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Far Out!

7/16/2019

Looking at
Earth
While Earth
Looks at you. . .
a blip out in space.
   from: A Trip into Space
   written by Lori Haskins Houran
   illustrated by Francisca Marquez
   Albert Whitman & Co., 2014
On my first day of Kindergarten, my mom had arranged with a neighbor to walk me to school. The boy in charge of me was quite a bit older, and not that willing. He did what his mom told him to do, but not that time. He left before I got to his house. I was on my own.
   Mom had to stay home with my baby brother. My sister went to a different school. So. I think I cried all the way there. But maybe only most of the way. I’m not sure how I found my way to school and I don’t remember what happened on Day 2. Really, the building was very close to our house with only one turn to negotiate. I’m sure a traffic guard was in the picture, too. I know my parents would never knowingly let anything bad happen to me.
   My sense of direction is still lacking. My dad used to kid around (probably) and tell me I’d get lost backing down the driveway. When we lived in the same town, I’d call him up and take him to lunch in exchange for a ride-along with directions.
   But, when I moved to a new city and couldn’t depend on Dad as my direction-giving co-pilot, I paid more attention to landmarks and street signs. Now I depend (too much) on my GPS.
   I was just a little older than my oldest grandson is now when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin found their way to the moon, took those giant moonsteps, and returned to Earth 50 years ago this week (July 20). And just like everyone else who was alive then, I remember where I was.
   I remember thinking that my little nephew (who turned 50 last month) would never know a time when people were not on the moon. I wondered if people would still find the moon mysterious. I wondered if I would.
   Yesterday, July 15, Jim Bridenstine, the new head of NASA, (he took over in April 2018 after leaving the House of Representatives) said in an interview that his generation does not have a memory like that. And he wants one.
   So NASA is planning a Mars walk. Not soon. The estimate is 2034 or so. But we have to go back to the moon first. The way Mr. Bridenstine explained it, the moon will serve as a training ground for the Mars astronauts. But, the last time the US went to the moon was 1972, and the equipment is outdated. New equipment is being invented right now.
   Other countries have traveled to the moon. Some had people on board, but so far, only Americans have actually walked there.
   We have an International Space Station. And on January 3, 2019, China’s Chang’e 4 spacecraft made the first landing on the far side of the Moon. Countries seem to be working together better now, both to share knowledge and to avoid another space race. Because, really, what’s the point of learning something if you can’t (or won’t) share? That’s a refreshing concept.
   But, so far, no other country has plans to put people on Mars. The Curiosity has been exploring the surface since it landed in 2012. Now NASA plans to continue exploring Mars with the launch of a new craft that will dig deep into the planet.
   The new Mars lander has a 5 foot 9 inch long arm with shoulder and elbow joints. The grapple at the end of the arm can grasp items with its 5 mechanical fingers. Here’s a labelled picture of the landing craft. https://mars.nasa.gov/insight/spacecraft/instruments/summary/ It will be used to explore the interior of Mars, collect rocks, and send pictures back to Earth.
   The launch is planned for July, 2020, when Earth and Mars will be aligned favorably to save time and fuel. Because the planets are constantly on the move, and neither orbit is exactly circular, precise directions are crucial.
   And kids in grades K-12 can enter NASA’s naming contest for the new lander. If you are a teacher, or know one, here’s the information: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7436
In the meantime, when I’m finished exploring the NASA website, I’ll spend some time exploring my own neighborhood. Blueberries are in season. I have the directions to a nearby blueberry farm programed into my GPS.
-—stay curious! (and plan ahead)

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The Grand Connection of All the Universe

7/9/2019

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Mr. Patterson spoke up. “Every ten years the United States government collects data to find out who is living in the US. The census takers ask questions about age, sex, and race, to see how the country is changing.”
   “It’s friggin’ annoying. If you don’t send in your form fast enough, they start callin’ your house,” Sookie said. “No thanks. I’d rather stay off the grid.”
   Dad smiled.
   Vern ignored Sookie. “There is no census for white sharks. We have no idea how many young sharks, middle-aged sharks, and old sharks there are. A balance would tell us there is a healthy . . .”
   Vern was searching for the word.
   “Ecosystem?” Dad offered.
from: The Line Tender
by Kate Allen
Dutton Children’s Books, 2019

The Fourth of July parade, picnic, and roller-coaster emotions (anger, fear, sadness, and pride) and my wonderful, chaotic house full of kids and grandkids and cats (and a bunny rabbit) has had me distracted and a little disoriented. We have one grandchild left, and he’s going home tomorrow (Wednesday).
Yesterday, I woke in the comfortable and awesome clutches of the Grand Connection of All the Universe. Let me explain.
   Most mornings, I read for a couple of hours while a cup of coffee gradually cools at my side. Last week my quote popped out of the book I was reading. My book did not having anything to do with flags or Betsy Ross. It was about balancing family problems with asking for help when you need it. But Betsy appeared in the pages of a book about a girl who loves history.
As of yesterday morning, I didn't have an idea for today's post. I had lots of mini-ideas, but no one thing stood out. I discovered today’s quote in the book I was reading. The same as last week.. The book only mentioned the Census in passing, in relation to a shark census. The main character’s mother was preparing to conduct scientific research into the relationship between a local seal population and an unusual migration of white sharks.
   But the US Census is news. And the president is still trying to insert his question, even after the Supreme Court said no. It feels like when my kids were small and they asked for another helping of ice-cream for dessert. The conversation went kinda like this:
   “I said ‘no.’”
   “But I really want it.”
   “No.”
   “Let’s call it a carrot.”
   “No.”
   “I’m going to ask Daddy.”

   Everyone got a little huffy, but order was restored, without ice-cream. Substitute the word “question” for “ice-cream” and you have my take on the US Census situation. More details will follow soon.
   Where do ideas really come from, though? I wrote of this once before when I mentioned poet and song-writer Roseanne Cash’s suggestion that ideas are entities in the universe waiting patiently, or not, for someone to catch them. Elizabeth Gilbert says something similar in her book Big Magic. If an author does not follow through on an idea that has come to her, that idea will find someone else to bring it to the world.
   We took my grandson to see the new movie, Yesterday. A young, struggling musician, at the brink of giving up his dream, discovered that almost no one in the whole world had ever heard of the Beatles or their music. The young musician sang the Beatles’ songs and became more famous than he could have imagined.
   All the rest of the plot and characters aside, maybe it’s the music that actually needs to be in the world and found its own way to be heard. Maybe the music itself is the main character.
   What if each one of us is the main character in our own story? What if each one of us does all the good work we can? Imagine all the people living life in peace!
-—stay curious! (and connected)

Weebly, the host for my blog, has changed the way it provides statistics to me. Up until this week, I could see how many people looked at my post and how many pages were seen, no matter how you found me. Now they only count the “looks” that come from ShariDellaPenna.com.
   Instead of over 500 each week, Weebly is recording only the few that come directly from their platform. I’ll keep posting, but I now don’t have any idea how far my reach is. Hit the like button on Facebook, if you want, and if that’s where you find me. Or connect through Twitter. Or find me through my website. It will help me know you’re out there!
   Thanks,
   Shari

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You’re a Grand Old Flag

7/2/2019

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  “The first American flag was raised in 1777,” I say. “During the siege of Fort Stanwix on the Mohawk River Valley, in New York.”
   “Ah,” says Grandpa Tad. “Fort Stanwix.”
   “The soldiers cut up their white shirts to make the stripes, and the red petticoats of their wives. They got the blue from a captain’s coat.”
   “Whoa, now. I thought the first flag was made by Miss Betsy Ross.”
   “There’s no historical evidence for that,” I say. “That is a made-up story. Like George Washington and his cherry tree. Also not true.”
   “You don’t say. How’d you get to know all this?”
   “I read a lot. And Mrs. Dooley at the library, she helps me figure things out.”
from: The True History of Lyndie B. Hawkins
by Gail Shepherd
Kathy Dawson Books/Penguin Random House, 2019

When I was little, my gram made a nightgown pattern from newspaper for me. I laid on the floor and she traced around me on the sheets she had taped together. My nightgown had little flowers all over it and a ruffle at the wrists and around the bottom. It was soft. I loved that nightgown.
   In 9th grade all us girls studied Home Economics, cooking and sewing. I really enjoyed sewing, even though I wasn’t too good at it. My dad took me to buy fabric at JoAnn’s, but his favorite color was brown. We compromised. We bought brown fabric with little flowers all over it. I only got a B on my apron. The A-line skirt had to be black or navy blue.
   I saved up my babysitting money and bought a sewing machine from Sears. I bought some McCall’s patterns, printed on newsprint, and sewed some of my own clothes. I made an orange caftan (combination of gingham and terrycloth, can you imagine?!) when those were popular in the 1970s. I sewed some clothes for my girls when they were young. They wouldn’t wear anything I made after about age 3 or 4, though.
   My favorite projects were the quilts I sewed for my grandkids on that same sewing machine. All the quilts were ready (but the last one) for each child’s arrival. I used patterns, but adapted them, and only needed math help on the one I sorta designed myself. I learned to hand appliqué, a technique I’m glad I did, but don’t have a strong desire to do lots more of. I appliquéd lots of little sheep on that last quilt. Each sheep had two tiny ears and four even tinier legs, and a wee, tiny tail.
   If Betsy Ross sewed the first American flag, which she did or did not, depending who you read, she hand appliquéd all 13 stars on a field of blue. Some claim she told George Washington it would take less material if the stars were 5-pointed instead of 6. For proof, she folded up a piece of paper and one snip later, she unfolded a little star. You can try it. I did and it works: http://www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagstar.html
   Reeves Weatherill, the descendant of one of Betsy Ross’s friends, Samuel Weatherill, presented the little paper star at a luncheon of the Philadelphia Flag Day Association in 1963. It was signed by Clarissa Claypoole Wilson, Betsy Ross’s daughter. Clarissa, so the story goes, had given the little paper pattern to Reeves’s own ancestor, Samuel Weatherill. Now after all those years, this important scrap is part of our history.
   The earliest American flags had no particular guidelines about the arrangement of the stars and stripes. Each state in the new Union was represented by a five-pointed star and each stripe represented one of the original thirteen colonies.
   On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress passed the first Flag Act: “Resolved: That the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.” https://www.si.edu/spotlight/flag-day/flag-facts We still celebrate Flag Day each year on June 14.
   An Executive Order of June 24, 1912, established the rows of stars on the background of blue. When Alaska was admitted to the Union on January 3, 1959, a 49-star flag went into production the following July 4. President Eisenhower proclaimed the stars to be in seven rows of seven. Dozens of 49-star flags are still available, even though they were only made for one year.
   In preparation for the admittance of Hawaii, a high school teacher in Lancaster, Ohio, gave his students an assignment: design an American flag to accommodate 50 states. It was a math problem for Bob Heft. He successfully arranged the 50 stars in nine horizontal rows alternating six and five stars in each row. He kept the 13 stripes. Bob earned a B- due to “lack of originality.” He wrote to his congressman who convinced the government to adopt his design from over 1,000 that were submitted. His teacher changed his grade to A.
   Hawaii achieved statehood on August, 21, 1959, and the 50-star flag went into production on July 4, 1960.
   At the time of his death in 2009, Bob is thought to have designed a 51-star flag, too. Let’s hear it for Puerto Rico! and Guam!
--stay curious! (and stand up for your ideals!)

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"Live life as the work of art you are."
Abraham Joshua Heschl (1907-1972)
Rabbi, Humanitarian, Peace Activist

Far Out!

The Grand Connection of All the Universe

You’re a Grand Old Flag

I'm a children's writer and poet intent on observing the world and nurturing those I find in my small space .

Archives

"Live life as the work of art you are."Abraham Joshua Heschl (1907-1972)Rabbi, Humanitarian, Peace Activist​

Far Out!

The Grand Connection of All the Universe

You’re a Grand Old Flag

I'm a children's writer and poet intent on observing the world and nurturing those I find in my small space .

Archives

"Live life as the work of art you are."
Abraham Joshua Heschl (1907-1972)
Rabbi, Humanitarian, Peace Activist