Snake. In a Jar.

My husband found a snake. Instead of responding in a rational manner and smashing it to death with a hoe, he inexplicably placed it into the jar in the name of science.

The joys of homeschooling.

It is merely a garter snake. One of these....

"Is it a rattle snake?! Is it movaaahhhhAAAAhhhh!"

You can be all homeschoolish and read about it here. I had to look it up while it sized me up. It's beady little eye followed me as it flicked its tongue about trying to taste the air I breathed. At one point it uncoiled in my general direction. I shrilled a bit and sent the entire family, including my dad who was visiting, into gales of laughter.

In sympathy, four out of five Martin children dashed for the paper and crayons to draw the little demon snake and spend the next 20 minutes hissing at me from behind their papers.

"Look, mom! A snake! Scream AGAIN!"

Although the above article swears that they can be kept as pets, I proposed that we kill it. As a compromise it was released back into the wild. Two children and a cat all the way to the fence line.

It...lives.

Because it is Monday

...and Monday deserves it, I'm resizing the girls' clothes. That means all the clothes in storage that are the correct sizes are now inside waiting to be washed. All the incorrectly sized clothes are also waiting to be washed so that they may go to charity or be handed down. In effect, double the entire wardrobes of three little girls plus all the regular stuff are laying in wait for me. I plan on living with piles in the laundry room for a day or two. I also plan to grumble.

The Laundry...it mocks me.

Virtual Tour of the Sistine Chapel

For those who may never visit Rome, here is a virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel that brings this creation a little closer.

All this art is still ours, even if we never see it. Knowing it is there, as a gift for all, is akin to the beauty I imagine out at the farthest reaches of the Universe, slowly spinning clouds of glowing stardust, icy frozen and translucent worlds, all beautiful and all a part of the greater gift. Even if I never see it, the universe is better because it is there.

Click here for the tour...

Eye candy...

Can you imagine reading in a library this beautiful? Yeah, me neither. I don't even know if I'd be able to remember to ever try.

El Escorial Library, San Lorenzo, Spain

Strahov Philosophical Hall

Real Gabinete Portugues De Leitura Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Abbey Library St. Gallen, Switzerland

For more of the same...

Because it's Monday and I've been spending too much time in front of mom's big screen TV

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