Ruth Thorsen - Noah's Archipelago

Ginger-boardwalk

February 7, 2024December 22, 2022 by Pyra Draculea

Noah, Ruth, and Ursula are in the kitchen/dining room making gingerbread houses... well, Ruth made a gingerbread house, Ursula made a gingerbread church, and Noah is putting the finishing frosting touches on a gingerbread Coney Island covering the entire dining table, complete with midway, Ferris wheel, carousel, and candy cane rollercoaster. Noah is licking his lips and thinking, "Almost finished my gingerbread masterpiece: Candy Cane-y Island... Now to protect it from being devoured by Ruth and the kids." Meanwhile Ruth is scowling and thinking, "Guess we're eating in the living room for a while..." and Ursula is glaring at Noah and thinking "Show off!"

Noah goes overboard with the gingerbread… why build a house when you can build Coney Island? Er, “Cane-y Island”.

Girl Viking Stuff

February 7, 2024December 16, 2022 by Pyra Draculea

After lunch, Ursula is leaning on the kitchen island, sulking and Noah tells her, "Alright, little Viking: your mom's gonna teach you important girl Viking stuff." Wary, Ursula asks, "Like what?" Noah replies, "Dunno. Go find out." Ursula finds Ruth in her craft room, standing in front of a vertical loom. Ruth asks Ursula, "Did you get all the way to England yet?" Ursula replies, "Nope! I hate rowing." Ruth smiles and says, "Well, Ursula, in Viking times, girls didn't go raiding, so no rowing." Furious, Ursula shakes her fists and says, "Wait, what?!? I didn't have to row? I could have been watching cartoons instead?" Ruth smiles and says, "No, there were no cartoons then. You'd do chores instead: cooking, cleaning, tending to animals, gathering firewood... and in your spare time, spinning and weaving." Ursula groans and Ruth says, "Isn't Viking homeschool fun?"

Ruth gets in on the homeschooling, despite her earlier hesitations. PS: I’ve been told that actually women did raid in Viking times. On the other hand, I’ve seen talks from experts saying that women stayed home during the raids and wouldn’t come til settlements were being established. Still other sources said women participated in … Read moreGirl Viking Stuff

360 Miles

February 7, 2024December 10, 2022 by Pyra Draculea

Noah and Ruth are in bed and Ruth is furious, snarling at Noah, "I can't believe you told Ursula you'd homeschool her!" Noah smiles and tells Ruth, "No, I said we'd do a trial run over Christmas." Ruth yells, "Noah!" Nonplussed, Noah continues, "She wants to learn about Vikings. Did you know the rowing distance from Denmark to England is 360 miles?" Not following Noah's train of thought, Ruth snaps back, "So?" And Noah grins and tells her, "So I ordered a rowing machine. One with a real water resistance mechanism." Ruth growls, "What's that got to do with Ursula's education?" Noah replies, "Oh, there will be lessons learned."

Ruth catches wind of the homeschooling scheme, but doesn’t quite get Noah‘s plan yet. In other news, I guess that’s one way to sneak a fancy new rowing machine past your wife’s budget defences.

Ruth’s Christmas Book List

February 7, 2024December 1, 2022 by Pyra Draculea

Ursula is with her mom in a bookstore, standing in front of the New Releases display, which is loaded with new rock star autobiographies including "Surrender" by Bono, "Biblical" by Rob Halford, "The Lives of Brian" by Brian Johnson, "The Storyteller" by Dave Grohl, "A Book of Days" by Patti Smith, and Ann & Nancy Wilson's "Kicking & Dreaming." Clearly fed up with being dragged around to the shops, Ursula sticks her tongue out and scrunches her face up and whines, "Ugh... we've been here for hours!" Ruth, annoyed, retorts, "We've been here for 20 minutes, Ursula. And we'll go as soon as I get everything on my present list." (She holds a very long "Xmas List".) Without missing a beat, Ursula continues, "Ugh... we'll be here for hours!"

Ursula’s had it with shopping and I’ve had it with drawing shelves full of books… also, today I learned how similar all the rock star memoir covers look.