we dont have cable TV...

You see, we don't have cable TV; so out here we have to just make our own fun, instead of watching other people having fun. I happened to be getting our garden ready to till with the weed-burner (necessary because of more of my slothfulness) when I just happened to discover a little fun fact about last summer's dried and brittle gourds:


Yup; we are that Redneck! You noticed the subtle background music didn't you? It is really too bad the video didn't do the audio justice. The mike picked much, much more of the weed burner rather than the explosion. Brynn said she could hear it from inside the closed house quite well. When I was right next to it, it sounded like a rifle shot!!!
Later, one of my children made the mistake of asking why the gourds did that; boy were they sorry later! Anytime a Dad can incorporate teaching their kid something with blowing something up... watch out!
When I was growing up, I was wary of asking my dad questions about how things worked. He was all together too glad to explain it- all of it; in detail that could last for most of the day! As I got a little older,I did finally see the humor in asking leading questions when my siblings were around and would be willing to suffer the long hours of "lectures" just to see the misfortune of my older siblings while in the car; it was even worth the dirty looks, pinches, and sometimes punches I would receive from them. I see the same thing happening in my own kids when their eyes instantly glaze over as I begin talking about heat expanding molecules in pressurized compartments. Homeschooling does give me a new perspective on being willing to explain stuff to them, because without realizing it, I think that I often thought "Oh well, some teacher will explain that to them someday." It takes a bit of that "buffer" away, when you are solely (well dually) responsible for a child's education. But I'm sure that it will give them something to blog about when they are adults...
I am quite proud of what an obviously good job Brynn is doing homeschooling. I say obvious, but I guess I was more like oblivious because I am not really part of their actual formal education process, just more like the administrative discipline guy. But I needed some help holding the "dumb" end of the tape measure when I laid out the pig pen last week, and so Gracie volunteered. She seemed a likely and willing lass, so we put in some rough stakes ,then we came inside with our measurements, I started drawing out the pictures, and we commenced to figure out square footage's, and then how to go backwards and figure out how we could maximize the square footage by changing the shape of the pigpen and using the same amount of linear footage of hog panels.
I was quite shocked to see how much of this that she already knew! And, how quickly she picked up on what I did have to explain to her. I realized pretty quickly that, less whatever people skills I may have acquired over the 27 years I have on her, she could do my job! And my last job as well! (commercial roofing) I just about was blown away, and she is only 8! well at least until tomorrow, Brynn tells me. Anyway, hats off to the kids, and especially Brynn, for a bang up good job on all that! I know it is quite frustrating; I hear about that, but I guess my wife, being who she is, doesn't tell me so much about the successes.
Anyway, anytime any body feels the urge to blow up a gourd, come on out, I've still got plenty!