Is it really this bad?

I read a post from a college-level writing teacher that stunned me. The entry was part of a piece entitled "'Before and after' – stories of life-changing events that shaped peoples' lives." He (or she) wrote as follows:

"[I]t might well be this semester's papers turned in by students. I teach writing at the university level, and the papers were SO awful and so many students SO apathetic that I just can't even imagine doing this job anymore.

"I can point to one single paper that broke me. I actually had a real breakdown and spent last week in a crisis stabilization unit. It is TERRIFYING to watch education ebb like this, and to see students not participating in their own lives. I do not expect people to love writing, but at least be *present* in your own head! The entire system is dumbing down, which means that the American people are dumbing down too."

Okay, having to enter a crisis stabilization unit over poor writing seems a bit extreme; but still, I have to ask: Is it really this bad? Obviously we're aware the quality of public education has been declining for years – it's why we homeschooled our girls, after all – but is it to the point where college students are essentially illiterate? What are educators doing through decades of education to produce such "terrifying" results? I'm not in the trenches, so I don't see it.

Is the English language so reviled that no one teaches its usage anymore? Those with teaching experience, please chime in. Is it really this bad? And if so, why?

The Idaho screaming death spider

In our pantry, a spider has made itself at home.

Older Daughter noted this afternoon that the arachnid was turned facing out, so its pattern was visible. "Kinda interesting," she commented.

"It's the Idaho screaming death spider," Don joked. "Found only in pantries."

I got curious, however. Was this a juvenile black widow? I enlarged the photo:

Below is a juvenile black widow (photo source):

Nope, definitely not a juvenile black window. Instead, it appears to be triangulate cobweb spider (photo source):

But, for our purposes, we'll continue to call this harmless and beneficial little creature the Idaho screaming death spider if it discourages people from moving to Idaho.

My definition of social

Don found this and sent it to me for a chuckle. I see nothing wrong with it, do you?

How was your Christmas?

Aside from our unexpected car accident, we had a very nice (if quiet) Christmas.

It started in mid-December, when Older Daughter and I took Mr. Darcy and drove higher into the mountains to cut some cedar branches (with permission from the Forest Service). Darcy is always so thrilled by these excursions.

The forest was beautiful. (That's Older Daughter's car at the bottom.)

Darcy was raring to go, so I walked him around while Older Daughter collected branches. She was careful not to cut more than one branch off any one tree.

It soon became apparent, however, that a service crew had come through a short time before and trimmed a bunch of branches along long stretches of the road, presumably for maintenance purposes.

When we realized this, it was a simple matter of finding a collection of downed branches and taking as many as we wanted. There was a nice amount in this bend of the road. (You can see Older Daughter in the pink coat.)

What I didn't realize, however, was in this particular location, the fairly thin layer of snow on the road disguised a solid sheet of ice. I fell once and hurt nothing but my dignity. But then I fell a second time and managed to pull my entire left quadriceps muscle. Whee! That had me limping for a few days.

See that dark spot on the road?

That's the place I slipped. You can see the ice under the snow.

The muscle tear wasn't bad ... at first. It was much improved within a day or two, and then I took a misstep and injured it again. Then a day or two later, I slipped (on dog poop – in the yard!) and re-injured it again, at which point Don practically tied me to a chair to keep me from moving. The muscle finally healed.

Meanwhile, Older Daughter was weaving garlands with lights and hanging them above windows and doors.

On the eve of Christmas Eve (the 23rd), when we all settled in to watch "A Muppet Christmas Carol" (well, why not?). Older Daughter made us a tasty dinner of Cornish game hen and trimmings.

On Christmas Eve, we had a leisurely day of not doing much. I made sure to feed the livestock extra well on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Legend has it animals are granted the gift of speech at Christmas and will gossip about us. Can't have any bad news spreading to the neighbors!

Toward evening, we opened a few presents. For the first time this year, we skipped using wrapping paper and wrapped the presents in fabric according to the Japanese technique of "furoshiki."

With my long-time interest in sustainable and zero-waste living, I'm shocked I never even heard of this technique until last Christmas, and then I experienced a "Where have you been all my life?" moment. It makes so much sense, doesn't it, to use something for wrapping that can be used again and again? Accordingly, last year after Christmas when fabrics were on sale, I purchased a selection of holiday-themed fabrics (as well as some non-holiday samples for birthdays, etc.). Some of the fabrics are small, others larger, for different-sized packages.

So all the presents were wrapped in fabric, which meant no waste. How cool is that?

Late on Christmas Eve, we attended our church's "Lessons and Carols." The darkened church looked lovely.

Christmas Day, of course, was dominated by the car accident that prevented us from attending the proper church service, but these things happen.

In the evening, we gathered to watch George C. Scott's version of "A Christmas Carol, arguably the best version of that famous story ever made (in my opinion).

Above all, we thank God for the gift of His son.

How was your Christmas?

Merry Christmas to us

Christmas morning. Headed for church. Invisible patch of black ice. Ricocheted all around the road as Don tried to regain control. Spun 180 degrees and introduced the car to the embankment.

We emerged from the car, shaky and bruised but otherwise unhurt. Looks like we're in the market for another car (this was the car we purchased six years ago from Union Gospel Motors in Spokane). Astonishingly, the vehicle still drove. The very kind sheriff's deputy who assisted us followed us almost all the way home to make sure we made it.

We gathered up all the vehicle debris and stuffed it in the back of the car so it wouldn't litter the roadside.

Comically, on the way home, the car notified us that the washer fluid was low.

That's because the container had been punctured in the accident.

We hit the embankment so hard, pine needles and a pine cone got embedded between the tire and the wheel.

And my Bible got a bit battered.

So, while we never did make it to church, we returned home beyond grateful for our Christmas blessings. Wear your seat belts, folks. They save lives.

Yule log cake

Older Daughter decided she wanted to try making a yule log cake. She got the recipe here.

She mixed the dry ingredients...

...separate from the wet ingredients.

This is for the cake part.

Whipping egg whites.

Folding the egg whites into the mixture.

This is the part she wasn't sure about. She lined a tray with parchment paper, and poured the cake mixture to make a thin cake.

It baked beautifully.

The next tricky part was rolling the hot cake and then letting it cool.

While the cake cooled, she made the icing (ganache) that would go over it, starting with breaking up a bar of baking chocolate.

She added the chocolate to hot cream.

Then she whisked it until it was smooth.

Next was the filling, which consisted of whipped cream, mascarpone cheese, and a bit of powdered sugar for sweetener. (The filling was out-of-this-world delicious.)

When the cake was cool, she very carefully unrolled it...

...and spread it with the filling.

After this, the cake is re-rolled.

Not bad!

But wait, it gets better. The next step is to cut off a chunk of the end, at an angle.

The rough end is then "glued" with the ganache against the main part of the cake to make a "branch." (This is a yule log, after all.)

The ganache was thick and dry, almost crumbly, to resemble bark. It took some work to get it onto the cake roll.

After this, the ganache is kind of "scored," again to resemble tree bark.

She added a snippet of cedar, just to make it festive.

She said the one thing she did wrong was not to relocate the cake onto a platter before frosting it, since once it's frosted, it's almost impossible to move.

But other than that, it was a splendid first attempt. I'm not a huge chocolate fan, but even I thought this project was just delicious.

An excellent Christmas baking project. Next time, she said she might try making an "alder tree" by making a vanilla (instead of chocolate) cake. Yum!