What's up, America, in the 30s--a year after market crash? With the reduction of spendable income during depressioin era, people had to look to inexpensive leisure pursuits. President Roosevelt helped make stamp collecting a popular hobby.
Parlor games and board games became the rage. In 1935, 20,000 sets of Monopoly by Parker Brothers were sold in a week at its debute. Gambling increased as people sought any means to add to their income. Between 1930 and 1939 horse racing became legal in 15 more states bringing the total to 21. Interest in spectator sports such as baseball grew. Stars like Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio drew fans into the stadium, and those who could not attend the games gathered around their radios to listen to the play-by-play. The 1932 Winter Olympics, held at Lake Placid, New York, renewed interest in winter sports. The Civilian Conservation Corps, a New Deal work project for youths, built ski runs and jumps on public land as well as recreational facilities in the national parks.
Paris fashions became too expensive for all but the very rich, and American designers came into their own. Hollywood movie stars such as Bette Davis and Greta Garbo set fashion trends in dresses designed by Adrian and Muriel King and hats designed by Lily Dache. Clothes had to last a long time so styles did not change every season. The simple print dress with a waist line and longer hem length replaced the flapper attire of the 1920's. The use of the zipper became widespread for the first time because it was less expensive than the buttons and closures previously used. Another innovation of the 30's was different hem lengths for different times of the day - mid calf for day wear, long for the evening. Men's pants were wide and high waisted. Vest sweaters were an alternative to the traditional matching vest of the three piece suit. Hats were mandatory for the well dressed male.
Katherine and DS, COOL Kid's Club fearless reporters, traveled back in time to 1930s to give us this news footage: A group of people were particularly concerned of our post-war injured and forgotten veterans--doctor (AJ) and nurse (McKayla) were working days and nights patiently attending to our war heros' physical needs (Sam, DD#1, and DD#2.) Meanwhile, Bennett the general was leading his troop of cadets and sargents fighting the Germans under blistering cold winter condition.
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Besides playing games, eating, snacking, and boys getting away from girls, the paparazzi, Kid's Club exchanged some ideas for future club meeting.
Next week, kids may come to Kid's Club dressing/portraiting as a person from the 1930s. It's not a requirement that kids must take part in this role-playing theme. Some of the kids like to walk away with something more than playing...but then...there is absolutely nothing wrong with playing!
On a side bar, we will be celebrating one of our new kids Megh's 5th birthday. We will need to take down and put away Halloween decors left from last party over the weekend. Then, putting up Birthday Party stuff for Megh. Hmmmm...can't we squeeze all these in one busy weekend?
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On Halloween's day, the sky was a gorgeous blue; the trees were swaying in the wind. Fall was whispering her secrets; there's a bit of a chill in the air. I wish I could convey in words what this time of year does for me. I feel so alive, so refreshed... moved. I had an extra layer of clothing on (heehee, me,) and the air I inhaled chilled the inside of my nose a bit. I actually felt beautiful. How odd is that? How seemingly unrelated to anything. But I did. And it was a blessing. Then, I discovered why...Welcome Lis, Megh, and soon Sheamas to our COOL family!
Though not many friends came, (perhaps people were busy jostling toward the big night of Trick-n-Treating,) Peter, Sam, Megh, and our three kids shad a grand time over the neighborhood park.
After our friends left late in the afternoon around 4 pm, these words poured into my mind:
I send compassion.
I send apologies.
I send gratitude.
I send compassion.
These are words I'll try to return to when my mind is pulled back to the feelings of confusion and hurt and to remind myself to send out into the world.
And the truth is, this is the hard work. It is easier to just wallow in being misunderstood, to just think ill thoughts about others even when you know there was a reason you felt a connection with them in the first place, to pitch a tent inside the crap because often we refuse to notice the crap smells, to blame instead of honoring that we all do the best we can, or it is simply easier…
The hard part is admitting your need to apologize...admitting you are grateful for the experience because now you know more about yourself than you did before...admitting what you really feel realizing that you need to forgive yourself...The hard part is admitting...
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A typical day of FREE "Day CARE" running out of a home in a CONCERNED golf community!!! Imagine that...HeeHee
More COOL Kid's Club photos will be forthcoming. Stay tuned...OOOOH, COOL stands for "CENTRAL OREGON OPEN LEARNERS, our local unschooling families in Bend, Oregon.
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Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.~~Albert Camus
Another warm, sunny Indian-summer morning, instead of meeting at our garage, COOL Kid's Club ventured out to Pageant Park (between Drake and Harmon Parks.) It was just the right size of kids (not the typical 20 to 30 kids) for me to manage. There were Bennett, Chloe, Katherine, Peter, Sam, Ryan, and our three kids. Passerbys thought we were celebrating a birthday.Harmon Park is a few steps away, right next to Pageant Park. The kids ran joyfully around open field and played "tag." Afterwards, they raked up fallen leaves and one-by-one piled them over the kids. They heard and felt leaves crunch under their feets and took in the beauty of fall colors with their bodies, from head to toes. Pageant Park, the smallest park in town, was a good place to take in the sights of the season. I just wish I remembered to put the memory card back in my digital camera!!!! There were many picture-perfect moments/opportunities I could've captured...sadly...no photos to share with you today.
Bend is taking on an amazing transformation right now. Whether we're hiking along a trail, driving through Oregon's back roads or cruising along its major highways, leaves of big leaf maple, dogwood, red alder, vine maple--all catch our eye with their brilliant colors and hues~~red, yellow, and sometimes pink vine maple, yellow western larch, willow, aspen, cottonwood, Bronze oaks, and a lot more-–including the omnipresent evergreens.
This is time of year often generates questions especially from kids "Why do leaves change color, anyway?" Here is one of the answers we found in our search: "The leaves of deciduous trees change color each fall due to a combination of environmental factors. During the summer months, a leaf is green because of the tree is making chlorophyll through the process of photosynthesis. As day length wanes in the fall and temperatures cool, photosynthesis begins to shut down, revealing "the natural color pigments of the leaves"--what we know as fall colors. Cool nights combined with dry, bright sunny days make for the best colors.
There you have it...another day of our revolutionary, fascinating science expedition.
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After procrastinating for four long months, it is time to get the "ENABLE COOKIES" challenge fixed which was caused by McAfee Privacy Protection as we suspected. YIPPY...we now have our own BLOG as evident here! Really...How does one go about commencing a blog? We started with the idea that it ought to begin something really profound because it is, after all, our very FIRST blog entry...Nahhhh...Let's just have some fun instead! Like everything we try, we hope to learn and grow each and every moment in this exciting blogging world.
So often we are asked what we do all day. The assumption is that, as homeschoolers, we spend our day pouring over textbooks, doing "school at home". Nothing could be further from the truth. Take a glimpse into our lives by visiting our blog as frequently as you'd like. You may be surprised to see all the "learning" that is going on.
The Halloween Party hosted by COOL Kid's Club was a smashing success, attended by 10 COOL families. Three weeks of hardwork and detailed planning by the COOL Kid's Club did not go unnoticed. We didn't do a head count but were certain there were 10 families with 40+ people in our small home! Party started at 5 pm and ended shortly after 8 pm on Wednesday, October 17. Besides the haunted house maze, fortune-teller offering, many special treats awaited the kids, there was no shortage of good food and companies. Can you imagine what was on the dinner menu? Just to name a few...Dried Mummy Bones, Fresh Brains, Eyeball Surprise, Ghostie Toasties, Bloody Worms, Vampire Blood, Bat Wings, Old Rotten Pumpkin Guts, Pickled Eyeballs...we even saved the creative place cards for these to-die-for main courses and desserts. It was a memorable, fun-filled evening for all.
What will next year's be? Will COOL Kid's Club be around then to host another fabulous party? Who knows? "While the house is still tidy, perhaps we should have a Thanksgiving and Christmas party next week." suggested dh. No joke...he really was serious about that!
Moving on...we spent most of the
weekend making Halloween Artist Trading Cards (ATC) for a swap hosted by our local friend, Chloe. This is our first official trade through Imagination Tribe. Many techniques were used in the making and we're quite pleased with how they all turned out.
DD#2 decided to give it a try after observing how much fun DD#1 has been having with making ATC cards. As always, DD#1 is a good "mentor." We'll take more pictures and upload them tomorrow.
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True learning-learning that is permanent and useful,that leads to intelligent action and further learning, can arise only out of the experience, interest, and concerns of the learner.
John Holt
Real heroes are men who fall, fail and are flawed, but win out in the end because they stayed true to their ideals, beliefs and commitments.
Actor Kevin Costner
