Listening In the Library

By Alex Haworth

I learned that at the library being "Quiet" is completely optional.

The building itself makes plenty of noise:

Some of the natural things in the library are loud (the doors and the A/C frequently creak and hum).
Even though it's surrounded by bricks and solid wood I could still hear the toilets flushing in the bathroom down the hall.
When someone checks something out, a little scanner makes a "Bip" sound.

People make sounds too:

Whenever someone would walk by, their pant legs would rub against each other.
I think everyone in there coughed at least once, no surprise though, everyone does it and lots of people seem to have colds. And then there are the "Talkers", the people who just can't help it. They will talk quietly, loudly and even try and just make sounds to get someone's attention.

Things you don't expect to make sounds, make sounds:

A popular one is a book-bag. Anything on that can be noisy. You can jingle the zippers, rub the straps and have the contents shake.
Shoes are interesting because everyone has a different style and walk, so no pair ever sounds the same.
Also the computers make noise; not the monitors, but the key pads. They are constantly making a clickety-clack, clackety-click sound.

I heard a metal cart go by, and if that wasn't loud enough, it was a bit rusty.
Also someone was fooling with a food wrapper somewhere that was making plenty of noise.
With all the lockers at school everyone is carrying at least two keys, and all it takes are two keys to be heard from the other side of the room.

And of course I had set an alarm to tell me when my 30 min was up, so that was a great big shock when it was the wrong ring and echoed through the quiet library.

I was surprised to not once hear the sound of someone flipping through the pages of a book.

And so I think the library might be one of the most subtly loud places we have made; quiet enough so we never notice how loud it can be.

Going to the Ballgame

Blacksmithing At Stephen Foster

Awesome pictures compliments of Juzer Bannister...Thank you!

Olympic Inspiration

Inspired by the Olympics, the kids came up with their own version of ice hockey....Garage Roller Broom Hockey.

Emerging from Hibernation

Attending Cameron Lovejoy's Autodidact Symposium has awaken something in us. Although only Alex and I attended, what we brought back has touched all of our lives.

Blake Boles and Wes Beach both inspired us as we move toward the young adult stage of our kids' unschooling lives.

Wes helped us to see that navigating the "high school transcript" is much easier than we anticipated, and Blake affirmed that highlighting the uniqueness of our kids' non-traditional schooling is actual preferable to potential colleges than trying to fit their lives into the schooling box.

In addition, exposure to Blake's Homeschool Leadership Retreats has inspired not only Alex, but Sophie and Max as well.

Alex has begun translating his "freshman year" into a narrative transcript. He has also begun research into several potential internships with locally owned businesses. He has already secured himself a student assistantship with the Chattanooga Theater Center as Assistant Manager for the production of Jack and the Beanstalk.

Max is over the moon excited about Blake's Winter Snowboarding Retreat. We're working on the details, and hope Max will be able to attend in Dec.

After hearing about Blake's Novel Writing Retreat, Sophie began her own version of the NaNoWriMo event. She set herself the goal of writing a 50, 000 word novel in 31 days. She's 10,000 words in, and doing extraordinary well.

Everybody seems to be following their bliss. I'm just trying to provide encouragement, strew their paths, and stay out of their way.

Following Passions....

And Shining Brightly!

Lovin' Gymnastics

In addition to the incredibly hard work Ella puts in to be a competitive gymnast, she has also developed incredibly strong friendships with some amazing girls. We had so much fun at this meet in Nashville, with Sophie acting as the team's biggest supporter and team photographer.

She's Got a Basketball Jones...

This is Sophie's second season playing basketball. I am amazed at how much confidence she has gained on the court. I love basketball, and I love sharing this passion with Sophie.

Making Movies with Friends

Celebrating Shanna

I laughed like I haven't in a really long time. Thanks, Shanna. I'm so thankful you're in my life.

Christmas 2009

These are the only pictures I took on Christmas morning.

Some of the rather important things I missed....
-Rock Band (Oh Yeah!)
-Chef's Knife
-Balance Beam
-Unicycle

Snow

Pictures compliments of Sophie...

Another New "Do"

A long hiatus.
Another new do.
Beautiful Sophie, looking very much the emerging young woman

New Hair

Ella decided to go short. No more online hair fixing tutorials for me...woo-hoo :)

First Meet

Ella had her first competitive meet as a level 4 gymnast. I thought I'd be a wreck, watching her and her teammates, especially on the beam and bars. Thanks to Madeline's recommendation for some homeopathics, I was fine. It might have helped that this was a meet strictly for the judges to get their ducks in a row, and the gymnasts weren't officially scored. We did get their results at the end, and Ella did fantastic. I was so surprised by how calm and confident she was, and at her skill level. It blows me away all that she has learned in this past year. It's interesting to me how she needs me even more in daily life lately, but goes out there on her own and does her thing. Maybe that's why she's been needing me so much. I'm glad I can be here for her everyday, as much as is needed.

More Inspiration From Sophie

Inspired by Sophie being inspired by Food Network.

Again.

The muse?

Broccoli.

In particuar, Spicy Broccoli. A creation by Todd English , chef at Olives in the W Hotel, New York City.

Our Newest Neighbor

Licorice, Christy's calf, at about 3 hours old

Making Sushi

Sometimes the kids have passions that are easy to facilitate. Other times, it can be more of a challenge finding ways to explore and expand upon something they love. Alex and Sophie both love cooking, and we are all huge fans of the Food Network and its myriad of great cooking shows. Sophie has mentioned wanting to attend culinary school, and we try to present her with as many opportunities as possible to cook and create in the kitchen. Last weekend, the Chattanooga Market was having it's own version of "Iron Chef" where local chefs were presented with a mystery ingredient and had to create an entre. This allowed us to follow her passion, and see professional chefs in action. Yesterday Alex and Sophie had the opportunity to learn how to make sushi at a local restaurant. They had a blast and learned a lot about sushi. They both tried new things and brought a smorgasbord home for the rest of us. It seems like opportunities are presenting themselves more and more when we open ourselves up to new experiences. While Alex and Sophie were busy with their class, Max, Ella, and I played around North Shore. We discovered a few new sights and had fun revisiting Coolidge Park.