Narcissus

The small plant that has sprung up next to the pond by our front steps is now in full bloom although it's larger brothers by the driveway haven't quite opened yet. I feel like narcissus are our answer to British snowdrops. They are always the first things to bloom (or the last, depending on how you look at it). I photographed the first flower on this plant a couple of weeks ago when it was drooping with raindrops. It is about to be wet again as a fairly heavy rainstorm is predicted for tomorrow. We have had rain on and off for a couple of months but this month it has been particularly cold with frost at night. We talked at coffee this morning about the cost of heating this month. It's too early for us to tell as the solar panels provide most of the power for the heat pump and we don't get a bill for that reflects this for several months....

 John came home from the Farmers' Market last week with a nice head of cauliflower, so I decided to make cauliflower cheese. He also brought home an enormous block of Tillamook cheddar, so I used that, although I think a more aged cheddar would be tastier. It brought to mind my difficulties with a home economics teacher I had in seventh grade. I don't think home economics is even a thing anymore, but even way back then, the teacher was pretty out of touch with the interests of twelve year old girls. Back then, along with eggplant, cauliflower was the most reviled vegetable. Choosing to have us  make cauliflower cheese was almost a sure sign for revolt. 

But it was an apron project in which Mrs Tiefel was determined to get my left handed self to sew with my right hand that caused my dénoument. I wound up being the only girl in wood shop where I happily made a rather lopsided cutting board and the teacher didn't care which hand I used....

How times have changed. The schools here have instituted a college prep program for all students, and eliminated all the classes which teach a skill whether it's making cutting boards, or pottery, fixing cars or computers. I think this is a big mistake and is probably one reason for the high absentee rate that is becoming a problem. Some kids weren't meant to go to college, don't do well in college prep courses, get discouraged and drop out. But they still deserve to learn skills to help them succeed in life. 

There also need to be more teachers, and they need to be paid a living wage .Peter teaches high school math and has thirty students per class with no aide. Dana is an aide but the special ed teacher that she worked with at her middle school quit, and they have been unable to find a replacement who is willing to take on the job. (Dana doesn't want it either, but I suspect she is doing most of it anyway, by default.

Maybe if this country got its  priorities straight, and kids got the education they deserve, we wouldn't be looking at a person like Trump getting elected.