All Hallows' Eve

Cemeteries are serene, not scary.  Every time I drive by this little lakeside one, I want to stop and picnic.

hummus...what?

Why yes, hummus soup.

We were gifted with a Mediterranean cookbook for our wedding.  Cleverly, it occurred to us last week to use it.  I was appointed to select and make the first recipe.

I chose...hummus soup.  And of course with hummus soup, pita bread.

It felt weird to put chick peas and lemon juice and yogurt and cumin all into the same pot.  I guess I didn't realize what all can go into hummus.

Would I make this for company?  Well, I'm taking the leftovers to potluck tonight.

Last afternoon on the dock, I expect.

candid

Today, one of my students was reading our science text aloud:  "Dennis's work has taken him to mountains, rainforests, deserts, caves, beaches, and into the sea."

One of other students interrupts:  "Taken him to intimacy?  What's intimacy?"

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Upon seeing my school staff photos:  "Mrs. Clare, you look uptight.  I don't know what uptight means, but that's how you look."

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I was playing a choir CD for background music while they worked on a poster project.  The track was "Take My Hand, Precious Lord."  One of the girls says, "This sounds like that song from Shrek III where the king frog dies."  All the other students cock their ears...."Yeah, it does!"

Well.  Go figure.

mail-delivery snakes

So, every morning after prayer, my students share current news events.  One student per day is responsible for finding and reporting important news events. Sometimes we have a lot to cover.  "Mrs. Clare, guess how many pieces of news I found?"  "Umm....eight??"  (thinking I was guessing high).  "Nope!  Twenty!"

All twenty were written down in perfect penmanship on a tiny reporter notebook.

Among them:

"Dolores Gavin got a shock of surprise in the mail.  When she opened a package from the mail she was surprised to find a baby snake.  The snake was a Spotted Python.  That type of snake is very common for a pet.  Her granddaughter ordered the snake on her credit card without permission.  They sent the snake back and got a full refund."

"An immigrant tried to sneak across the border in a washing machine.  Agents from the Falfurrias Border Control Station found 1 person in a washing machine and 4 people in cardboard boxes.  They were found in a U-haul truck.  They found them at a checkpoint."

"President Obama's credit card declined at a cafe in NY.  He thought it was identity thief.  Turns out he didn't use it enough."

"A very popular sport in Ireland is hurling.  The official rules were created in 1885.  The stadium is called Croke Park.  It is believed that hurling was in Ireland before Christianity.  Hurling looks like a cross between baseball, soccer, American football, and lacrosse.  Many people have not heard of hurling before."

She did cover all the big headlines about Isis and Ebola...but these were some of the more unique ones.

world's hardest math problem

My students always look forward to visits from Father Mitch (the priest for my school's parish), who frequents our classroom.  They have taken to giving him math assignments.  They always try to stump him, but thus far, he has bested them.

So...one of my students came up with the World's Hardest Math Problem...literally.

We were sure that he'd be stumped this time, or at least that he'd share the prize with us.  Alas, we were bested yet again.  Within five minutes he had come up with a solution:

His explanation:  Whatever the right answer is, it must be true -- i.e., Truth.  And of course we know that Jesus is the Truth, no arguing with that.  So, the answer to the math problem must be (categorically, he clarified) -- Jesus.

Philosophically speaking, I can't say I disagree.  He did, fortunately, caution my students not to try that on their math assignments.