October 6, 2016 by suzannesmom
According to Josh Planos at the Atlantic, the forward-looking Dutch are at it again. Not only are they on the cutting edge in matters such as energy use and floating forests, they have anticipated the increase in Alzheimer’s diagnoses, creating a village where patients can feel normal.
“The isolated village of Hogewey lies on the outskirts of Amsterdam in the small town of Wheesp. Dubbed ‘Dementia Village’ by CNN, Hogewey is a cutting-edge elderly-care facility — roughly the size of 10 football fields — where residents are given the chance to live seemingly normal lives.
“With only 152 inhabitants, it’s run like a more benevolent version of The Truman Show, if The Truman Show were about dementia and Alzheimer’s patients. Like most small villages, it has its own town square, theater, garden, and post office. Unlike typical villages, however, this one has cameras monitoring residents every hour of every day, caretakers posing in street clothes, and only one door in and out of town, all part of a security system designed to keep the community safe. Friends and family are encouraged to visit. Some come every day.
“Last year, CNN reported that residents at Hogewey require fewer medications, eat better, live longer, and appear more joyful than those in standard elderly-care facilities. …
“Residents are only admitted if they’re categorized as having ‘severe cases of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.’ Vacancies are rare, given that a spot only opens when a current resident passes away, and the village has operated virtually at full capacity since it opened in 2009.
“Hogewey was primarily funded by the Dutch government and cost slightly more than $25 million to build. The cost of care is nearly $8,000 per month, but the Dutch government subsidizes the residents—all of whom receive private rooms—to varying degrees; the amount each family pays is based on income, but never exceeds $3,600.”
More at the Atlantic.
Where did I just hear about someone with Alzheimer’s? Oh, right. A detective series on TV. So moving. Boy, I hope that detective’s daughter knows about this village.
Photo: Gabriel Rocha/Flickr
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Alzheimer's, dementia, dutch, elderly, Netherlands, nursing home, village | 3 Comments »
October 5, 2016 by suzannesmom
Photo: Isabelle de Pommereau
Anja Reefschläger has taken Ahmad Madarati and other refugees under her wing since they arrived near her Berlin home last year.
The Christian Science Monitor always has great stories about good works around the globe, and this one on ordinary Germans who are volunteering to help refugees get settled is no exception.
Isabelle de Pommereau writes, “ ‘Frau Anja.’ Hearing this name for a Berlin volunteer who teaches refugees German – and has become a second mother to many of them – brings a smile to Ahmad Madarati’s long, sad face.
“Mr. Madarati, who fled war-torn Aleppo, Syria, and Anja Reefschläger met on a freezing November morning last year. …
“Today, Madarati works practically gratis at a youth center in Berlin, helping young people build furniture. And in a few weeks, he is set to move out of the so-called Treskowallee camp into a house. The house is next to Reefschläger’s, and she is the one who persuaded the owner to rent it out to Syrians.”
Ordinary Americans are also showing kindness and warm hearts, even when state government refuses to participate.
In Texas, for example, when the governor refused to sign on to the federal effort to resettle Syrians, ordinary Texans and nonprofits stepped up to the plate.
Jim Malewitz writes at the Texas Tribune, “Texas’ top elected officials have not exactly welcomed refugees over the past year. [In September] Gov. Greg Abbott followed through on his threat to end cooperation with the nation’s refugee resettlement program because federal officials refused to ‘unconditionally approve’ a Texas plan requiring extra vetting of applicants. Such a move will not keep refugees from coming here, but it eliminates the state government’s role.
“But everyday Texans seem to be more willing to help refugees from Syria and elsewhere start new lives in the Lone Star State. Nonprofits that resettle refugees say volunteer turnout has increased — in some cases dramatically — since Texas Republicans first suggested they threatened security.” More. See also an article in the Nonprofit Quarterly, here, for details on the critical role of nonprofits and volunteers in Texas at this point in time.
I have personal knowledge of the many volunteers reaching out to refugees in Providence via the Providence Granola Project (how about giving their yummy products as holiday gifts?), the Refugee Dream Center, Genesis Center, and Dorcas International. The Diocese of Providence is also at the forefront of service as an official resettlement agency, like Dorcas.
You know what else? I just heard of a woman in my town who is selling her house and moving to “wherever she’s needed.” She wants to use her years of language-teaching skills to help refugees.
[10/15/16 Update: Read about the outpouring of support for refugees in Lowell, Mass., here.]
Photo: Marjorie Kamys Cotera
A group gathered at Wooldridge Park in Austin on Nov. 22, 2015, to show support for refugees. 
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged germany, nonprofits, providence, refugee, texas, volunteers, welcome | Leave a Comment »
October 4, 2016 by suzannesmom
My husband pointed me to this story about a British scuba diver who found her camera three years after it was lost, thanks to social media.
The Telegraph reports, “A British scuba diver has been reunited with the camera she lost three years ago after it washed up 600 miles away in Sweden — in full working order.
“Adele Devonshire, 37, was diving off St Abbs in Berwickshire, Scotland, when the clip holding her camera snapped. After a search of the shore in July 2013 she gave up hope of ever seeing the Fuji camera and waterproof case ever again.
“But she was astonished when she saw an online post [in July] by Lars Mossberg, 57, who found it perched on a rock on the shore of a small Swedish island.
“The plastic housing was covered in scratches, but despite having travelled across the North Sea, the camera turned on first time — without even being charged.
“Father-of-two Mr Mossberg tracked down Mrs Devonshire by posting some of her photos — of her father and her husband — to a ‘Lost at Sea’ Facebook group where they were seen by a friend.
“It took just five hours to find Mrs Devonshire, after the pictures were recognised by a pal who had been on the dive when she lost it three years earlier. …
“After listening to the voice on movies on the camera [Mr. Mossberg] thought it must belong to a Briton, so posted a few photos of Mrs Devonshire’s husband Paul and father Roger to Lost At Sea.
“The photos were posted at around 5.30pm on Friday, and remarkably were spotted by Mrs Devonshire’s friend by 10.30pm that night. She had only joined the 2,500 member group that day.
“Mr Mossberg verified Mrs Devonshire was the owner by asking her some questions about the photos, and was set to post it back to her on [the following] Monday.
“Mrs Devonshire added: ‘I never did buy a new one so I’m really looking forward to getting it back. It has been on quite the journey.’ ”
More here.
Photo: Lars Mossberg / SWNS.com
Lars Mossberg found Adele Devonshire’s camera perched on a rock on the shore of the small Swedish island Gullholmen.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged camera, facebook, lost and found, lost at sea, social media, underwater | Leave a Comment »
October 3, 2016 by suzannesmom
Today there are increasing numbers of opportunities for people with disabilities to enjoy the benefits of activities that others take for granted.
Eva Clifford writes at Women & Girls Hub about one intriguing example: ballet for the blind.
“In a third-floor dance studio, Lorena Nieva begins teaching her ballet class. Every weekend Nieva, the international coordinator of Psicoballet, travels 80 miles (130km) from her home in Puebla to give lessons to a group of girls from Casa Rosa de la Torre, a home for blind children run by nuns. Aged between nine and 22, all of the girls in Nieva’s class are completely blind or partially sighted.
“As the music plays, Nieva guides the girls, steering their movements with the sound of her voice and a gentle push with her hand. While the first half of the lesson is spent rehearsing a dance routine, the second half is devoted to improvisation. Breaking from the rigidity and strictness of conventional ballet training, Nieva brings in objects to inspire movement and games, such as fabric sheets, elastic ribbons and chairs.
“ ‘Dance cannot be reduced to a single sense,’ says Nieva. ‘It has to come from the whole body – from its limitations, too.’
“Founded on the belief that dance is ingrained in our biological roots, Psicoballet was created in 1973 by Cuban psychologist Georgina Fariñas Garcia … Teachers and advocates say Psicoballet, like most forms of dance, improves balance, posture and mobility, while also boosting self-esteem and reducing anxiety and depression. …
“ ‘I really enjoy discovering new ways of teaching, as it forces me to get out of my comfort zone,’ says Nieva, who has instructed people of all ages and various disabilities, but says teaching the blind girls has so far been the most rewarding. ‘I am keen to see that the girls have fun in the lessons, and that what is learned does not just stay in class, but it also enriches their everyday lives.’
“For many of the girls, that’s exactly what Nieva’s teaching does. ‘It has helped me a lot,’ says Itary, 15. ‘I feel I have improved my way of coexisting. Before, I was very aggressive, I walked a little weirdly and crashed up against everything, and this is not the way to be. Everything has to be done in a smooth way. To dance is to express with my movements what is within me.’ ” More here.
I found the article at the Huffington Post, which had reposted it.
Photo: Eva Clifford
Four girls who suffer from blindness wait to be called out for their first dance in Chiapas southern Mexico.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ballet, blind, dance, disability, mexico, psychotherapy, pyschologist | 2 Comments »
October 2, 2016 by suzannesmom
There’s something mysterious about this time of year that brings out more than nostalgia. Halloween’s naughtiness license (to do mischief like moving the neighbors’ swing set from their backyard and putting it in the middle of the driveway) is really a creativity license.
I always looked forward to making the funniest Jack o’ Lantern, or the scariest. And wearing a pink taffeta princess dress (which unfortunately was not visible under all my outer layers on cold Halloweens). And parties (did anyone ever actually catch an apple by bobbing for apples?).
One year at school, the big kids made a Tunnel of Horrors for the younger ones. I was new to that school, and holding on to others as I stumbled up and down stairs in the dark, I had no idea where I was. It was spooky in a fun way — scary faces lit from below by flashlights, ghostlike figures brushing by, skeletons dropping down, haunted wailing, sudden swaths of spider webs … and a witchy voice croaking, “Come closer, Dearie, put your hand in the bowl of eyeballs” (meticulously peeled grapes in water)!
Imagine the creative brainstorming sessions that went into choosing gags that could be pulled off in darkness without breaking anyone’s bones! I was in rapture. I went home that weekend and created a mini version of a Tunnel of Horrors for my younger siblings.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged halloween, jack o lantern, mischief, nostagia, spooky, tunnel of horrors | 4 Comments »
October 1, 2016 by suzannesmom
I tend to follow environmentalists, artists, and community development nonprofits on twitter, sometimes finding ideas I want to share here. Smaller Cities Unite! (@SmallerCitiesU) is a source for all three topics. Recently it linked to this Live Science article by Tia Ghose.
Ghose writes, “Artist Sigalit Landau submerged a 1920s-style long, black dress in Israel’s Dead Sea for two months in 2014. When the dress was lifted from the salty waters, it was a sparkling, crystalline sculpture formed from salt. …
“Landau has been inspired by the Dead Sea’s unique environment for past artwork, including salt-crystal-encrusted lamps, a salty hangman’s noose and a crystalline island made of shoes, according to the artist’s website.
“The current exhibit uses a dress that is a replica of the long, black one worn by a character in the classic Hasidic Jewish ghost-story called ‘The Dybbuk.’ In that story, the bride, Leah, is possessed by the evil spirit of her dead suitor, who died before they could marry. The dress was worn during the 1920s production of the play. …
“The Dead Sea is one of the saltiest bodies of water on Earth. At 34 percent salnity, it is several times saltier than the open ocean. … The hypersalinity is also what’s behind the alchemy that transforms the black dress into a shining white dress. Salt tends to crystallize out of very salty solutions, and it typically nucleates, or seeds, at places that have saltier concentrations than the surrounding water …
“As the dress initially caught bits of extra salt, that led to a locally higher concentration of salt, spurring the salt molecules to line up into crystals that eventually grew and transformed this deathly dress into a sparkly saline jewel.”
Read more.
Photo: Matanya Tausig
Sigalit Landau’s sparkly salt sculpture was originally a black dress that was submerged in the Dead Sea for two months.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged art, crystalline, dead sea, Dybbuk, hypersalinity, saline, sculpture | Leave a Comment »
September 30, 2016 by suzannesmom
It’s so interesting to see all the different ways people are taking to farming. We’ve already covered a number of angles. Now Adele Peters at FastCoexist writes about how would-be farmers in Brooklyn are testing out “vertical farming.”
“When it opens this fall in Brooklyn, a new urban farm will grow a new crop: farmers. The Square Roots campus, co-founded by entrepreneurs Kimbal Musk and Tobias Peggs, will train new vertical farmers in a year-long accelerator program. …
“The campus will use technology from Freight Farms, a company that repurposes used shipping containers for indoor farming, and ZipGrow, which produces indoor towers for plants. Inside a space smaller than some studio apartments—320 square feet—each module can yield the same amount of food as two acres of outdoor farmland in a year. Like other indoor farming technology, it also saves water and gives city-dwellers immediate access to local food. …
“It’s intended for early-stage entrepreneurs. ‘We’re here to help them become future leaders in food,’ says Musk, who also runs a network of school gardens and a chain of restaurants that aim to source as much local food as possible.
“After building out the Brooklyn campus, they plan to expand to other cities, likely starting with cities where Musk also runs his other projects—Memphis, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Indianapolis, and Pittsburgh.”
More here.
Photo: SquareRoots
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged agriculture, brooklyn, city, container farming, farming, food, garden, urban, vertical | 2 Comments »
September 29, 2016 by suzannesmom
Who wouldn’t love Harvard Square? Although too many sights there are troubling, the square also offers a nonstop showcase of wonders. It’s kind of a mirror of human experience.
The last time I was in Harvard Square, I was meeting Minnesota friends for dinner. I ended up arriving at Harvest restaurant a few minutes after them because I simply had to stop and listen to this musician-inventor play his bellowphone.
From Len Solomon’s About page: “Classically trained musician, inventor, and one-man-orchestra Len Solomon performs a unique recital of music and comedy.
“The one-hour show features your favorite symphonic compositions, arranged for Dog Whistles and Bicycle Horn, plus a chromatic pipe organ devised from plumbing parts and coat-hanger wire, and of course, the ingenious Majestic Bellowphone: a musical masterpiece of Medieval technology! …
“Len majored in guitar and early music at Antioch College, and followed that with two years of playing guitar in a country-rock band in Idaho. He finally gave up the glory of playing for drunkards in bars five nights a week, and went to work for 10 years as a professional cabinetmaker in the Boston area. In 1983, in his Cambridge basement, Len built the Majestic Bellowphone, and he took it to the streets along with his 5-ball juggling routine, taking his place among the ranks of classic Harvard Square street acts.”
Click to hear the callioforte and bellowphone.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bellowphone, callioforte, harvard square, inventor, minstrel, music, street musician | 5 Comments »
September 28, 2016 by suzannesmom
Upscale housing developers used to advertise tennis courts, pools, or golf courses as desirable amenities. Today they are increasingly likely to tout farmland.
Amy Hoak writes at MarketWatch about a family in suburban Chicago, where neighbors’ lawn chemicals have killed off pollinators. She reports that the Faheys are moving to a community that offers more opportunity for growing vegetables.
“Set in Hampshire, Ill., about 50 miles from downtown Chicago, Serosun Farms is a new home-conservation development, restoring wetlands, woodlands and prairie, and preserving farmland throughout. Already, the frog population has grown exponentially from the conservation work done onsite, and monarch butterflies are also on the rebound, said Jane Stickland, who is working on the project with her brother, developer John DeWald. Their efforts also are boosting the bee population. …
“Serosun plans to incorporate about 160 acres of working farmland, making farm-to-table a way of life for residents through regular farmer’s markets. The community also offers eight miles of trails, an equestrian center and fishing ponds: 75% of the development will be reserved for farming and open space. …
“The concept isn’t new, but ‘agrihoods’ are gaining in popularity, said Ed McMahon, senior resident fellow for the Urban Land Institute, an organization that focuses on land-use issues. He tracks about 200 agrihoods, where residential development coexists with farmland. …
“ ‘We started to realize you could cluster houses on a small portion of a farm and keep the farm working,’ he said. People were often drawn to the open spaces. More recently, however, there has been a huge interest in locally grown food. ‘All of a sudden, agrihoods have become a hot commodity in residential development,’ McMahon said.” More here.
This concept is not only for upscale developments. In urban neighborhoods without access to a local grocery or healthful food, affordable housing combined with community gardens and sales outlets are moving along without much fanfare. In Providence, for example, West Elmwood Housing Development Corporation‘s new Sankofa Apartments partner with the Sankofa Initiative, an outlet for homegrown food and handmade crafts from many countries. The initiative is satisfying to residents on a personal-development level and as a way to meet neighbors and build community.
Photo: J. Ashley Photography
Serenbe farmers’ market.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged amenities, community, conservation, development, farmland, housing, neighborhood | 2 Comments »
September 27, 2016 by suzannesmom
Here’s a new idea. A couple of young entrepreneurs have found a way to convert sign language into audible speech with their prize-winning electronic gloves.
National Public Radio has the story.
“For years, inventors have been trying to convert some sign language words and letters into text and speech. Now a pair of University of Washington undergraduates have created gloves called SignAloud. Sensors attached to the gloves measure hand position and movement, and data is sent to a computer via Bluetooth and is then converted into spoken word and text.
“Theirs is one of seven inventions recently awarded a Lemelson-MIT Student Prize, with awards ranging from $10,000 to $15,000.
“Inventors Navid Azodi and Thomas Pryor, both college sophomores, say the gloves will help create a communication bridge between deaf and hearing communities. The gloves, they say, will help deaf people better communicate with the rest of the world without changing the way they already interact with each other.
“However, the invention has been met with criticism that the bridge they want to create goes only one way — and it’s not necessarily one the deaf community has been clamoring for. …
“Azodi says he and Pryor are moving beyond their prototype and are working closer with those who use American Sign Language to develop new versions. They’re also working on better understanding ASL, which is more than just hand movements; it also uses facial expressions and body language to convey meaning.” Read more.
I don’t know much about the culture of the deaf community, but I do remember reading about resistance to cochlear implants a few years ago. It’s hard for people who can hear to understand that some people really don’t mind deafness and prefer their own ways of dealing with the world. But kudos to all inventors anyway, especially young ones open to continuous revision!
Photo: Conrado Tapado/Univ of Washington, CoMotion
SignAloud gloves translate sign language into text and speech.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged CoMotion, Conrado Tapado, deaf, gloves, hearing, inventor, lemelson, mit, Navid Azodi, postaday, sensors, signaloud, signing, speech, text, Thomas Pryor, translate, university of washington | 2 Comments »
September 26, 2016 by suzannesmom
There are so many interesting cultures in the world! For example, when I was editor of a magazine about lower-income issues in New England, I heard for the first time about the Karen from Burma (Myanmar). Who? Soon after, I managed to acquire an article on Karen refugees in Waterbury, Connecticut, so I was able to learn something along with my readers.
Recently, I heard of another new-to-me minority, members of which are being resettled in Massachusetts. They are called Mandeans, and their pacifist religious beliefs had subjected them to persecution in Iraq and Iran for millennia.
Here is what Brian MacQuarrie writes about them at the Boston Globe.
“The Mandaeans have found safety and acceptance since they began arriving [in Worcester] in 2008, freely practicing a monotheistic religion that predates Christianity and Islam. But they still do not have a temple — a ‘mandi’ for baptisms, marriages, and birth and death rituals — and whether one is built could determine if they continue to call Worcester home.
” ‘Work is not the anchor, living in an apartment is not an anchor, the mandi is the anchor,’ said Wisam Breegi, a leader of the Mandaean community. …
” ‘It really is a culture that is in danger of disappearing,’ said Marianne Sarkis, an anthropology professor at Clark University. ‘If you don’t have a way of preserving the culture and traditions and even the language’ of Aramaic — what a temple helps provide — ‘it is not going to survive very long.’ …
“ ‘We really don’t have the expertise, the know-how, the connections,’ said Breegi, who also has founded a scientific firm that is developing a low-cost, disposable, neonatal incubator for use in developing countries.
“To help forge the religious connections, Breegi and Sarkis are preparing an application for a nonprofit organization to help raise money for the temple. Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty said in an interview he is willing to help the project where he can.
“ ‘They’re all doing what everyone else is trying to do — working hard and getting their kids a good education.’ …
” ‘It’ll just help make Worcester stronger in the long run,’ Petty said of his city’s embrace of Mandaeans and other immigrants. ‘You can’t build walls between people.’ ”
Worcester held a ceremony of welcome in April that “represented the first time — anywhere, at any time — that Mandaeans had been recognized as a valued, important minority group, Sarkis said.” Wow.
More here.
Photo: Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff
The Kalmashy family (left to right) Lilo, and her husband Mahdi and their daughters and Sura and Sahar, shared lunch at their home in Worcester. 
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged aramaic, burma, clark university, connecticut, iran, iraq, Kalmashy, karen peple, mandeans, mandi, Marianne Sarkis, massachusetts, Mayor Joseph Petty, minority, myanmar, pacifist, postaday, refugee, religion, resettlement, temple, Waterbury, Wisam Breegi, worcester | 4 Comments »
September 25, 2016 by suzannesmom
Among the sights I’ve wanted to photograph in the last few weeks is a sculpture outside the Umbrella Community Arts Center. It invites you to look through and focus on an aspect of the view.
Next up, the old house where Ephraim Bull developed the Concord Grape. Another sign there told me that there was a “Sale Pending.”
My friend Meredith is a featured artist at Concord Art’s new juried show. She has done several treatments of her fica plant, but the one in the show is a lovely collage of painted paper.
I recently discovered on a morning walk that the Providence Preservation Society has generously opened its multilevel garden to the public during certain hours of the day. What a peaceful place to just sit and think! Not far away is the What Cheer Garage (I like the name). Across Providence, you can discover a fine-looking hen on the wall of Olga’s Cup and Saucer, and a street art stencil recommending Speak no evil, See no evil, Hear no evil.
I also like the alley alongside the Providence Performing Arts Center and a hilly street that looks more like Europe than New England.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged alleys, art, concord, concord grape, garden, massachusetts, new england, photos, postaday, providence, providence preservation, rhode island, sculpture, see no evil, signs, stencil, street art, umbrella arts center | 6 Comments »
September 24, 2016 by suzannesmom
Although Ginia Desmond had been writing scripts for 12 years, she had never made a movie. Now at 74, she has risen to the challenge.
Johanna Willett writes at the Arizona Daily Star, “Ginia Desmond had a decision to make. Buy a house. Make a movie. Buy a house. Make a movie. She made a movie.
“The 74-year-old has been writing scripts for a dozen years, but ‘Lucky U Ranch’ is her first feature-length film to make it to the big screen.
“That’s because she funded it.
” ‘I consider myself the writer,’ she says of the low-budget film, which so far isn’t readily available for viewing. ‘I wrote the script, and I wrote the checks.’
“Writing screenplays is not Desmond’s first career — or even her second. This act follows others that starred Desmond as a mother and wife, professional artist and businesswoman. …
“For almost 30 years, she imported goods such as furniture and baskets to sell in her Tucson store Sangin Trading Co. on Sixth Avenue. She sold the business in 2003. …
“ ‘Ginia is an interesting combination of very creative and very practical,’ says Victoria Lucas, a Tucson screenplay consultant with a 20-year career in Los Angeles.
” ‘She has that sense of the big picture and how a business is run, and with her writing skills and talent, she has the ability to understand characters. … Very few writers write visually so that when you read the script, it’s like you have seen the movie. … Ginia writes like that. She has a real gift for getting under the skin of characters and making the reader or audience understand them. … She is a treasure for Tucson.” Read more here.
Thank you, Cousin Claire for posting the story on Facebook. Like Desmond, Cousin Claire lives in Tucson, and she has at least one script stored away somewhere about an adventurous female ancestor. I read it. And I know for a fact she is under 74, so …
Photo: Kelly Presnell/Arizona Daily Star
Ginia Desmond, 74, is reflected in her movie poster’s glass.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged age 74, Arizona Daily Star, film, filmmaker, Ginia Desmond, Johanna Willett, movie, postaday, Sangin Trading Co., script, scriptwriter, tucson, Victoria Lucas | 4 Comments »
September 23, 2016 by suzannesmom
Missing the excitement of the summer Olympics? As these Vermont farmers show, any determined and organized group can have their own “Olympics” and have a lot of fun.
Jessica Rinaldi writes at the Boston Globe, “With the world’s attention focused on the Olympic Games in Brazil, a decidedly different type of competition was held in a small corner of New England, as farmers took to the field for the second annual Farmer Olympics in Vershire, Vt.
“After taking part in warm-up events that included a hay bale toss, the crowd gathered for an opening ceremony where a quartet performed the Olympic theme song on kazoo. When the competition began, 60 farmers sprinted up a hill, empty bins and shovels in hand, for the manure relay. The event was sponsored by the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont. In the end it was a team from Cedar Circle Farm in East Stepford who took the gold. Their team’s name? Soil’d.“
Click here for a terrific collection of photos from the second annual Farmer Olympics.
Photo: Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont
Competing in the Farmer Olympics, Vershire, Vermont.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged agriculture, Cedar Circle Farm, East Stepford, farm, farmer olympics, Jessica Rinaldi, manure relay, new england, Northeast Organic Farming Association, organic, postaday, Vermont, Vershire | 2 Comments »
September 22, 2016 by suzannesmom
To me it’s tragic that languages are disappearing and, with them, unique cultures.
Small, determined efforts can bring attention to the problem, as I noted this morning when the filmmaker behind Marie’s Dictionary retweeted this from North Carolina’s Pilot Mountain Elementary School (@pilotMtnElem).
Third grade students are learning about Marie’s Dictionary and endangered languages. @goproject #scsed #pmespirates @UNESCO
Excellent. Third graders are sure to spread the word.
Recently, I came across an article on another threatened language, Hawaii Sign Language.
“In 2013, at a conference on endangered languages, a retired teacher named Linda Lambrecht announced the extraordinary discovery of a previously unknown language. Lambrecht – who is Chinese-Hawaiian, 71 years old, warm but no-nonsense – called it Hawaii Sign Language, or HSL.
“In front of a room full of linguists, she demonstrated that its core vocabulary – words such as ‘mother,’ ‘pig’ and ‘small’ – was distinct from that of other sign languages. …
“The last-minute arrival of recognition and support for HSL was a powerful, almost surreal vindication for Lambrecht, whose first language is HSL. For decades, it was stigmatised or ignored; now the language has acquired an agreed-upon name, an official ‘language code’ from the International Organization for Standardization, the attention of linguists around the world, and a three-year grant from the Endangered Languages Documentation Programme at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. …
“An initial estimate of up to 280 surviving HSL signers was soon revised down to 40, then down to just 10 or so old-timers still likely to be competent in HSL. ASL had made deep inroads even among these signers, but there was evidence, especially from Lambrecht’s signs, that HSL was distinct, and lay close enough to the surface to be recovered. Spoken languages such as Basque, Welsh, and Hawaiian have come back from the brink of extinction – could HSL be the first sign language to do it?”
The article is from the Guardian by way of the blog Arts Journal. Read it here.
Photo: Eugene Tanner Photography, LLC
Linda Lambrecht, left, teaches Hawaii Sign Language. 
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged endangered language, Endangered Languages Documentation Programme, Eugene Tanner, hawaii sign language, hsl, International Organization for Standardization, Linda Lambrecht, linguist, london, marie's dictionary, north carolina, Pilot Mountain Elementary School, postaday, School of Oriental and African Studies | 4 Comments »
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