Grammar Police Officer

Boys and Girls Learn Differently...

...is the title of a book I am currently reading. The author is Michael Gurian, of the Gurian Institute, and I already read his The Wonder of Boys and The Wonder of Girls, both of which were very well-researched and very well-written, and which I really enjoyed.

So here is an excerpt that caught my attention:

"Girls tend to have better verbal abilities and rely heavily on verbal communication; boys tend to rely heavily on nonverbal communication, being innately less able on average to verbalize feelings and responses as quickly as girls. This has immense ramifications in our present [educational] culture, which relies so heavily on talk, conversation, word. We [teachers] are all far better trained at listening to words than at watching silent cues, which often makes comunication with a male difficult." (italics mine.)

I find Gurian's research, writing, and theories really interesting! Gurian bases all his claims on brain and body research, on scientific evidence. I've noticed all kinds of differences between females and males for quite a while now, but most of it I thought was just my limited experience. It's not...Gurian cites research which gives physiological evidence for the peculiarities of each gender.

So I was wondering:

• Men, do you agree with the quote? Do we women over-talk without reading body language?


• Women, do you agree with the quote? Do men read our nonverbal cues better than our verbal cues?

Source of quote: Gurian, Michael. Boys and Girls Learn Differently: A Guide for Teachers and Parents. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001. Quote from page 27.)

Theological Question

One of my students asked me a few weeks ago (during my Bible lesson I was expounding on the Creation-Fall-Redemption historical paradigm), "Teacher, if Adam and Eve had not sinned, would we be living in perfection now?"

And then about a week after that (Mrs. Heidi) said (while a few of us women were complaining about menstruation and blaming Eve), "Oh, come on, if she and Adam hadn't sinned, someone else would have!"

And it made me wonder...a la Perelandra...if Adam and Eve had not sinned, would it have been an option for any one of us? Would we all have been tempted as Adam and Eve were, or was that just an option for Adam and Eve? AND if someone had sinned, would there then be 2 'classes' of people: the Perfect and the Sinful?

(In Perelandra, Lewis toys with the idea that Adam and Eve had a testing period and that eventually it would have ended if only they had held out. Because who can stand up to demonic testing forever? Even Jesus only had to stand up to Satan three times in the desert after 40 days of fasting.)

::Disclaimer:: know that we are living in the Best of All Possible Worlds, because we believe that God is omnipotent and all-knowing and not sadistically out to get us. So I'm not asking because I am untrusting of God. I am asking because I wonder about 'what would have happened' (or what we think 'would have happened') if Eve and Adam had not sinned. So if you intend to comment, chiding me for being untrusting, then don't bother commenting. Answer the question, ok?

Sydney Returns!

Next Episode: Sunday, September 28
"The Two"

"Upon mysteriously awakening in Hong Kong after fighting with doppelganger Francie in Los Angeles, Sydney learned that two years had passed and everyone presumed she was dead … and she has no recollection of those years. Returning to the world that she once knew will turn out to be both enlightening and painful, as Sydney searches to discover where she has been and what had transpired during the missing time. She will soon learn that her memories contain pivotal information that numerous members of the intelligence world are interested in — and may kill for.

In the season premiere episode, with no memory of her life during the past two years, Sydney struggles to come to grips with a reality that is both foreign and frightening. To begin her journey back, she confronts Vaughn about his marriage and learns the shocking fates of Jack and Sloane. Meanwhile, Sydney is granted temporary CIA clearance on a case that may help her regain her memory."

Tonight! Can't wait.

LWW

I began The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe today.

Ahhh. What a lovely first chapter. It just draws you in, sets the stage, and gets you ready to visit Narnia over and over again.

Thank you, Lord, for language and for language-smiths as talented as Lewis!

Early Death and Sovereignty of God

I believe that the Lord is sovereign.
I believe he has unlimited power, unlimited knowledge, all the love, and that he is everywhere at once.
Because he knows everything, he knows what is best for me.
Because he loves unshakingly, he cannot be out for our hurt.
Because he has all the power, he will not allow things go wound me past healing. I do believe that!
And I believe that the power of the blood of Christ shed on the cross is powerful enough not only to save me from my sins, but also to reverse the effect of sin and death in my life. I do believe that!

But how do I reconcile those beliefs with the truth that David Gray died too young after 2 1/2 years of suffering from chemo and intolerable pain? (I am talking about the former Covenant College Catacombian, not the "White Ladder" British singer.)

How do I reconcile that with the fact that L's dad died a week before school started, swept out to sea while picking oysters? L is just 10.

How do I reconcile that with the fact that M's dad died a little less than a year ago; M is just 14?

How do I reconcile that with the fact that A's mom died just a week ago? She was old and full of years, but still...

How do I reconcile that with the fact that _____ died in Iraq, leaving behind _____? (Fill in the blank--I just want to honor all our soldiers who died obeying their military orders.)

How do I reconcile that with the fact that people get so convined we are right about what we believe that we go out of our way to hurt one another? We may hurt one another with planed slammed into skyscrapers, with planes dropping bombs, or with our words, cutting into each other just as painfully and devastatingly as the September 11th planes.

How do I?

And...how do I teach my students that our words and actions are as devastating as the September 11 planes? That we may point our fingers at "those horrible terrorists" but must not neglect to examine our own lives and begin the war on terrorism in our own hearts and minds, and the terrorism that we wage on one another? How do I? Can I ever really make a difference?

disturbing

Whoa. How is this following Proverbs? And why will kids want to play with Job? "Mommy, why can't I have a GI Joe/Barbie?"

(Isn't there something about graven images somewhere? And why aren't Adam and Eve naked OR dressed in skins?
Why are they all white?
Why does Eve's background get an apple and not Adam's? (Bad unsubmissive woman, bad, bad!)
And why will children want to play with such a depressing Job? Couldn't they have picked someone cooler, like Esther or Rahab or even Jehu (complete with speedy chariot!)?

Sigh, apparently "training up a child" has nothing to do with Biblical accuracy.

Really Interesting

Naomi Chana's blog is a fascinating read, especially for us Reformed Christians Covenanteers. Check it out. I think Daphne (she's cross-cultural) and Mesh (he's a Jew, too) especially would enjoy it.

My Net Worth

My soul is worth £109,158. 3% of people have a purer soul than I do.

That's worth about $178,135.29! I expect Mr. Right to pay up when we marry.

(Thanks, Jessie, for the link.)

Which Peanuts Character Are You?

Snuggly Snoopy
(18-25 points)
Energetic? Check. Adorable? Yep. Loads of fun? You bet—just like everyone's fave beagle, you've got the charisma to woo anyone over. Plus, you just love having a good time, no matter what. We guess that your bubbly personality keeps your friends laughing and smiling, just like Joe Cool does for the Peanuts gang!

Thanks Twist!

6x6x6

Thanks for the idea.

"List: six things you've never done but want to do, six things you've never done and don't want to do, and six things you've done and would rather you hadn't."

First 6:

1. Go from one movie to another in a theater without paying for the second movie.


2. Bungee jump.


3. Live in Latvia for a year.


4. Be an aunt.


5. Go on a 3-month road trip in North America.


6. Be a contestant on Jeopardy!

Second 6:

1. Be either parent's caretaker if they get old and senile


2. Go to a family member's funeral


3. Get divorced


4. Go to a student's (current or past student) funeral


5. Become a celebrity and have no privacy just because Americans venerate celebrities


6. Go to a Southern Coming-Out Ball

Third 6:

1. Be with Omamma when she died (I just wish she hadn't died; I'm glad I was there when she died)


2. Go through a difficult breakup (though the breakup was preferable to staying in the wrong relationship)


3. Been a disgusting legalist when I was in High School


4. Go to a Ba'hai Temple


5. Watched my sister struggle with her employment situation from an ocean and a continent away


6. Watch some of my students deal with the losses of their fathers

Survivor: Pearl Islands!!

This post contains spoilers. (I never understood the way some people can watch football or basketball or baseball on TV, but you all can be confounded by the way I can watch Survivor.)

I watched "Survivor: Pearl Islands" last night, and I think it's going to be a great season. For those who do not understand the basic idea of "Survivor," here are the basic rules.

The Survivors divide into 2 teams and use very few supplies to survive as long as they can.

Every third day the 2 tribes compete in an Immunity Challenge, and the winning tribe is excused from Tribal Council, while the losers go to Tribal Council and vote off one of their own members to leave.

Once there are just 8 Survivors left, the tribs are disbanded and everyone plays for him- or herself. Immunity Challenges are played individually and the whole group goes to Tribal Council and votes someone off...but not the Survivor with the Immunity Necklace. At this point, the expelled Survivors become part of the Jury, and once there are just 2 survivors left, the Jury votes who wins and gets the $1million.

The first season of Survivor took place in Pulau Tiga, in Micronesia. Survivor II was in Australia, Survivor III was in Africa (the only season where they didn't live next to a body of water), Survivor IV was in the Marquesas where they no longer had rations, but had to forage all their food for themselves), Survivor V was in Thailand (where the 2 oldest Survivors chose the tribes at the beginning of the game), and Survivor VI was in the Amazon (where the 2 youngest Survivors chose new tribes halfway through).

SO, all that said, I think it is a fascinating game. How are the final 8 players supposed to vote their tribemates off without losing that person's jury vote? How are you supposed to work together with your tribe to survive in a jungle, but at the same time be a conspirator to get your way at tribal council? Who wins, the strongest person, the Alpha Male, the schemer? How will it all end?

THIS season will be interesting because they have a pirate theme. Apparently the Pearl Islands (near Panama) were the main place for the Caribbean pirates to hang out and hide their booty and stuff. So the 2 tribes were made to walk the plank...they had none of their environment-friendly clothes, no hats, no sunblock, no bug spray, nothing. Just their sneakers. They had no supplies, but they were given 100 balboas to go to the nearby fishing village and buy supplies.

Because of the pirate theme, Rupert had no problem pirating Morgan Tribe's shoes and trading them for food and other stuff. Supposedly, throughout the season, the players will be allowed to raid the other tribe's islands, and I would not be surprised if they were compelled to move from one island to another sometime during the season.

I think that Nicole's problem was that she was way too ready to start building alliances. It's too early...but in previous seasons, this is the time that alliance-building happens--it's set by the second tribal council. There had to be some time for her to go and try to build an alliance, but she should have been more thoughtful about who she was going to talk to and who she wanted to vote off.

I also think it's surprising that they named the tribes after Western names, not after local names. Sir Francis Drake was an English hero (so says my British friend and former professor), and to hear him referred to as a pirate--one of the worst in history--is interesting, to say the least. The tribe names are Morgan and Drake, and already Drake is showing a better team and pirate mindset.

Ahhh, I can't wait for the next episode.

Rain

I am sitting at my school desk (I always am when I'm at the computer) and it's raining. Not a pounding rain, but a lovely mist. It reminds me of Ireland...a nice soft day.

I can smell the rain, and the breeze blowing through is nice and cool, not hot, for once.
The light is also muted: the palm trees across Hilo Bay are paler and more dreamlike.
I can't hear the rain, though: it's such a soft rain that the only way I can tell it's raining is to look over my shoulder at the door that's open and see the rain there.

Ahhh. What a great afternoon. It's not pouring rain, making me want to go to sleep, but it's also not great playing weather. I can sit here and get work done and feel the breeze cool me down.

I am thirsty, though. I might have to go to McDonald's for a water. The price is right, after all.

Let My Heart Break with the Things that Break Your Heart, O God

I have been praying for you a lot these weeks, and I still am.

I am glad you are back. Waiting is a hard place to be, and I’m sorry you have been there so long. Now, you are still waiting, but you are waiting with HOPE (hope that is secure, based on Jesus) that you’ll see your Mom again.

I was thinking about “Let my heart break for the things that break your heart, O God” this morning on parking lot duty. If my heart broke each time God’s heart broke, I’d bleed to death. I don’t have his love or his power or his knowledge, and I couldn’t handle it. But my heart breaks over some things, and for the things that don’t break my heart, others’ hearts break over those things. So someone is in Calcutta, taking care of orphans who live in garbage dumps, and I am here, teaching kids who need me to teach them and love on them.

My heart breaks for you, A. And L. And for M. And D. And others who know loss and death. It hurts! That is true, and when I hurt for your sake, or L's sake, or M's sake, or D's sake, I commit that hurt to Jesus. He wept. He knows loss just as much as any of us…even better than we do. His heart breaks for you and your loss, and I wish I could express my sorrow for your sake better than this, but I cannot.

I pray for you, and I am glad to have you back. You are created to be a teacher, A, and here is where you are called this year, with your students, to shepherd their minds and hearts. I am glad, and we all are, that you stayed with your Mom as long as you did, that you got to be there for the miracle of her faith being made sure! You got to be there for the moment she saw our Jesus, and while it hurts, I’m glad you got to see your Mom’s hope and trust in Jesus being proved right.

It hurts that we have to stay here and live in the in-between stage of faith and hope. We know the faith is sure, but it’s hard to keep believing. So I pray with the centurion, “I do believe; help my unbelief!”

Waipi'o Valley

I was here my first weekend on The Big Island. It was a bit of an overcast day, so the picture doesn't show how bright green the cliffs are. That is a black beach down there.

Slammed

Open House is next week Tuesday.
Midterm grades are due next week Friday.
I am planning chapel for next week Wednesday.

Pray for me!

However, I went to Coconut Island last night with 2 friends. The sun was setting. The waves were smacking the seawall. Ahhhh. So pretty.

New Colors

Do you like? Any suggestions?

On the side, I don't know how to get it all surrounded by navy blue. If you scoll down you'll see that there are funny white borders. Any suggestions?

And how do you get the comment window to be all blue, instead of a spot of blue on white? I want to be able to read the yellow.

Surprise!

This keeps surprising me:

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you may go. Joshua 1:9

I memorized it in Kindergarten, and it keeps popping up with new applications.

Useful Website

This is very helpful.

Irritants on the News

*Why does CBS morning news treat the military leaders in Iraq as if they are plague-carriers and then turn around and interview Senator Clinton and treat her as if she is the savior of America?

Does this seem imbalanced to anyone else? Why do they choose to paint the military operation in Iraq with an ugly black brush and ignore the good things that are going on there? American soldiers are losing their lives and instead of giving a balanced report, CBS is waging a war against the operations there. Why is it so hard to report all the facts, instead of just the ones we want to be heard?

*Why does the CBS evening news 'trailer' feature three items: The class-5 hurricane approaching the East Coast, the upcoming Democratic Primaries in several Midwestern states, and the delayed wedding of J.Lo and BAffleck?

Hello, CBS! What is more important, ANY piece of local news in ANY city in the nation, or the delayed wedding of 2 Hollywood stars (one of which is a repeat divorcee anyway and a delayed wedding just brings the response, "Again?")? WHY does this delay matter so much that these 2 get top billing on CBS News? WHY do we as a nation venerate Hollywood stars so much? They are just people, and I'd say they are mostly pretty sick, childish, and irreverent people, anyway! Why? Why do we honor them so much? Why do they matter to us? Why do we give them so much power over us? Grr.

Dove (the chocolate) Promises (in Alphabetical Order)

Chocolate is more than just a taste, it's a feeling.

A day without chocolate is a day wasted.

Go easy on yourself.

Make every moment count.

The only promise you should make is a DOVE Promise.

2 Year Tour of Duty

Unless something desperate happens, I will be here at least 2 years.

Strange to think that if I am somewhere else in 2 years, beginning a new school year, getting to know a new school and new methods, getting to know another city, that I will be looking at my 26th birthday.

I thought about that this morning while I was shopping at the Farmers' Market. I know that time marches on, but why does my 26th birthday sound old? I'll be able to rent cars (yay). But is the big deal that 26 is on the way to 30, and 30 is the first "Over the Hill" age? Any opinions?

Some Photos

Here is where Hilo is, exactly. Just so you know.

In Hilo Bay, there is a cute little island with lots of coconut trees. It's called Coconut Island. Here is a shot of the bridge to Coconut Island.

There you go.

Whoa.

I just got the link for the "What theologian are you?" from the Wittenburg Door. I think this really describes me. Whoa.

Places I Want to Go

Thanks, Jeep, for the inspiration. There are in no particular order.

Wilkerson Pass (again)
London
Australia
Riga (again)
Valmiera (again), specifically, the St. Simon's Church tower.
Baltcepures (again)
Each Hawaiian Island
The Great Hall (again)
Peru
Kathmandu
Around the World in a Year on a Small Cruise Ship
Guiseppe's (again)
Ground Zero
Rhode Island
Garrison Keillor's Show, "Prairie Home Companion" (as a guest)
On "Jeopardy!"
Northern Ireland (again)
Center Hill (again)

Random Things I am Excited About Today

I've been emphasizing honesty to my students, even when they fail or make a mistake, and today a student told me when I asked her that she didn't do her homework. Hooray! She trusted me enough to confide in me her weakness!

We practiced fire drills today and the kids lined up in order, closed all the shutters and doors, pushed in their chairs, and didn't talk, all in 34 seconds! Wow.

We are having a Scholar Dollar Movie Afternoon soon. It will be good to see the kids get a big reward for having money, instead of just one fine after another.

I am going to another The School Junior Varsity volleyball game. I love v-ball. And I hope we win this time.

I got a card from my sister! Thanks! It really brightened me up.

I looked east a few minutes ago and there is Hilo Bay and some palm trees.

"Cupid" is on tonight.

Grammar Queen Asks Her Subjects' Opinions

I was grading grammar quizzes today, and one of the sentences students were required to identify the verbs in was the following:

Hurricane Gwen is headed for Florida.

For simplicity's sake, I decided that "is headed" are the verbs, but I was wondering if anyone thought that "is" is the verb and "headed for" is a 2-word preposition?

So then the parsing would be like this:
Hurricane Gwen is a proper noun and the subject.
is is the verb.
headed for is a 2-word preposition, whose object is Florida.

Any opinions?

Wasting Time Instead of Grading

--GASP-- Yes, I am grading papers on a Sunday. Get over it. (Actually I think it is a bit of a problem because the whole point of Sunday is to rest and look forward to eternity resting in Christ's salvation. And here I am grading and really hating it.) Well...the pile of papers must be lessened! And now is the time! And I AM enabled through Christ to do all things...even grade papers.

I had a great conversation this morning with a friend who is still at Covenant. She had been on vacation here (actually on Maui, a completely different island) and I finally got a hold of her asking how her time went. We talked a bit about the culture here...and here is something that we both noticed.

Hawaii is really far away. Obviously, in distance, but also in mindset.

• It takes forever on the plane to get here! My flight from Salt Lake City was 6 hours! And most of it was over water. That is a lot of water. Did you know that the Hawaiian Islands are the most remote island chain in the world?
  Hawaii is the only US state that once had royalty. Correct me if I am wrong, but the only other states that were once other countries are Texas (Lone Star Republic) and California (Bear Flag Republic). (Does Utah count? Did Brigham ever make Mormonland an independent nation?) But they were republics. Hawaii was an internationally recognized nation with internationally recognized ali'i.


• I can't think of another state that has such a unique culture. Is there any other state where you can wear clothes that are from there? I mean, everyone here wears aloha shirts and muumuus. Aloha print! Big flowers and bright colors! Can you wear a "New Jersey Print" shirt? Or a "Portland-style" dress? I really don't think so.


• Locals here really don't realize the difference between different places on the mainland. I tell them I am from Colorado, and they tell me that they have a niece in San Francisco. Or a grandson in Santa Rosa, or some other Californian city. One aunty had lived in Denver for 11 months, so she knew about Colorado, but there doesn't seem to be that much distinction between all the different faraway mainland places. San Francisco is far away, but so is Colorado, and so is Chattanooga, and so is Amsterdam. It's all just far away. On the mainland.


• I watch CBS evening news every evening, to keep up with that is going on over there on the mainland. We never get mentioned! If we are really a part of the nation, then why isn't there more of a mention of Hawaiian news? If there was a massive bus driver strike in Kansas City or Birmingham you can bet it would at least get a mention. (There is a citywide bus strike in Hololulu. So if you don't have a car or if you are a college student, then it sucks to be you. And last week, the HandiVan service was also closed down, so if you are a disabled person depending on HandiVan for mobility, then it also sucks to be you. Anyone want to know my opinion on the Bus Strike ("we want raises even though the nation is in a recession right now!!") or the HandiVan Strike ("sorry, wheelchair-bound college student, we are afraid of the Teamsters Union, so you can't go to your classes this week. Next!")? A huge storm in Kansas City over Labor Day was mentioned; we had a hurricane and we got barely 10 seconds. "Hurricane Jimena has been downgraded to Tropical Storm Jimena. It is still heading for The Big Island in the Hawaiian Chain, and storm swell, 100-mile-an-hour winds are predicted for Hilo and the southern part of the east coast of The Big Island. In other news..."
• There's also the time difference. I call people when I get up for the day at 5:30 am. It is already 11:30 on the East Coast by then, and 9:30 if I want to call my parents. I called Grandma and Papa today (it's Grandparents' Day!) after I got home from church and it was already dinnertime there. I feel as if I am calling from a spaceship or something...I always have to figure in my head if I am going to wake people up if I call them when I get home from work. It's just one more thing that makes the mainland seem seem so far away.

I know this sounds like a rant, but it really isn't. It is an explanation of how it feels to have been here for just 3 weeks. I am not even a native. I will be kama'aina (local) when I get my Hawaii drivers' license. But I am working hard at observing the culture so I can fit in better, and this is what I have observed so far. The bottom line is this: Every morning in Morning Assembly, all the students salute the American Flag, but the 50th state seems like an afterthought. We didn't even become a state till 1959! (Yes, we weren't a state during the Pearl Harbor attack!)

Well, that is about all for now.

Bridge Builder

I've been reading Bridge to Terabithia to my class. It is a Newbery winner from the 80's, I think, and it is wonderful. Katherine Paterson is a spectacular author! Reading aloud is tough if the prose sucks, but if it's delicious prose then it is a joy.

This is delicious prose. Go read the book. Or read it again. And read it slowly. Being a fast reader I skim a lot of the lovely prose. I just speed by it. But this book just keeps amazing me...it's so good! There is so much going on in each chapter...there is the storyline which is starting to build up. I know what happens and I can hardly wait till the kids get there. The buildup is great, really really well done. And then there is the alliteration and rhythm and sound of the words. And then, with that going on, Paterson is just good at making the setting clear: this is such a hick town that the kid lives in, I can hardly stand it. The characterization of the setting is so subtle and pretty and ... sigh.

(In Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Aslan calls himself the Great Bridge Builder, talking about who he is in England. In Bridge to Terabithia the boy is stranded in this disgusting redneck town and needs help. Here comes a friend to build him a bridge and reach him how to have the bridge with him when he needs it...and how to be a bridge builder for others. In Prelude and The Severed Wasp, L'Engle talks about artists being window cleaners, so that each person can see out of their dirty and clogged lives into others'.

(That is what I want to do...be a bridge builder...be a window cleaner...be a co-redeemer with Christ. I am not an artist but I am a teacher, and that is art, and so I can be a bridge builder and a window cleaner.)

I'm just not a poet, people. I love this book more as I read it aloud but I can't do any better than that at describing it.

Here's LeVar for you: "Don't take my word for it!"

Marriage Mill on the Hill

The Marriage Mill really messes with your mind. It makes you feel as if you are incomplete if you are single.

Living away from the Mill last year really got me out of the habit of sinful self-pity and doubt of God that I am not Coupled like everyone else. Now, here I am, with a Coupled person nearby. She is messing with my mind.

I'm getting back into the damn Marriage Mill Mindset. It's not true that Singles are less happy or less privileged (or uglier) or lonelier than Coupled people. THAT is a myth! I have been lonely in Couple relationships, and I have been deliriously happy as a Single.

Last year, I even had friends who are a Couple but are not obsessed about getting me through the Mill, and they shared their baby with me. So I got to experience the joy of seeing a baby grow from infancy to toddlerhood, see her wave and laugh when I walked in the room because she recognized me (that is a thrill, man), and the joy of camping with these people when the baby has a tummyache. (She kept the whole campground awake for 2 hours. Poor thing was in pain!) Babies are great and chubby and cute, but they are also fussy and coldy and poopy and dependent.

So here is an American myth: the romantic comedy. This is not real life! There is no happily ever after! Get over it, and please do not try to get me though the Mill, all you Coupled people.

I didn't even realize that I had rebounded from the sick Marriage Mill mindset till I met this just-past-college-and-I-loooooove-him friend. Don't get sucked back into once you've escaped, people. It's way too easy.

Local Culture

Before I moved here all I knew was stories from my mom (who lived in Honolulu for 2 years when she was 20) and from watching Lilo and Stitch. Now that I am here I want to watch that movie again.

People here really wear muumuus. People here really have interesting accents...Noni's accent in the movie was waaaay too slight. And there really are elderly Japanese women here who run fruit stands. And it feels cold when it's only 70 degrees in the mornings. (This from Miss Colorado who loves the cold! Yikes.)

And the little kids call grownups Aunty and Uncle here. The preschoolers call me Aunty K when I walk by, but the older kids call me by my last name. But the kids have a really hard time with interrogative sentences because questions don't go up here. They go down! You know it's a question by the Wh/Q word at the beginning, not by intonation. It's a real trip for someone who is sensitive to accents and language.

MAN I wish I had taken linguistics! Someone tell Wildeman to read this blog. Anyone know of any linguistics textbooks I can read to learn about this?

Mountains and Tide

I spent Labor Day Weekend in Kailua Kona, which is on the leeward side of the Big Island. Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa block most of the rainclouds blowing in from the east (several thousand miles of ocean), so Kona is much more arid than Hilo is. It is still a seaside town and humid, but it is nothing compared to Hilo. It is great for going to the beach because it rarely rains.

On Saturday afternoon I sat in the surf at Hapuna Beach, just being there. The tide was coming in, so I had to keep moving in or miss out on my thinking time. By the time I left, there was a deep divot in the sand, a big gully filled with seawater. The waves had washed away all that sand sitting under my body.

Then, driving to the hotel in Kona, "Offerings" (the worship CD by Third Day)was playing. I thought about the line "your faithfulness is like the mighty mountains; your justice like the ocean's tide." And I could see Mauna Loa rising gently to the east. (Where else can you do that? See a 13,000 foot mountain and the ocean just nearby?)

Did you know that Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the world? That is, if you measure from the base of the mountain, which is 17,000 feet under the ocean; this would make it over 30,000 feet tall. But above sea level, it is just a short mountain: 13,797 feet. Now, having grown up and lived the last year of my life at the edge of the Rocky Mountains gives me a sense of tall mountains that are in ranges the stretch for miles and miles. But a mountain is a mountain, be it an extinct volcano with several observatories, or only one mountain in a range that stretches from Alaska to South America...a mountain is a mountain, no matter where it is or what kind of mountain it is like.

Here are a few ways mountains are like God's faithfulness. They are there whether we can see them or not. Clouds do not make them disappear. The mountains are so big you cannot see all of it. You can go all the way around it and over it and even tunnel under it but not see all of it at once. You can live a whole lifetime in it's shadow and still not see all of it's personality. Pikes Peak is different every day. Some days the sun shines bright on it, highlighting the snow in the valleys. Sometimes the sun is dim and the whole thing looks flat and far away. You can never move it. You can bring in bulldozers and dynomite and do whatever...you can even move the whole heap somewhere else, but it will still be a darn big pile of rock! It will still be there!

I know more about mountains than about the tide, but having spent the last three weekends at the beach, I know a bit more about beaches than I used to. Here are some ways God's justice really is like the tide. It is constant. The ocean waves lapping over me were rhythmic and consistent, each one in the context of the one before and the one after, but each one was different. It may push me a little to the left, unlike the few previous, which pushed to the right. Waves are usually subtle, and only in extremity are they sowerful enough to wach a whole city away (like a Tidal Wave). Usually they are soothing and peaceful, but not weak. The power of the water washed a whole lot of sand away just while I was there. I think God's justice is like that: it is there, unchanging, and it changes the lanscape around us. So to the pure God shows himself pure, but to the shrewd God shows himself shrewd. When God's wrath pours out, you can run, though, run inland, and hopefully escape the worst of the damage. Or if you were compelled to stay at the waterfront, then you could hide yourself in the Rock that was cleft for you (that Rock is Christ). Remember the children's song "Don't build your house on the sandy land, don't build it too near the shore. Well it might be kinda nice, but you have to build it twice, you have to build your house once more. You'd better build your house upon the rock!"

New Computer!

I finally have a new computer in my classroom. My first one was replaced and the replacement froze after 10 minutes! So here is a lovely brand-new one that is so fast and ... fast!

So... expect a few blogs from me in the next few days.