A mother’s touch . . .

This is one of the all time highest hits on my blog. With 3.14 just around the corner I thought I would re-posted it with some updates.

 

Many people should be on their way to the  FIGT conference (Families in Global Transitions).  I am unable to attend this year even thought I came from Borneo to Oklahoma City and – Denver, Colorado by way of Toronto… It is all on the way . . .

This year I will get to go to Oklahoma in March to add to my mother’s birthday celebrations. It is her 81st birthday this year. 

This has been a favorite posting – according to amount of view it has gotten.

On March 14, I was able to spend a day that was almost heaven.  Or at least what I hope heaven is like.  I was within arms distance of both my mother and my daughter. When you live on different continents, this is special. This means we were able to hug each other if we wanted to hug each other. We were able to look into each other’s eyes and we could see each other’s smiles. With all the news and concerns about the sandwich generation, sometimes we forget we are very lucky to be able to share the aging of a parent with our own children, their grand children.  As my daughter, Jackie says, “This is what old age should look like and I hope I get to share it with you.”

A daughter’s touch . . .

March 14^th is Albert Einstein’s birthday but that was not special enough! For many people 3.14 might not be that much of a “special day”  but for us…  it is Pi day. Most people I know are content to celebrate the world’s most famous mathematical constant to its second decimal place but for some it can be way more fun. I love the people who get carried away with this stuff and celebrate 3/14 by staying up to 1:59 in the morning and then waiting until 26 seconds past the minute to take this first bite of Pi Pie.

We are not that silly besides those of you who really know me, when was the last time I was up at 1:59 in the morning eating pie. Okay, some of you do know me and can quote when this has happened.

Celebrate Pi Day! Pi is the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Math enthusiasts around the world celebrate pi day on March 14th.  William Jones first used the symbol for pi in 1706.

Pi = 3.1415926535…

Jackie, my daughter, told me if she is lucky she will get to have all of her electives at college to be math classes her senior year! Therefore making a math connection is perfect for our  family ritual. These rituals are very important for all families but vital for global nomads.

Historically, we had always loved Grandma Wright’s pies. To combine both, math and pie, seemed appropriate to spread some love. Family rituals are to make connections and show love.

The first Pi Day was in 1989 and created by Larry Shaw. He worked in the San Francisco Exploratorium as a physicist and had coworkers march around a circular space and then let them eat pie.  They still celebrate Pi day at the Exploratorium. Musician Michael Blake performed a one-man symphonic ode to pi by assigning notes and chords to each digit, and then playing it to 31 decimal places on ten different instruments. The result is a catchy yet haunting tune that is bound to top the pi charts.  But it was removed – when it comes back up, please listen. Until then you can listen to this older version of musical pi. Song off youtube..  What pi sounds like what-pi-sounds-like With the use of computers, Pi has been calculated to over 1 trillion digits past the decimal. Pi is an irrational and transcendental number meaning it will continue infinitely without repeating.

As I try to blog with some sort of pattern or continued theme, I hope to continue this blog without repeating myself or thoughts. (oops just repeated a blog- but only because it has over 1,685 hits- and that is a lot of hits on my blog site)

I am still debating if I should be irrational or not?

It does seem rational, balanced, sane and normal having both my child and my mother in the same room at the same time eating pie.

I am an expert at making pies, mostly because I made a ton of pies in 4-H when I was young.  I am a firm believer in mastery of something when you are young and you still think it is fun. In 4-H I did a lot of different activities. I raised sheep, JC and Casey were my pets until I sold them. This money went towards college and I was only 10 years old when I raised them for almost a year. I did public speaking. I did knitting (I still can’t cast off) I made clothes, more food than you can imagine and even leather work. Adults in the community spent time teaching us how to do things. We had pride in our finished products. We won ribbons and if our project was good enough we could take it to state and compete with lots of other children.  I am sure my exposure to 4-H helped me get one of my scholarships to college.

I was the Betty Crocker award winner, meaning I had to take a written test about cooking and prove that I understood the concepts behind ‘cooking’. When you are trying to put yourself through college, all scholarships are huge and you are so appreciative to get them. I am glad I learned how to cook when I was young, I am glad I was able to apply that knowledge into math, science and etc. other aspects of school.

But I am most proud of being able to teach my own children how to make a pie!

photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zanthia/4248760387/

photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/59798891@N05/5466633757/