Hoplawe 2018: A collision of extremes in the making
Some of you must know by now that I do this annual homeschool planning weekend thing that my friend and I call HOPLAWE (for HOmeschool PLAnning WEekend). In a nutshell, my friend and I schedule a weekend many months in advance for us to go somewhere and sit in a hotel room for a few days so we can do whatever we need to do to prepare for the upcoming school year. Each Hoplawe is different simply because we need different things each year to be prepared. Some years I am working out schedules, writing up lesson plans, and getting cozy with my curriculum of choice. Some years I've read books on how to make myself do the things I need to do. One year I slept a lot,and that was okay. Sometimes the most important thing we can do is sleep for a day and a half to let our brains recover from whatever emotional trauma we've put it through.
Hoplawe has evolved from a weekend split between my apartment and the guest suite to a hotel in Columbia for 3 days to Charlotte and Ikea for 3 days, and finally to Biltmore in Asheville for 4 days. Our kids are older, it's easier to leave them, and honestly, it takes a full day away to get out of the mommy mindset enough to really focus on the work at hand. Yes, it's a luxury. The fact that I'm currently sitting on my beautiful hotel bed that I do not have to share with anyone is not lost on me. I have hot coffee waiting for me in the lobby whenever I want it. We spent the entire afternoon yesterday hiking around Biltmore in a perfectly designed setting. The babbling brooks we walked by were purposely planned by Frederic Olmsted to induce tranquility.
I'm going to take a pause in this pensive post to tell you what we learned about people and ourselves yesterday at Biltmore. First, I am cured of wanting white capris because every woman over the age of 60 was wearing white capris yesterday. We started counting them. They were everywhere. Also, the number of matching couples was hilarious. Woman in turquoise dress is accompanied by man in a turquoise golf shirt. Woman in pink pants is accompanied by man with pink shirt. Also, older women seem to have an affinity for shirts with animals on them. We saw birds, giraffes, and a few shirts with scenes on theme. I didn't look closely, but I'm sure there were birds in the beach scene on one particular shirt. When we got to the back veranda, we saw two older ladies laid out in the chairs taking hard naps. I looked at them and saw our future. One day, Tonya and I will be out on some lovely day trip and decide we need to take a nap on a random bench. We actually felt that way yesterday, but we're young enough to say "No. We will NOT sleep in public on benches." One day, we will meet up for a trip and be wearing white capris, matching colored shirts complete with birds, and halfway through our day, we'll decide we need to nap. We saw our future yesterday. It didn't even scare me. It was more like, "Yeah, I guess that's coming. It doesn't look so bad. At least they'll be well rested for this evening."
Anyway. We finished the day with a stunning mountain sunset and a walk through the gardens to see the Chihuly Nights display. You can go here to learn more about it. It was beautiful. There were lightening bugs throughout the gardens. It was exactly what we needed.
Today we'll be doing all the reading, planning, whatever needs to be done to prep for this coming year. I really will do it. But first, I have to think through the extremes I'm in the midst of experiencing. Yesterday I spent the day at the Biltmore Estate, a home dedicated to demonstrating the epitome of what wealth and power can provide. At the moment, I'm sitting in a beautiful, newly renovated hotel room. I have every type of food within walking distance, coffee downstairs waiting for me, and free wifi so I can look up anything my heart desires to see or learn about. I grabbed a few extra breakfast items to eat for lunch later. Oh, and I have air conditioning and never ending hot water in the shower. I have every comfort available to me. (I'm not bragging. I actually have a point). On Tuesday, I'll be flying to Honduras where I will visit some of my oldest friends. While there, we'll visit a village they've been working in that just installed a water filtration system a few weeks ago. We'll be bringing some school supplies with us to donate to the local school. Honduras does not require school beyond 6th grade. I know I'm about to see a level of poverty that I've never seen with my own eyes. I've watched documentaries, read books and articles, and listened to first hand accounts, but I'm about to be in the midst of it all myself. I'm pretty sure I'm going to struggle with the disparity between the two extremes I'll have experienced in the span of two weeks.
I don't have an answer for it, I just know it's coming. I love what money can buy. Hot showers and air conditioned bedrooms are two of my favorite things. I think Biltmore is beautiful. I mean, of course it's beautiful. Each tree, flower, brick, and statue was purposely designed and placed to create an image of power and beauty. And I don't think that's a bad thing. I love that craftsmen and designers were able to create something beautiful. I think we glorify God in creating beautiful things. It's such a privilege to have the brain space and time to think about school planning and art because I don't have to think about things like survival. And it's not like we're rich people by American standards. Yes, compared to the rest of the world, I am the one percent. In the US, not so much; and yet, our mediocre is still freaking incredible.
So. All that to say that I'm doing all the planning in a beautiful space, and I get to do all my work without interruption. Honestly, the uninterrupted time is the real treasure. Also, be prepared for dump of emotional words in a few weeks because I will probably be a mess when I come back home after a week in Honduras.
And here are a few pictures to scare away the Cherish pic. That bridge is in a scene in Last of the Mohicans, one of the best movies ever. I couldn't push my way through the book, but the movie is inarguable one of the best. I will fight you on that. Also, I really liked my hair yesterday so I threw a selfie in there. I think it was National Selfie Day or something? We'll call it patriotism instead of vanity.
Hoplawe has evolved from a weekend split between my apartment and the guest suite to a hotel in Columbia for 3 days to Charlotte and Ikea for 3 days, and finally to Biltmore in Asheville for 4 days. Our kids are older, it's easier to leave them, and honestly, it takes a full day away to get out of the mommy mindset enough to really focus on the work at hand. Yes, it's a luxury. The fact that I'm currently sitting on my beautiful hotel bed that I do not have to share with anyone is not lost on me. I have hot coffee waiting for me in the lobby whenever I want it. We spent the entire afternoon yesterday hiking around Biltmore in a perfectly designed setting. The babbling brooks we walked by were purposely planned by Frederic Olmsted to induce tranquility.
I'm going to take a pause in this pensive post to tell you what we learned about people and ourselves yesterday at Biltmore. First, I am cured of wanting white capris because every woman over the age of 60 was wearing white capris yesterday. We started counting them. They were everywhere. Also, the number of matching couples was hilarious. Woman in turquoise dress is accompanied by man in a turquoise golf shirt. Woman in pink pants is accompanied by man with pink shirt. Also, older women seem to have an affinity for shirts with animals on them. We saw birds, giraffes, and a few shirts with scenes on theme. I didn't look closely, but I'm sure there were birds in the beach scene on one particular shirt. When we got to the back veranda, we saw two older ladies laid out in the chairs taking hard naps. I looked at them and saw our future. One day, Tonya and I will be out on some lovely day trip and decide we need to take a nap on a random bench. We actually felt that way yesterday, but we're young enough to say "No. We will NOT sleep in public on benches." One day, we will meet up for a trip and be wearing white capris, matching colored shirts complete with birds, and halfway through our day, we'll decide we need to nap. We saw our future yesterday. It didn't even scare me. It was more like, "Yeah, I guess that's coming. It doesn't look so bad. At least they'll be well rested for this evening."
Anyway. We finished the day with a stunning mountain sunset and a walk through the gardens to see the Chihuly Nights display. You can go here to learn more about it. It was beautiful. There were lightening bugs throughout the gardens. It was exactly what we needed.
Today we'll be doing all the reading, planning, whatever needs to be done to prep for this coming year. I really will do it. But first, I have to think through the extremes I'm in the midst of experiencing. Yesterday I spent the day at the Biltmore Estate, a home dedicated to demonstrating the epitome of what wealth and power can provide. At the moment, I'm sitting in a beautiful, newly renovated hotel room. I have every type of food within walking distance, coffee downstairs waiting for me, and free wifi so I can look up anything my heart desires to see or learn about. I grabbed a few extra breakfast items to eat for lunch later. Oh, and I have air conditioning and never ending hot water in the shower. I have every comfort available to me. (I'm not bragging. I actually have a point). On Tuesday, I'll be flying to Honduras where I will visit some of my oldest friends. While there, we'll visit a village they've been working in that just installed a water filtration system a few weeks ago. We'll be bringing some school supplies with us to donate to the local school. Honduras does not require school beyond 6th grade. I know I'm about to see a level of poverty that I've never seen with my own eyes. I've watched documentaries, read books and articles, and listened to first hand accounts, but I'm about to be in the midst of it all myself. I'm pretty sure I'm going to struggle with the disparity between the two extremes I'll have experienced in the span of two weeks.
I don't have an answer for it, I just know it's coming. I love what money can buy. Hot showers and air conditioned bedrooms are two of my favorite things. I think Biltmore is beautiful. I mean, of course it's beautiful. Each tree, flower, brick, and statue was purposely designed and placed to create an image of power and beauty. And I don't think that's a bad thing. I love that craftsmen and designers were able to create something beautiful. I think we glorify God in creating beautiful things. It's such a privilege to have the brain space and time to think about school planning and art because I don't have to think about things like survival. And it's not like we're rich people by American standards. Yes, compared to the rest of the world, I am the one percent. In the US, not so much; and yet, our mediocre is still freaking incredible.
So. All that to say that I'm doing all the planning in a beautiful space, and I get to do all my work without interruption. Honestly, the uninterrupted time is the real treasure. Also, be prepared for dump of emotional words in a few weeks because I will probably be a mess when I come back home after a week in Honduras.
And here are a few pictures to scare away the Cherish pic. That bridge is in a scene in Last of the Mohicans, one of the best movies ever. I couldn't push my way through the book, but the movie is inarguable one of the best. I will fight you on that. Also, I really liked my hair yesterday so I threw a selfie in there. I think it was National Selfie Day or something? We'll call it patriotism instead of vanity.
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