Hello and welcome to another snowy Saturday here in Wannaska and across Minnesota. Today is February 23rd and we are at the Boston Scientific FLL MN State Championship in St. Paul where I will be cheering on the Warbotics and Lego the Woods FIRST Lego League teams and the W.A.K.W.I.R. and his teammates on the Lego the Woods team will be trying their best to advance to the World Championships. (Note: Last year, Warbotics made it to Worlds.) The W.A.K.W.I.R. and the Lego the Woods'ers have worked hard this past year. They're an impressively cohesive group with great ideas, lots of imagination and super savvy skills.
Concurrently, we'll also be cheering on the Lady Warriors who won their way to the big MNHSL Girls Hockey State Championship game at 4:00 pm. Go, Lady Warriors! Woohoo!
Today, we also remember English poet, John Keats, who died on this day in 1821.
Have you ever read The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein? If you haven't, go back and click on the green title and it will take you to a YouTube video of kids reading the book!
If you want to forego the link, here's the gist: it's a love story between a tree and a boy. The tree gives and gives whatever the boy asks for. It's a really sweet book, I promise.
It ends on kind of a sad note, though. And sometimes, I'll admit, sometimes the boy sounds kind of demanding. And yet, it's a poignant story, I swear.
At church last weekend, my toddler clambered up my body to squeeze his arms around my neck. As he snuggled his face into the crook of my shoulder and twiddled my ear between his thumb and forefinger, an epiphany struck.
I am the tree.
The boy (in the book) says, and I quote, "I want to buy things and have fun. I want some money. Can you give me so money?"
My own children are already asking me this. The tree offers her apples. What can I offer? My resources? My love? My advice?
"Get a job," I say.
The boy takes the tree's apples and is away for a long time. The tree is sad.
Finally, the boy returns. The tree is so happy to see her boy. "Come, Boy, climb up my trunk and swing from my branches and be happy."
"I am too busy to climb trees," said the boy. "I want a house to keep me warm...Can you give me a house?"
She lets the boy cut off her branches.
Then the boy thanklessly carries away her limbs, only to come back, years later, to whine about how life is boring and now he wants a boat. "Can you give me a boat?"
"Cut down my trunk and make a boat," said the tree, "Then you can sail away...and be happy."
Well, guess what? This selfish kid's never happy.
He shows up, a shriveled old man, with his hand out, griping about being old, when, frankly, it's a miracle the rest of the tree hasn't gotten paved over for a new shopping mall parking lot and still the tree wants to offer the boy something to make him happy. So she offers her old stump of a self as a resting place. "Come, Boy, sit down. Sit down and rest."
And the boy did.
I take it back. This is a bitter,bitter book.
Here's the real kicker - the surprise ending, if you will - in the last line of the book. "And the tree was happy."
My guts are twisted ropes of conflict. Is this really a children's book? If it is, it's more along the lines of the Czech fairytale, Otesánek, about a childless couple who raise a baby-looking log of wood as their son who magically comes to life, is constantly hungry, and ultimately consumes its well-meaning, adoptive parents. (But good news, it does have a happy ending, when an old grandma from the village attacks the big tree baby with her hoe, splitting him open to save all the people he ate.)
What's the message of The Giving Tree? Let your kid stomp all over you? Parental self-sacrifice is a virtue? Expect your kid to strip you of your assets? Love crumbs are better than no crumbs at all?
Unconditional love?
Maybe it's this: love is messy, but we go on loving anyway.
Sometimes real love isn't like what we read in the fairytales; unless it's the scary ones.
The two older ones are at pep band at the Girls Hockey State Championship and I am drowning in homework, try to get ready for my own State Championship appearance. Wish me luck!
David, aka WAKWIR
1954 - The first mass inoculation against polio is conducted
Virologist Jonas Salk's vaccine is still one of the two versions used today, along with Hilary Koprowski's live polio vaccine.
1947 - The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) begins operating
The ISO issues standards for everything from bicycle tires to date formats.
1941 - Glenn T. Seaborg and his team chemically identify Plutonium
The radioactive element plays an important role as nuclear fuel or in nuclear weapons.
1917 - The February Revolution begins in Russia
The demonstrations and armed clashes ultimately resulted in the demise of the Russian Empire.
1455 - The Gutenberg Bible is published
Johannes Gutenberg's Bible edition was the first book ever printed in movable type, heralding the age of the printed book in the West.
1983 - Mido, Egyptian footballer
1929 - Alexy II of Moscow, Estonian/Russian patriarch
1899 - Erich Kästner, German author, poet
1868 - W. E. B. Du Bois, American sociologist, historian, activist
1685 - George Frideric Handel, German/English composer
 |
| Good luck, team! |
Concurrently, we'll also be cheering on the Lady Warriors who won their way to the big MNHSL Girls Hockey State Championship game at 4:00 pm. Go, Lady Warriors! Woohoo!
Today, we also remember English poet, John Keats, who died on this day in 1821.
If you want to forego the link, here's the gist: it's a love story between a tree and a boy. The tree gives and gives whatever the boy asks for. It's a really sweet book, I promise.
It ends on kind of a sad note, though. And sometimes, I'll admit, sometimes the boy sounds kind of demanding. And yet, it's a poignant story, I swear.
At church last weekend, my toddler clambered up my body to squeeze his arms around my neck. As he snuggled his face into the crook of my shoulder and twiddled my ear between his thumb and forefinger, an epiphany struck.
I am the tree.
My own children are already asking me this. The tree offers her apples. What can I offer? My resources? My love? My advice?
"Get a job," I say.
The boy takes the tree's apples and is away for a long time. The tree is sad.
Finally, the boy returns. The tree is so happy to see her boy. "Come, Boy, climb up my trunk and swing from my branches and be happy."
"I am too busy to climb trees," said the boy. "I want a house to keep me warm...Can you give me a house?"
She lets the boy cut off her branches.
Then the boy thanklessly carries away her limbs, only to come back, years later, to whine about how life is boring and now he wants a boat. "Can you give me a boat?"
"Cut down my trunk and make a boat," said the tree, "Then you can sail away...and be happy."
Well, guess what? This selfish kid's never happy.
He shows up, a shriveled old man, with his hand out, griping about being old, when, frankly, it's a miracle the rest of the tree hasn't gotten paved over for a new shopping mall parking lot and still the tree wants to offer the boy something to make him happy. So she offers her old stump of a self as a resting place. "Come, Boy, sit down. Sit down and rest."
And the boy did.
I take it back. This is a bitter,bitter book.
Here's the real kicker - the surprise ending, if you will - in the last line of the book. "And the tree was happy."
My guts are twisted ropes of conflict. Is this really a children's book? If it is, it's more along the lines of the Czech fairytale, Otesánek, about a childless couple who raise a baby-looking log of wood as their son who magically comes to life, is constantly hungry, and ultimately consumes its well-meaning, adoptive parents. (But good news, it does have a happy ending, when an old grandma from the village attacks the big tree baby with her hoe, splitting him open to save all the people he ate.)
What's the message of The Giving Tree? Let your kid stomp all over you? Parental self-sacrifice is a virtue? Expect your kid to strip you of your assets? Love crumbs are better than no crumbs at all?
Unconditional love?
Maybe it's this: love is messy, but we go on loving anyway.
Sometimes real love isn't like what we read in the fairytales; unless it's the scary ones.
Kids' Corner
David, aka WAKWIR
On This Day
Historic Highlights (credits)
1954 - The first mass inoculation against polio is conducted
Virologist Jonas Salk's vaccine is still one of the two versions used today, along with Hilary Koprowski's live polio vaccine.
1947 - The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) begins operating
The ISO issues standards for everything from bicycle tires to date formats.
1941 - Glenn T. Seaborg and his team chemically identify Plutonium
The radioactive element plays an important role as nuclear fuel or in nuclear weapons.
1917 - The February Revolution begins in Russia
The demonstrations and armed clashes ultimately resulted in the demise of the Russian Empire.
1455 - The Gutenberg Bible is published
Johannes Gutenberg's Bible edition was the first book ever printed in movable type, heralding the age of the printed book in the West.
Happy Birthday to You!🎶
1929 - Alexy II of Moscow, Estonian/Russian patriarch
1899 - Erich Kästner, German author, poet
1868 - W. E. B. Du Bois, American sociologist, historian, activist
1685 - George Frideric Handel, German/English composer
Remembering You
1965 - Stan Laurel, English actor, comedian
1934 - Edward Elgar, English composer
1855 - Carl Friedrich Gauss, German mathematician
1848 - John Quincy Adams, American politician, 6th President of the United States
1821 - John Keats, English poet
If By Dull Rhymes Our English Must Be Chain'd
by John Keats
If by dull rhymes our English must be chain'd,
And, like Andromeda, the Sonnet sweet
Fetter'd, in spite of pained loveliness;
Let us find out, if we must be constrain'd,
Sandals more interwoven and complete
To fit the naked foot of poesy;
Let us inspect the lyre, and weigh the stress
Of every chord, and see what may be gain'd
By ear industrious, and attention meet:
Misers of sound and syllable, no less
Than Midas of his coinage, let us be
Jealous of dead leaves in the bay wreath crown;
So, if we may not let the Muse be free,
She will be bound with garlands of her own.
(credit)
Hug your loved ones instead of eating them and make it a great Saturday!
Kim
1934 - Edward Elgar, English composer
1855 - Carl Friedrich Gauss, German mathematician
1848 - John Quincy Adams, American politician, 6th President of the United States
1821 - John Keats, English poet
If By Dull Rhymes Our English Must Be Chain'd
by John Keats
If by dull rhymes our English must be chain'd,
And, like Andromeda, the Sonnet sweet
Fetter'd, in spite of pained loveliness;
Let us find out, if we must be constrain'd,
Sandals more interwoven and complete
To fit the naked foot of poesy;
Let us inspect the lyre, and weigh the stress
Of every chord, and see what may be gain'd
By ear industrious, and attention meet:
Misers of sound and syllable, no less
Than Midas of his coinage, let us be
Jealous of dead leaves in the bay wreath crown;
So, if we may not let the Muse be free,
She will be bound with garlands of her own.
(credit)
Hug your loved ones instead of eating them and make it a great Saturday!
Kim
Good one! Interesting and thought provoking.
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