Why is it that 4-H fair week always happens to be the hottest week of the year? OK, maybe not always. But hyperbole is easier to use than precision. Who wants to say “often one of the weeks in which the sun shines more often than the rain falls and the temperature rises to the mid-90s like it does at least five times a summer”? In the county where I was working last year, it certainly seemed like the hottest week of the summer, if not the decade. The sun beat down on the animal barns, baking the poor chickens and grilling the hogs. I was never so glad I was not a hog. Those things can’t sweat! And for all that, they don’t even lose the awful smell of body odor. But the 4-H’ers who have to stick it out under the hot sun to care for their animals? Kudos to them. (And to their longsuffering parents.) Although I was in 4-H, my home in the suburbs wasn’t allowed to play host to farm animals. No goats for me. So I had the enviable position of displaying sewing and cooking projects at the fa...

Ross Douthat wrote a fascinating column for the NYT yesterday called “ The Roots of White Anxiety ,” in which he explored how the admissions process at elite private universities, aided by affirmative-action policies, tends to make white, working-class students a minority in those theoretically diverse student bodies. Nieli highlights one of the study’s more remarkable findings: while most extracurricular activities increase your odds of admission to an elite school, holding a leadership role or winning awards in organizations like high school R.O.T.C., 4-H clubs and Future Farmers of America actually works against your chances. Consciously or unconsciously, the gatekeepers of elite education seem to incline against candidates who seem too stereotypically rural or right-wing or “Red America.” Maybe it’s best that I didn’t bother applying to Harvard. I was president, secretary, and news reporter for several years in my local 4-H club, and was secretary for a couple years in the coun...

My sister mentioned today at supper that it finally rained last night. I told her I hadn't heard it. Next thing I knew, she was staring at me wide-eyed. Apparently, she conversed with me last night, after it had started raining. It went something like this: "Sarah... where's your weather radio?" Me: "The crank one or the plug-in one?" "The crank one." Me: "I dunno." (Then she felt her way around for my normal plug-in radio, which also receives weather signals.) (She turned the light on then, but decided it would probably be too bright for me, so turned it back off. She says she was surprised that I didn't say anything.) "Sarah, where's your flashlight?" "Sarah.... where's your flashlight?" "Hey Sarah, where's your flashlight?" "Where's your flashlight, Sarah?" "Sarah, I can't find your flashlight in the normal spot... where is it?" "Hey, where's your fl...

Sunday night: church. Pretty much self-explanatory, but it was really interesting. All about beginning anthropology. Monday night: 4-H public speaking contest. I didn't compete this year, but my sister did; instead I helped announce a couple of the sections. Tuesday night: 4-H demonstration meeting for my club. We always do one a year, at which everyone demonstrates something-or-other about their project for five to eight minutes each. Not bad, really. We had ice cream and cookies afterwards, too. Wednesday night: youth group. Good stuff. Played fire-and-ice (or knockout, whichever) afterwards; of course, I was out first time every time. :-P Thursday night: babysat three children, all under the age of seven, for several hours. I must have played ring-around-the-rosey ten times, not to mention the walk we took and all the other stuff. 'Twas a lot of fun though, even if tiring. Friday night: finished up my long essay for homeschool. (Well, it's supposed to be for h...

Ho-hum. I'm relaxing after about two-and-a-half hours at a sort of health fair at a local high school. I helped out at one booth - in fact, the booth with two (sometimes three) pairs of FATAL VISION goggles. You know, the ones you wear to find out what it feels like to be drunk. I got to lead one gaggle of kids for about two hours, one after another, in walking down a line and maneuvering around three cones. Worked pretty well, though it was really hot in that gym. (Oh yeah, I helped out because I am part of a 4-H group that does this every month.) Last night, however, was boring. Attended another monthly 4-H meeting for the county, spent two hours stuffing bags with literature for a mock crash, and paying little attention to the mindless babbling around me. It got old.............. I mean, imagine people playing with their cell phones and talking about the most trivial things! And not in an interesting manner. Sometimes trivial things are fascinating, but not this time.