Lesson 696: Mountains

Halloooo  thar, Readers.

Eloise did some mountaineering last weekend.

Oh, I went deep into the wilds of West Virginny

with my shotgun and my cap.

Or with my phone charger and McDonald's coupons.

Yes.

More like that.

Sam had a  baseball tournament.

They made it all the way to the championship game!

The Hillbillies will remember that team from NW PA !

The mountains were pretty on the ride.

Natalie was my co pilot.

She sings the entire way.

Those are some tired eyes on Eloise.

After a long week of teaching,

and a long Friday night travel,

we got the 8:00 am game for Saturday.

100% chance of rain was forecasted for WVA

but we ended up getting it at home.

Look what I found on the millings road 

down at the park tonight.

See it?

How about now?

Nature's perfection!

I got this cool new mask from my weekend gig

because I'm their favorite employee.

I've been working my way through my 

mountain of reading material.

I'm opting for paper books again

because my bleary, screen strained eyes have 

had enough of the glow

from school and my grad classes.

I'm reading these right now,

plus the one I just finished--

The Inheritance Games.  
I already gave that one to a student.

Eloise never, ever

reads one book at a time.

American Dirt is just as Steven King says it is.

I want to hurry and finish this blog so I can read more of it.

It's got a cool cover, too!

You can't judge a book by it's cover,

but you sure can figure out 

where it lived for awhile.

Look at the difference between my mom's books

and mine.

Here are two she loaned out this week:

Name written neatly in the upper right corner.

Character list.

Here's my next one ready to circulate.

Dogs got to it.

Fell asleep reading it 

with a cup of coffee on my lap.

No neat post it note lists,

but I have a way of marking what I think

is well worded.

Nothing describes anxiety better

than within the context of a story.

I underline in red 

what I deem to be lovely.

She's all buffed up and ready to loan.

Any takers?

Eloise is looking forward to the summer.

22 more school days.

I'll get to spend more time with these two.

Maybe I can convince them that they are dogs,

but that's a tough mountain to climb.

Penny wants to eat her food on her plate at the counter.

She also discovered that the dishwasher door

is a warm place to nap 

after it's been run.

I'm most looking forward to Ellen Louise

completing her sophomore year.

2 and a half semesters learning online from home.

Her original goal was to open her Mountain Laurel Apparel shop

during Earth Month and Autism month.

She's created some beautiful designs

she can't wait to share once more t-shirts become steadily available.

Darn COVID and the supply chain.

Natalie's designs will be for sale there year round, too.

Someone forgot to tell Panera the puzzle piece is on its way out.

I wonder if they can make a rainbow infinity cookie?

Have a lovely weekend readers.

Pick a mountain to climb.

It might take a long while,

but you will feel so accomplished 

when you reach the top.

Eloise

 

Lesson 695: Diversity

Mother Goose is here to bring you 

your weekend story:

What diversity has Mother Nature sent us this spring!

Blue skies and blooming flowers one day,

And snow the next!

Erieites have learned to embrace the quirks 

of our Great Lakes weather patterns.

Spring fights her way through it every year.

The weather man says the snow is over 

and warmer air is coming our way again.

We're headed out to play some competitive ball this weekend--

we'll see if the rain predicted for south of us hold off.

Is 100% chance of rain really 100%?

Natalie didn't care much about the cold weather earlier this week.

39 degrees and drizzle?
Of course we can have Rita's!

Natalie is sporting her Harbor Creek Huskies Autism Awareness sweatshirt.

Hang on to this one if you have it--

it will be a collector's item.

The traditional autism puzzle piece logo is changing

at the urging of the people it represents.

See one blogger's perspective as to why the change

in the article below:

Blogger's prospective on new symbol

People like Erik and Natalie would like to be 

recognized as neurologically diverse.

This is the rainbow colored infinity symbol

that will represent the Autism Spectrum

and Neurodiversity.

Check the Lamp Post next week to find out 

my girls' next step.

Mountain Laurel Apparel, coming soon.

 Weekend Homework in honor of Earth Day:
Check out this time lapse video of the earth

from 1984-Present.

Timelapse Earth video 1984-2020

Let's all do our part to keep our Human Home healthy and vibrant,

full of the diversities of life.

Eloise

Lesson 694: Giants Among Mere Mortals

 Peek-a-boo!

Time for your weekend visit to the Lamp Post.

Spring has sprung

and the restless natives are out and about.

Spring,

in all her beauty,

stands a giant among mere mortals.

Speaking of giants...

this bigfoot headed to school today.

It was Sam's first Friday spent in school

in 399 days!

Forward progress.

We've made progress on the autism front.

April is Autism Awareness Month.

It got little mention in 2020 at the height of the pandemic.

This year,

I'll inform you of those forward steps

on the rest of the Fridays in April.

We'll start not with our story,

but one that caught me completely off guard today.

My favorite scientist/YouTuber, Mark Rober,

has a son with autism.

This, I did not know.

I'll keep my words short tonight so you have time to watch this before you nod off.

It is a must view for all blog readers.

I will ask you when I see you next,

and be prepared to tell me your favorite part.

I'm a teacher I will know if you are lying.

Mark Rober and son CLICK HERE

Mark Rober tells his story in his typical engaging way.

He included my favorites,

Carley Fleischman--whose story motivated me to begin this blog 

over a decade ago.

Jason,

the basketball team manager with the sweet three point shot

makes an appearance, too.

Watch this video.

Rober fans, listen for his voice crack--

a rare show of emotion that triggered my own tears.

I hope you enjoy this honest peek into this very special world of people,

and agree they are most definitely Giants Among Mere Mortals.

--Eloise