Lovely Morning

We had the most wonderful morning.

After we did some math, we decided to go the beach with the dog. It was such a beautiful day, and that is not common out here. On the way we studied our Latin flashcards. She is better than I am! When we got there we saw a part of a squid, which Mi'ita was able to identify because of her squid dissection last week. I thought it was an octopus. Then, we built a sand castle.

It was lovely. My baby asked me to lecture her, because she likes to hear me drone on about my favorite subject, history. We built a fortified wall and around a small rock outcrop and talked about how castles were built on hills. And why. We talked about the difference between castles and forts and mansions. We talked about the ancient walled cities. We wondered together why Egyptians didn't fortify their palaces, but didn't know.

On the way home she wanted a lecture about Halloween. I was happy to oblige, of course starting from the ancient Celts on the mainland of Europe, how they were conquered by the Romans even though their commander, Vercingetorix, was able to unite the Celts to defend themselves. Long before then, the Celts in Spain were able to gain boat making skills from the Phoenicians, who were the sea kings of the day, to break off and settle Ireland. The Romans never made it that far, so when the Roman Empire collapsed, the Irish were not devastated. When all of Europe were awash in the Dark Ages, Ireland was flourishing with their Druids, their Christian Monks, and their universities. That all was background, of course, to Samhain, the Celtic Halloween, and other festivals honoring the dead such as the Mayan El Dia de los Muertos and the Japanese Bon.

I told you I could drone on, and she rather likes to listen. She wouldn't let me stop, even when we got home and started lunch.

Then we went to school to study dinosaurs with Mrs. M. I got to tell kids to pay attention, stop messing around, move over there so that you can concentrate on your work.

It was so nice to have no off-topic interruptions while I taught.