Tag: Dover

HOME SCHOOLING

~ Jnana Hodson ~ 1 Comment

I married into it, the homeschooling. Expected the kids would be hunkered down at their own desks a certain number of hours each day, the clock running. But that’s not how it was. No, the version (and there are many, I’ve learned, spanning the range from strict fundamentalists to loose unschoolers) I married into had piles of books and academic exercises and online resources and, well, I was surprised by the end of my first year to find out how much of what we’d told the local school superintendent we’d cover, we actually had – just not on the schedule we’d intended. Sometimes it came about as an impromptu trip to a museum – an outing in Boston, for instance.

I was also surprised how many group classes homeschoolers actually take. The taekwondo, for one, or the weekly White Pine outdoors lore, for another. Music lessons, anyone, or soccer?

Another component came on Thursdays, when the Dover Homeschooling Resource Center convened in the Quaker meetinghouse – about 100 parents and children – for a range of activities my wife dubbed “lunch-hour” or “recess for the homeschoolers.” It wasn’t all fun and games, either, despite some intense chess matches. Some of the older kids formed a science fiction group that read, wrote, and discussed the field.

My kids have some fond memories of their experiences across a number of activities.

Much better memories, in fact, than I carry from my public school days.

CALICO AS COCHECO

~ Jnana Hodson ~ 1 Comment

Calico – cheap cotton cloth printed in a figure pattern of bright colors, as the dictionary says – was a renowned product of the Cocheco Millworks in Dover, New Hampshire.

The city was not alone. Throughout New England, red-brick mills clustered around rivers seemingly anywhere a dam could be constructed – sometimes leading to factory compounds more than a mile long, like those at Lawrence, Lowell, and Manchester (itself famed for its denim, which gave rise to San Francisco-based Levi Strauss).

Sometimes, the operation would be much smaller, supporting little more than a village.

Upstream, existing ponds were enlarged to guarantee sufficient water flow through the year. Altogether, their commerce left its imprint on the landscape and its character while financing the legacy of the Boston Brahmins.

Likewise, the rain and snowfall flow through many of my poems. It’s not just water over the dam on the Cocheco River, after all, that’s noticed.

INSIDE THE MILLWORKS

~ Jnana Hodson ~ Leave a comment
I can imagine living in one of the towers, as one central character does in one of my yet unpublished novels.
I can imagine living in one of the towers, as a central character does in one of my yet unpublished novels.
One to another.
One tower viewed from another.
You could go climbing the walls.
You could go climbing the walls.
Or head for the street.
Or head for the street.
The old floors are fascinating, reflecting years of use. Often, they're embedded with the impressions of grommets or other materials that fell in the course of labor.
The old floors are fascinating, reflecting years of use. Often, they’re embedded with the impressions of grommets or other materials that fell in the course of labor.
The pulleys and other details overhead can be just as intriguing.
The pulleys and other details overhead can be just as intriguing.
Summer relief, however inefficient.
Summer relief, however inefficient.

GINGERBREAD LIGHTHOUSE

~ Jnana Hodson ~ 1 Comment
A small electric candle hangs upside down to illuminate the caramelized window panes of the lamp room. A candy kiss provides an improvised cone to top the lighthouse.
A small electric candle hangs upside down to illuminate the caramelized window panes of the lamp room. A candy kiss provides an improvised cone to top the lighthouse.
The rugged appearance is part of the fun, especially when surrounded by lobsters and sharks. Not that we have sharks in real life ... I prefer to see them as porpoises.
The rugged appearance is part of the fun, especially when surrounded by lobsters and sharks. Not that we have sharks in real life … I prefer to see them as porpoises.

While I’ve never gotten wrapped up in my wife’s fascination with gingerbread houses, my contrarian nature has embraced the idea of making an annual gingerbread LIGHT house, and here’s one result .

For the recipe and the templates, especially if you want to go for fancier results, check out this story, recipe, and assembly directions. (It’s not the only gingerbread lighthouse at Coastal Living, by the way, in case you’re really adventurous.)

The model was based on the Whaleback Light just downriver from us, so I feel it’s an extra special touch. And the gummy lobsters and gummy sharks, along with the candy rocks for the lighthouse wall, were purchased from Yummies just beyond the Kittery Outlet stores. That can be a destination for Maine visitors all in its own.

Inserting the candy rocks into the frosting "mortar" was fun, but let me suggest doing it with the sheets flat, before you erect the walls into place.
Inserting the candy rocks into the frosting “mortar” was fun, but let me suggest doing it with the sheets flat, before you erect the walls into place.
What would Maine be without lobsters?
What would Maine be without lobsters?

PREPARING FOR THE TREE

~ Jnana Hodson ~ 3 Comments

Although we don’t bring the Yule tree indoors until Christmas Eve, baking and decorating the gingerbread cookies that will adorn its branches can be done days ahead.

An acorn on a pine tree? Why not, when it's among these?
An acorn on a pine tree? Why not, when it’s among these?
Large gingerbread snowflakes just might be suspended in our windows instead of the tree. Unlike those three oranges, just waiting to be peeled and eaten.
Large gingerbread snowflakes just might be suspended in our windows instead of the tree. Unlike those three oranges, just waiting to be peeled and eaten.

BRUSSELS SPROUTS & LETTUCE (INCLUDING UNDER PLASTIC)

~ Jnana Hodson ~ 9 Comments

Some vegetables turn sweeter if you leave them in the garden after the first hard frost. The Brussels sprouts and kale are good examples.

My wife’s best friend and I are the ones who love the miniature cabbages, and that’s led to a tradition at our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, regardless of whether we’re all sitting down to eat at their place or ours. Yes, like me, she’s especially fond of the sprouts, any way they’re served. So here’s looking ahead, with anticipation.

BRUSSELS SPROUTS ETC.

out in the garden, I use an ax to dig out Brussels sprouts
from under two feet of snow
for Christmas dinner

and maybe some kale
to boot

 poem copyright 2014 by Jnana Hodson

AUTUMN RAINS AND LAKE ERNIE

~ Jnana Hodson ~ 3 Comments

After a particularly heavy rain, a small pond forms in the bottom corner of the side of our lot we call the Swamp, over by the far neighbor’s driveway. When we first moved in, that meant Ernie, a retired pipe-fitter who’d built the tidy house and large garage a half-century earlier.

Somehow, we dubbed the puddle Lake Ernie and learned to watch it as a warning. Whenever Lake Ernie appeared, I needed to check on the cellar – make sure the sump pump was working.

Soon now, the ground will freeze and likely become snow covered. It comes as a relief, at least until the melting, when I have to start checking the cellar. Especially if heavy rains melt the snowpack.