Downtown Ashland: Funky Fresh

           It appears that I did not post last week on the 23^rd. I did have 8 drafts to post.  I was distracted with other things. Richard and I had left the house on Saturday morning.  It had been raining off and on.  Mostly on. Jaime had wanted us to take a walk with her downtown Ashland, but it was too wet and cold and Richard wasn’t willing to leave the car.

        We brought Jaime home for weekend and I became more interested in meeting her needs than posting to my blog.  She spent the night at a friend's house and we got up early Sunday to retrieve her. Spending time with her and the family was pretty nice.  We played several games while she was here.  It was so great having her here – short as it was.

  We were able to park downtown before dropping her off at the dorms on Sunday evening.  Jaime excitedly took us on a tour pointing out her favorite haunts.

The bubbled Lithia water (here) seems inviting – appearing like Perrier water which some people consider “prime”

 

– even the thought of it make my face sour.  Do NOT appreciate Perrier though I would pick it over Lithia water.  It has a taste similar to Alka-Seltzer mixed with rust. Jaime will gag just bending over and taking a whiff. 

There is a fountain of real water to ease the nasty taste of those gutsy (or stupid) enough to experience the Lithia water.  But it is fun to watch.

 We walked down the opposite side that Jaime is used to walking and so had not seen coin press.  I think Richard spotted it first and caused great excitement.  She purchased them all.

Jaime told us the names of some of the characters in this Shakespearean themed sculpture

 

I had fun spending time with her and enjoying her enthusiasm - as always

 

What’s Different?

            I was in a 6th-grade math class yesterday.  The instructor had put a similar illustration on the board – only the dimes and nickels were laid out in the same manner.  And three or four of the pennies were shinier than the one that is in the center of the pennies in the above illustration.  The instructor asked which set of coins was different and why?

            The first answer was logical for a math class.

            “The dimes are different because all of the other coins add up to 25 cents.  Five nickels make 25 cents.  25 pennies make 25 cents.  A single quarter makes 25 cents.  But five dimes make 50.”

            The instructor asked what might be some other possible answers.  It was interesting what answers were provided.

            “The pennies are different because Abraham Lincoln is looking in a different direction than the other three presidents”

            “The quarter is different because it’s all alone and the only one not divisible by 5 to get a whole number”

              “The pennies because they are a different material or color”

            The pennies also looked newer in her illustration whereas the quarter looks to be the newest in mine.

            I don’t think any of them stated that the nickels were different for any reason.

            My favorite answer was the dimes – not because they added up to a different number but the logic behind a different students answer.

            “The dimes are wrong because they look to be the same size as the nickel and that ain’t right”

            The experiment was to listen to and understand one another as we each have different points of view but there are things that we can learn if we will focus on ration or logic of others and not be so focused on only one way of looking at it.

            I thought that was an interesting concept for a math teacher to share as there is only one correct answer in math.

Whatever Happened to My Collections?

        At the time  I was enrolled in seminary, there was a program for students who had the desire to participate in afterschool programs of challenging seminary students from other schools in what came to be known as "The Seminary Bowl"

        Seminary Bowl included a panel of students trained to answer questions relating to that year's gospel topic.  There was also the "scripture chase" on which team could find a certain scripture the quickest.  Each week (or however often we met) our instructors would give us ribbons featuring our school color.  On the ribbon was marked in letters that started each word of different scriptures;  one made up for a certain scripture that we should have memorized that week

        I had saved them all in a scrapbook.  I think it might have been the one that grandpa had given me; one that fell apart, one that I had attempted to recreate. I reminded myself of this as I was planning the lesson I'd be teaching yesterday.  I had planned on doing something similar for my class . . . but that will be for another post perhaps.

        None of my collections seemed to make it with us to Oregon.  I am sad that the ribbons had been left in the shed in West Valley along with my coin collection and a box of dolls that grandpa had given me when he and grandma would fly Western Airlines.  The ribbons themselves may have been in one of six boxes that Kayla had retrieved but eventually threw out, they had been thrown out by one of the boys - probably Randy as Tony seems to be even more of a pack rat then I am.  It doesn't matter now.  It is writing on the wall.

        I do wonder what may have come of my coins that had evolved into something that grandpa had introduced me to.  He had introduced coin collecting my brother, Patrick, and the neighbors across the street as well.  I remember dragging the collection out of the shed when we had introduced our boys to coin collecting.  And later Roland tried it with his two oldest girls.  Did not pan out well, I'm afraid.  Those actually made the move to Oregon, and now it is an activity that Roland and Jenna share.  I wish I could find mine to show to Jenna.  I know some of the coins have more value than others.  It would be interesting for me to know where they ended up.  I am certain that they still exist somewhere within the family - probably tucked away in a box in a closet. 

        I also had a box of identical looking dolls dressed in various costume to represent different countries from around the world.  The clothes couldn't be removed.  Probably not even worth anything except they all came from an airline that was eventually bought out by Delta.  It was more out of sentiment that I hung onto them.  And there was one I had actually designed clothes for.  Don't know what became of them either. 

       I also had some pins: Mary Tyler Moore and Coke Bottle/Olympic memorabilia.  Those I did purchase for the sake of collection believing someday they would be worth a lot more than what I paid.  Lost in the sauce, I'm afraid.

Dang!