I love hands-on learning and creating, and I don’t think teachers always get enough opportunity to experience this kind of making. For the past few years, I have done Scrappy Circuit workshops as regular breakout sessions. They are always been fun but a little overwhelming in terms of preparation and execution. Getting 25 people to tear apart tea lights, build bricks and get their LED to light all within 45 minutes can be a challenge.
I decided to redesign the session as a playground where people can tinker with either pre-made bricks or try building the original Scrappy Circuits from scratch. I finished up building my bricks and worked on the handout that will guide playground visitors in creating their circuits. Next is what I think of as the most fun part: doing some of my own inventing to show off examples of what you can do with these very easy circuits. I’m also going to show how this basic knowledge can then be used with other supplies and devices.
I have read and studied the Bible all my life. I used to joke that I am an evangelical’s worst nightmare: a liberal who knew her Bible. But, I quickly learned that once someone has decided that the Bible is the ineffable word of God, you can quote all you want, and they will just quote right back at you. Lately, it occured to me that the Bible and Walmart have a lot in common: there is something for everyone in both of them. And, just to be clear, we *ALL* pick and choose where to place our attention on the Bible; I’ve decided to go for the love and joy like that found in 1 Corinthians 13, the passage often read at weddings that encourages readers to pursue love before all things as it is the only thing that will last.
Dr. Dan McClellan, a Biblical scholar, has become my go-to source for all things Biblical. He takes on the various tik-tokkers, including at least one who would prefer not to hear women preach, and calls out both their errors in translation but also their out and out lies. His main message is, as I said above, that we all “cherry pick” or, as he prefers to say, “renegotiate” the Bible for our own ideas, times, needs and culture. He is the only reason I finally gave in and made a Tik Tok account. Here is his response to one content creator who laments the lack of men in the pulpit:
When I got to college in 1980, the movie version of Hair was just a year old. I, of course, had not seen it, but the album made its way to my turntable. Eventually, I saw the movie, and it’s one of those that I rewatch every so often. Today, I will watch it once again in honor of Treat Williams who became the hippie George Berger and brought us all along for the freewheeling journey. Williams died in an accident yesterday while riding his motorcycle.
I love every bit of the movie, but my favorite scene comes when the hippies infiltrate the garden party. Williams sings “I’ve Got Life” as he dances along the dinner table, kicking aside the flowers and swinging from the chandelier. It is fun, upbeat but also, on a larger level, speaks to the way change happens as those on the outside come inside and often laugh at the things that seem so important to those claiming the table.
If you haven’t watched the movie, I encourage you to take a look For now, I leave you with Treat Williams:
I have been letting my books lead my reading this year and a group of three books revolved around nature with trees at the center.
At the Edge of the Orchard by Tracy Chevalier is the fictional story of a pioneer family trying to make a living by growing apples in Ohio. When tragedy strikes, the oldest son heads west and works for a seed saver who is feeding the foreign thirst for American trees. We get a glimpse of the destruction of the huge cedars and redwoods.
It is this destruction that forms the foundation for The Overstory, Richard Powers’ Pulitzer Prize winning novel about the activists and scientists trying to save the last of the giant trees. I had avoided reading the book because I knew it would be a challenge to read about the deceit and devastation practiced in the name of progress that tried hard to wipe out the Native Americans, the buffalo and the ancient trees, just to name a few. I live amongst trees here at the farm, and my husband and I own ten acres of wooded land along a creek where we once considered building a house but may now just preserve it from development as long as we can.
Development and hunger for wood was devastating for the trees and for the activists who try to save them from humanity while trying to save humanity from themselves. It does not, as you might expect, go well for the trees or the people. Law enforcement was often brutal to the protesters when they refused to yield in ways I won’t describe here. Oregon Public Broadcasting has a radio series called Timber Wars produced in 2020 that lays out what they call the biggest environmental fight in the US.
The book is the story of ordinary human beings who encounter trees in ways that change their perspectives on the world. Powers masterfully tells their stories from their childhood through adulthood through the perspective of their journey both to and then with trees at the center. Along the way, we learn the stories of trees in America including references the Johnny Appleseed, chestnut blight and seed saving. It did make a nice companion to At the Edge of the Orchard although trees did not form the centerpiece of Chevalier’s novel with its focus on family and relationships. But she describes the huge stump where the westerners held dances and it is surprising to think any giants were left for Powers’ characters to save.
There may have been an undercurrent of hope in the story that ultimately the trees had a longer timeline than human beings but it couldn’t cut through the sense of grief that permeated the book. I don’t want to discourage you from reading it as I think it was the best book I’ve read this year.
The third book of the trio was The Forest Unseen, David George Haskell’s reporting from the field where he tended a 3 meter mandala in the woods of western Tennessee for a year. Haskell, a biologist, takes us deep into nature with his observations of this world, from the tops of the trees to the leaf mulch and below. He uses this small patch of the earth to lead to detailed and engaging explorations of the natural world. Haskell covered some of the topics the Powers did and lamented man’s impact on nature although his book is a bit more joyful.
These books focused primarily on the United States with brief forays into the rest of the world. Perhaps nowhere is the destruction of trees more devastating than in Brazil. A recent article in The Guardian described the increase in rainforest deforestation. In this case, it is linked to political leadership with the new leadership trying to reverse the destruction. Trees may be playing the long game but they are losing in the short term and taking us with them, I’m afraid.
I love working with paper and have dabbled in bookmaking over the years, making mostly simple one signature paper-backed journals and small Japanese bound books. I have always wanted to learn more so I signed up for Ali Manning’s Handmade Book Club, a week-long course that takes you through the step-by-step process of making three cloth bound, multi-signature books using three different stitches for the binding.
I have finished the first book. It uses the chain stitch for the binding. I was surprised at how easy it seemed as it looks complicated, but I think it is a testament to how well Ali presents the process.
I trimmed the pages of this book so the edges were straight but don’t think I will for the other two as it creates some waste. I am trying to come up with an idea for what to do with all the 1/2 inch strips of white paper. I was also left with a strips of the cork fabric I am using for the covers so made a Japanese bound book yesterday afternoon. I think it turned out well so I may start making the books in pairs of a large one and a small one. The small ones are meant to be whimsical and interactive with different types of paper including a coloring page.
