It was fun going through so many gardens recently. The Minter Garden with Mom, the Minoru Garden with Mom, Sennie, Kathy etc. and again with the Haus. It was such a treat for them to see the rhododendrom in full bloom while I get it every year. Can't take life for granted for being so blessed. Then eight private gardens in White Rock with Kim during a fund raising garden tour. Now it gets her all interested in making her own garden.

I think gardening is a very good hobby.
- one can work off the negative energy
-you make friends trading plants and ideas
-you learn what works and what doesn't. Plants are like people. They thrift or die under different condition
-It allows you to contemplate in quietness while your hands are still busy
-You get to enjoy the result of long labour
-you marvel at God's creation in nature

Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligence is very interesting. Instead of the I.Q. testing which is rather limiting, he proposed types of intelligence: linguistic ; logical, mathmatical, spatial; bodily-kinesthetic; musical, interpersonal; intrapersonal and more recently, he added naturalistic and that children can learn a lot from playing in the nature. I am so glad my children had a little bit of that experience. I still think he leaves out another important one - artistry. It is good to know what we are good at, not that we cannot develope more.

The Fraser Health Care Inspector recently went through my school and said that I had to either provide absorbent material under the slide and climber with 6 feet perimenter around them or I have to remove them. What rediculous request. We never have one accident cause by those equipment and they won't even let the children have some fun based on our good record.
I wonder what I can provide them with next for outdoor experience.

It would be nice to have the space to run a little farm like some of my Montessorian collegues. Children can learn husbandry and entrapreneurship through managing the farm. A small plot of land to grow a vegetable garden or even some trees to climb. (He, he he, the inspector would not be able to tell me to take off the trees.)

I feel so sad and sorry for that young man whom Jo mention on her blog. What a waste of life and potential. How can people be so mean? On the other hand, why did he have to listen to them? . Why shutting oneself in a cocoon of webs which eventually suffocated and killed himself. Think of the people who could use his love and would love him ten times back. May be that is the problem, he might have never been loved and he was afraid to love even himself. Most of all, he never knew the unconditional love of Jesus.

One of the greatest gift that nature endowns human beings with is 'common sense'. It seperates us from the rest of the animal kingdom. We do not just response with 'reflex' muscle or action. We can project our thought and visualize the outcome of certain action or courses that we might want to take base on our past experience or the experience of others.
But how come so often we abandon our common sense and leave ourselves in precarious situation? Let me try to think of a few reasons.

1. Was not trained to use this faculty when one was young. Too many children have their daily needs taken care of by adults around them and never learn to problem solve. When they grow up, some would find another person who would take over the unpleasant jobs from the previous adults in their lives, so they can go on pursuing only what they want to do. Others would do only things as they are told and find themselves being victimized (be it real or unreal).

2. We may be caught up emotionally, brushing away the red light that keep blinking in our head.
3. We may not have estimated ourselves correctly according to our abilities. Thinking we can handle more than what it takes.

4. Pursuing only what one thinks is pleasant. Do not want to take time to think of the outcome or the possible unpleasantness. Avoiding pain can actually bring on more pain.

Conclusion:
Knowledge or abilities are nothing, when they are not applied with 'common sense' or 'wisdom'.