"A grandmother pretends she doesn't know who you are on Halloween." - Erma Bombeck

When a prop comes loose.

Cool nights, warm days. Perfect.

Yesterday the Oregon Senate passed on a strict party line vote a bill that had already cleared the house. It requires the state to fund "reproductive health coverage," including abortions, for all women living in Oregon, including illegal immigrants. It now goes to the governor for her signature. That would be our bisexual governor with a husband and a lesbian partner.
Oregon already has the most liberal abortion laws in the nation, and now this.
And in this state there is absolutely no chance that voters will overturn the law once it's signed.

I've been thinking lately about parenting. Not so much about our experiences or specific strategies as the general goals and objectives of the effort. I think it's fair to say many (most?) parents go through the adventure without a clear sense of what they're trying to accomplish and what they want the end result to look like.

[Which raises the question, when does parenting end? At what point is the job done and the results ready for evaluation?]

I've come to realize how much I value intellectual curiosity. Both our sons have that trait, but I don't know if it's something they picked up as kids or if it's genetics. I *think* it's the former.

I also think I'd rather see intellectual curiosity than formal education. One stops at graduation, whatever the level, and the other produces a life-long learner. I know many who have advanced degrees but are intellectually static, while others with nothing more than a H.S.education, are always learning, exploring, growing.

Now add in depth vs. breadth.
That's one of the reasons I had no interest in a Ph.D., despite my employer's priorities. A Bachelor's degree is broad, especially in the first two years where general ed. courses predominate. A Master's degree takes one aspect of the Bachelor's focus and drills down deeper. By the time someone gets into a Ph.D. it can be almost comical to hear the the narrowness of their study. Ancient Coptic commentaries on the New Testament. The use of metaphors in Isaiah 40-55. The exchange of gifts between early Christian groups. (Those are all real examples.)
Does the phrase "Who cares?" come to mind. Or the word, nerd?

Give me the generalist every time, someone who finds all things interesting and worth knowing. Geography (can you find Papua New Guinea on a map?), music (do you know about Auto-Tune and how it's transformed the recording industry?), and current events (what makes a missile an ICBM?). It's OK to have no-go zones, things that don't spark the slightest interest - sport, politics, math. But while it comes in varying degrees some people are naturally inquisitive and others are perfectly happy to go through the rest of their lives knowing no more than they did yesterday. They may be honest, hardworking, virtuous people. But assuming character is present, give me the intellectually curious person every time.

So how does a parent encourage their child to be inquisitive, curious about everything? Certainly exemplifying that is a good start.
On a scale of 1-10, how inquisitive are you? Why?

Marta came this morning and disbudded the kids. The nasty deed is done.
We also had great conversation - we always do - about topics ranging from Luther's 95 Theses to the Orthodox Roman Catholic Church here in Veneta (rejects Vatican II and celebrates the mass in Latin), which was founded by one of David's relatives.

Marta asked, with a sly grin, how I was going to handle weaning when the time comes (when the kids are 3 months old). I responded that I'd wondered how she does it. Doh! They live on 200 acres and have several separate fenced pastures. She just puts momma in one pasture and the kids in another. That can't happen on Baker Rd.
Houston, we have a problem.

BUT! I have a solution, and it's going to make us rich!
I'm going to design, and Pam's going to make a no-nursing bra for goats! Strap it on and the kids can't get to momma's teats. Problem solved!
Once we're perfected the design we'll market it on the various goat sites, maybe Amazon and eBay.
Maybe we'll even take it to The Shark Tank!!!
"We're looking for $25,000 to build inventory for a 15% stock in the company."
BOOM!