"It depends"
Sandra Dodd
Someone wrote recently and mentioned an example I gave in a talk some
years ago. It was "What happens if you leave wet laundry in the
washer for a couple of days?"
Most people's answer is "it will mildew and stink." Where I've
lived, it's more likely to just dry up in wrinkled lumps of dehydrated
clothes, and you have to rinse it again before you dry it.
I have a similar but much better question. I bet we could collect
over a hundred answers.
What will happen if you dig a hole in your back yard?
Let's say it's from the point of view of a child. Either one of your
children now, or the child you were when you were nine or ten. What
happens if you dig a hole in your back yard?
Sandra
years ago. It was "What happens if you leave wet laundry in the
washer for a couple of days?"
Most people's answer is "it will mildew and stink." Where I've
lived, it's more likely to just dry up in wrinkled lumps of dehydrated
clothes, and you have to rinse it again before you dry it.
I have a similar but much better question. I bet we could collect
over a hundred answers.
What will happen if you dig a hole in your back yard?
Let's say it's from the point of view of a child. Either one of your
children now, or the child you were when you were nine or ten. What
happens if you dig a hole in your back yard?
Sandra
Jenny Cyphers
***Let's say it's from the point of view of a child. Either one of your
children now, or the child you were when you were nine or ten. What
happens if you dig a hole in your back yard?***
You can bury the treasure there! Then you can make a treasure map!
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
children now, or the child you were when you were nine or ten. What
happens if you dig a hole in your back yard?***
You can bury the treasure there! Then you can make a treasure map!
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Robin Bentley
> What will happen if you dig a hole in your back yard?You'll have a place to hide and play.
You can fill it with water and make a huge mud pit.
Robin B.
BRIAN POLIKOWSKY
Since I live out in the country in a farm I can do whatever I want with my yard.
No homeowners association to tell me my lawn is overgrown or there are too many dandelions.
I have friends in town that have a 6 feet privacy fence and still the neighbours complained their yard was not clean and had a hole in it.
My kids like jumping over holes!!! They like obstacle courses!
Alex Polikowsky
http://polykow.blogspot.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/unschoolingmn/
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
No homeowners association to tell me my lawn is overgrown or there are too many dandelions.
I have friends in town that have a 6 feet privacy fence and still the neighbours complained their yard was not clean and had a hole in it.
My kids like jumping over holes!!! They like obstacle courses!
Alex Polikowsky
http://polykow.blogspot.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/unschoolingmn/
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Diane Crayne Gardner
Molly (8) will put a caldron in it, get her witch garb on, and rock a cool
spell!
_____
Sandra: What will happen if you dig a hole in your back yard?
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
spell!
_____
Sandra: What will happen if you dig a hole in your back yard?
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Joyce Fetteroll
On May 3, 2010, at 1:47 PM, Sandra Dodd wrote:
just big enough to bury the pet. In New England you don't dig unless
you really really have to. The rock walls everywhere around here
aren't just quaint. They're built from what the farmers dug up every
time they plowed the fields.
Joyce
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> WhatYou end up with a bit of dirt and a bunch of rocks and a hole that's
> happens if you dig a hole in your back yard?
just big enough to bury the pet. In New England you don't dig unless
you really really have to. The rock walls everywhere around here
aren't just quaint. They're built from what the farmers dug up every
time they plowed the fields.
Joyce
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Stephanie LaBarge
I would most definitely trip in it and break something!!
Stephanie in Upstate NY
Mom to Lauren (10), Sophia (8) and Hallie (5)
________________________________
From: Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Mon, May 3, 2010 1:47:36 PM
Subject: [AlwaysLearning] "It depends"
Someone wrote recently and mentioned an example I gave in a talk some
years ago. It was "What happens if you leave wet laundry in the
washer for a couple of days?"
Most people's answer is "it will mildew and stink." Where I've
lived, it's more likely to just dry up in wrinkled lumps of dehydrated
clothes, and you have to rinse it again before you dry it.
I have a similar but much better question. I bet we could collect
over a hundred answers.
What will happen if you dig a hole in your back yard?
Let's say it's from the point of view of a child. Either one of your
children now, or the child you were when you were nine or ten. What
happens if you dig a hole in your back yard?
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Stephanie in Upstate NY
Mom to Lauren (10), Sophia (8) and Hallie (5)
________________________________
From: Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Mon, May 3, 2010 1:47:36 PM
Subject: [AlwaysLearning] "It depends"
Someone wrote recently and mentioned an example I gave in a talk some
years ago. It was "What happens if you leave wet laundry in the
washer for a couple of days?"
Most people's answer is "it will mildew and stink." Where I've
lived, it's more likely to just dry up in wrinkled lumps of dehydrated
clothes, and you have to rinse it again before you dry it.
I have a similar but much better question. I bet we could collect
over a hundred answers.
What will happen if you dig a hole in your back yard?
Let's say it's from the point of view of a child. Either one of your
children now, or the child you were when you were nine or ten. What
happens if you dig a hole in your back yard?
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
alexandriapalonia
In our back yard, you'll first hit granite, then a thin vein of uranium, and then, after 4-1700 ft of dirt, the aquifer. (In our back yard, probably 7-30ft to the aquifer).
Andrea
Andrea
> What will happen if you dig a hole in your back yard?
>
> Let's say it's from the point of view of a child. Either one of your
> children now, or the child you were when you were nine or ten. What
> happens if you dig a hole in your back yard?
>
> Sandra
>
Cary
The most amazing soccer obstacle, like a "ghost man" really. I learned all about ghost men and keeping track of them by playing with my older brothers. Sports games: soccer, home run derby. They are very useful when they are on your team and you can have as many as you want. If the ball landed in the hole, it might be a goal or a perfectly trapped ball by my ghost man. Or I might do a World Cup quality fake around the hole and pass the ball to the tree for the perfect give and go.
--- In [email protected], Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
>
> Someone wrote recently and mentioned an example I gave in a talk some
> years ago. It was "What happens if you leave wet laundry in the
> washer for a couple of days?"
>
> Most people's answer is "it will mildew and stink." Where I've
> lived, it's more likely to just dry up in wrinkled lumps of dehydrated
> clothes, and you have to rinse it again before you dry it.
>
> I have a similar but much better question. I bet we could collect
> over a hundred answers.
>
> What will happen if you dig a hole in your back yard?
>
> Let's say it's from the point of view of a child. Either one of your
> children now, or the child you were when you were nine or ten. What
> happens if you dig a hole in your back yard?
>
> Sandra
>
Isabelle
We find pieces of black and white marmalade pots circa 1900, a metal toy soldier, a mouse skeleton, random pieces of a blue & white place settings, several pieces of blob top bottles and more. ~ Isabelle
<<What will happen if you dig a hole in your back yard?
Let's say it's from the point of view of a child. Either one of your
children now, or the child you were when you were nine or ten. What
happens if you dig a hole in your back yard?
Sandra>>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
<<What will happen if you dig a hole in your back yard?
Let's say it's from the point of view of a child. Either one of your
children now, or the child you were when you were nine or ten. What
happens if you dig a hole in your back yard?
Sandra>>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Cara Barlow
This is not hypothetical for us. My husband's been re-landscaping our yard
for two years now <g>
When he digs a big hole all of Molly's chickens follow him around looking
for bugs and worms. Molly (11yo) goes in after the kubota's been parked and
sits with her chickens, going through the soil for "treasure."
Our house was built in the 1880's, and they must have dug pits in the
backyard for trash that they couldn't burn. She's found lots of bits of
broken china from the 19th century, hatpins, toy metal cars that look like
they're precursors of matchbox cars and marbles.
I'm going to take a picture of some of her treasure and post it on my
facebook wall.
Best wishes, Cara
for two years now <g>
When he digs a big hole all of Molly's chickens follow him around looking
for bugs and worms. Molly (11yo) goes in after the kubota's been parked and
sits with her chickens, going through the soil for "treasure."
Our house was built in the 1880's, and they must have dug pits in the
backyard for trash that they couldn't burn. She's found lots of bits of
broken china from the 19th century, hatpins, toy metal cars that look like
they're precursors of matchbox cars and marbles.
I'm going to take a picture of some of her treasure and post it on my
facebook wall.
Best wishes, Cara
On Mon, May 3, 2010 at 1:47 PM, Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
>
>
> Someone wrote recently and mentioned an example I gave in a talk some
> years ago. It was "What happens if you leave wet laundry in the
> washer for a couple of days?"
>
> Most people's answer is "it will mildew and stink." Where I've
> lived, it's more likely to just dry up in wrinkled lumps of dehydrated
> clothes, and you have to rinse it again before you dry it.
>
> I have a similar but much better question. I bet we could collect
> over a hundred answers.
>
> What will happen if you dig a hole in your back yard?
>
> Let's say it's from the point of view of a child. Either one of your
> children now, or the child you were when you were nine or ten. What
> happens if you dig a hole in your back yard?
>
> Sandra
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sandra Dodd
-=-In our back yard, you'll first hit granite, then a thin vein of
uranium, and then, after 4-1700 ft of dirt, the aquifer. (In our back
yard, probably 7-30ft to the aquifer).-=-
This is the kind of answer I expected (except the 4-1700 ft answer,
which I figure involves a typo).
Joyce's was the kind I expected.
Now I know what will happen if you ask a bunch of unschoolers about
holes in back yards. They'll respond with cool things to do with
holes that are already dug!
So let's assume the hole isn't there, but the shovel and the ground are.
I'll give a few examples from families I knew. At my house, about a
foot down the ground was cool. There might be worms. There might be
a "child of the earth" (looks like a glow-in-the-dark cootie from the
"Cootie" game) if you dig deep enough. They come out clean.
My cousins in Amarillo would have been spanked and grounded if they
had dug in their back yard. It was totally landscaped. They were made
to pull weeds until the lawn was perfect before they could go and do
anything.
My friend Debbie wouldn't have been digging in her back yard because
she trained horses. So that would've been another "Don't even think
about it." It's not worth laming a horse.
I had a friend named Hamilton who grew up in an apartment in double
digits, in Manhattan. No yard. His mom took him and his sister on a
picnic in New Jersey once. Two hours on public transportation each
way. He never dug a hole in the ground until he was a grown man.
I worked with a man who owned land in Mississippi--Mr. Thompson, a
math teacher. It was a farm he had inherited from his dad, who had
been a sharecropper, I think, but bought the land eventually. I
asked if he had ever gone into a storm cellar to escape a hurricane.
He laughed and said they don't have storm cellars there--that if you
dig a hole, it fills up with water. And it turns out that's what he
was doing with his farm, too--raising catfish. They dug ponds and
were breeding fish to sell to restaurants. But he was living in
northern New Mexico and other relatives were doing that fish business.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
uranium, and then, after 4-1700 ft of dirt, the aquifer. (In our back
yard, probably 7-30ft to the aquifer).-=-
This is the kind of answer I expected (except the 4-1700 ft answer,
which I figure involves a typo).
Joyce's was the kind I expected.
Now I know what will happen if you ask a bunch of unschoolers about
holes in back yards. They'll respond with cool things to do with
holes that are already dug!
So let's assume the hole isn't there, but the shovel and the ground are.
I'll give a few examples from families I knew. At my house, about a
foot down the ground was cool. There might be worms. There might be
a "child of the earth" (looks like a glow-in-the-dark cootie from the
"Cootie" game) if you dig deep enough. They come out clean.
My cousins in Amarillo would have been spanked and grounded if they
had dug in their back yard. It was totally landscaped. They were made
to pull weeds until the lawn was perfect before they could go and do
anything.
My friend Debbie wouldn't have been digging in her back yard because
she trained horses. So that would've been another "Don't even think
about it." It's not worth laming a horse.
I had a friend named Hamilton who grew up in an apartment in double
digits, in Manhattan. No yard. His mom took him and his sister on a
picnic in New Jersey once. Two hours on public transportation each
way. He never dug a hole in the ground until he was a grown man.
I worked with a man who owned land in Mississippi--Mr. Thompson, a
math teacher. It was a farm he had inherited from his dad, who had
been a sharecropper, I think, but bought the land eventually. I
asked if he had ever gone into a storm cellar to escape a hurricane.
He laughed and said they don't have storm cellars there--that if you
dig a hole, it fills up with water. And it turns out that's what he
was doing with his farm, too--raising catfish. They dug ponds and
were breeding fish to sell to restaurants. But he was living in
northern New Mexico and other relatives were doing that fish business.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sandra Dodd
-=-We find pieces of black and white marmalade pots circa 1900, a
metal toy soldier, a mouse skeleton, random pieces of a blue & white
place settings, several pieces of blob top bottles and more. ~
Isabelle-=-
Our house has only been here since the 1970's, but I was digging in
the side yard and found LOTS of nails and other construction scrap,
and a Monopoly marker (the shoe) and a green Monopoly house. That side
of the yard is hard to dig in, because it's very gravelly. Before
there were houses here, the part that became our yard used to be the
arroyo, the drainage, so we have way more gravel in our yard than the
neighbors so, but gradually I'm working through some of that,
replacing it with compost and planting things. For this part of town,
our yard is very green and shady in the summer!
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
metal toy soldier, a mouse skeleton, random pieces of a blue & white
place settings, several pieces of blob top bottles and more. ~
Isabelle-=-
Our house has only been here since the 1970's, but I was digging in
the side yard and found LOTS of nails and other construction scrap,
and a Monopoly marker (the shoe) and a green Monopoly house. That side
of the yard is hard to dig in, because it's very gravelly. Before
there were houses here, the part that became our yard used to be the
arroyo, the drainage, so we have way more gravel in our yard than the
neighbors so, but gradually I'm working through some of that,
replacing it with compost and planting things. For this part of town,
our yard is very green and shady in the summer!
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Bob Collier
--- In [email protected], Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
The holes were there for months as the boys worked on their zany buildings and bridges, dams, decorations and whatever they thought of and I just walked around them and made sure to carry a torch if I ventured into the back yard after dark. Ultimately, I filled in the holes when it was clear from the excavations becoming overgrown that the boys had moved on to other interests.
Bob
>My son and his best friend dug a string of holes across our back yard about four years ago (when he would have been ten) and did all sorts of inventive things with them using mud, pieces of wood, rocks, pebbles and other odds and ends.
> Someone wrote recently and mentioned an example I gave in a talk some
> years ago. It was "What happens if you leave wet laundry in the
> washer for a couple of days?"
>
> Most people's answer is "it will mildew and stink." Where I've
> lived, it's more likely to just dry up in wrinkled lumps of dehydrated
> clothes, and you have to rinse it again before you dry it.
>
> I have a similar but much better question. I bet we could collect
> over a hundred answers.
>
> What will happen if you dig a hole in your back yard?
>
> Let's say it's from the point of view of a child. Either one of your
> children now, or the child you were when you were nine or ten. What
> happens if you dig a hole in your back yard?
>
> Sandra
>
The holes were there for months as the boys worked on their zany buildings and bridges, dams, decorations and whatever they thought of and I just walked around them and made sure to carry a torch if I ventured into the back yard after dark. Ultimately, I filled in the holes when it was clear from the excavations becoming overgrown that the boys had moved on to other interests.
Bob
Rinelle
--- In [email protected], Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
though.
When I was a kid, my dad dug a hole in the yard about the size of a swimming
pool and concreted it. The concrete wasn't thick enough though, and it
eventually cracked and didn't hold water. My sister and I LOVED to play in
there, affectionatly named 'the hole'. We dug holes in the walls, caves and
tunnels, and played with our my little ponies in it. When it rained, and it
filled up with water temporarily, we made boats out of old containers and
sticks and sailed them in there. Our toys had some great adventures.
Tamara
> What will happen if you dig a hole in your back yard?My first thought was 'it would fill up with water'. That's an adult thought
>
> Let's say it's from the point of view of a child. Either one of your
> children now, or the child you were when you were nine or ten. What
> happens if you dig a hole in your back yard?
though.
When I was a kid, my dad dug a hole in the yard about the size of a swimming
pool and concreted it. The concrete wasn't thick enough though, and it
eventually cracked and didn't hold water. My sister and I LOVED to play in
there, affectionatly named 'the hole'. We dug holes in the walls, caves and
tunnels, and played with our my little ponies in it. When it rained, and it
filled up with water temporarily, we made boats out of old containers and
sticks and sailed them in there. Our toys had some great adventures.
Tamara
Bernadette Lynn
On 4 May 2010 02:42, Bob Collier <bobcollier@...>wrote:
children make 'dinosaur poo' there, and sometimes they fill it with water
and play with plastic dinosaurs, and sometimes the older girls dig it a bit
deeper to 'mine' for lumps of chalk. We had a huge pit in our last garden
too, which they and their friends dug just for the sake of digging, or there
might have been treasure maps involved sometimes. It's very heavy clay soil
with loads of flint and chalk, so not too easy to dig in.
In my parents' garden we used to find Roman nails and bits of melted glass
and misshapen beads, from the Roman kilns which were built to produce goods
for the mansion down in the valley. We keep hoping to find things like that
in our current garden which is close to my parents' but so far have had no
luck.
Bernadette.
--
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/U15459
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>We have a permanent hole in a corner of our back garden. The younger
>
> The holes were there for months as the boys worked on their zany buildings
> and bridges, dams, decorations and whatever they thought of and I just
> walked around them and made sure to carry a torch if I ventured into the
> back yard after dark. Ultimately, I filled in the holes when it was clear
> from the excavations becoming overgrown that the boys had moved on to other
> interests.
>
> Bob
>
>
children make 'dinosaur poo' there, and sometimes they fill it with water
and play with plastic dinosaurs, and sometimes the older girls dig it a bit
deeper to 'mine' for lumps of chalk. We had a huge pit in our last garden
too, which they and their friends dug just for the sake of digging, or there
might have been treasure maps involved sometimes. It's very heavy clay soil
with loads of flint and chalk, so not too easy to dig in.
In my parents' garden we used to find Roman nails and bits of melted glass
and misshapen beads, from the Roman kilns which were built to produce goods
for the mansion down in the valley. We keep hoping to find things like that
in our current garden which is close to my parents' but so far have had no
luck.
Bernadette.
--
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/U15459
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
jo11931
== What will happen if you dig a hole in your back yard?
Let's say it's from the point of view of a child. Either one of your
children now, or the child you were when you were nine or ten. What
happens if you dig a hole in your back yard?
Sandra==
For my 5yo and 3yo it would be a soup pot. For my inner child it would be a great place to stick my feet and squish mud between my toes.
JoAnn
mom to a bunch of unschooled girls
Let's say it's from the point of view of a child. Either one of your
children now, or the child you were when you were nine or ten. What
happens if you dig a hole in your back yard?
Sandra==
For my 5yo and 3yo it would be a soup pot. For my inner child it would be a great place to stick my feet and squish mud between my toes.
JoAnn
mom to a bunch of unschooled girls
Schuyler
According to the guy who dug a hole for the foundation for a kitchen extension in my back yard when I was 9 or 10, you just miss burrowing Chinamen. Behind the garage was where my gang and I would dig holes and bury birds and other dead animals in religious ceremonies, I usually performed the rituals, being the only Unitarian in a neighbourhood of Catholics I clearly had the experience and training in rituals and mass. The ground behind the garage was great for that because my parents had dug holes there earlier for a compost pile, nice and soft and occasionally potato peel-y.
I don't know for Simon and Linnaea. We've dug a hole and buried a cat, we've dug lots of holes to plant things. They aren't active hole diggers. The dog digs holes occasionally and gets told off. There are bees making a hive underground on the patio where the crazy paving has big enough cracks to access the sandy soil underneath, unfortunately for them it is right where the hot tub will drain, I may try and build a dam to protect them before draining the hot tub.
Schuyler
________________________________
From: alexandriapalonia <alexandriapalonia@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, 3 May, 2010 22:55:27
Subject: [AlwaysLearning] Re: "It depends"
In our back yard, you'll first hit granite, then a thin vein of uranium, and then, after 4-1700 ft of dirt, the aquifer. (In our back yard, probably 7-30ft to the aquifer).
Andrea
Yahoo! Groups Links
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I don't know for Simon and Linnaea. We've dug a hole and buried a cat, we've dug lots of holes to plant things. They aren't active hole diggers. The dog digs holes occasionally and gets told off. There are bees making a hive underground on the patio where the crazy paving has big enough cracks to access the sandy soil underneath, unfortunately for them it is right where the hot tub will drain, I may try and build a dam to protect them before draining the hot tub.
Schuyler
________________________________
From: alexandriapalonia <alexandriapalonia@...>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, 3 May, 2010 22:55:27
Subject: [AlwaysLearning] Re: "It depends"
In our back yard, you'll first hit granite, then a thin vein of uranium, and then, after 4-1700 ft of dirt, the aquifer. (In our back yard, probably 7-30ft to the aquifer).
Andrea
> What will happen if you dig a hole in your back yard?------------------------------------
>
> Let's say it's from the point of view of a child. Either one of your
> children now, or the child you were when you were nine or ten. What
> happens if you dig a hole in your back yard?
>
> Sandra
>
Yahoo! Groups Links
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Deb Lewis
***What will happen if you dig a hole in your back yard?***
Part of the year the ground is frozen so if you want to dig you build a smoldery fire and feed it for hours. Then, move the coals and dig a bit and then put the coals back and feed them and do that until you get past the frost.
There are rocks and boulders for the first two feet or so, a little bit of sandy dirt mixed in, then three inches of clay. When we dug holes for fence posts, just past the clay we found a layer of charred wood from some ancient fire. It was fantastic, we used it to make cave drawings on our basement walls.
When Dylan was little we had a big hole by the vegetable garden that was sometimes a lake (when filled with rain water or water from the hose) or burrow that monsters emerged from when it was time to destroy Tokyo.
Deb Lewis
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Part of the year the ground is frozen so if you want to dig you build a smoldery fire and feed it for hours. Then, move the coals and dig a bit and then put the coals back and feed them and do that until you get past the frost.
There are rocks and boulders for the first two feet or so, a little bit of sandy dirt mixed in, then three inches of clay. When we dug holes for fence posts, just past the clay we found a layer of charred wood from some ancient fire. It was fantastic, we used it to make cave drawings on our basement walls.
When Dylan was little we had a big hole by the vegetable garden that was sometimes a lake (when filled with rain water or water from the hose) or burrow that monsters emerged from when it was time to destroy Tokyo.
Deb Lewis
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
almadoing
--- In [email protected], Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
We have an area of our back garden (about a quarter of the total) that has been variously a river-water-run, a dino park, Kenya etc etc. We live in a terraced house in a city and our elderly next-door neighbours have been surprisingly delighted by our sons' outdoor exploits, despite the fact that this area borders their own garden and is in full view from their property. I had worried that they would consider us to be lowering the tone of the neighbourhood but instead they talk fondly of all the freeplay they had as kids, although in their day it was in woods etc because every inch of garden was for grown ups stuff like a neat lawn or vegetables.
Plenty of children around here have neither the freedom to play outside nor to dig up their own back gardens.
Alison
DS(7) and DS(5)
>In our family that hole becomes part of a new world.
>
> What will happen if you dig a hole in your back yard?
>
> Sandra
>
We have an area of our back garden (about a quarter of the total) that has been variously a river-water-run, a dino park, Kenya etc etc. We live in a terraced house in a city and our elderly next-door neighbours have been surprisingly delighted by our sons' outdoor exploits, despite the fact that this area borders their own garden and is in full view from their property. I had worried that they would consider us to be lowering the tone of the neighbourhood but instead they talk fondly of all the freeplay they had as kids, although in their day it was in woods etc because every inch of garden was for grown ups stuff like a neat lawn or vegetables.
Plenty of children around here have neither the freedom to play outside nor to dig up their own back gardens.
Alison
DS(7) and DS(5)
Linda
I can tell you exactly because it was done a few years ago.
First our pet rabbit who lived free in our back yard was put in the hole to see the various ways he got out of the hole. Then he decided to stay in the hole and build a system of tunnels under our back yard. These tunnels because unuseable in the summer because we lined the hole with tarps and filled it with water to make a pool. we also fashioned a slide for the pool. then after a few years we got tired of it, filled it back up and planted grass over it.
First our pet rabbit who lived free in our back yard was put in the hole to see the various ways he got out of the hole. Then he decided to stay in the hole and build a system of tunnels under our back yard. These tunnels because unuseable in the summer because we lined the hole with tarps and filled it with water to make a pool. we also fashioned a slide for the pool. then after a few years we got tired of it, filled it back up and planted grass over it.
--- In [email protected], Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
>
> Someone wrote recently and mentioned an example I gave in a talk some
> years ago. It was "What happens if you leave wet laundry in the
> washer for a couple of days?"
>
> Most people's answer is "it will mildew and stink." Where I've
> lived, it's more likely to just dry up in wrinkled lumps of dehydrated
> clothes, and you have to rinse it again before you dry it.
>
> I have a similar but much better question. I bet we could collect
> over a hundred answers.
>
> What will happen if you dig a hole in your back yard?
>
> Let's say it's from the point of view of a child. Either one of your
> children now, or the child you were when you were nine or ten. What
> happens if you dig a hole in your back yard?
>
> Sandra
>
Sandra Dodd
-=-We have a permanent hole in a corner of our back garden.-=-
We have a big hole we left there that Marty and a friend of his dug 11
or 12 years ago. When we have parties we mark it off. On Sunday a
four year old girl was here and jumped down in it to play. When I
drain the hot tub, the first clean 450 gallons goes onto plants and
trees in the yard, and the last part that ends up having 409 or bleach
or dish soap in it (I use different things depending what kind of
dirty it seems or how long since bleach), that goes in "Marty's
hole." Keith figures we should save the hole to bury our dog
someday. She's pretty big.
-=-In my parents' garden we used to find Roman nails and bits of
melted glass
and misshapen beads, from the Roman kilns which were built to produce
goods
for the mansion down in the valley. We keep hoping to find things like
that
in our current garden which is close to my parents' but so far have
had no
luck.-=-
I was kinda hoping someone would say "Time Team might come." In the
U.K. there's a TV show where archeologists dig where people have found
interesting things. It's hosted by Tony Robinson who played Baldrick
on Black Adder.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
We have a big hole we left there that Marty and a friend of his dug 11
or 12 years ago. When we have parties we mark it off. On Sunday a
four year old girl was here and jumped down in it to play. When I
drain the hot tub, the first clean 450 gallons goes onto plants and
trees in the yard, and the last part that ends up having 409 or bleach
or dish soap in it (I use different things depending what kind of
dirty it seems or how long since bleach), that goes in "Marty's
hole." Keith figures we should save the hole to bury our dog
someday. She's pretty big.
-=-In my parents' garden we used to find Roman nails and bits of
melted glass
and misshapen beads, from the Roman kilns which were built to produce
goods
for the mansion down in the valley. We keep hoping to find things like
that
in our current garden which is close to my parents' but so far have
had no
luck.-=-
I was kinda hoping someone would say "Time Team might come." In the
U.K. there's a TV show where archeologists dig where people have found
interesting things. It's hosted by Tony Robinson who played Baldrick
on Black Adder.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
foehn_jye
"What happens if you dig a hole in your back yard?"
It depends on if it had been pre-fire, or now post-fire.
On May 10th, 10 years ago, we lost our home in the Cerro Grande wildfire, along with about 400 of our neighbors: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/Lessons-from-a-fire
(That's my father-in-law and our rebuilt house directly behind him; he built our house and his house, which are side-by-side. They are huge supporters of our choice to Unschool.)
Here's a picture of our lot (2nd one up from the bottom) immediately after the fire. The building was a quadruplex--a 4-unit house: http://www.life.com/image/1416293
Pre-fire, you would found bedrock, welded volcanic ash called Tuff, and some old army-men, marbles, lost pieces of metal toys.
Post-fire, we find melted and re-hardened pieces of glass, china, ceramics, metal, plastic, and various burned unknowns, and worms. Every now and then we find intact marbles that burned and shattered on the inside, but are still smooth and round on the outside.
Our lot was cleared of burned debris, and portions of the yard were filled with dirt from Espanola (it was free, and full of of sun-spider eggs, which never lived here before the fire, but are ubiquitous now.) Now, when we dig a hole, we plant in it.
It depends on if it had been pre-fire, or now post-fire.
On May 10th, 10 years ago, we lost our home in the Cerro Grande wildfire, along with about 400 of our neighbors: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/Local%20News/Lessons-from-a-fire
(That's my father-in-law and our rebuilt house directly behind him; he built our house and his house, which are side-by-side. They are huge supporters of our choice to Unschool.)
Here's a picture of our lot (2nd one up from the bottom) immediately after the fire. The building was a quadruplex--a 4-unit house: http://www.life.com/image/1416293
Pre-fire, you would found bedrock, welded volcanic ash called Tuff, and some old army-men, marbles, lost pieces of metal toys.
Post-fire, we find melted and re-hardened pieces of glass, china, ceramics, metal, plastic, and various burned unknowns, and worms. Every now and then we find intact marbles that burned and shattered on the inside, but are still smooth and round on the outside.
Our lot was cleared of burned debris, and portions of the yard were filled with dirt from Espanola (it was free, and full of of sun-spider eggs, which never lived here before the fire, but are ubiquitous now.) Now, when we dig a hole, we plant in it.
Sandra Dodd
-=-Pre-fire, you would found bedrock, welded volcanic ash called Tuff,
and some old army-men, marbles, lost pieces of metal toys.
-=-Post-fire, we find melted and re-hardened pieces of glass, china,
ceramics, metal, plastic, and various burned unknowns, and worms.
Every now and then we find intact marbles that burned and shattered on
the inside, but are still smooth and round on the outside.
-=-Our lot was cleared of burned debris, and portions of the yard were
filled with dirt from Espanola (it was free, and full of of sun-spider
eggs, which never lived here before the fire, but are ubiquitous now.)
Now, when we dig a hole, we plant in it. -=-
That was a great article. I grew up in Espanola. We had one of those
yellow Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper boxes on a post of the fence
outside the side door.
I haven't been to Los Alamos since the fire, but there was a time I
was there once a week or more. My dad lived there for several years,
until his death.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
and some old army-men, marbles, lost pieces of metal toys.
-=-Post-fire, we find melted and re-hardened pieces of glass, china,
ceramics, metal, plastic, and various burned unknowns, and worms.
Every now and then we find intact marbles that burned and shattered on
the inside, but are still smooth and round on the outside.
-=-Our lot was cleared of burned debris, and portions of the yard were
filled with dirt from Espanola (it was free, and full of of sun-spider
eggs, which never lived here before the fire, but are ubiquitous now.)
Now, when we dig a hole, we plant in it. -=-
That was a great article. I grew up in Espanola. We had one of those
yellow Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper boxes on a post of the fence
outside the side door.
I haven't been to Los Alamos since the fire, but there was a time I
was there once a week or more. My dad lived there for several years,
until his death.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sandra Dodd
-=-There are rocks and boulders for the first two feet or so, a little
bit of sandy dirt mixed in, then three inches of clay. When we dug
holes for fence posts, just past the clay we found a layer of charred
wood from some ancient fire. It was fantastic, we used it to make cave
drawings on our basement walls. -=-
When we were young and not married yet, Keith lived in Salt Lake City
for nearly a year, working for Terra Tek, which did analysis on
drilling core. They (and other companies combined, no doubt) were
mapping the underground from evidence from those drilling for water
and oil and gas. There were maps of layers of rock, silt, etc. I've
never thought of finding forest fire evidence like that.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
bit of sandy dirt mixed in, then three inches of clay. When we dug
holes for fence posts, just past the clay we found a layer of charred
wood from some ancient fire. It was fantastic, we used it to make cave
drawings on our basement walls. -=-
When we were young and not married yet, Keith lived in Salt Lake City
for nearly a year, working for Terra Tek, which did analysis on
drilling core. They (and other companies combined, no doubt) were
mapping the underground from evidence from those drilling for water
and oil and gas. There were maps of layers of rock, silt, etc. I've
never thought of finding forest fire evidence like that.
Sandra
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Robin Bentley
> Every now and then we find intact marbles that burned and shatteredOh, oh. That reminds me of the jewelry we used to make when I was a
> on the inside, but are still smooth and round on the outside.
>
kid. We took clear glass marbles, baked them in the oven until they
shattered on the inside, then glued on the hooks/clips for earrings or
pins for brooches. I had some cool pale pink ones.
Robin B.
foehn_jye
>>>We took clear glass marbles, baked them in the oven until they shattered on the inside, then glued on the hooks/clips for earrings or pins for brooches. I had some cool pale pink ones.>>>Cool! I'd never even seen anything like that before until we found some. My favorite is a large clear glass sphere. In the very center of the shatter it is black--presumably from the excessive heat.
foehn_jye
>>>We had one of those yellow Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper boxes on a post of the fence outside the side door.<<<Us too, in El Rancho. It was down the lane and on the road with a bunch of other newspaper and mailboxes. My bus stop, ironically.
>>>I haven't been to Los Alamos since the fire, but there was a time I was there once a week or more. My dad lived there for several years, until his death.<<<Los Alamos is an odd town, and the fire changed the landscape enough to make it feel different. I'm planning to write a blog post in the next week about all the changes. The landscape makes for some fun outdoor adventures, though...huge downed logs over run-off streams make great bridges.
keetry
== So let's assume the hole isn't there, but the shovel and the ground are.==
Last time we went to the home improvement store my 6 year old asked for a new shovel because his had been broken. We got a shovel for him and a rake for my youngest. The shovel and rake are left out in the yard to be used. Currently, they are working on a hole next to the house. It's mostly sand. They found a frog while digging there that my 6 year old decided to adopt. That led to making a pool for the frog in the empty sandbox and trying to use an old dog food dish table for another habitat for the frog. I was assigned with trying to catch flies for the frog to eat. I wasn't very successful at that. :)
Alysia
Last time we went to the home improvement store my 6 year old asked for a new shovel because his had been broken. We got a shovel for him and a rake for my youngest. The shovel and rake are left out in the yard to be used. Currently, they are working on a hole next to the house. It's mostly sand. They found a frog while digging there that my 6 year old decided to adopt. That led to making a pool for the frog in the empty sandbox and trying to use an old dog food dish table for another habitat for the frog. I was assigned with trying to catch flies for the frog to eat. I wasn't very successful at that. :)
Alysia
Su Penn
On May 4, 2010, at 1:33 PM, keetry wrote:
Su
> They found a frog while digging there that my 6 year old decided to adopt. That led to making a pool for the frog in the empty sandbox and trying to use an old dog food dish table for another habitat for the frog. I was assigned with trying to catch flies for the frog to eat. I wasn't very successful at that. :)Frogs will also eat worms! It's kind of gross to watch but they're easier to find than flies.
Su