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Pumpkin Maple Pecan Rolls (with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Icing!)

Pumpkin Maple Pecan Rolls (with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Icing!)
Pumpkin Maple Pecan Rolls (with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Icing!)

Technology is amazing, and if you can get it into kids’ hands, it can be a tremendous democratizing educational tool. It can also monopolize kids’ attention and suck their brains out through their eyeballs. That’s just my observation as a layperson, but I’m pretty sure it’s scientifically accurate.

The other day we were reading aloud in class, not really using our computers at all. Kid after kid was mumbling through the reading, so I decided to ask them to project their voices a little better. “Can we turn up the volume, please?” I asked. Not one, but like seven different kids reached over and actually tick-tick-tick-tick turned up the volume on their computers. Once they realized what I’d meant versus what they’d done, we all died laughing. It occurred to me at that moment that our computers have almost become natural extensions of ourselves.

And actually, I don’t think that’s such a bad thing in general.

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Quick and Easy Maple Candied Pecans

Quick and Easy Maple Candied Pecans
Quick and Easy Maple Candied Pecans

My students have been immersing themselves in Japanese cultural experiences as they learn about the Heian Period of Japan and The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon, an amazing 10th century diary. While listening to traditional music and burning incense, we’ve experimented with ikebana, the art of flower arranging; shodo, or calligraphy; meditation; walks through nature; making tea; origami; and more. They’re adorably engaged with all the opportunities to appreciate art and literature from various time periods in Japanese history.

One of my favorite opportunities is learning to write haiku. Lots of us learn what I jokingly call the “baby haiku”: a simple three-liner, 5-7-5 syllable pattern, no problem. But (permit me a geek moment) haiku is actually this incredible mental and spiritual discipline that tunes in to nature while creating an asymmetrical experience for the reader. Traditional haiku don’t have the 5-7-5 pattern we’re used to, but instead are comprised of 17 Japanese on, or sound units. The closest we could come when creating a form for English haiku was the idea of a 17 syllable poem, but that’s not exactly right.

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Raspberry Sorbet Mimosa Float

Raspberry Sorbet Mimosa Float
Thanks, Le Grand Courtâge, for sponsoring the development of this Raspberry Sorbet Mimosa Float recipe!

I had a crappy morning. There weren’t any major disasters, but there was a lot of minor crappiness. I had to wake up early to take Byrd to the groomer before work. Mike didn’t get a chance to take her out before we had to leave, which meant she would have to potty in the dewy grass on our way out and would probably get water, mud, and puppy pee all over my cute skirt in the car.

When we got to the groomer, no one was there. Turns out the groomer was stuck in traffic. I paced for 10 minutes with a very nervous Byrd, worrying that I’d be late for work. The groomer had clearly had a similarly harried morning, so I wasn’t angry with her; we were in the same boat. I finally left Byrd around 7:40 and raced toward work, hoping I still had time to get a coffee on the way.

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Cheesecake-Stuffed Pumpkin Bread

Cheesecake-Stuffed Pumpkin Bread
Cheesecake-Stuffed Pumpkin Bread

I spent one summer in college working as a research tech in my developmental neuroscience lab with students from all over the country. One of the new friends I made was Crystal. Through our chatting while wrangling frogs and culturing neurons, we quickly discovered that we were both Christians. One day while we were elbow-deep cleaning out tadpole tanks, our conversation turned toward salvation and the idea that some people would not be saved. Crystal surprised me by being ambivalent. I’d never seen someone so devout equivocate on the matter. I for one had no trouble with it: I figured everyone would be, somehow, given a fair chance, and they’d either choose to follow Christ or it would be justifiable that they weren’t saved.

As we continued discussing, I could see that her heart and her love for her friends of different faiths was the source of her questioning. I took a moment to stop thinking about the particulars of the argument (in other words, this isn’t a post about the particulars of that argument) and to look inward: Why did it bother her so much more than it bothered me that some people wouldn’t be saved? Why was it such an easy answer for me? Shouldn’t I be more torn up about that?

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