March is National Women's History Month

Honoring Mary Lyon

A schoolteacher from Massachusetts

 an American pioneer,a remarkable woman who founded the worldwide model of higher education for women-- 

Mount Holyoke College 

Though there are several women I could have chosen to honor, Mary Lyon was a "local" of my beloved western Massachusetts; born and raised in Buckland. Like me, an educator. She was the founder of my elder daughter's college-  Mount Holyoke, from which she graduated last year. Still a women's school and one the oldest of the few remaining in the U.S. MHC is no longer a seminary. One of my favorite poets and icons, Emily Dickinson, attended classes there from 1847-48. All of these things come together so seamlessly that it made sense for me to learn more about her and share it with you.

True to the spirit of Mary Lyon, my daughter, a poor girl, was able to attend a first-class liberal arts college where she honed her intellect and where her confidence and self-esteem were nurtured and her independent spirit encouraged and appreciated. As a woman and as her mother, I am grateful for that.

I can't say enough about both the college's academics and the spirit of achievement, success and pride that are celebrated there. Thank you, Mary Lyon, for being a trailblazer for women.

 The year, 1834, was a turning point for Mary Lyon. She decided to leave Ipswich Female Seminary, where she was assistant principal, and focus all of her time and efforts on founding an institution of higher education for women. For the next three years, she crusaded tirelessly for funds and support. It was not the best time to ask people for donations--the United States was in a severe economic depression. But Mary Lyon persisted. She wrote circulars and ads announcing the plan for the school, raised money, persuaded prominent men to back her enterprise, developed a curriculum, visited schools and talked to educators as far away as Detroit, chose the school's location, supervised the design and construction of a building, brought equipment, hired teachers, and selected students. She endured ridicule from those who felt her ambitious undertaking would be "wasted" on women. Her constant travels often left her in a state of exhaustion. Yet, Mary Lyon never doubted her belief that women deserved to have the same opportunities for higher education as their brothers.

Mary Lyon's innovative goals for Mount Holyoke set the Seminary apart from other female seminaries of the period. They were:

A curriculum equivalent to those at men's colleges.

A minimum entrance age of 17.

Low tuition to make education affordable to students from modest backgrounds. Mount Holyoke's was $60 a year.

 

In 1987, to commemorate the sesquecentennial of MHC, a Mary Lyon stamp was issued by the US Postal service. On the first day of issue, several kinds of envelopes were stamped and postmarked with the new stamp. All covers on this page were postmarked Feb 28, 1987 in South Hadley with a "First day of issue" postmark, and have a 2-cent Mary Lyon stamp on them, unless otherwise noted. 

What woman or women in history do you appreciate the most and why?

What's Goin' On - It's a Snow Day!

I love snow days. Some of my co-teachers don't like snow days because it means we have days to make up at the end of the school year. I don't mind getting up and going to work in good weather, so a few extra days of school tacked on in June doesn't bother me one bit.

It's really pretty out there but I still have a lot to do to get the house ready for my mother's visit. I'm actually enjoying the domesticity of it all. At this stage in my life, I much prefer the domesticity thing to the student thing.

As some of you know, I've embarked on a journey through "higher education" to try and obtain a masters in education, with emphasis in special education, including a additional teaching license. In Massachusetts, they aren't cutting anyone any slack. And did I mention it's expensive? And why did I not suspect more strongly that the quality of this education would be mediocre? The classes are all at night and and in the summer. I don't mean to be a snob, as I was educated exclusively by public education and I work for the public school system. However, the quality of the instruction for night classes is fairly pathetic. Sigh. So I'm re-thinking if I want to continue pursuing this. I have a job and I'm not sure that the pay-off is worth what I will get back. What it would mean is that I would have more options outside my own school district. Hopefully at a slightly larger school with better resources.

The state of Massachusetts can more than afford to make the requirements stiffer. I don't know what the statistics are, exactly, but there is a very large pool of people wanting to enter the field of education right now including unemployed career-changers. Those who are already teaching, are swarming to update licenses and to obtain additional licenses that make them more flexible to their school districts.

I have a snow day from school to experience. What am I doing talking about school? 

 I haven't been taking many pictures for months now but I do have this one to share from last winter and it looks much like today. This one's from January of this year and there is a lot more snow on the bushes. Today we got 6-8 inches, I'm guessing. I haven't listened to a radio or turned on a TV today. I haven't had lunch yet. There is some Chinese take-out from last night for lunch. And then it's back to domesticville. I like the look of the snow from the cozy house.

Over the weekend I accomplished what seemed like an overwhelming task until I really tackled it:  cleaning out a closet in the upstairs bedroom with the remains of four teen-age girls. Wait. No. It's not that gruesome. It's really about objects from the past lives of four young women:  my two, who are 22 and almost 21 and WP's two who are 25 and 27. The only one of them now who keeps an address here is my younger SG2 who a junior in college in Boston.

Several phone calls were made and some determinations were made about what would be saved and what would be throw out or donated. When all is said and done, I took out of the closet (and from a couple of drawers) two large bags of trash and three large bags for Sal's. I reclaimed the closet. It's neat and clean and organized. I made room for my suitcases, which are always being shuffled about. The room itself looks really good. It's so 1950's with its built-ins, painted light yellow. And oh the charm of a hardwood floor that a teenager once took red permanent marker to, circa 1999. It's mostly covered up with a rug. When I whine about it, WP tells me "put it on this list" and sighs. The list grows ever longer. Sigh indeed.

Among the things remaining in that closet, one thing strikes me most:  the two wedding gowns; the ones my daughter and daughter-in-law wore on their wedding day when they up and eloped to San Francisco to take advantage of their right to marry. It was a right that was to last only a few short months in California but their marriage is legal, even after the passage of Prop 8. It was mind-boggling the planning they had to do in advance to make the decision to marry when they did. For practical and legal reasons, they had to marry in California and they knew that there would be a small window before they took it away again. So when people comment that my twenty-two-year-old is too young to be married, she responds politely with "so people tell me" and smiles. So do I. Although I did think she was too young to get married. And a year later, I fully understand. She's happy, she is working hard for Americorps and she's putting her ducks in a row for graduate school. And she's married. To a wonderful young woman - my fifth daughter, really.  That makes me smile. Girls. Girls. Girls. I love it.

WP's oldest, M lives in San Francisco and early this summer, so early this summer, I fly to Santa Barbara to spend time with SG1 and the Beloved and then flying to San Francisco to visit WP's daughter. Two birds on the west coast and two on the east coast. So Far.

SG2 is flying the nest more slowly. Given her nature since babyhood, I am not surprised. She struggles with college sometimes in that she is at a big university and things have a tendency to get boggled more as a result. She's not sure if she wants to be a journalist now and she is considering a master's in another field. She is an excellent, talented writer but if she is going to have any financial autonomy, she has to put her skills to use and be able to support herself. She loves Boston and she's made some very close friends there. Her boyfriend since September is a BU student as well and plans on sticking around. Another child to fly away soon. And you never stop worrying about any of them. We are very fortunate, though. We worry because it is the nature of parents to do so but we thankfully don't have much to seriously worry about with this bunch. I am always grateful for this.

SG2 relaxing outside the MFA

I will leave you with another photo from a wintry last year. I did speak of birds and nests, didn't I?  ;-)

If you're interested, the post below is on America artist Milton Avery. Tell me which is your favorite!

What's Goin' On (Long Post With Good Pictures)

Hello, all

One of my classes is over - the grueling one. The other continues into January but with only that one to concentrate on, I think I will have more time for other things such as spending extra time with my family for the holidays, interests and blogging. Family stuff will predominate a couple of weeks into December. My mother is currently in the states with my brother and his family and will join us at our home mid-December and through Christmas. Challenges abound but nothing I can't handle if I make it a priority. I wish I could have been that rational about it last week. Everything caught up with me after weeks of being sick and overwhelmed.

Last week was quite a ride, as things escalate into the holidays at my dysfunctional place of employment. I wrote a post about it but the snark level left a bitter taste in my mouth and I decided not to press the publish button. Too bad my soul can't handle snark. It's always my best writing! ;-)

Whenever I have a moment, I sit down at the ancient laptop and look further into artists from the file labeled look into. I have amassed so many images that the external hard-drive is already full and I'm looking into what to do for extra space. One of my main art preoccupations right now is learning about women artists and their lives. But when I do searches, I invariably find a whole bunch of other interesting art tidbits and I feel like a kid in a candy shop!

My knowledge of artists and art history is growing by leaps and bounds. It's been a long time since I felt this stimulated by any one interest and it makes me feel great.

With so many gorgeous and interesting images in my files, I felt I needed an online space to keep track of my favorites; a place I can revisit to find how I've categorized each image. I created a daily art diary called Give Us This Day (Our Daily Painting). This blog's header has something in common with The Pagan Sphinx header in that both display images of oil paintings hung in the same museum:  The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Nymphs and Satyrs by William Bougeareau and Young Christian Girl by Paul Gaugin. Two very different styles by two very different painters but both with personal meaning for me, since I've seen them both so many times, up-close and personal, and always surrounded by people I love. Well. Except once when I was dating after my separation from my ex- husband - ironically that was my worse date, ever. :-D  I will spare you. Suffice it to say that the man intensely disliked and openly criticized every piece of art his gaze fell upon. It was not clear whether he fancied himself an educated critic or if he just didn't like art. Any way ya look at it - Mr. Wrong. Besides, I don't like pony-bead necklaces on men!  :-D  Listen, I really did spare you the details, okay?  ;-)

Give Us This Day

If you click on the Paul Gaugin image, it will take you to my daily art diary. I don't have time to write any personal thoughts on the paintings or vignettes to accompany each, but there are some really beautiful paintings posted there already, with basic information such as one would get on a visit to a real museum. You don't have to comment, though you can. But Blogger does this thing to me that really buggers up my blogging:  I am frequently unable to leave comments with my google ID. In  the case of Give Us, I am unable to leave comments on my own blog. So. My friend Linda of Vulture Peak Muse has left some lovely comments and it makes me happy that she enjoys visiting. 83% Happy. That's one of my post tags. I should tell you the entire meaning behind that in a post one day, though I think a couple of people have caught on to that already! Sorry about my esoteric qualities. I'm basically a shy, private person and I am continuously frustrated by my inability to write a personal story well. I can to satisfy myself. I guess that will have to do!     :-)

I took a path there. And I am now about to return to an earlier thread in this post. Classes. I'm having a time of it getting used to being an older student. What seems to be bugging me the most is the way that three out of three instructors I've had thus far fail to understand at times that they are teaching adults. My classes primarily consit of post-bachloriate students or masters level students seeking alternate teaching licenses. My first instructor looked at me with a sad face once and said in almost a whisper:  "you're giving me a headache". Okay, lady.  The other one verbally chewed the head off of a student who was feeling a tad frustrated - with him and for good reason. I may just finish off my current course and use the ones I've completed as padding for my resume and to indicate that I've upgraded my teaching skills. And. Call It a Day. This idea calms me. Sigh. Since I discovered the benefits of staying calm and peaceful, I tend to eschew all the rattle. Except, of course as it applies to Shake Rattle and Roll. I still love my rock music and at times, I like it really loud. And beautifully written and interpreted folk songs. These are among the things that keep me going.

The state of the world? I'm tuning out. A loud rattle. It makes my head hurt. I have no emotional or mental space for it at the time being. My neighbors in Maine voted against marriage equality. I'll just drive through on my way to Nova Scotia, thank you. A gourmet picnic lunch or two is being planned already for next summer, so we don't have to spend money in Maine. See, I still care. It's just that I have to be selective.  ;-)

My daughter (SG1) and daughter-in-law  (The Beloved) on their wedding day, outside of San Francisco City Hall. They celebrated their one year anniversary on October 28, 2009. 

Look soon for an Artist of the Week post on the work of French artist and painter's model, Suzanne Valadon. 

Suzanne Valadon

Another gem of an artist I've discovered is Canadian Emily Carr.  As always click on images to enjoy extra voluptuousness.

I apologize for the lack of rhyme or reason to the posts. The feature Artist of the Week is more like "artist of the month" and I've let some of the others go by the wayside as well. I saw some beautiful paintings of animals on a recent museum visit and wanted to share some for the Art Animalia posts. There is just not enough time to amuse myself! 

 It's a photo I took of a painting at the museum of British Art at Yale University. I think the artist is Stubbs - sounds like a proper English name to me!


And because I don't post  my photographs on The Pagan Sphinx nearly enough, here is one I took earlier this Fall on a day trip to Vermont.

See you 'round the blogosphere.
Love,
Pagan Sphinx

Taking Time Off From Blogging and Other Ruminations

Greetings from Pagan Sphinx land. The heart and soul I put into my art posts needed a bit of nourishment today, so I'm coming by to say hello and tell you how it's going. In a word, my studies are rather dry. One is reading instruction related, the other math related ( oh, joy).  The way I'm accustomed to working with children when it comes to pre-reading, emergent and early reading goes entirely out the window while taking courses to help the deficient reader. Out goes the fun of bringing a story to life through drama, art and the sheer joy of enjoying a great story and its illustrations while lying on the floor with little ones' hands on their chins as they are held mesmerized. If I become a special education teacher, I will have to find more fun ways of teaching reading that still get the skills in or I fear I shall wither and die along with my students. And there-in the problem lies for me. And if regular public education weren't standardized and boring enough, special education is twice as much so.

Why I am doing this, you ask? I'm doing it for the kids who are falling further and further behind so that one day they may be able to enjoy reading and learning on their own terms and not just to satisfy a bar imposed on them by the bureaucracy that is public education.

I'm doing it for myself, too. I'm trying to conquer my fear of the public education machine. Suffice it to say that I have to stay in public education because to go back to private-non-profit would mean working for a stipend. Been there, done that and flat broke. For those of you who are unfamiliar with education, yes, there is in fact another sphere of education where the pay is even less than the public school system.

I've strayed far-off!  One of my classes is not too bad. The other is gruel with sop ( I did mention rumination. Sorry.) I have gruel with sop twice a week and I have to drive over an hour to get it. It's a long story and going any further about it, will only make it likely that I will break out in hives.

 

I have a new avatar (above) Not that you'll be seeing it much, since I'll be blogging hardly at all for the next couple of months, as some of you who read my last post  know. It's a detail from a painting by Surrealist Leonor Fini.

  

I am smitten!

There is another surrealist by the name of Remedios Varo who has really caught my fancy, as well. I wish I had time to compose an image-laden post on her work but as it is, I'm already taking liberties with my limited by time by putting this out to share with you.

But I'm glad I did.  :-)

All the love,

Ms. Sphinx

Remedios Varo

And here is Music for Sunday:  Suzanne Vega's song Ironbound.

I Don Wanna Grow Up

My poor little head is really spinning off its axle now, folks! I just today (in fact, the call woke me up before 9:00 a.m. on my vacation week; which has not exactly been my idea of a vacation; but more on that another time) got the low-down on the graduate certificate program in special education that I'm about to enroll in...tah dah...this summer! I will have July 9 through August 10 off. Cramming two courses into approximately 20 days. Oh, Joy.

I really need to conjure up a positive attitude for this, because as for right this minute I'm dreading it. I'm being a resentful baby. I know I"m way too young to retire (even though there are only about four strands of dark hair on my silver head) and yet at almost 50, I want to. Not because I feel old but because I'm still young! I think you follow my logic.

I just need to get this off my chest in one post before I move forward and sink my teeth into this new experience. Maybe it will be interesting. Maybe it will lead to a more rewarding career. It will definitely lead to more money; which I need to earn more of. Most importantly it will lead to freedom from the current confines of the school that employs me. Perk! There we go, I'm on my way to a more positive attitude!

Meanwhile, this song just about sums up how I feel. Sorry, friends, I'm too old and jaded for the Disney version. ;-)

Good News!

Our family has been agonizing over where SG1 and her wife, The Beloved would wind up living after graduation from Mount Holyoke in May, 2009.

The worries have been many: my daughter and her fiance were married in California just a few days prior to the passage of Prop 8. Her wife, S.W. aka "The Beloved" is a CA citizen who has been studying at Mount Holyoke for four years along-side my daughter. The couple had decided that SG2 will take a one-year break before graduate school to mentally adjust to the challenge of applying to a joint Masters/Phd program. S.W. went ahead and applied to several universities in the state of Calfornia, her first choice being UC-Santa Barbara.

Their marriage is now considered invalid, which presents several challenges, not the least of them is graduate housing for couples as well as health insurance. SG1 is a bipolar individual who can only do well when on the correct medications - especially in light of the path she has chosen of pursuing academics the way she has. We've worried about housing options for our daughter and DIL, about whether SG1 will be able to find employment for a year before enrolling in her own Masters/Phd program.

Today, S.W. , who just returned from a visit to her parents home in Sacramento yesterday, recieved the excellent news that she'd been accepted to UC-Santa Barbara, in the newly created Department of Feminist Studies! The couple is giddy beyond belief. One hurtle has been mastered on the way to their west coast future!

I'm so incredibly happy for S.W. She's a brilliant, loving young woman who adores my daughter and strives to make her happy. I feel very proud and lucky to have her as my daughter-in-law.

There are still more hoops to jump through, though at least they know exactly where they're moving; assuming the university offers S.W. a good package. We're keeping our fingers crossed while awaiting the details.

By the way it's 61ºF / 16ºC, right now. The weather there will suit SG1 very, very well!

My lovely daughter-in-law