jedimentat

Homeschool continued...

studied Colonial Times in our Reading Unit, so we visited some historical houses

Wallace House and Old Dutch Parsonage in Somerville NJ

learned what a spitjack was, and saw a neat oilcloth recreation on the floor, and learned that one of the first Christmas trees was a yew tree. Also, learned that George Washington's war tent is in the Museum of the American Revolution in Philly, and I want to go see it sometime. Kids learned about a lot of colonial objects and colonial life.

Cosy Christmastime at Home

making Christmas cards for grandparents

Liberty and Kirk

beautiful bread from a neighbor

lego Gonk

Dogs

Porter's got my back

Even though it's a joyful time of year, merry and bright, there is that underlying darkness and foreboding of a bad winter, to me.

sign in a resus room

MSM is still pushing immunity debt, even though it's scientifically disproven in this case.

not matching the empty shelves of Canada quite yet, but our RSV/tripledemic went through the roof this month. Mid December, the CDC began 'recommending' masking again, but not mandating it. Strep A began killing kids in the UK.
UPDATE: actually by the end of December, there were drug shortages and OTC med shortages here. local Shop Rite by mid Dec:

CDC map, Dec 20

Dec 19 local SR

the amount of Christmas concerts and activities blows my mind, honestly. everyone is fine until they are not. Kingfox and I struggled and commiserated on the reg about it, trying to figure out our way through it. felt pretty down-in-the-mouth about the holiday and different dystopian situations around us, but then at the beginning of break I read a book by David Benioff, City of Thieves, about his grandfather's experiences during the Siege of Leningrad, and it kind of helped me get my head straight and put things in perspective. (Also saw and enjoyed 'Rogue Heroes' about the experiences of the SAS in North Africa during WWII, and again, it gave me some perspective).

polar vortex hit like Dec 24ish; Texas and other usually-warm states famously cold; we had like 5 degree weather at night for a few days but luckily didn't lose power. put some foam insulation in the attic at the light-shining-through/feel-the-wind spots by the gables.

the Lensa AI-art controversy...I have a lot of thoughts on this, would love to campfire-discuss. Mostly, I don't think it's 'humans vs AI', it's a case of 'humans-and-AI' over the next ten to twenty years. Issues of privacy, stealing content from artists, etc...that's all been there for some time. Enjoyed the cool pics. Have other things to worry about.