Kid Quote

4th grader: Kimberlee, did you see the pentagons?

Me: Hmm. Which pentagons?

4th grader: The ones on the tundra.

Me: There were pentagons on the tundra?

4th grader: Yeah. I saw 'em.

Me: You saw pentagons? I don't know what you mean. Why were there pentagons on the tundra?

4th grader: I don't know. They just came.

Me: You mean like aliens left them there?

4th grader: Noooo! (giggles)

Older/wiser 6th grader: Not pentagons! They were rollagons!

4th grader: Oh, yeah, rollagons!

:)

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I hadn't seen the rollagons, but I'm keeping my eyes open. They are traveling back and forth from Barrow, something to do with the fuel farm. This is the first time rollagons have been to Atqasuk in over six years. I'm really hoping to catch a glimpse.

Click here for more info:

http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/print/122407776.html

A Few Good Eggs

I did a little reading about Easter eggs and learned some things that I hadn't known before (click here for Wikipedia's entry). Although decorated eggs are clearly associated with the celebration of Easter, they aren't directly tied to any authentically Christian observance. There may be a connection with early Christianity's roots in Judaism, but it's more likely that Easter eggs are one of those traditions that came to be accepted after-the-fact, an add-on that became popular and simply "stuck." None of that was really a surprise to me. But what I hadn't heard before is that one of the possible reasons for eating eggs at Easter time is that eggs, like meat, were not eaten during lent. Since chickens didn't stop producing there was quite an overstock by the time Easter rolled around! What a mundane beginning for such a playful tradition!

There is even a tradition associated with the beginning of lent called Pancake Day which served to use up eggs by mixing them into crepe-like pancakes a few days before the season began! This practice is still popular in many countries around the world. That sounds like fun and given Americans' fondness for food I have to wonder why it never caught on here. Maybe it's not too late!

Bright colors and creative designs are always a visual delight, but the real value of an egg is found beneath the painted veneer. Each egg is endowed with potential for sustenance or new life and that is the treasure worth protecting.

Sound familiar?

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Here are a few of the "eggs" in my basket...aren't they beautiful?

It seems to be a universal phenomenon...

...and I just don't get it.