Ms. Mariner's Blog on JAMM'n Peaches Response (Q1, Homework1)

JAMM'n Peaches: May 2013

We lived in Grand Junction, Colorado, at the juncture of the Grand and Colorado Rivers.  Just East of town is the town of Palisade; just west of town is Fruita.

Our rental house, about 1500 square feet of damp stucco and thin pine floorboards from the 1920's, sported a flower garden.  When I moved in, I didn't pay much attention to plants; after all, I killed most of the houseplants that I had ever owned.  First bloomed the Peonies.  Each large lacy fluffy light pink billow was so fragrant that the scent of one in a simple spherical bowl would fill the house.  Different flowers bloomed in succession until the roses, the many roses, bloomed. The wirey and pokey stalks of plumes spread across the yard in wild wonder, blissfully taking over all the play area.  Our neighbor, Barbara, a proud nonagenarian, leaned over the fence; "I have some clippers you could borrow for those rose bushes," she said.  I smiled, knowing that if I did anything to these plants then surely they would die.

One morning, I found the clippers and some gloves on a table in our back yard.  I began using the clippers more like a sythe on the rose bushes so the size of our yard would be increased, allowing for more play space. Later that day, I returned the clippers to Barbara and thanked her. She smiled and gently said, "You know, if you cut the roses at an angle five leaves below the last bloom, then your roses would blossom again."  I smiled back, knowing that I could not have cared less about the roses.

It was only 2 weeks later when I found myself cutting the roses as she had recommended, and not even a month later when our world became filled with Elizabeth, Sunrise, Blood Orange, and Pink Beauty roses.

And so it went with peaches.  Bushels appeared on my porch from well-meaning friends.  "Surplus," they said, "From the orchards in Palisade and Fruita. Can them."  I smiled, knowing that I didn't like peaches and liked cooking even less. Clearly, the peaches would rot.

It was barely 10 days before the lids of my first set of Jammin' Peaches began making friendly popping noises as the peaches cooled inside the pint glass jars.

But it is the smell of the roses and the thick air of boiling peaches that keeps me returning, in my mind, to our damp stucco home in Grand Junction. It is the smell of surprise, of change, of adaptation and the smell of comfort.

GA2
I really like how the dynamic of the cutting the roses at an angle five leaves after the last bloom and how it made a difference in the rose bushes. It made them look more elegant and fuller. I like how this idea of roses lead to the peaches. This blog post shows a good idea of how one idea can lead to another even when you don't really enjoy doing what it is, but it still comes out to a great product just like in math class.

I approach mathematics in a simple way. I try not to think to hard about it or I become frustrated. I use my notes to help me also. I like math, it is sometimes challenging and easy. I like math because I like the puzzles it brings forth to my everyday life. I learn math the best by doing the beginning of the chapter/sub-chapter on the board in class while taking notes. My best math experience is whenever I receive a good grade on my math tests, An effective learning tactic for me is taking notes while a teacher is writing down key parts of the chapter/sub-chapter in the classroom.