Beowulf

Beowulf

We are nearing the end of our adventures with Beowulf. Actually we sadly read the tale of the death of the brave Ring-giver today. Firstborn recently did some copywork from an earlier verse in the epic wherein the elder King Hygelac is sagely exhorting Beowulf to be mindful of the fragility of life even in the wake of his great defeat over the man eating Grendel. King Hygelac speaking to his adorned, but youthful, hero:

O flower of warriors, beware of that trap.
choose, dear Beowulf, the better part,
eternal rewards. Do not give way to pride.
For a brief while your strength is in bloom
but it fades quickly; and soon there will follow
illness or the sword to lay you low,
or a sudden fire or surge of water
or jabbing blade or javelin from the air
or repellant age. Your piercing eye
will dim and darken; and death will arrive,
dear warrior, to sweep you away.

Firstborn and I relished the poet's masterful description of the creation of the earth in the earliest verses of the epoch:

The a powerful demon, a prowler through the dark,
nursed a hard grievance. It harrowed him
to hear the din of the loud banquet
everyday in the hall, the harp being struck
and the clear song of a skilled poet
telling with mastery of man's beginnings,
how the Almighty had made the earth
a gleaming plain girdled with waters;
in His splendour He set the sun and the moon
to be earth's lamplight, lanterns for men,
and filled the broad lap of the world
with brancehs and leaves; and quickened life
in every other thing that moved.

In all honesty, I had no previous knowledge of the tale of Beowulf and did not expect that we would read the entire book. Rather unexpectedly, it has been a glorious and riveting story of bravery, youth, wisdom, loyalty, faith in God, virtue, death and the battle against evil at any cost. Although Rosebud did ask that we not read the "next" book (she is accustomed to books coming in series), I think it is fair to write that we have all enjoyed hearing of Beowulf's adventures and character. I hope to have Firstborn compose a written summary of some sort after we finish the final pages later this week.

Thursday 8 Mar 07

The classroom has officially moved outdoors this week. Tuesday we measured, measured, and measured the backyard. Wednesday I drew a scale model of the yard using both our measurements and the survey that came with the house. (Firstborn has requested a copy of this model so that he can try to fill in some of the details to make it more illustrated.) Today there were a few last measurements and then the digging began.

At the rear of our property is a chain link fence; beyond that, we can see the back of our neighbor's house and partially onto their oversized side yard/dog run and then out on to the street parallel to our own. It isn't an offensive view, but it is haphazardly interrupted by 4-8' tall hackberry trees ("trash trees") that have spontaneously taken up root over the years. I have always considered these trees to be an eyesore and of no value to us in terms of asthetics or privacy. So this morning the apprentice gardeners and I began the work of sawing down the trees and digging up portions of the roots. It was hard work, but the weather couldn't have been better for outdoor physical labor. There is a bit remaining for tomorrow which is predicted to be another glorious spring-like day.

In addition to finishing the task of clearing out the fence line, the Prof will be home most of tomorrow and I hope to walk the property with him and the children so we can discuss some of my landscaping ideas. I also hope to stop by the school where the Prof works to re-examine some of the neat landscaping they have incorporated during the past year and possibly at a nursery to discuss garden border options.

The bright sun and warm air are so invigorating. I am drinking in deep breaths of this wonderful season as it will soon be burned away by the blazing sun. I hope that we will have a garden that will be inviting enough to beckon us out for an early morning iced tea on even the hottest late summer days.

St. Fiacre, pray for us.

(Monday &) Tuesday

Monday...forget it. Monday was blur of dental appointment, dropping off and picking up children, cleaning house, phone calls & e-mails, teaching lessons, early dinner, teaching class, meetings. No school and probably no real learning. That is behind us now.

Tuesday was so very relaxed by comparison. Firstborn did some Latin, Math, and music practice and by then the temps had risen enough that I was willing to head outdoors for the beginning of our landscaping adventure. The three eldest and I wove around the back yard marking every possible measurement: from the privacy fence to the corner of the house, from the privacy fence to the patio, patio to driveway, privacy fence to chain link fence, back of house to back fence, back fence to coop, back fence to Kindergarten, back fence to playscape, etc., etc.
Next task is to get it down on graph paper.

In the afternoon there was artistic pursuits followed by a tasty and simple supper. After dinner the children worked on their Lenten coloring contest pictures and the girls worked on Sunshine's jewelry box. They called their friends, the H's and we called it a day. Such a pleasant contrast to Monday.