Monday, August 9, 2010

School




"What I want to learn this year," Janie says, "is to write, play the plano, and learn to handle snakes without them biting me."



14 comments:

  1. Oh, that is such a funny, precious thing to wish for! Glad you documented it because I'm sure she'll laugh when she looks back at that one. So, Bethany, are YOU going to be the one to teach her how to handle snakes? :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. i LOVE this photo... it sings freedom. i hope you can link up with me on thursday, friend. your posts speak such humble beauty.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yes, snake handling. Any tips? Why surely your Oliver has captured a snake or two?! :) I'm gonna need some tutoring.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Something useful, something beautiful and something dangerous. Perfect. A well rounded young lady.

    ReplyDelete
  5. LOVE her...! What a sweet and unique little lady you have. Please pass on any snake handling tips you come across, I would have no idea where to begin with that one;)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Those are great goals! :) Lovely job with the bottom photo, too. Sorry I haven't passed on picnik info yet!

    ReplyDelete
  7. your comments are always so thoughtful, bethany... they are beauty. i hope to meet you someday, friend. xo

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ok ok. I've got it. I've got the snake handling part down thanks to Gurgie (the wonder cat) bringing in a live garden snake into the house about a month ago.
    1. First, put on your yellow rubber Playtex gloves.
    2. Get a ruler and (gently) poke and scream, pole and scream, until the lil greenie finally pokes his head out of the heat register he slithered into.
    3. Quick as you can, grab him behind the head, and screaming loudly, run for the door and wing him out. (Tip:You don't even have to take time to step on your deck if you give him a good enough wing.) Continue to scream and prance, scream and prance, shaking your hands and head. Continue to shake it off as long as necessary.
    Be warned, it takes a full 24 hours to recover from the heebie geebies.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh, and if you happen to have twin 16 year old daughters busting their guts over your methods,its OK to make up your own rules like--hey, you get just as many points for doing something that there was absolutely no danger in if you were doing it afraid. Courage is not being unafraid in the face of danger; that takes no courage. It is "doing it afraid" whether there is danger or not. Ya. And you get just as many points for doing it afraid if you have to scream and dance and cry while you do it. Uh huh. That's right. My house. My rules.

    ReplyDelete
  10. absolutely delightful! if you teach it, I think my children will want to attend your school, not ours. They have handling bugs down, but snakes is a whole new level!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Random thought....
    Jane reminds me so much of "Tootie" from that old Judy Garland movie "Meet Me in St. Louis"! You gotta watch it sometime and tell me if you agree. :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I agree... may we attend your school...? :)

    LOVE this post.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Pig Woman, THANK-YOU! I'm TOTALLY taking notes. Poke-scream-poke, shake your hands, wing it, scream, shake more. I think with a little improv and an actual greenie slithered into my house I could totally do it. Ahem. Just a little nervous about the in my house part. Yeah, on second thought... Any chance you're looking for adjunct professor-ship at my snake handling school? :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Oh, and Nona, I LOVE that movie. Yes, Jane does remind me of Tootie. I'm just trying to remember which character lit the little bag of doggie pooie on fire on the neighbor's porch. It was that movie wasn't it? Oh, now I need to go watch it again!

    ReplyDelete