Eric the Red

Today was our last day of CC for the year, and part of the festivities included the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders (Essentials students) presenting their big end-of-year research papers, which CC calls Faces of History. The assignment was to choose a real person from Medieval history, find at least three credible sources about that person from which to gather information, write a five-paragraph paper in the third person, and then turn the paper into a presentation, to be delivered in the first person and in costume. Finally, the kids were asked to provide a snack representative of the geographic region their characters were from to share at the reception that followed the presentations. Weston chose Eric the Red and worked for weeks completing the assignment, sometimes even during non-school hours--not because I required that of him, but because he was so excited about the project. He did a phenomenal job with the paper and the presentation, and we are so proud of him! (His paper follows the pictures, for those of you who might want to read it.)

All decked out before the presentation

Presenting before an audience of peers, parents, siblings, and other invited guests

The Man on Fire

Could history ever forget a discoverer with fiery hair and a fiery spirit? Will Eric the Red’s legacy be remembered? Like everyone, Eric, the son of a Viking chief, was deeply influenced by his family. Sadly, as an adult, he was unable to restrain his temper and was therefore forced to flee his country. Making the most of this less than ideal situation, Eric became an explorer.

Everybody is profoundly impacted by their families. Eric was no exception. When he was still a young boy, Eric’s family left Norway and traveled to Iceland because his dad had become an outlaw. In his early adulthood, Eric married Thorhild, who was the daughter of a different chief. Together they had four kids, one of whom became the famous explorer Leif Ericsson. Clearly, parents have an enormous effect on their children.

Like his father, Eric had a terrible temper, which turned him into an outlaw as well. Eric’s slaves stupidly started a landslide, which demolished a neighbor’s home. Retaliating, the neighbor slayed the thralls. When Eric found out, his anger overtook him, and he killed his neighbor. As a result of his horrible temper, he was banished from Iceland.

Taking advantage of what seemed like a tragic situation, Eric sailed west because he had not explored that part of the world before. Finally, after about three months of traveling, Eric landed on a distant land covered in ice. He named it Ericsholm, which means “Eric’s Home.” After a while, Eric had a noticeably nifty notion and changed the name to Greenland in order to draw more settlers. The name worked, and twenty-five other ships embarked upon the six month journey. Sadly, only fourteen arrived in Greenland. Since there was no wood in this new land, the Vikings had to hunt whales and seals so that they could trade the skins for the wood they needed. After a life of exploring, Eric eventually settled down in a town in Greenland he called Eric’s Fjord.

It is clear that Eric’s family had a great influence on him. Tragically, this may have led to him becoming an outlaw. On the bright side, Eric finally had an opportunity to become a proficient explorer. Though he faced many struggles early in his life, Eric the Red managed to overcome them all and is now remembered as the founder of Greenland. Importantly, this legacy of exploration carried over to his son, Leif, who discovered an entirely new continent. The world will not soon forget the adventurer with the fiery hair and equally fiery spirit.

Making room for what's important

At 2:22 AM, the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for our immediate area, siting funnel clouds in a nearby town, heading our direction at 45 miles per hour. Shortly thereafter, tornado sirens began wailing throughout our little city. My first thought, as I fought through the sleepy fog, was that some horrible accident must have occurred and the hospital near our house was experiencing a higher than normal volume of ambulance traffic. A couple of moments later, I realized it was the severe weather warning, but I thought it must be a mistake because it wasn't even raining. At almost the same instant that thought entered my mind, the rain started, and I sat bolt upright and grabbed my phone to check the weather. Jeff asked me what was wrong, and, as we both realized we already knew the answer, we jumped out of bed and hit the lights. One flickering of the electricity was all it took for us to start collecting sleepy children from the other bedrooms.

This house lacks a true safe room, so we made the split-second decision to put everyone in the master closet, following the tornado rules we've memorized as long-time Texas residents. I began literally throwing shoes and other clutter out of the relatively small space, in order to make room for my people. It was then that I realized I just have too much stuff.

I have been trying to live a minimalistic lifestyle ever since we got rid of everything and headed off on our RTW trip. But, suddenly, my stuff was getting in the way of my people, and it just seemed like too much. I was wondering how it even all got there and how I hadn't noticed it piling up before. But I hadn't noticed it before because it hadn't interfered with the safety of my family, and I had just been lazily letting it accumulate.

This morning, I woke up bound and determined to make room in my closet--and my life--for what's truly important. I'm not saying I'm happy we all had to gather in the closet in the middle of the night or that I want a repeat performance, though I'm ready for it if it's forced upon me. What I can tell you is that everything that's important to me was in my closet last night, and it darn sure wasn't my shoes!

Favorites on the First

My nails (on both feet and hands) are a disaster.
This cuticle cream helps more than anything else. And, it smells like dessert!

I thought about featuring one oil or oil blend, but it was too hard to choose!
I love all my oils, but right now I'm especially loving Breathe oil and drops,
OnGuard oil, drops and toothpaste, Frankincense oil, Correct X ointment,
Lemon oil, and Serenity blend. Click the link to find out more about essential oils.

Most cleaners overwhelm me and some even give me a headache,
but this one smells heavenly and actually makes cleaning enjoyable. 

We absolutely love our 2016 Honda Pilot,
which is the first truly new car we've bought since we've had kids.! 

I thought it was a little ridiculous when we jumped on the Instant Pot
bandwagon on Black Friday, but I have to tell you, this little piece of
equipment is pretty awesome. In fact, it's kind of a game-changer. 

This is one of the things keeping my brain from turning to mush right now.
Es muy bueno.

At almost any time of the day, you can find myself or one of my family
members plopped down in the Seat of Happiness. 

These flip-flops are super comfortable, and the two-pack means instant variety.

Music: getting me through the endless meal prep that goes on around here.

Max and Clay are thoroughly enjoying the Around the World Stories.
They eagerly wait for new ones and sit entranced through each episode.
These stories are a good way to travel the world when you can't travel the world. 

Several pretty big things

• Today, I drove a car for the first time in over a year. Part of that driving happened during a pretty major thunderstorm. But, I'm happy to report that I have not forgotten how to drive, and I got us safely to all our destinations (including taking shelter at a Sonic to protect our new car from falling tree branches and what felt like could turn into a hail storm).
• I got a much needed haircut this morning and am so happy with my new cut and what is sure to become my new salon.

• I bought a pair of denim shorts for about $5 at a cool little thrift store, because it is hotter than blue blazes here in Texas, and I don't have appropriate clothes for that. I passed up sweet deals on two pairs of shoes, though, because I don't have room for them in my bag, and I don't really need them. (And because I'm not quite emotionally ready to say good-bye to the shoes that have literally carried me all over the world, even though they seriously need to be replaced.)
• We signed a contract on a house today, in what may be one of the fastest real estate deals in history.
• We found the local Mexican food restaurant closest to our new house and gave it a try, because this is an important part of our option period. Anamia's definitely passed the test, so it looks like we'll be able to move forward with the purchase.

Necessities

When you only own a week's worth of clothes and a couple of pairs of shoes, you REALLY notice when things start to wear out, and since you are wearing and washing everything much more often than you would if you had a larger wardrobe, some of the things wear out faster. I had two shirts with fairly significant holes in them; most of the family had one or more pairs of holey socks; Clay's shoes seemed to be within moments of disintegration. It was getting pretty sad. So, this afternoon, we made the short drive over to the mall to stock up on necessities--new socks for Ruth, Weston, Clay and Jeff, new shoes for Clay, a couple of new shirts for me, and sunglasses for the whole crew for our ski trip next week. When you live in a minimalistic world, you learn to appreciate the few things you have, and something new (even a pair of socks!) seems like a really big deal. Clay, for instance, was so proud of his new socks and shoes that he popped them on his feet as soon as he got out of the shower and certainly would have worn them to bed if we had let him. We are learning to be thankful even for small things, things we might not have even taken note of before. What small things are you thankful for today?

Athens

We joined a free walking tour this morning, which took us all over the city and allowed us to see every major site and was really interesting. When the tour was over, we picnicked in the National Gardens, and then did a little shopping in the market area, before heading home to rest for a while. We also did a sunset hike this evening up Lycabettus Hill, where we experienced breathtaking views of the entire city.

Poseidon's Spring
According to the stories, Poseidon and Athena had a contest
to see who would become the protector of the city.
Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and created this spring.
Athena used her staff to create an olive tree, which could be used for food and
warmth and building. The people liked her offer better and named the city after her.

Hadrian's Library
Hadrian was a Roman emperor who built a huge library in Athens
during his reign, because he wanted Athens to be the cultural center of the empire.
Unfortunately, all the books were in Latin, which the common Greek people couldn't read at all. 

The Acropolis
It means "top city," and it is where The Parthenon (Athena's Temple)
is located. There are also several other lesser temples on top up there,
which is what you can see on the right hand side of the picture. 

The Roman Agora
This was the marketplace of Athens during the time of the Roman Empire.

Temple of Hephaestus
This temple has been the best preserved and sits next to the Ancient Agora.

Lycabettus Hill
According to the myths, Athena picked up a huge rock to bring to The Acropolis
to place at her temple, but while she was on her way, she was interrupted by messengers
with bad news, and she dropped the boulder to form this hill, which then became
a higher point than The Acropolis, where her temple was located. 

Hadrian's Arch
This arch divided the "old city," where The Acropolis is
(and which you can just see peeking through the arch),
from the "new city," where the Temple of Zeus could be found.

Temple of Zeus
In its prime, this temple would have been much larger than
The Parthenon. When the columns were being erected, liquid lead was poured inside
to harden and add stability to the structures. If you look closely, you can see large holes
drilled near the bottom of the columns. When the Ottoman Turks occupied the land,
they figured out there was lead in the columns and harvested some of it to make bullets.  

The Olympic Stadium
Weston, our lover of all sports, was so excited to see the Olympic Stadium,
which was built for the first modern olympics in 1896.

The Parliament Building
This was formerly the royal palace and is now the seat of government. 

The changing of the guard at the parliament building
These are Evzone Soldiers, dressed in the traditional uniform,
which is now purely ceremonial. Supposedly, the black pom-poms
on the shoes hide a blade, which was once used in close range fighting.

National Garden
We had a lovely picnic and some gigantic fun playing on the humongous trees.

Fruit Street Vendor
The kids were so excited to each get to pick out a kilo of fruit
from one of the beautifully arrayed carts on the street.

Sunset hike up Lycabettus Hill
Our tour guide mentioned this was the best place in town to see the sunset,
so we couldn't resist adding this evening hike to our agenda.

The Parthenon
The Parthenon sits on the left hand side of the picture,
while some of the lesser temples are on the right.
You can see the Saronic Gulf in the background.

The Glowing Acropolis
All of the temples are lit up when the sun goes down,
and it is absolutely stunning!

Around the World in a Carry-On Bag: Footwear

Welcome back to my series on packing for an around-the-world trip in a carry-on bag. Check out all the packing vessels here. Today's topic is footwear. This, for me, has been one of the biggest struggles of minimalistic packing--partly because I really do love shoes and didn't want to limit myself, and partly because, if you're only going to have three pairs of shoes, they darn sure better be the perfect balance of comfort, style and utility. It has taken a significant amount of tweaking (and more Amazon and Zappos returns than I care to mention), but I finally feel like I have gotten it "right."

Okabashi Flip-Flops--These are comfortable and about as functional as they come. I tried several other brands, but ultimately, I couldn't find anything I liked better than these, which I already owned and which weren't expensive.

Merrell Dassie Mary Janes--My search for travel flats was long and hard. I wanted something I could wear with pants or a skirt and that I could walk all day in. I am so thankful I found these!

Helly Hanson Kenosha Waterproof Trail Running Shoes--I actually settled early on on a different pair of trail running shoes, but they tended to hurt my feet the longer I wore them and they were just a bit too big and heavy to pack comfortably in my pack--meaning that, by default, they had to be the shoes I wore on travel day, whether I wanted to or not. These Helly's are about three ounces lighter per shoe, a little less bulky, and actually seem to become more comfortable the longer they are on my feet.

Smartwool Secret Sleuth Liner Socks--I can wear these liners with the Mary Janes to help keep my tootsies warmer in colder climes.

Smartwool PhD Run Ultra Lite Mini Crew Socks--There isn't too much you can say about socks, I guess. These are ankle length and lightweight, and they (like all the socks) are made of Merino wool, which is quick drying, moisture wicking and odor resistant.

Smartwool PhD Ultra Lite Mirco Socks--This is the no-show version of the previous sock.

Smartwool Jovian Stripe Crew Socks--These are thicker and taller, with a splash of stripy personality.

Icebreaker Lifestyle Lite Crew Socks--This is my experiment with a different brand of Merino. They are similar in length and weight to the other pair of crew socks but in a more sensible black.

Smartwool Plated Puff Lifestyle Socks--Another lightweight pair of no-show socks.