For Pete's Sake

On Saturday, we cleaned up around the house placing all the construction trash in a small arroyo (gully) that runs down the front pasture. Then Toby said he would just burn the small pile and cover over it with dirt. A few minutes later, he was banging on the window. When I looked out, the pasture was on fire. We put together a string of water hoses to reach the pasture (barely). In the meantime, our neighbor, who happens to be a fireman, showed up. He manned the hose while Toby hopped in the bulldozer and circled the fire. They soon had the fire put out, but it had caught one large bale of hay on fire. Carl said that it would burn for days. We had to stay around the house all day watching the pasture in case it started burning again. Toby eventually pushed the bale of hay around with his dozer and was able to put out the fire completely. It was an exciting morning.

Let me make clear something from yesterday’s blog. I have never been in a fight; I have only broken up fights in public school settings. My theory is that people who fight in public places (schools, WalMart, etc.) don’t really want to fight. They want to be stopped quickly so they won’t have to fight much. They do it for the show. My mother always said a "lady" never fights, but if she does, she better win. I agree with her. Fighting is a low class thing to do and should be avoided. As a public school teacher, breaking up fights was unavoidable. It was just one of the many reasons we pulled our children out of public school. When my then nine year old daughter got off the phone one day, I asked whom she had been talking with. She said it was nothing; that someone at school wanted to "kick my a__". My daughter was not concerned and I knew she could take care of herself. That was one of the problems. By fourth grade she thought nothing of threats and fights at school. She thought that was normal. When I questioned her about it, she just shrugged and said, "Don’t worry, they all talk like that." No child should have to worry or think about who is going to pick a fight. No child should be threatened or feel threatened. At this same time, my son was in the junior high where I taught. He was easy going and loved learning. I was constantly warning him to stay with someone, never be alone or someone would jump him. Why do they pick on others? Because they want to show off - they are "wanna bes" thinking that by fighting they can prove their toughness. They are cowards, and they are usually ignorant and not doing well socially.
When we started homeschooling, you could see the weight come off my children. They were free to learn and free to be kids.