News Trend A Simple Celebration|Actual

Welcome to the Streicher annual Fourth of July backyard bash.

We keep it pretty simple around here.

Early in the morning, our flag makes it appearance on the front porch. Around noon, the kitchen is typically aflurry with various cooking and baking projects. Each Streicher daughter plans and delivers the dish of her choice, and we often work together.

The schedule also allows ample time for baseball games, dog walks, and general slacking off.

Around dinner time, the celebration shifts to the back yard.

^ This year, the party started with a fire. And that is my department.

True confession. I am a massive pyromaniac and I love building fires. And by fires, I mean roaring blazes that push the limits of paling aman and common sense.

The bigger, the better is definitely my motto, and though this effort looks puny, I heaped on all the wood available to me and lit her up all at once.

Not a bad effort for a small cooking fire.

^ While I was overseeing the conflagration, my daughters filled the table with our feast:

Hot dogs and bratwurst with buns and condiments

Baked beans

Cornbread

Potato salad

Pasta salad

And an all-American homemade apple pie.

^ Then we roasted up our tube steaks...

^ ...While Gracie guarded the table.

Just kidding. If my dog had been left alone with all that food for two seconds, she surely would have jumped up in the middle of that table, muzzle deep in one dish after the next, eating until every bite was gone or someone hauled her off the table and wrestled her into submission, whichever came first.

She's quite the enthusiastic picnicker.

^ At some time between eating our fill of dinner and tucking into the apple pie, we savored s'mores around the campfire. Nothing says freedom to me like this kind of crunchy, gooey, melty, chocolatey, lick your fingers deliciousness.

^ As the mosquitoes gathered in the shady corners and began their assault on the sweet-blooded members of the family, we decided to finish our second desserts in the house. But before we went inside, we enjoyed the festive mini -fireworks display of sparklers. Our wands of light sizzled and smoked across the backyard as we listened to the not-so-distant bangs and booms of higher caliber explosions, and decided that the combined effect was almost as fun as one of the official fireworks shows that we had opted not to attend.

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Our Fourth Of July celebration was pretty darn basic, that's for sure. We didn't even get around to hanging red, white, and blue decorations; feasting on our traditional saltwater taffy, or arguing over croquet. I forgot to wear my tri-cornered hat, which I purchased once on a trip to Boston and wore all the way home on the plane. My then-teenaged daughters' were definitely not impressed, and still roll their eyes when I bring it out for its usual annual appearance. I'll wear it next year for sure.

But even the simplest celebration of our country's birthday fills me with awe and gratitude for our founding fathers' insight and courage. I'm forever thankful to the brave men and women who fought for future Americans' right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. There's nothing simple about the sacrifices they made for you and me.

News Trend Contentment|Actual

A long walk on a hot day,

a deep drink of water,

and a nap in the shade where the grass grows soft and long.

These are the things that make my good dog happy.

And therefore, they are the things make me happy too.

News Trend Hari Raya Cookies|Actual

Hari Raya cookies.

Baked with love by my friend, Nor Abdullah, for her Eid al-Fitr celebration in Cuba.

Dutifully carried across the North American continent by her sons.

They grace my Seattle table and warm my heart with each beautiful bite.

I do not understand why my life came to be filled with such sweet mystery

but I'm certainly glad that it did.

News Trend Hydrangea|Actual

Summer, in all her ruffled extravagance, lives in my backyard.

Basking in sunshine, she fills me with luxurious excess.

Spellbound, I watch and wait, hoping she can somehow last forever.

But her time is fleeting. So I revel in each glorious day.

News Trend Sex With The Bookcase|Actual

The best ideas are when you take two older ideas that have nothing to do with each other, make them have sex with each other, and then build a business around the bastard, ugly child that results.

-James Altucher, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Mediocre Entrepenuers

* * * * *

Today's story riffs on Mr. Altucher's memorable quote in a slightly sideways fashion. Rather than starting with two ideas and using them to birth a new idea, my brainstorm of the day reverse engineers that thought process. I started with one thing and ended up with two....So maybe I discovered I was carrying conjoined twins and had them surgically separated them at birth?

Alas. The duduk perkara with metaphors is that sooner or later, they all break down and cease to make sense. So let's throw this one aside and get straight to the point.

My new child is a work in process. Every morning my family wakes up

and comes downstairs to see what I moved around on these shelves

during the night while they slept. I am an ardent bookcase stylist,

and I look forward to obsessing over this project for weeks to come.

For the last three decades, a white bookcase has stood in my family room. It's been a sturdy workhorse, reinvented many times over as my family has grown. Though I must clarify that technically, it has always been two bookcases - one section about twice as wide as the other - bolted together and serving as one.

For a reference point and a lovely trip down memory lane, flash back to the year 2012 and take a look at my family room in that day. Oh my goodness, literally everything has changed since then but the trusty white bookcase still lumbers on.

At least, it did until last March when we pulled all the furniture out of the first floor to make way for our new wood floors. And while the bookcase was cooling its heels out in the garage for a few weeks, I made a shocking discovery.

I liked my family room without the white bookcase

Blasphemy, I know.

I felt horribly guilty.

This is a nice, well-constructed white laminate bookcase, much more solid and substantial than the ubiquitous IKEA pieces that have become so popular since 1989.

And a perfect blank canvas for so many kinds of display and storage space.

I would be crazy to get rid of my white bookcase.

Wouldn't I?

For sure there will be books. Black and white books. Bookends and geometric shapes will stay, along with my mom's old oak box, candles, plants. I need a bigger piece of art on the top shelf, and more white space. This is looking a bit too cluttered for me.

For the next four months, I deliberated.

Weighed my options.

Argued pros and cons.

Carefully calculated.

Hemmed and hawed.

And this weekend, just when I thought I would surely go mad from my ridiculous angst, the perfect answer finally dawned on me.

I would break up the set.

The slice of wood on the third shelf down came from a cherry tree on my husband's grandfather's farm. Today I bought a new marimo ball that's living on the top shelf, and down on the bottom right, hiding in the shadows, is a  little wicker suitcase I bought back in the 1970s. It lived with my mom for several decades and has now come back to me. All of these things will be staying on my new bookcase for sure. But exactly where? That's a good question.

^ The wider of the two sections was welcomed back into my family room, elegantly sleek and fresh to my eye, ready for a whole new look.

Love the clean, pristine presentation of my daughter's favorite dishes in her slim new bookcase.

^ And after a quick negotiation and personal delivery service, the narrow section has moved in with my first born, and now provides outstanding storage for coffee mugs, dishes, glasses, and cookbooks in her dining room.

What a happy ending to my existential crisis.

After all their years together, my twins are separated and ready to begin new lives of their own. I am set free from the terror of my either/or decision and living contentedly where I belong in the land of both/and.

And now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to log a few more hours on styling my new bookcase. My baby requires lots of attention.

* * * * *

More stories about the secara acak ideas that fuse themselves together in my head:

Sex In The Kitchen

Sex In The Workshop

Sex In The Garden

Sex In the Front Hall

Sex On The Patio

Sex With The Bookcase

Sex In the Side Yard

News Trend Praying For Heather|Actual

Heather is dying. Just a few more days is she likely to live. For the past four years, she has put up an astonishing fight against the lung disorder that is now taking her life. But in no way has she lost the battle.

Right this moment, she is surrounded by her family and dearest friends, spending her last precious hours wrapped up in their love.

This is victory.

This is triumph.

These holy moments are the prize of a life well-lived.

I knew Heather only during her high school years; her brother - who died of the same disease - and my first-born were close friends. I am not a hands-on player in her inner ring of support.

But I can pray for the courage, the fortitude, the glory of this tiny blond warrior woman.

So that is what I do.

Where our strength ends, God's strength is just beginning.

Heather, you know better than most of us the heights and depths of His indescribable love and I pray that as your journey continues, you will feel eternally safe and secure in His arms.

Death is not a punishment but it is a great mystery. Still, I have a feeling that when you slip beyond its veil, you will feel closer to your loved ones than we earth-bound humans can imagine.

I pray that your love will continue to pour down on your husband and your children.

I pray that they will feel, in dreams and precious still moments, the living presence of your loving spirit forever.

I pray especially for your children.

I pray that the love you've given them in their short lives is exactly what they need from you.

I trust that your guidance and influence on their character will stay with them always.

You have done your best for them with the time you were given, and that is absolutely the most that any mother can do.

I pray for the joy of your broken body made whole in heaven.

I pray for the blessed relief you will feel when this agonizing battle has ended.

And I smile to think of your reunion with your brother and other loved ones who await you in eternity.

Sweet peace to you, Heather, as you close your eyes and prepare for what comes next.

You are a precious child of God, a daughter with whom He is most certainly well pleased.

Amen.

News Trend Reading At The Pool|Actual

How We Learn by Benedict Carey

You know all those things you know about the best way to learn? Set a regular routine, find a quiet place, avoid interruptions and distractions, stay  focused on your work, study by going over your readings and your notes, right? Wrong. Science proves that all of those practices get in the way of how our brains actually learn. If you or someone you love is in the business of being a student, you owe it to yourself to read this amazing book.

* * * * *

My idea of a perfect poolside book does not normally include graduate level college textbooks. But the title of this volume from my daughter's Masters in Education coursework had intrigued me for months. So while packing for my recent trip to Mexico, I tucked it into my suitcase. Little did I know that my mind was about to be blown.

As a person who teaches math to homeschooled high schoolers, I get a pretty good window into the reality of how today's teenagers study. They struggle to keep up a regular homework schedule, and flop around various places - sprawled across the couch, sitting at a table, lying on the bed as they try to get some work done. Distractions flow freely - every few minutes, their phone chimes or a sibling sets them off - and when they come across a difficult duduk perkara, they often give up and walk away for a while.

I must confess their habits pretty much mirror the way I studied at their age.

Except I didn't get phone notifications. Instead, our landline would ring and I would rocket out of my room to be the first to grab it.

Adults generally get frustrated with this behavior. We tend to talk about responsibility, dedication, focus, and finishing what you start. There's an emphasis on proper scheduling and setting of routines. It all comes down, so we say, to discipline and that includes plenty of study time for tests.

So it's a bit disconcerting for us adults to hear that the current body of research makes it crystal clear that those traditional study habits should promptly be thrown right out the window. That's a huge pivot and not one that I take lightly.

Which is why I most enthusiastically recommend that anyone who

is parenting a high school student,

will be parenting a high school student within the next ten years,

teaches students of any age, or

is just naturally curious about how we learn

READ THIS BOOK.

You will be amazed. I promise.

* * * * *

P.S. Shout out to John Saxon, author of the truly innovative math curriculum that I have used for twenty years, who intuitively incorporated some fabulous learning theory into his textbooks, and therefore got his very own two-paragraph shout out in this book starting on laman 166.

* * * * *

To read more about John Saxon and my infinite respect for his educational genius, read this:

Life As A Math Teacher: My Hero

Be sure to check out the photos.

* * * * *

Read more about what I've been reading:

Reading Afternoons

Reading Mornings

Reading Children's Books

Reading Memories

Reading Recommendations

Reading Inspiration

Reading Insights

Reading At The Pool

Reading About The Desert

Reading On Repeat

Reading Natalie Babbitt

Reading The Truth

Reading Books That Are Blue

* * * * *

Read more about what I've been reading:

Reading Afternoons

Reading Mornings

Reading Children's Books

Reading Memories

Reading Recommendations

Reading Inspiration

Reading Insights

Reading At The Pool

Reading About The Desert

Reading On Repeat

Reading Natalie Babbit

Reading The Truth

Reading Books That Are Blue

Reading Mysteries

Reading About Walking