Interdependence?

Reading "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey, I came across this gem.

"Dependent people need others to get what they want. Independent people can get what they want through their own effort. Interdependent people combine their own efforts with the efforts of others to achieve their greatest success."

He also defines "dependent" as "you", "independent" as "I", and "interdependent" as "we".

There is so much in this book, that I'm sure I will have to read it several times to get most of it and will never get it all. I did want to touch on this part right no though.

He calls the movement through dependence, independence, and interdependence, the "maturity continuum". As we grow as humans, we progress through this. So many of us believe that independence is the ultimate goal, but we can only go so far with that. And that works on many levels as well. Personally, we can only grow so much depending on others for information. And we can only grow so much through our effort alone. But if we become interdependent, we can achieve so much more. We can use our strengths, along with others, to become more than any of the individuals alone. And this goes for homesteading, raising children, education, business, government, etc.

But have learned to be so dependent upon the government and it's authority that some of us have yearned to become independent and do it all ourselves? Is that the goal? Or should we move on through to interdependence and learn to cooperate our efforts within out community to become more?

I think interdependence can do wonders, but it only works on the local level for most things. We can have our national government make deals and such with other national governments regarding local issues like education and farming, and expect that to benefit us. We can have that in regards to peace treaties and free trade agreements. That is what "promote the general welfare" means. But as for the cost of roads, local schools, and emergency preparedness, that should be left to the local governments.

Does this make any sense?

Volunteer Work

Lately, volunteer work with my homeschool organization has been very challenging. I'm not going to go into those details, but I have done a lot of soul searching as to why I'm drawn to such a challenge and how I can be more influential there and in the world.

The first question I asked myself is, "Why?". Why do I want to be a part of this? What makes it feel so important to me? If it is so difficult, why don't I just walk away? Lots more questions too. And many many answers. I feel like the organization is very important to our state and to people who live here. I got my start in homeschooling because of them and I would like that to continue for others. I feel like I get a sort of "fame" from being a part of it and that feeds my vanity. Not exactly a lofty ideal, but I'm being honest. I also feel that I like the challenge to learn skills I haven't developed before. I'm expanding my mind in ways I've never had the chance to do yet. I feel like I can have influence here and help others and that makes me feel good, like I'm doing my part for a better world.

I don't feel like I need this type of organization to keep us homeschooling, or support us. I feel independent and secure in my choices for education. So why do all the work just for others? There has to be something in  it for me, right? Yesterday, in the shower (where I do all my best thinking), I had a revelation. It isn't about getting this group straightened out and strong for my kids, it's for my grandchildren. And it's for my sons wives (if they marry a bit younger as their Dad did). I'm helping to create a community for future generations. I'm helping to make it "normal" to choose something other than the neighborhood public school. And that is lofty. It has given me perspective and a foothold when I feel overwhelmed and tired of dealing with other people or trying to make it work.

So back to the grindstone. Lots of books to read. Lots of things to make clear. Lots of listening to others and trying to get along Lots of mission defining and goal setting. Sheesh! I want a paycheck! But then again, I'm getting something much better.

Homeschool Conference

Homeschool Conferences are not like any other! Many happy families and crazy kids. Any hotel that has the nerve to host us deserves a medal.

I went with the intention of taking many pictures. After the load in, well...it got busy.

We have arrived!

The truck is loaded!

Our crew.

Our awesome truck/storage chairperson!

And so it begins...

The boys had a good time swimming and playing. Tom entered the Project Fair and won first prize for science. Pretty cool. 

Finished Frankenstein!

Here is the review I wrote on Goodreads...

"An amazing book! So much different than the story you see in the movies. I wonder why the movie makers changed the monsters character so much. Would a thinking, feeling monster be too hard to create on screen?
Would the monster have been different had someone shown him some kindness? He wanted so much to be a part of the beauty he was brought into, but no one, not even his creator, would even look at him. Touching. No one could condone his behavior, but can we understand his feelings?"


The book was published in 1818 when Mary Shelley was only 18 years old. She led a strange life and I'd love to learn more about her. 

A Couple Books That I've Finished

The first is "The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons" by John Wesley Powell. In the interest of keeping this journal complete, here is what I wrote on Goodreads.


"This is already beautiful to read. I got it on my trip to the Grand Canyon. It was the only first hand account book I could find there."


"Reading about the start of the exploration. Descriptions of the men that are going and the supplies they are taking. Powell makes me want to try backpacking into the wilderness to see these sights!"


"Adventure! I'm glad I'm reading about crashing on rocks in the river instead of being there!"


"They've made it through! The description of their feelings as they saw that they had escaped the canyon, I can't imagine that kind of relief."


"Amazing! What a great find! If you are going to see the Grand Canyon, I suggest you read this book first. I found this at the gift shop there after searching for something to read about the Grand Canyon that wasn't National Park propaganda. I so glad I picked this up."


The other book is "The Education of a Wandering Man" by Louis L'Amour. I've passed it on to Dan and he's just as excited about it as I was. Here's what I wrote about it on Goodreads.


"Everyone needs to read this book. I want be like him!"


"I started to write down the titles of books he mentions, to add to my own growing list of "must reads" but quickly realized that there are several on every page. Many about the history and exploration of the Far East sound fascinating. I'm always interested in learning more about what else was going on during the time Columbus sailed."


"Inspiring!"


I've never been a fan of westerns (but now I'm reading one and loving it). I've only read one other Louis L'Amour book, "The Walking Drum" (which I loved). I wish I could meet him! He sounds like a fascinating guy to have around. 

Big Bear Camping!

A friend invited us to go camping with them up in Big Bear this week. We've been crazy busy and I wasn't sure about tent camping for very long, so we decided to just go up for one night and try it out. It was just me and the boys because Dad had to work.

We got a new tent when we were down in the city last weekend. Loaded up the truck with a cooler full of water and a box of MRE's and some snacks and hit the road. After a bit of hunting, we finally found our friends. Ok, I had to call them and have them lead us in.

Gorgeous spot!

Had a great time with our friends playing in the woods and telling jokes around the campfire. Our MRE dinner was fun! We didn't get much sleep, lumpy ground, whatever. But the moon rise was beautiful and I didn't put the tent cover up so it was like sleeping under the stars. I heard an owl hooting nearby. And a raccoon got into my friends food!

We had some breakfast and broke camp. We packed light. Seriously, it was one trip from the tent to the truck. Tent, backpacks, and sleeping bags. I had left the food in the truck, what there was of it.

We went to the Alpine Slide with our friends and then parted ways. Tom desperately wanted to go fishing, so we had brought the poles. We stopped at a bait shop and I got a fishing license and some bait. We had burgers at our favorite place "Get the Burger" and then drove over to the other side of the lake. It was hot and late, so it wasn't good fishing but I promised that we would come back soon and try again.

Tom treating Jake to some ice cream.

Tom fishing. I don't think Jake is really helping the situation.

Jake's "Huck Finn" look.

We had a GREAT time! I was nervous going camping alone with out my protector. Having growing sons is pretty nice though. I know that Tom can change a tire. And Jake is up for almost any situation. I have a renewed interested in camping and fishing! Poor Dan. :)

Sticking to the Postive

We drove down into the city for a cousin's birthday party yesterday. The boys were excited to share one of their favorite books with their "cousin" for his birthday. It's my cousin's son, so what does that make them? I'm not sure.

We stopped at the book store since it was right on the way. Jake got a CD about learning Greek to listen to in the car. Very well done. It was staged as a conversation between two people on a delayed flight to Greece. One was teaching the other phrases in Greek while they waited. Jake started to get frustrated because he felt like he wasn't "learning" it. I reminded him that he didn't understand all the lyrics and order of the songs on a Beatles CD when he first listened to it. He had to hear it several times before he remembered them all. Now he's an expert. We need to hear it more than once through. And besides Greek is HARD!

The party was at a pizza place and the boys made sure to bring money for arcade games. Made me proud that they never asked me for a dime the whole time we were there. They ran out of change, so they went to the car and got the new casino game they got at the book store earlier. It has a roulette wheel! Of course, none of the other boys wanted to learn a new game so they played together for a bit and got my Mom and I involved for a few minutes then moved on to cards.

Leaving the party, Tom realized that I had signed the card from all of us instead of getting them to sign it. We left early and in the spirit of speed, I didn't wait for them to get up and awake. He was worried that his cousin would think that he didn't get him a present, but I assured him that the card was from all of us and so was the gift.

We went to Target on the way home because it was there! Jake needed a new bathing suit and he was bothered by the fact that they didn't have any that didn't look stupid. Neither of the boys like anything with any flash to it. No prints, no shorts, no extra pockets, baggy things, bright colors, or slogans. It's only slightly obsessive, but I'm the same way so I have no one to blame but myself. We got a suit in the men's section that was plain blue with a stripe, so he's happy now. Tom says his (from about three years ago) is fine. It does fit and it's orange so you'll have a hard time beating that. Both the boys wandered a bit through the toys and thought maybe we could get some Lego's for their cousin and he might still be at the pizza place. Sheesh!

On the way out of town we stopped for gas. Nothing is more satisfying than having your son get gas for you. I didn't even need to get out of the car. Ahh...

I love my boys. I love that they are growing so independent. I love that they don't NEED to get dumb toys for playing arcade games anymore. I love that they will come sit by me and hug me. I love that they try so hard to relate to older, more mature people. I just wish there were more people with the maturity to see that these boys are trying to be men and would do that much faster if more men would treat them as such. 

Electronics

Dan got Tom a workbook and set to learn about electronics. It's pretty cool. Dan showed it to Tom, he thumbed through the book and didn't look at it again. Yesterday, Dan got it out and started working on it. Tom jumped on him. Hilarious. They sat there for over an hour, but I had to disturb them for dinner. Tom told Dan that he needed to tell him if he was going to work on it because he really wanted to help. Funny, that's what Dan thought he did. Besides, he bought it for Tom to do. It belongs to Tom and he can work on it whenever he likes. Tom just likes to have someone to learn from and spending time with Dad working on something is one of Tom's favorite pastimes,

Must Read!

Wow, people! You must read "Education of a Wandering Man" by Louis L`Amour even if you aren't a fan of his western novels. He's an amazing man with an amazing life.

What I wonder is, how many people led a life similar to this at the time? Probably many. But how many reacted to it in this same way? How many people used the experiences in a positive way? And how is it different today? Could you even have a life similar to his in this current age?

I'm only half way through the book, but I'm just enthralled. I can't put it down. Each page makes me smile and each story makes me wonder what I would do. It's just wonderful and you all must read it...now...it's required and there will be a test. :)

Rain!

You've probably heard it before, but there is nothing like rain in the desert, especially in the summer. Last night, while I was out watering my trees and feeding my chickens, the wind began to blow. It felt different, damp. The sky was hazy in the south. The mountains were beginning to fade. Storm. I told Dan he might want to clean up tools and such tonight. He's been working on the RV. We went to bed with the fans off because the wind was blowing so nice.

This morning I woke up to the sound of pattering, almost didn't believe it. I thought it was a dream or the wind blowing something that sounded like rain, but then there was that smell. There are a lot of pictures of desert storms and they are all so pretty, but there is no way to share that smell with you. You can smell it if it's raining in another part of the desert. It's carried on the wind. But it was raining here and raining good, enough to have it run off the roof, not just a mist. I went out and sat on the porch and watched for awhile, then came in and went back to bed for awhile. The boys heard it too, and they woke up and did the same. I heard them in there talking in hushed tones. Then told them to be quiet 'cause I was trying to sleep darn it! :))

It's the 4th of July and it's cloudy and cool. I wish this could last all day. I just got through telling someone how nice it is to live in the dry desert. It's going to be a bit muggy today, that's for sure.

Not Much to Report

But I'll write anyway!

This morning, I went out to feed the chickens and I disturbed the quail that believe the chicken yard is their domain, along with the multitude of cottontail and squirrels. They left behind two babies that were trapped inside the coop. I got to see them close up! They are so sweet. I shoo'd them out and away from the chickens. They ran right out the fence and into the bushes. Too sweet!

My chickens are still in two groups, the older and the younger. But they will eventually merge. This new batch is completely wild. When they were very young, I put them in a box in the coop separate from the others, but not up on the porch like the last two batches. They stink and it's a lot of work to keep the box clean on the porch so I thought this would be easier. What it did was separate us from them and they weren't played with as much as the last two groups. So they are wild. You can't get near them at all and if you happen to be able to trap one and catch it, it screams like it's being murdered the whole time. Oh, well. They can't all be pets. We now have an even dozen, which means when they are all laying we will have enough for friends and family. Right now, I only get about 3 eggs a day, on average, and I know that the oldest ones will start slowing down now.

Every morning, I get up and get my coffee and sit by the window to read my book. I'm continually distracted by the view outside. It's the jack rabbits that always catch my attention. They are so big! About the size of my beagle dog, but certainly not as heavy. And those ears! I love watching them stretch way up to get the creosote flowers that are left. There isn't much in the way of flowers and grass this year. No rain to speak of this spring. When the hedgehog cactus did bloom a little, the flowers and the stalk were eaten down before they even had a chance to show their colors!

What else? Oh, the boys and their cough! I did finally take them to the doctor (first time in six years) and she just looked up their symptoms on her laptop and told me what I already know. Probably and allergy. Jake isn't as bad as Tom, but their coughing is still bad and driving them crazy. It isn't that they feel sick, it's the allergy medicine they are taking. I'm not sure what is worse, staying up all night coughing, or sleeping a drugged sleep. They are just wiped out and I feel bad for them.

It's hot. I hate summer. We've considered going somewhere to cool off for a few weeks, but we'd have to go a thousand miles. Draw backs of living in the middle of the desert. But we do have some plans to have fun in the next few weeks to help the situation. I can't wait for October!