Fire and ice

I have no pictures from today—it was too dark and dreary.

We watched it snow from the comforts of a house warmed by our newly installed, very efficient furnace. And thanks to the new thermostat I was also able to see that while we were a cozy 68 degrees inside, it was a chilly 32 outside. The snow makes Calvin giggle.

For a meaningful juxtaposition we spent the afternoon mapping the journey taken by our earliest ancestors—the journey that started in a desert-like Africa and spread to the rest of the earth during the rising and falling of oceans. If this inquiry into our past has taught me anything it's that there really is some good TV out there. To BBC, National Geographic, and PBS, I thank you.

We discovered The Incredible Human Journey, a series of BBC specials on the human migration out of Africa. We watched it in small bits we could find on YouTube and we've only watched the first of five episodes so far, but Calvin loved it, and we'll be watching the others in due time. We also used a variety of book and internet sources to map the possible migration and create a timeline of human evolution (like watching Beringia disappear,or some of the graphics on this college syllabus). I have yet to make the neanderthals out of felt. We'll see how that goes.

There was also piano practice, and another section in math (and I ordered the next book because he's only five lessons away from finishing the first), some playing with Legos (the farm had to be put into winter mode), some playing with felt, and a lot of playing "caveman" all over the house. At one point I found a variety of items piled up in the middle of the floor over which the little boy was striking two imaginary rocks.

And so we have fire.