We visited a sunflower farm on Sunday. What looked like miles of sunflowers greeted our eyes when we walked in. There were also beds of mums, zinnias, and assorted flowers. It turned a cloudy, overcast Sunday into a brighter day.
I have small hands. They are small but strong- they are good at baking and rolling out dough, they know how to embroider, crochet and knit. They strum and pluck the strings on the guitar, they play the piano, they are always there to give a pat or to hold. I use them to create letters and words in Sign Language, when they become tools of speech.
I love you in American Sign Language
As I have aged they have become more and more riddled with what my grandmother called “liver spots” from all those years of taking the sun. They have always been wrinkled, it bothered me when I was in my 20’s, but now I have grown into them. The veins stand out prominently and I was told once that they looked like “working hands” which I took as a compliment though that is not how it was intended.
My palms have an inordinate amount of wrinkles- far more than any of my friends.
When I was in my twenties I had my palm read. When the Palm Reader turned my hand over she did not utter a word. I asked her what it meant that my palm was so lined. She looked up at me and replied, “It is because you have lived many lives my dear.” She then went on to tell me what my palm told her about who I was, and was spot on about many things, without having asked me any questions about myself beforehand. Years later I read that the cause of an overly wrinkled palm could come from clenching the fists very tightly while in the womb- but I prefer to stick with what the Palm Reader told me those many years ago.
Here’s the question:
What do you believe, when it comes to people’s traits and personalities? Are they primarily formed and shaped by nature or by nurture?
What about your personality? Nature or nurture? Please elaborate.
I think people are born with certain traits, that possibly through nurturing or the lack thereof can change. I do believe each of us is “wired” in a certain way, and there is little that can be done about changing the wiring. I have often thought about the traits I was born with, inherited from my parents. My mother and father were both type A, and quick to anger. My mother not an emotional person, my father emotional. I have always felt I’m more like my father, but am high strung and nervous, inherited from both.
My sister and I born from the same parents, couldn’t be more different. We do carry some of the same traits; attention to detail, organized, neat. You may say that is nurture not nature, but I think it is a combination of both. Yes, it is learned behavior, we grew up in an organized, neat home with a mother who made lists and planned ahead. But I believe it is also how I am wired. My mind works in an orderly fashion. Emotionally my sister and I are not the same. I am an open book, a sharer, a giver, flexible. She is closed, private, unbending, inflexible. It has always been that way from the time we were children. She has a great amount of drive, willing to accept a challenge, seeking to achieve. I am none of those things.
I am sensitive and quick to cry, quick to anger, and have always lacked self confidence. I do believe my sensitive nature is something I was born with, however, I also feel if I had been encouraged more as a child rather than discouraged by my mother (I know, it’s always the mother’s fault) and given more positive feedback than negative it is quite possible I would have been more likely to want to achieve more. That is where I believe the nurturing comes in and can make a difference. My wiring won’t change, I have been forever nervous and high strung, but my ability to work through it might have been different.
The seasons seem to have changed over the years, now it is the end of September but the trees are all still green, and the temps are in the 80’s. Here are some captures from years past, when the trees did finally begin to change color.
I am not a bug person, most bugs make my skin crawl. I do love dragonflies, and bees don’t bother me. I don’t know if butterflies are considered bugs, but I have included some anyway!
For the challenge hosted by Granny Shot It
I work as an assistant teacher in four 3rd grade classes. Three of the teachers I work with are in their 30’s, one is in her late 50’s. Learning to write “script” or what is now called “cursive” is part of the curriculum. Last year there was an ongoing debate between the 3 younger teachers as to why this was necessary. They saw little point in it, as kids use computers and don’t hand write all that much. They argued they won’t need it. I was on the other side of the argument, first pointing out it is still necessary to sign documents with a signature in script, and beyond that, it has been shown that learning to write in cursive improves brain development in the areas of thinking, language and working memory. Cursive handwriting stimulates brain synapses and synchronicity between the left and right hemispheres, something absent from printing and typing.
I remember learning to write script, especially in 4th grade. My teacher would instruct us to set the piece of lined paper on the desk slanted to the right, and then we would proceed to make a series of connecting ovals across the top 3 lines, and continuing down the page. I have no recollection of her telling us why we had to do this. She also made sure we held our pencils correctly, watching us to make sure we got into the proper rhythm as we made oval upon oval. Forming the letters with upswings and downswings was also taught, where to begin and where to end a letter.
This year one of the younger teachers asked if I would write the vocabulary words we will be learning for our unit on weather, in script. This way the children can begin to get used to seeing it, as they will be learning how to write it this year. I took out a few sentence strips and began writing. I did need to look at the chart posted in the classroom, as I had forgotten if some letters began on the bottom line or at the middle line. My handwriting these days has become a mixture of print and script. It took me a few words to get into the flow of writing, but once I did I was enjoying forming all those connecting letters, one to another. What’s your opinion on learning cursive these days?
An original Black & White. It popped up when I searched my photos for “bicycle” My husband as a child on his set of wheels.
I have always loved taking photos, but once I started blogging I took it to a whole new level. With the help and encouragement of other bloggers, I have to say it has become a passion of mine. I have always enjoyed bird watching, but combining my love of nature and birds with photography has truly enriched my life.
BettyLouise31 started a new challenge. It is called Animal of the Day Challenge. Please stop by and let’s support her. It would be a wonderful spot to share all the animal photos you have.
Today I have chosen our Max as the Animal of the Day. We rescued him when he was about 2 years old. He was a real character. Always trying to befriend our other dog, who was mostly not interested, but Max never gave up trying. He was a very loving dog, always wanting to please, to cuddle, to meet people. He lived to 17, gone from us 7 years this December. I still miss him.
A Day In The Life 
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