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

 A photo from Christmas of SG1 and my mother, who visited from Portugal for holidays.

One of the last photos I had an opportunity to take of SG1 at the Mount Holyoke campus, before she graduated last year.

Some time constraints have eased for me and I am able to blog with a frenzy this coming week. If you see a new post, please scroll down for what will probably be others that have been posted in close succession. They're mostly art posts, though I've been finding it fun to engage with my blog pals a bit by asking for requests such as a favorite nude for The Friday Evening Nudes and more recently, asking folks to tell me what famous artist they would want to paint their portrait. For me this is entertaining and lots of fun. I think I've lost some readers who may not really like art all that much but I guess that's the way things go as a blog evolves and eventually knows what it wants to be.

Just a note to my blog pals about what's goin' on in the life of Pagan Sphinx. Not much, really. My class ended two weeks ago and I'm awaiting my grade a bit anxiously, as the class was a ball of confusion due to an unprepared, inadequate and ambiguous instructor. There was one component of my final project that was missing due to how convoluted the last minute revisions the instructor imposed on the final assignment were. I'll try to be gracious about my final grade, if I feel it is fair but if I feel it isn't, I will certainly contest it. I palled up with three other women in the class and all three of us had the same impressions. Including that if you were a woman over 40 in that class, you remained invisible even if you stood on your head on your chair and did the splits. Oh, well.

Otherwise, I work. I come home and talk on the phone with my girls for as long as it takes for them to tell me what's on their minds. Sometimes, it is a long time before I'm done with my phoning. I'm glad they keep in touch so much.

SG1 is busy prepping for the GRE (graduate admissions exam) so that she can begin to narrow down what graduate programs she'd like to enroll in. If she is accepted to one far from Santa Barbara, it will mean a separation for her and her wife. I find it amazing that they're willing to be apart so they can both fulfill their goals. SG1 is way too goal-oriented and very clear about what she wants to accomplish to take a back seat to a partner. They both understand that and wish to help the other. Although, it won't be easy, I see this couple as being very supportive of each other and I don't doubt their ability to make things work. SG1 is interviewing for a summer position as a research assistant for a professor at UC Santa Barbara who is doing some huge study or textbook writing, I'm not sure, on constitutional law, which is one of SG1's areas of expertise. Americorps continuous to drain her with its 12 hour days and endless demands for community activities on weekends. It is a means to an end, as after two years with them, they will give her 10 grand, which will wipe out her own student loans. I wish they would give me some money to pay off my portion of her student loans. All in all, it is not much, considering that it costs around $50,000 per year to send a student through a private U.S. college or university. You either have to be rich or smart. And I'm sure you can imagine which category we fit into.

SG2 is not taking classes this semester at BU. She applied for a paid internship at the Boston Globe and got it. She's not thrilled about working the 5:30 to 1:30 am shift but she says she's learned more in a month of the internship than she has over the course of the five semesters of journalism classes she's taken. I worry about her ability to find work in print media, as newspapers are folding and cutting back jobs like crazy these days.

I am otherwise healthy and fortunate to be 83% Happy. You, my blog pals, are responsible for more than just a few percentage points of that!

This song is for my beloved family and for all of you who care enough to come here often or even every once in a while.

Graduation Photos!

SG1 and Beloved had their graduation this weekend. Graduation at Mt. Holyoke is traditionally a two-day event. On Saturday, Laurel Parade was held. If you're truly interested in the meaning of Laurel Parade at Mt. Holyoke, click this link. Otherwise, in my own words, it's an event that celebrates both the graduating class and Mary Lyon, the college's founder. Ulumi from graduating classes as far back as the 1930's join the graduates in the parade and hold their own reunion events.

Day One
Laurel Parade

The women all wear white and carry what seems to be an endless garland of laurel. Above are SG1 and Beloved that I captured during a lull in the parade, since I wasn't content to sit in one spot, but followed the paraders to their destination...

Mary Lyon's grave.

There are no speeches, just a swarm of young women in white wrapping the laurel garland around the wrought iron fence and their guests looking on and cheering. It was all quite charming.

Below, SG1 and Beloved take a break after the parade to chat and review the rest of the afternoon's agenda for the family.

But not for long, as introducitons needed to be made between their families and some fellow graduates and friends. And so of course, I had to take pictures!

Day Two The Actual Graduation:

Mount Holyoke
One Hundred Seventy-Second Commencement

Empty ampatheater seating, awaiting the graduates.

SG1 Bachelor of Arts in Politics
magna cum laude & with thesis honors

Beloved Bachelor of Arts in Gender Studies
Cum Laude & with High Thesis Honors


From the graduation we came to my house for a small get-t0gether by the river, which included Beloved's parents and younger brother. It was wonderful to meet them. They're very excellent poeple.

Below are the graduates and to the right L.P., my younge step-daughter and on the far left my SG2.

The graduates/newly weds enjoying some cake...


and poignantly looking out over the river
(poignancy courtesy of the Cunning Runt) ;-)

Related links

Address was given by Irish president Mary McAleese.

Green Commencement at Mount Holyoke College. Every graduating class has a color and the color for the MHC class of 2009 is green.

Sky Watch

Skywatch is being posted from The Pagan Sphinx this week. If you usually visit me at The Pagan's Eye for Sky Watch and you have never been here before, a warm welcome.

Skywatch is hosted by Sandy, Ivar, Wren, Fishing Guy and Louise

click to enlarge to good viewing size

This is my daughter's dorm on the campus of what will be her alma mater on Sunday, when she graduates from Mount Holyoke College. More photos to follow. I promise I won't bore you with post after post but it is indeed a very proud moment in our family. Many sacrifices have been made and much sleep lost all around but it's really quite an accomplishment for SG1.

Music for Sunday - Dinosaur Jr.

I've sneaked this in for you but please find the two photo posts of my visits to Amherst and Mount Holyoke College, below this!

I've been posting a lot about Amherst and surrounding towns of South Hadley (home of my daughter's school Mount Holyoke College) and I wanted to tie a local band to the whole thing. I thought about The Neilds who are local folk due. They're excellent. But my favorite Five College Band is Dinosaur Jr. which hatched at my alma-mater UMASS.

This is actually a prett laid back performance from frontman J Mascis and his band. You're lucky I didn't try to make you listen to one of many earspliting clips from their performances at clubs in the area.

This clip shows the campus pond and the area around it where concerts are held. This is an old one; before J Masic and I went totally grey. Dinosaur Jr. is UMASS all-over. Though the kids over there have gotten either all tatted up or very preppy clean-cut. Where's the revolutionary spirit? ;-) It's all a grand conspiracy, I tell ya!


Looks like I'm a Valley Girl for the long-haul. I can imagine all sorts of places I want to travel to. But I can't imagine not coming home to The Pioneer Valley.

Shadow Shot Sunday & Part Two of my Amherst/Mount Holyoke College Day Trip

See Part One here.

Shadow Shot Sunday is being brought you to by The Pagan Sphinx blog this week, for a change of pace.

I went down to Mount Holyoke to surprise my daughter (SG1) and DIL (The Beloved) with a visit and maybe lunch and stopped several places along the way to take pictures. But there are just too many stops and too many photographs to document them, I'll post these for Tracey's Shadow Shot meme. I eventually meandered my way down to the campus. It was like summer today. Sunny and clear and hot. The First day all week that's been really nice.


During one of my stops, I discovered I'd forgotten my cell phone and couldn't call the girls to tell them I was in the area. So went about getting lunch on North Pleasant Street.

click on all photos to enlarge to a nice size

and ate it on a bench in front of this fountain. After lunch,I continued to travel through downtown traffic and down rt. 116 to my daughter's campus to look for her, sans cell phone. But not before I stopped and snapped these photos.

Mary Lyon Hall

Iron fence shadow in front of Mary Lyon Hall on the Mount Holyoke College campus South Hadley, Massachusetts
I then came upon this festive scene. Nice but it will be like trying to find a needle in a haystack with all these kids spread out over the expansive lawn

But there they were! So I asked them to pose, which they did with ease, dontach think? :)

My girl is radiantly happy. It's spring. She turned in her thesis today and she's in love.

Thanks, Tracey from Melbourne, for hosting Shadow Shot Sunday

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

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday for October 29

What's Goin' On

Life is mostly peaceful and boring; just the way I like it. Our autumn has been spectacular with some seasonal rain but otherwise lots of sunny, warmish, blue-sky days. I've been taking a lot of pictures and otherwise enjoying my surroundings and the company I keep.

Last night we unearthed the flannel blanket, down comforter and fuzzy socks. When I awoke late this morning, warm and smugly under the blankets, I could feel the chilly morning air on my face. Something about fall that makes me happy, is this. We are determined not to use the heat until it's absolutely, truly cold. It's good that this early 1950's house is tight and well-insulated. And there is something to be said for conservation by dressing warmly instead of going straight to the thermostat.

SG1 decided some weeks ago that she would be taking a one year break before applying to graduate school; a move I whole-heatedly support. Her Beloved is currently applying to several graduate programs in California, with an almost sure shot at San Francisco State University. She's really hoping UCLA and if she is chosen, she will likely go there.

Oh, my.

My daughter going to Los Angeles? Yikes. She grew up in rural Western Massachusetts. She attends college in bucolic surroundings. Yet, I know she is well-suited to city life and will adapt. Access to public transportation will certainly free her, as she does not care to drive - at all. As in, never obtained a driver's license. Going everywhere on trains and buses will broaden he world. She will occasionally venture off to another campus for an event but otherwise is fairly well cloistered at Mount Holyoke. Well, cloistered physically but broadened intellectually to an extent that I never was in college. It's what she wants and adores. I'm happy she's realizing her dreams but also taking care of her mental health (bipolar disorder). She's ruled out law school completely and will apply to combined masters/ph.d programs in gender studies. She'll likely end up teaching at a college or university and living a faculty life.

SG2 is laboring on at Boston University and alternates between complaining she's sick of school when she's stressed or awaiting the results of an exam or paper, in which case she's always worried she's messed up somehow. But then when she's surprised that she did better than she thought (which almost always), she feels okay again about moving forward with college until graduation. She has a job which pays for sundry things, which really helps her dad and me out. Actually both girls have work-study jobs to help out.

It gets a little freaky thinking about likely more than doubling my current loans for the last three semesters of SG2's college education. Yikes.

Another installment in the Chronicles of the Empty Nest. :-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few little notes to blog friends:

Ed at Enriched Geranium: I've decided to wait until Friday to post about his band The Motor Primitives. I'm going to combine the post with The Friday Evening Nudes. Hehehehe. ;-) You'll see.

Jood at Journeys With Jood: I haven't forgotten about the cool awards you've so generously given me and that I will post about that in the next day or two.

Beth at Cup of Coffey: Ditto an your meme.

.

Here are a few photos I took today

~~~~~~~~


Corn Stalks at One End of The Green River Bridge


The Green River Timber Bin Dam


Corn Stalks Green River, Vermont


Corn Stalk Silhouette



A Sign Along The Way


You shall know the truth
And the truth shall
Make you odd.

Flannery O'Connor

Have a great week, everyone!
Peace
Wellness
Love

Mount Holyoke College

The outside of the building

Today I returned my daughter Supergirl One to her college campus to begin her senior year. Mount Holyoke has been good to us poor folk here allowing our daughter to not only receive a top-notch education, but also to live a very cushy campus life. :-)

This is not a common space. This is the double that she'll be sharing with her Beloved.

Supergirl One lovin' her new digs

View of the outside from one of the panes of the bay window

The dorm's formal living room where, doubtless, the girls are served High Tea.

(rolling eyes)

This is so far removed from anything I ever had as a college experience. I don't mean just the physical features of the college but its history and academics as well.

When SG1 and I attended an applicant's day at MHC, it was led by a student who, when discussing the dorms on campus, brought up the grandfather's clock in the formal living rooms of every dorm - "You know, just like home." Both SG1 both raised our eyebrows at each other when she said that, each perfectly understanding the other that uh, we don't have a grandfather clock nor did our grandfathers! I think I caught the clock at exactly 3:00 p.m.
What a gorgeous and delightful Sunday it was with my girl.

Supergirl One and I both wonder how many of the privileged whose children attend Mount Holyoke spend four years praying that their daughter doesn't turn into a lesbian. Ha! And a feminist, lefty lesbian costs a lot of dough to groom, doncha know! ;-)

What's goin' On

Supergirl One found a summer job. She starts work next week at what I call a Storybook Farm just over the river from my house. It's a strawberry farm, mostly but they also have cows and sell organic milk and cheese. When SG2 visited, her new boss was making cheese and already giving her pointers. She felt very comfortable with the gentleman farmer and when he told her that the whole family is into literature and writing, that was it. She'd found her niche for the summer!

Me, I'm lacking motivation. I thought that Spring and all her glory would help me lighten my step and begin all the household projects that need doing. Not a chance. I just want to play and blog and read and eat and sleep and hang out with W.P. and SG2.

Supergirl One is still at college. Today is the last day of her campus job and it's the day where I go down to Mount Holyoke and help her pack her stuff to move into the massive UMass campus for summer session. She's determined to graduate with her class of 2009, despite massive setbacks in her freshman and sophmore years due to bipolar illness and frequent hospitilizations. She'd also battled drug reactions, a severe skin rash from a virus and low blood pressure that caused her to pass out on several occasions. I'm continuously amazed, impressed and otherwise blown away by this girl's determination and intellect. Is this my kid? It's what you get when you cross a pagan sphinx with a cunning runt! hehehehe

As an aside, I know I'm boasting and that my English friends rather look down upon we Americans for it, but....SG1's semester GPA was a 3.9. No easy feat at that overly demanding elitist school. We're thrilled and proud and in the hopes of sounding humble, it has little to do with us at this point. Hell, I wanted her to go the easy route because I was concerned her illness would drain the life out of her and she wouldn't be able to do academics at that level. That girl has proven me wrong and that's what makes me so in awe of her.

I'm gearing myself up emotionally, if not in regard to cleaning and organizing my house, for my mother's visit at the end of June. My mother, for those of you who may not know, lives in Portugal. My family (including CR) who read this blog, know and understand fully how much I adore my mother; what a good relationship we now have and how much The Supergirls look forward to basking in her unconditional love - because she is good at that. There are complications, of course.

This is a case where Love can't be everything. Supergirl One, whom my regular readers know is gay and engaged to be married to a lovely young woman, is intent on telling her grandmother that she's a lesbian. SG1 wrote to me an eloquent email explaining her reasons for this. Below is an excerpt from that email:

The choice is between upsetting her [where, honestly, the onus is on her, because she is potentially the party to be behaving negatively] and acting against my own sense of dignity and pride by lying about one of the most fundamental and important aspects of my life. The latter choice also has repercussions for my relationship and the trust I share with my partner.

My own personal worry is not that my mother will be rude or angry but that she will consider this another form of Tragedy. I grew up with the various forms of Tragedy. Besides death, illness and suffering, and natural disasters, Tragedy as defined by my Portuguese family comes in the form of Alcoholism, Adultry and anything else that disgraces one's family. She will doubless be heartbroken by the news that her lovely grandaughter is a lesbian and plans on shacking up with a girl. My mother understands that gays get married. But "gays" are those other people over there somewhere in a world she doesn't understand.

My mother is 77 years old and has been through a tremendous lot. I don't want this news to put her over the top. Honestly, I have no clue as to how she will come to grips with this. Especially without my father, who died almost three years ago. Who will help her to understand? It will have to be me, of course. When SG1 gives her grandmother the news, she'll then go back to her dorm for summer session, while I sit with my mother and help her to contemplate this. I'm worried and sad and frustrated that I have to be burdened by this! My mother will doubtless blame this tragedy on either my divorce from The Supergirls' father or the bipolar disorder, or both.

To complicate things, my Portuguese is not what it used to be and certain things are just so hard to labor into translation. I have this upstanding, proud family where I am the only member of the immediate family who has divorced. It confuses me, really. We have so many nutcases in the family - depression and bipolar illness have touched the lives of several family members. But something like a same-sex relationship can put everyone over the top! WTF?

I'm projecting but with a very good scope consisting of 48 years of experience being a part of my family. We'll see what happens, but Happen it must.

Supergirl Two

This is Supergirl Two, age 19 and I, her mom, taken last summer. That girl will not let me take a candid shot of her, so the posed one will have to do. She's home all summer and as I mentioned on a previous post, looking for a job. In the fall she'll go back to Boston University as a sophmore in the journalism program of the school of communications. The 3.6 semester GPA is something we are currently celebrating. It's also a relief. The financial side of success isn't going to be pretty. But we're hoping through the concerted efforts of family that we will make it through okay.



We're still waiting to hear about Supergirl One's final grades. She'll be a senior (oh my gawd) in the fall at Mount Holyoke. Her summer schedule makes my head spin. Holy shit. She's taking a break the rest of this week, then starting her job at the college next week and until June 2 when she starts summer session classes at UMASS. She worked her tail off last summer at waitressing at a local inn and after summer session, she's taking a much-deserved break. Her Beloved will be going home to Sacramento for the summer. How those two will survive two months without each other remains to be seen. Oh, to be young and in love! Though I am concerned that her Beloved's family is not as supportive of the relationship as CR and I are. They're not disowning her for being a lesbian or anything but SG1 was a little put-off by some of their reactions. I'm hoping maybe they're still adjusting to the idea of seeing their little girl in love, regardless of sexual direction. I've been around them a lot more, since I visit them at their college and take them off campus for dinner and shopping and such. I'm hoping it's just an adjustment thang.

I'm home sick today and blogging like a mad-woman! Wait. I am a madwoman! :-)

A Slice of Life In The Happy Valley (click)

There are several of these installations spread around the Amherst College campus, which is essentially part of downtown Amherst. I took this earlier this spring while on a jaunt down to Mount Holyoke to visit Supergirl One. If you click to enlarge, you can read the messages. Other than having photographed this, I don't know much else about this series of installations. I like the message that's written on the painting of the man, so I snapped the picture.

On a somewhat related note: one of my favorite valley bands, turned famous, J Mascis and Dinosaur Jr. doing Neil Young's I've Been Waiting For You; a song off Neil's first solo album.

Loud Warning



It's only Wednesday and I'm already craving loud music. Uh-oh.