it up today!"

"It is still available.  I'll message you on this."

It's fantastic that people are so committed to helping each other get through this time of fear and anxiety, offering help and being willing to do for others.  Sunday was Golden Rule Day, and I think people all over the world are living that Golden Rule, as they "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."  It's happening, and it gives me a good feeling to see us caring and sharing.

...and MEMORIES

About that Singer sewing machine illustration I found.  I started sewing on a vintage machine like that.  I had already learned how to stitch by hand and how to embroider using a wooden spring hoop to hold the cloth taut.  See the flat treadle at the bottom?  We had to place our feet there to pump it back and forth to make the needle go up and down.  Years later, when I got a portable electric sewing machine, I was able to take out the old and put the new one in that cavity, where the machine could fold down for storage and up for use.  Since it was operated by an electric foot pad, I no longer had to pump as before.  The treadle was still in place, though unused.

Unlike the manual machine, the electric one could stitch backwards and do zigzags as I guided the material under the foot.  It made buttonholes that looked even and professional.  I eventually gave that one to my daughter.  Maybe I should get another, though I no longer have the old wooden thing with drawers for spools of thread and scissors.  I could put it on top of my desk or dining table.  Or maybe not.  I really don't have room for anything else in this apartment.

WORD of the DAY

* LIST·SERV /ˈlis(t)sərv/ an application that distributes messages to subscribers on an electronic mailing list; an electronic mailing list; a method of communicating with a group of people via email.  You send one email message to the “reflector” email address, and the software sends the email to all of the group's subscribers.

CLAWDIA

One day when I was shopping, I bought a can of Friskies Mariner's Catch, thinking maybe Clawdia would try it and like it someday, even though she has rejected it in the past.  When I opened it yesterday, thinking to give her something different, she jumped on it and started eating before I could put all of it in the dish for her.  She LOVES it, at least for now, so I guess it's going on the grocery list.

When we came home today after walking in the grass using the hated leash, I got a phone call from Tiny's daughter Lauree.  She wanted instructions on how to leave care packages for Sheila and me, since the Crown Center discourages visitors during our state's stay-at-home orders.  I told Lauree about the table  near the link desk where prescriptions and packages are being left, now that the office staff are working from home.  When I went down later to get it, Clawdia also had a couple of surprises.  Not only a can of fishy food, but treats!  Thanks, Lauree and Tiny, from Clawdia and from me.  I wish I could let Clawdia know the treats came from her dearly beloved Tiny.  Lauree is so thoughtful; when she called, she also asked if I needed toilet paper or anything at all, saying I should call her if I ever do.

FULL MOON

Here's the full moon rising majestically over my neighborhood this evening.  Good night to all, and to all a good night.

Living in the time of Coronavirus

How perfect is this for Easter this year?  People keep coming up with such great connections.  A friend I met years ago when we were both teaching at Chattanooga State Community College posted on Facebook:  "April distance brings May existence."  Thanks, Fartema.  Another friend got creative; she knocked on my door earlier to give me a facemask she'd sewn for me.  Included with it was a page of instructions printed out, telling me exactly how to wash and dry it to make it safe before I try it on or wear it.  She herself had on another mask she'd made from a different colorful cloth.  Thanks, Sharon.

BROADCASTING CHURCH SERVICES

On a clergy FB page, someone asked if others were feeling stage fright trying to live stream or pre-record church services as we avoid large groups.  Oh, yes!  Some admit stumbling over the words to the Apostles Creed or even the Lord's Prayer, saying they've printed out copies to have in front of them, just in case it's needed.  One pastor admitted to jumbling the words or not staying with the same version at the place where different churches say "trespasses" or "debts" or "sins."

"And forgive us our sins, as we forgive our debtors."

I read somewhere that the time it takes to say the Lord's Prayer is the right amount of time for washing our hands and thought, "Great!"  Then I stumbled over the words while trying to do it, and I was alone at my own sink!  It seems to work best if I sing the prayer (mentally), so I won't leave out any words.  Someone else admitted mispronouncing the word "foal" when she read the Palm Sunday story."  Another person came back with a pun for that:  "We are all foals for Christ."  Made me laugh.  Keep up your spirits; find something to smile about each day.

Golden Rule Day ~ April 5th

The student is correct, but the teacher fails.  She apparently does not know that the Golden Rule is a universal principle shared by nearly all cultural, spiritual, religious, and secular traditions on earth.  She may know only one of these versions in the Christian New Testament.

• Matthew 7:12 ~ "In everything, do to others as you would have them do to you, for this is the law and the prophets."
• Mark 12:31 ~ "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
• Luke 6:31 ~ "Do to others as you would have them do to you."

The Jewish scriptures are also in the front of her Bible, but the teacher doesn't seem to know that.  The Torah says:

• Leviticus 19:18 ~ "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
• Leviticus 19:34 ~ "You shall love the alien as yourself."

Islam also has a version of the Golden Rule.  Muslims find theirs in Surah 4:36 of the Qur'an and in the Hadith:

• Surah 4:36 ~ "Do good to parents, kinsfolk, orphans, the poor, the neighbor who is near of kin, the neighbor who is stranger, the companion by your side."
• Hadith ~ "As you would have people do to you, do to them; and what you dislike to be done to you, don't do to them."

The student has faithfully quoted from his holy book.  Yes, Hindus read the Golden Rule in the Mahabharata.

Mahabharata:  "Do not to others what ye do not wish done to yourself."

"The Golden Rule is not an option — it's the key to our common survival."

— Karen Armstrong

Click on this chart to enlarge it.

This chart shows that other religions and traditions teach the Golden Rule, too.  Let's celebrate it today by treating others — and the planet — as we would like to be treated.

Make your own face masks

You can make your own face mask from a bandana and two stretchy hair ties.  There's no sewing involved, and it takes only a couple of minutes, once you have those three things.  Here's a video/gif on how to make it.