Tuesday in 12 hours

 The love of a good book knows no bounds, absolutely none.  One without words, done by an exceptionally creative artist storyteller is doubly loved.  Triply, even.

Tuesday is written by David Weisner.  Describing the book would be doing it an injustice.  But I will say that frogs are strange creatures who seem to manage the impossible in nature.  


This following animated version is delightful!  Please click on this link and see the video!  Thanks!  DOROS Animation: Tuesday

Why are wordless books good?

There are many students who cannot read for one reason or another. There are many students who do not speak English.

 

But each student in those categories can see the events as they occur 

and tell what they see, what they think, and try to figure out the why of the story. 

Thinking is the resultant activity which leads to all the other learning that hops out of the brain.

How a mud puddle in the middle of our farm driveway would suddenly burgeon with tadpoles which morphed into frogs and then disappeared, I could never figure out. Now it makes so much more sense.

Old books, old titles, good reading

 

One of many titles

Scanning through old books at antique stores is something that gives me joy.  Holding a well-used book and appreciating the hands that once turned pages fills me with happiness. 

Sometimes I find a real winner, like The Ideas of a Plain Country Woman.  The writer (The Country Contributor) preferred to remain anonymous, although she had written articles for Ladies Home Journal.  Her observations and honesty are rare now, let alone in her times, circa 1909.

And other times my finds are true disappointments.  The Farm Animals on Strike by A. H. E. Hoosier, published in 1923 by A.Flanagan Company, Chicago, Illinois, is one of these.    I tried to read it, but the book was an ill-disguised lesson on proper treatment of farm animals.  It was a book that could have been, but wasn't.  

 

 When the animals were speaking, it was entertaining.  But the moment a human started dialogue, the sentences were blogged down in verbosity.

One of many titles.

The thing is I truly wanted a real gem here, and in a way, I got more than I had hoped. 

There is a library card pocket glued on the inside cover. Taken from Port Allen Library, librarian’s peculiar cursive states the author, title, and book number.  The book was checked out on Feb. 5, 192-, by Jackie Forbes, followed by Patrice and Randy.  Tucked into the book are two 3X5 index cards.  One side of each has been mimeographed (remember that??) “Superintendent’s Check-Out Card”.

One of many titles

The teacher, Hazel E. Pine, was clearly closing down the school year, doing the mundane paper work which required that every book be accounted for and returned.  Necessary, but mundane work.

So, here I was, holding this old book.  I went to an archived site (included beneath the pictures) and found a collection of educational books published by A. Flanagan and other publishers.  Each book is accessible for on-line reading.  Definitely worth checking out, especially Mistakes in Teaching.  

Lined up on my own bookshelf are books from my folks and grandparents. Most are reading books while some are just old books from the late 1890s and early 1900s. They have seen some wear and tear, with library cards and scraps of bookmarks. Some  even have samples of their handwriting.

Not exactly gems, but maybe a gold mine from the past? 

This was posted 2 years ago. I re-posted it because I was touching caressing an old book just recently and it gave me such joy. 

Keeping heathy in the Good Ole days

Found in our old barn's timbers

We like to think that life was good in the "old days", when our grandparents were young and WW1 was on the horizon.

Telephones that hung on the wall? Water hand pumped in the kitchen? Wood burning stoves?  

Some of those old days were good in the sense that social life was simpler. The old days were more community oriented. 

But medical care? My mom once told me how Dr. Wells performed her appendectomy on the dining room table. House calls were the only time most people saw the doctor. Prescriptions? Home remedies and readily available self-medications for the most part.

Much of the rural areas didn't have free access to medicine and care. My grandmother spoke about her grandmother who was an herbalist whom people sought out for all the illnesses that affected them. She was apparently was admired and respected.

Moving on to the eras of when all the odd ingredients of medical life opened the realm of possibilities.

At the farm, our barn had been built late 1800s, and was leaning by 1970s When the barn was torn down, an untold number of medicinal bottles were found, all of which were long empty and those few still had small amounts of amber liquid, sealed in by caps melded to the glass. (owner of our farm was a doctor and had the liquid analyzed. It was alcohol.)

Order form

$95 · A rare (Heroin) original 1915 government issued "Order Form for Opium, Etc". A similar form from the 1920s was recently shown on the History Channel during a program on illegal drugs.

one dose should be enough

asthma patients

women diseases

Found treasure

We look at the contents of these cures for common colds and we are horrified by its contents. "Good old days" take on a new view when we think of people of that era. They must have felt pretty good/well after a few doses

Etsy

 Doctors had absolutely no control what his patients took for what ailed them.
Did he have any idea about the contents? Did he even know the effects of the miracle tonics, elixirs?

What about the prescription below? Did Dr. George Nichopolous realize the results of the prescribed meds he gave Elvis Presley? I am betting he did.

Pinterest

Here, in the "good new days", we are aware of contents and need. BUT, there are doctors who are on a paycheck from the rich and famous, who pull out that controlled substance pad. Insurance businesses have so much to say about and to control different medications. Who gets what and how much...

No surgeries on the dining room table, I am guessing.

I posted this in 2019 and I have done some editing and rewriting..  I hope those who enjoyed it then will still enjoy it. Like many posts that I resurrect, I have more understanding now than I did back then (which indicates a learning curve) and my writing skills are different and sometimes better.