Sunbathing Chicks

hmmm, I wonder how many people will come to this blog post by googling "sunbathing chicks" and then be disappointed?



Our chicks have graduated from a big plastic tub with a heat lamp over it in our garage to Grass!  Bugs!  Wind!  Sun!  Watching them explore and love this new environment was our big entertainment yesterday.  They knew they wanted the worms and the bugs, but they couldn't quite figure out how to deal with them, with comical and interesting results.



And they seem to love the sun.  They had shade too - we were sure to maintain shade over them all day - but they sought out the sliver of bright sun and would lie down on their side and stretch their wings open to catch maximum rays.




In fact, until we realized they were choosing to do this and were fine, we were really worried.  Doesn't this look like they just keeled over and died?  And, btw, these are the naked neck chicks, so they are supposed to look like that. :)

I have never seen this particular behavior before in any of my chickens.  But this whole group does it!

Linky Love

If you are like me, you and your friends are always saying "I'm so busy" - do we need to be?  The Busy Trap

And then, if you do take the time to just hang out outside, will you see very many other kids?  Where have all the outdoor kids gone?

Wondering what to do with free time, kids, and the outdoors?  The bucket list for kids

Chicken Coops

Today, I built a chicken tractor.  The idea of a tractor is to be able to move the chickens around, to get them to work on different parts of the garden and to give them fresh ground to scratch.  Although we have chickens in a big yard with a large coop, we have new chicks and one chicken that has been violently rejected from the rest of the flock (chickens are so mean), so this seemed like a good second home for some of them.

Carbon helped me on all steps of this project (very educational for him - I think this counted as a Wood Shop project, for sure).  I didn't really have a plan, just sort of improved as I went, but I did base it off the MiniCoop from Mother Earth News.

field trip day

We did a mini-unit study on volcanoes this year, but the field trip had to wait until the mountain was open for the season.

We did a tiny little hike (but even that was more than Hypatia wanted to do).


They got to see their own "earthquake" show up on a seismograph.



Some of us were up for the Ranger Talk.



While some of us sought out shade and looked at the new field guides we had purchased in the gift shop.
 

Field trips and outdoor learning are perfect for summer (home)school!

Summer Preserves

I've made my first preserves of the year.  Normally, we get strawberries and rhubarb coming into the local farmer's market at the same time, and so I have made many batches of strawberry rhubarb jam and/or syrup in the past few years.  This year has been different, with weird weather, and the rhubarb came out much earlier than the strawberries, but instead the apriums were available with the berries.

And what a great combination they are!  I am in love with this flavor combo.  I used the recipe found here, but had to add pectin to make it set up to jam.

I tasked Carbon with cutting the garlic scapes from the garden, and he wanted to cook them - so I let him sautee them in olive oil and a bit of soy sauce.  Everyone liked how they turned out and we had a nice little morning snack from them.

Other summer kitchen adventures have included the inspiration of this recipe for yogurt popsicles.  I haven't tried that recipe yet, but instead tried the experiment of just freezing some blueberry kefir in our molds.  That turned out a bit too intense for my kids to enjoy (they don't like kefir, so it's not a big surprise).  I want to try the yogurt kind next.

Next up: I need to pick the pie cherries that are ripe on my cherry tree.

Happy Independence Day, America

We celebrated today with friends, outdoor BBQ, badminton, and some mild fireworks.  I hope others enjoyed their holiday as much!

"this is just the way I am"

in·di·vid·u·al·i·ty

   [in-duh-vij-oo-al-i-tee]  Show IPA

noun, plural in·di·vid·u·al·i·ties.

1.

the particular character, or aggregate of qualities, thatdistinguishes one person or thing from others; sole andpersonal nature: a person of marked individuality.

2.

individualities, individual  characteristics.

3.

a person or thing of individual  or distinctive character.

4.

state or quality of being individual;  existence as a distinctindividual.

5.

the interests of the individual  as distinguished from theinterests of the community.

in·di·vid·u·al·ism

   [in-duh-vij-oo-uh-liz-uhm]  Show IPA

noun

1.

a social theory advocating the liberty, rights, or independent action of the individual.

2.

the principle or habit of or belief in independent thought oraction.

3.

the pursuit of individual rather than common or collectiveinterests; egoism.

4.

individual character; individuality.

5.

an individual peculiarity.

I have been mulling over the difference between individuality (the fact that each and every one of us is in fact a unique and unrepeatable individual being) and individualism (as a sort of ideology, a belief that the individual must be independent and free and is of paramount importance).  

This came up for me as I sat and listened to the Berry Street Lecture this year at General Assembly, in which the Reverend Fred Muir challenged UUism to move from "iChurch to Beloved Community", and held up what he called "the trinity of errors" within UUism today:

1.  An unhealthy ideology of individualism

2.  A belief in UU exceptionalism

3.  An allergy to authority

All of these insights strike me as true and valid, but as usual for me I see a need to balance things.  While I agree that "iChurch" (like an iPod - customizable just for you!  Do what you want with it!) does not accomplish the transformative work that we are called to do - the work of building authentic Beloved Community, transforming and growing our own selves into people of greater depth and integrity, and of making the world a more just and loving version of itself - at the same time I see a need to preserve our individuality in the process.

What is the difference between individuality and individualism?  Here is my imperfect metaphor:

A young member of a congregation comes to church on Sunday morning with purple hair, multiple facial piercings, and wearing a very short skirt.  She sits next to an older lady wearing much more conservative clothing - and this is all appropriate because we can each express our individuality.

versus:

That same young member of the congregation refuses to wear the coffee service apron during her volunteer shift, despite the fact that these aprons are supposed to help newcomers identify who is providing the hospitality, because she is "not an apron person".  That would be individualism.

There are just some things that you do for the good of the community, that really only tread on your ego and your individuality if you've got your ego and your individuality hanging out like a giant sore spot just waiting to be tread on.  My observation of UUism is that there are many many of us who have turned out individuality into an idolatry.  When not being told what to do becomes more important than the community good, than the mission of the organization, or the practical considerations of working with others, than the organization will fail and the individual will be free to be themselves - and stagnate as there is no challenge to be better when individualism lets you off the hook.

This reminds me of something my six year old daughter has been arguing lately whenever I try to direct her toward more cooperative or polite behavior - she says "I can't help it, this is Just the Way I Am!  Don't you Like Me As I Am?"

Of course i like you, I reply.  But this particular behavior still needs to change.  We can all keep our core selves as unique and unrepeatable, and still adapt our behavior to the community good when called to do so.