Ethiopia

Fun with Feb

Prepare yourself for a bit of anthropomorphizing.

Poor February, so insecure in the company of those self-assured 31-day months.  Sure, February boasts Valentine’s Day, Washington’s Birthday, and Black History Month, but we think February’s confidence might be additionally bolstered by the knowledge that somewhere in the world there exists a month with far, far fewer than 28 days.  Read on:

“Britannica Kid’s Encyclopedia” (2020 edition) – My son and I are working our way through this jazzy reference volume and our favorite entry so far:  how 18 ancient cultures (2,600 BCE – 1582 CE) began marking the passing of time with calendars.  

First place trophy for most creative calendar goes to ETHIOPIA! (We located it on the globe, of course we did.) Beginning in 350 CE,  Ethiopian calendar masterminds placed the 5 extra days, that didn’t fit into their 12 30-day months template, into a 13th month (“Pagume”, wedged between August and September).  Pagume is a 5-day mini month!  Stand tall, February, stand tall!

Switching topics –
“Engineering the Space Needle”, by Kate Conley. Here is what we learned from this small but mighty book:

– the Space Needle, the centerpiece of the 1962 World’s Fair in Seattle, is a triumph of engineering, design, and management
– constructed in very little time (just over a year), in very little space, wind safe/earthquake safe, built and maintained with private funds (due to local government naysayers of the time)  
– the design drew inspiration from a small sculpture entitled, “The Feminine One” (slender, narrow waist, reaching for the sky).  Now my son and I don’t just see a tall landmark, we see a surprisingly beautiful landmark  

We have family members who live within walking distance of the Space Needle, so I asked for a photo to share with my son.  Oh boy, this is some fine photography: 

One of our latest fiction reads – 
“Clementine”, by Sara Pennypacker – this is the story of high energy, super alert young lady who is bursting with original ideas.  “Pay attention!” her teachers say, and in her heart of hearts she knows she IS paying attention (to every-single-little-thing that comes into view).   We loved this book, thought Marla Frazee’s illustrations made the story even better, and I am thinking that anyone who deals with what appears to be attention-gone-haywire might find this book comforting and illuminating.

Reporting in:  current Clem and Clyde reading comprehension worksheets have dealt with New Year’s resolutions, the purchase of a snowman, and sampling sugar snap peas.  We both love our time with Clem and Clyde.

Story Problem:  Cupid’s Delight Pie at the Local Diner – On February 14, the local diner celebrated Valentine’s Day by offering a slice of their Cupid’s Delight Pie with each lunch and dinner order.  Cupid’s Delight Pie is a sumptuous raspberry pie topped with a dollop of PALE PINK WHIPPED CREAM. The diner can serve 8 slices from each pie.  The diner ended up serving 200 lunches and 150 dinners on the 14th.  The pastry chef baked 40 pies.  Was that enough to serve all the diners?  (answer at bottom of post)

Classical Music,  February Style – 

We have been listening to the works of black composers for Black History Month and we knew we wanted to hear the music of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.  But when we did a computer search we kept getting entries for both Coleridge-Taylor and the the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge.  So we wanted to figure out the connection –

  • Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), beloved British poet (“Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, “Kubla Khan”).  We got sidetracked and read through the dazzling “Kubla Khan”.

  • Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912), British composer, named in honor of the poet. OH! OK!  That makes sense.   Named without the hyphen….hyphen came later due to a printer’s error.  Obsessed by Longfellow’s gol-dern-lengthy poem of 1855, “The Song of Hiawatha” (Coleridge-Taylor even named his son Hiawatha!), and most well known for his cantata, “Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast” (1898).  We listened to “He Was Dressed in a Shirt of Doe-Skin ” from said cantata.  While it cannot possibly transport us to the shores of Gitche Gumee (Lake Superior) of the 1500’s, the frothy harmonies (very Gilbert and Sullivan) are a dreamy delight. 

AND FINALLY, taking inspiration from the Ethiopian calendar:  What if we had our own 5 day month?  How would my son and I celebrate via classical music?

Day 1:  Welcome teeny tiny month!  –  We would begin with Scott Joplin’s bouncy “Rosebud March” (1905) – just the thing to set the tone for a joy filled five-day month.  This music puts a spring in our step and says, “Let’s be thankful, let’s be friendly, let’s smile!  Welcome, welcome mini month!”-

Day 3:  How time flies!  The month is half over! –  Time to stop and smell the flowers.  May we suggest Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s fanciful “Romance of the Prairie Lilies” (1899) for mid-month listening –

Day 5:  Going out with a bang – Florence Price’s “Symphony No. 1 in E minor”, movement IV (1932).  This piece is full speed ahead, concluding with a full half minute of cymbal crashing (and that is a lot of cymbal crashing).  (BTW, this symphony was the first by an African-American woman to be performed by a major orchestra.  Kudos to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for recognizing and showcasing talent.) 

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(story problem answer:  No, the pastry chef should have baked 44 pies.)

Meanwhile…

city book

Around the world in perhaps 150 days – my son and I are working our way through Lonely Planet’s “The Cities Book” (thoughtful Christmas gift from sister –  Lonely Planet books are so A+).  There is a two page spread for each of the 200 cities showcased , and we are managing one or two destinations per evening.  Ten categories define each city, but alas, most are of little interest to my son, so here is how we are using this book:
1- we find the city on the globe.  I am dismayed to report that there are several cities of significant population that I have previously never heard of, like Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (5 million) or Lahore, Pakistan (almost 9 million).  For shame!  So I learn along with my son and I just keep appreciating the opportunity.

globe

2- we find out how old the city is.  (eye-opener)
3- we read about the location’s “weaknesses” (beastly hot/spotty electricity/toxic smog levels)(always worth a side conversation).
4- we read about the city’s exports.  If the city produces enough of something to supply the city residents and the product is good enough to export, like coffee, oil, silks, and Siamese cats (!!!), we want to know about it.
And lastly, I should mention this book is quite large and weighs a lot.  I let my son guess how much it weighed.  He guessed 10 pounds, my husband guessed 2 pounds, I guessed 40 pounds (and ta-da! the book weighed in at 7.5 pounds on the cooking scale).  “The Cities Book” can be our new go-to device for pressing flowers or flattening out a curled document.

president book

Meanwhile, back in the USA – we are pretty much loving every page of Ken Jennings’ “Junior Genius Guide to U.S. Presidents”.  Frankly, we are planning on reading everything this super clever author publishes (we have read “Maphead” and his “Junior Genius Guide to Greek Mythology”).  We like to know quirky info like:
– James K. Polk accomplished all of his campaign goals in his first term!  Commendable, but at what cost?  (He quit after one term and died three months later.)  Jennings suggests that Polk’s time was spent “working, not having fun, working more”.  (It would be so interesting to get a glimpse of the family dynamics of his childhood.) (It looks like mirth and relaxation were not encouraged.)
– James Garfield came from the most economically deprived upbringing. He was 19 before he ever heard a piano!  He was 23 before he tasted a banana!
– Woodrow Wilson was the only president (so far) to earn a PhD.

herbs

Meanwhile, back at the ranch – Farmer Brown has all the seed catalogs out, anticipating planting a large herb garden once the winter frosts have passed.  He wants to purchase 40 heirloom seed packets at $4 per packet from the “It’s About Thyme” company and 25 seed packets at $5 each from the “To Bee or Not To Bee Heirloom Seed Company”.  If Farmer Brown budgeted $250 for his herb garden, will he have enough money buy all the seed packets? (answer at bottom of post)

NY Phil

Well, listen to this!   I have recently enlisted the assistance of personal trainer “Brute” (not his real name – smirk).  Brute promised that I could work out to my choice of music.  Yay!  So I said, “classical” and was met with the most puzzled expression.  (Seriously?)  To make it simple, I said I would be happy to listen to any recordings by the New York Philharmonic, to which Brute responded, “Hmmm, I have never heard of that band.”. (Seriously?) AAAAAAACK.  See? This is what happens when school systems are forced to cut funding from the music curriculum.  My son selected three pieces that he decided even a new classical music listener could love, and I found a recording of each by the New York Philharmonic:

  • “Mars”, from “The Planets” by Gustav Holst, composed around 1916.  The standard by which all scary aggressive music must be judged:
  • “The Radetzky March” , composed by Johann Strauss, Sr, in 1848, commissioned to commemorate Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky von Radetz’s victory at the Battle of Custoza (Oh yeah, the Battle of Custoza)(?????).  This is just the dandiest of marches, maybe THE BEST MARCH EVER:
  • “Masquerade”, a waltz composed  in 1941 by Aram Khachaturian (as incidental music for a play of the same name).  Delicious, dark, depraved.  Yikes, it is all here:

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(story problem answer: NO)