Thursday, March 6, 2025

Thursday, March 6, 2025

   I slept straight through to 6:30 again and could have curled up and put in another half hour, at least. I fed Elsa first and then went for a walk without doing my usual yoga exercises. After that walk, I needed a nap. I'm not sure what's going on. It may just be the vog, which drains us of energy. I consider myself lucky that I don't have a chronic respiratory problem. Those who do have it rough.

   I found a solution to the ants swarming Elsa's food. I tried every ant treatment I could find, but nothing worked. Then, I left a few kernels on the floor near the food bowl. Perfect! The ants swarm those kernels and leave the food in her bowl alone.

   Other than the victory in my battle with the ants, it was one hell of a day.  I had an appointment with my account.  I had everything organized. Giving her the information was trivial.  I told her I had a tenant. Should I report it? It's a complicated and relatively expensive procedure.  Not claiming the tutoring money is one thing.  I charge on a sliding scale, so I don't earn much and do a lot for free. I still earn some money. I have enough that denying the government funds doesn't seem right. It's just laziness. I have to get myself down to Captain Cook to some hole-in-the-wall office to start the procedure with the State Tax Office.

   Kitty, my accountant, was trying to explain it to me. I wasn't on the ball and was frustrated and scared by the procedure. I couldn't figure out how much I would owe the government—a considerable amount. I frustrated and annoyed Kitty. It wasn't the usual light-hearted exchange we share. Actually, when I entered the room, I sensed she was tense. Her energy wasn't relaxed and friendly, and then I stressed her.

   My appointment with Kitty was at 1 p.m., and I had to be at Ulu Wini at 2:30. Since I was through with the tax appointment by 1:30, I had an hour to kill. I drove to the beach at Old A. Old A is the original airport's location on the Big Island's west side. It couldn't accommodate anything bigger than a puddle jumper.

  I drove to the far end, where Roge leads the Chi Qigong sessions on Thursday morning. I could attend the classes, but I haven't so far. I prefer the old location, the first beach. The first has an intimate quality, while the last beach reminds me of Jones Beach's wide open spaces. None of the beaches are suitable for swimming. The shoreline is uneven rock cropping.  You could get yourself killed being smashed into that with a big wave.

  Jean called while I was sitting at a picnic bench enjoying the view. This was the only time the two of us had today.  I returned to the car, and we did our water meditation and talked for a few minutes.

   Then, I drove up to Ulu Wini. The school bus dropping off the kids had already arrived. I went to the table Shauntel set up for me by the boys' bathroom. It wasn't a great location today because it was raining. Half the table was getting wet, so I had to move my papers out.

Shauntel offered to set up a table under the main overhang. I accepted, but boy, was it ever noisy.

    I had second-grade JM first. She reads fluently; she was always good at word recognition.  Her problem is comprehension, and it is profound. She and most of the children lack basic information, certainly in English and maybe in their language.  There's no need for all those words in their communities.  They live simply in groups of less than 100. They live close to the land. Why would they need all those words? Today, she didn't know what gold was. I told Joseph about it. He told me that in the Marshallese community, a well-to-do man has a big rock, as big as a good-sized bureau. It is a symbol of his wealth. I don't know how someone acquires this rock. The stone isn't valuable; it's just hard to move.

   Next, I had a new student, third-grade AL. I know she's a 'bright' child with good language skills and good understanding.  I could see her problem after she had read half a sentence. She had problems with recall. Then, I had to figure out why.  Sadly, she was defensive, and  I had trouble determining the cause of her recall problem. She evaded my inquiry. She was uncomfortable with my instructions to follow my BrainManagementSkills procedures. She was uncomfortable with the unfamiliar.  

     I figured out that she loses letters. When I asked her to visualize the word were and then name the letters, she lost the w. She had no trouble naming the letters in sequence. I was introduced to the Neuro-Linguistic Program protocol in my fifties.  You embed the image of a word in your visual short-term memory and then name the letters backward, reading them from your image. I had her do it with short words with a maximum of three letters. I had her pick longer words for me.  I had to visualize the words and read them backward. Doing so increases the short-term visual capacity to hold the letters in mind. I can recite my full name backward, Elizabeth. AL responded well when I was the one challenged. She could see that as a game. It may be as effective as her doing it if she is fear-free.  

   Last, I had a third-grade PL. She was the immature one with a runny nose and allergies. I told her she had to read at least two stories. They were the Carpenter stories, designed for emergent readers. She had trouble with the second story, which features the—ad word family, and the third, the—ag family. She couldn't hold on to the pattern. I have my work cut out for me.