Madison continued the Milestones tests this week, again finishing earlier than most with her test, again because math is one of her stronger subjects. When asked how she did on the tests today, Madison said, "Pretty good." And... that's about it. She does feel good about it, but these aren't tests where you go back and describe in great detail your challenges, and dramatic victories over various questions. You just sit in a chair and solve for answers all day long.
After school today, Daddy took her to her ballet and jazz classes, which were fortunately much more energetic. Madison is invited to an upcoming birthday party, somewhere up in Cleveland soon. You'll probably see pictures of that here, but it's been a while since we were up there in the old hometown area for Daddy. But dancing went on for a while - it's two and a half hours on Thursday nights, so Daddy was enjoying the remarkable weather outside in front of the Pearce Auditorium, where they have some metal chairs and a nice shady spot. There was a breeze that threatened to make it a little too cool, but the sun felt just right and completely balanced things out. The end result is some progress with writing for this weekend. It's always difficult writing for an upcoming weekend, this taxing thing on the brain. The variables change from weekend to weekend, and one of the things that was holding me back this weekend was just a creative block, and a question of what to do. Suddenly, tonight I discover that one of our characters can't be here for sudden reasons, and then everything comes into place. I realize I was held back from writing, and that now with this new information about not using one character, I'm able to do work more quickly. It's God. It's always this balance between wanting to go ahead and get things done earlier the better, and then fully relying on Divine Providence. Yes, we have to work at things. Faith without works is dead. But at the same time, it's not all us doing the work. And so the weekly balance goes on, as it has for well over a decade now.
Anyway, writing outside was nice, and all too soon, Daddy was picking up Madison and we were heading back home again. It wasn't a late night again, as we have another day of testing tomorrow. But we did have dinner - Mommy had something very nice for all of us tonight. And we did our reading from the devotional, and our reading from the latest Nancy Drew book as well. In it, we've learned how Istanbul's name used to be Constantinople. Which immediately makes Daddy think of They Might Be Giants, of course. But we were talking about that a little tonight, and about the nation of Turkey in general. But soon, it was time for bed, as we still have another test in the morning. We said our prayers, gave zerberts and were off to sleep.
Well, most of us: Mommy was doing ancestry later, and Daddy just had to finish the book he's been reading lately about the Wright Brothers. One of Daddy's favorite authors is David McCoulough, an author that generally writes biographies. His book on John Adams is one of the best, but this book on the Wright Brothers has been a real joy. The author is so able to bring the humanity out in these legendary figures, and the reader is sucked into their world, their struggles, their loves, and their amazing accomplishments. In the case of the Wright Brothers, you really get a sense - through their letters - about all they had to go through leading up to the building of the first airplane ever. And yes, the Wright Brothers clearly made the first working airplane ever. All this talk of Langley and Whitehead having a working airplane before the Wright Brothers is unintelligent, fictitious, and a bit insulting. The book is honestly generous to Charles Walcott and Glenn Curtiss, two figures who had a goal of undermining the Wright Brothers. That's what makes David McCullough so readable - he generally leaves the "judging" part to us, just spelling out what happened in history.
I'm not sure if Wilbur Wright ever knew about the Smithsonian's full attempts to manipulate the truth. And Orville Wright got an apology from the next director of the Smithsonian, only after a great deal of public pressure was put upon the Smith. Anyway, this was what Daddy was reading tonight - just a bit of light reading there, that went on a little too long. In fact, it's time for bed...
After school today, Daddy took her to her ballet and jazz classes, which were fortunately much more energetic. Madison is invited to an upcoming birthday party, somewhere up in Cleveland soon. You'll probably see pictures of that here, but it's been a while since we were up there in the old hometown area for Daddy. But dancing went on for a while - it's two and a half hours on Thursday nights, so Daddy was enjoying the remarkable weather outside in front of the Pearce Auditorium, where they have some metal chairs and a nice shady spot. There was a breeze that threatened to make it a little too cool, but the sun felt just right and completely balanced things out. The end result is some progress with writing for this weekend. It's always difficult writing for an upcoming weekend, this taxing thing on the brain. The variables change from weekend to weekend, and one of the things that was holding me back this weekend was just a creative block, and a question of what to do. Suddenly, tonight I discover that one of our characters can't be here for sudden reasons, and then everything comes into place. I realize I was held back from writing, and that now with this new information about not using one character, I'm able to do work more quickly. It's God. It's always this balance between wanting to go ahead and get things done earlier the better, and then fully relying on Divine Providence. Yes, we have to work at things. Faith without works is dead. But at the same time, it's not all us doing the work. And so the weekly balance goes on, as it has for well over a decade now.
Anyway, writing outside was nice, and all too soon, Daddy was picking up Madison and we were heading back home again. It wasn't a late night again, as we have another day of testing tomorrow. But we did have dinner - Mommy had something very nice for all of us tonight. And we did our reading from the devotional, and our reading from the latest Nancy Drew book as well. In it, we've learned how Istanbul's name used to be Constantinople. Which immediately makes Daddy think of They Might Be Giants, of course. But we were talking about that a little tonight, and about the nation of Turkey in general. But soon, it was time for bed, as we still have another test in the morning. We said our prayers, gave zerberts and were off to sleep.
Well, most of us: Mommy was doing ancestry later, and Daddy just had to finish the book he's been reading lately about the Wright Brothers. One of Daddy's favorite authors is David McCoulough, an author that generally writes biographies. His book on John Adams is one of the best, but this book on the Wright Brothers has been a real joy. The author is so able to bring the humanity out in these legendary figures, and the reader is sucked into their world, their struggles, their loves, and their amazing accomplishments. In the case of the Wright Brothers, you really get a sense - through their letters - about all they had to go through leading up to the building of the first airplane ever. And yes, the Wright Brothers clearly made the first working airplane ever. All this talk of Langley and Whitehead having a working airplane before the Wright Brothers is unintelligent, fictitious, and a bit insulting. The book is honestly generous to Charles Walcott and Glenn Curtiss, two figures who had a goal of undermining the Wright Brothers. That's what makes David McCullough so readable - he generally leaves the "judging" part to us, just spelling out what happened in history.
I'm not sure if Wilbur Wright ever knew about the Smithsonian's full attempts to manipulate the truth. And Orville Wright got an apology from the next director of the Smithsonian, only after a great deal of public pressure was put upon the Smith. Anyway, this was what Daddy was reading tonight - just a bit of light reading there, that went on a little too long. In fact, it's time for bed...
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