pioneering the frontier of humanity

8 months of blogging, and only 10 posts to my name. yet i still wonder if this blog is interesting, or if people bother to read it? my purpose in writing was simply to keep in touch with my east coast friends as i began my midwest life. but am i following the cardinal rule of writing? am i "knowing my audience?" what is it an audience wants? more importantly, i must ask, what does this audience want? there are many places this blog could go... reflections of a first year teacher, humorous stories from high school halls, tales of the hearty prairie which exist for my east coast friends only in the words of laura ingalls wilder? it is from wilder that this blog gets its name. as a child i loved her books. devoured them along with any other historical fiction tale i could get my hands on. i see now what attracted me to her. it was more than simply laura's pension for writing the historical novels which interested me, it was her pioneering spirit which drew me in. it is this same pioneering spirit which brought me here. i am a new type of pioneer now, but i am hardly alone. our world is one which encourages thought. in place of rote memorization we encourage critical thinking. as modern pioneers, we do not seek to tame the land on a new frontier. our frontier is humanity. as a pioneer in 21st century south dakota, i do not wish to harvest the prairie grasses, or tame the wild buffalo. my frontier is humanity. my goal is solidarity. It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all. - Laura Ingalls Wilder

A picture is worth a thousand words -- and the big picture is beautiful.

As I count down the days until Christmas break, and an east coast reunion, the stress seems to cloud the big picture. I have my own semester assignments to finish, quizzes to facilitate and grade, a paper to write, papers to read, plannng etc. It is easy in times like this to focus on the negatives. To think of all the things I don't want to do. But looking at a friend of mine's blog today reminded me - only we can control our happiness. Happiness is an attitude. Sure negative things can and do happen, and these things affect our emotion. As anyone who has even met me knows, succumbing to stress is almost an inevitablity for me. But that still doesn't change happiness - happiness is an attitude, the choice of how we choose to respond to things. No matter our situation, we always have something to be happy about! So, in my attempt to ward off all stress (and maybe, to procrastinate for a short 5 minutes), I am following the suggestion of some very smart women, and making a list. A quick and easy list, of thirty things which I can be thankful for and happy about in my life today and everyday. Can anyone really be sad after listing 30 fabulous things about their life?

1.) A guest came in to my classes today and spoke for half of each class.

2.) (Almost) all of my students were well behaved today.

3.) I recieved a care package full of cookies in the mail.

4.) I will be on the east coast in LESS THAN A WEEK!

5.) I had kluski for dinner and it was delicious.

6.) Our entire community was home for dinner tonight, and ate together.

7.) It snowed yesterday and it is very pretty.

8.) It was above 0 when I left school this afternoon.

9.) The first STM home basketball game is this week.

10.) We got to light three candles on the Advent wreath this morning.

11.) My students made comics last week - now I have something I can actually look forward to grading.

11.) The Chinese food restaurant near our house has a BOGO entree special this week.

12.) I teach in a Catholic school, and can therefore decorate for Christmas!!!

13.) My classroom is covered in Christmas lights (and 250 feet of tinsel.)

14.) I got to celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe Saturday, with a Bilingual Mass and Mexican food.

15.) Pandora

16.) God loves me - and He loves you too.

17.) I woke up healthy and alive today.

18.) I found a good book in the 50c sale rack at the Library this weekend.

19.) I have family and friends who love me.

20.) I will be reunion-ing in style with the bests next week at the Boynton.

21.) I made Baked Brie yesterday.

22.) Creating this list is thought provoking.

23.) A picture is worth a thousand words - and even when the details are blurry, the big picture is beautiful!

24.) I have inspiring people in my life.

25.) I have a mission for my life, and I am closer to achieving that mission today than I was yesterday.

26.) Ruby (my car) is holding out in cold weather! Perhaps better than me.

27.) South Dakota doesn't plow - but its okay, because I don't feel bad when we don't shovel!

28.) I ate two peppermint patties while writing this.

29.) I am in my comfies under a warm blanket as I write this, and a warm cuppa tea is soon to come.

30.) I have more reasons to be happy than I realised before writing this.

Think of your own life -- what are you thankful for and happy about today? What are your 30?

And one day, it was cold:

Living in New England, cold becomes something you grow accustomed to. You are used to the humid heat of summer, and just as much, used to the damp cold winter months. The dampness settles into the air, our homes, and our bones in late November and remains there through winter. Cold in South Dakota is different. South Dakota is dry, in a way that leaves the grass brown and your skin thirsty. The cold varies with each day. It was -13 Wednesday morning, and a beautiful 20 above today. The cold the beginning of this week was intense enough to require a hot shower before bed, legggings beneath pants for work, and running the car for a solid 10 minutes before leaving for school. Today however, the weather did truly seem beautiful, and not just in a 20 degrees in December type way. The sun was shining, the snow was melting, and even the air smelled beautifully fresh and new. Today was the first time in awhile, where I was simply joyous to be in South Dakota. I understand now why Kathleen Norris includes weather reports in her novel Dakota. Today was the type of beautiful day that only South Dakota could yield.