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I Want to Show You More
An Interview with Jamie Quatro
June 6, 2013 February 19, 2018 Superstition Review
Last month I had the honor of attending a reading at Changing Hands Bookstore with Jamie Quatro. Although I had already finished her entire collection, hearing Jamie read her work was beyond captivating. The energy with which she spoke exemplified the dedication and passion she has for words—using them to create a rhythm and molding them into complex stories. Jamie graciously agreed to do this interview regarding her debut collection, I Want to Show You More, via email.
Superstition Review: At the Changing Hands reading you invited author Melissa Pritchard—one of your professors from ASU—to join you. How has your relationship with Melissa contributed to the literary aesthetic that you have today?
Jamie Quatro: I enrolled in Melissa's MFA workshop with a BA from Pepperdine and an MA from the College of William and Mary, both in English. When I met Melissa, I was a Princeton PhD dropout and mother of four children under the age of eight. I was writing stories at night, after they were all in bed. I didn't know if the stories were any good. I had no idea how to edit myself, or how to submit to journals. So I was lucky to land in Melissa's workshop—I can't imagine a more supportive teacher. Melissa's emphases on social responsibility and spirituality meshed with my own aesthetic concerns. And she introduced me to the work of two poets I now call favorites: Jack Gilbert and W.S. Merwin.
S[r]: Many of the stories in your new collection deal with acts of infidelity—where your character never actually crosses a physical boundary. What is it about this type of affair that compelled you to explore it so deeply?
JQ: There's something inherently erotic about the "almost" in fiction – one can let the imagination take over when the person or thing desired is at a physical remove. To me, erotic urgency in fiction (and in life) resides not in the act itself, but in the build-up. And the longer the space between suggestion and consummation (which fulfills, but also kills, to some degree, the original desire), the more charged the prose becomes. So when a fictional affair carries the suggestion of fulfillment but is, in a physical sense, impossible to consummate, it creates a kind of electrical current on the page. When I was drafting, I found this urgency creatively propulsive. At one point, I did draft a story where my characters actually went through with the proposed meeting at Grand Central—they found the empty car, boarded the train, etc. But in the end, I decided it was best to keep them in the place of not-quite.
S[r]: I came across this Book Notes piece you wrote in largehearted boy discussing the music playlist for your collection. Your stories have a distinct lyrical cadence that drives them forward. Can you expand on the role of music in your own writing process?
JQ: My mother is a concert pianist. Growing up, I'd fall asleep listening to her practice some of the most gorgeous and difficult music ever composed: Liszt's La Campanella, Chopin's Premiere Ballade. I grew to know those pieces intimately—the phrasing, dynamics, etc. When the piano stopped—if I was still awake—I'd keep the music going in my head by changing the notes into words. I didn't realize I was doing it; the words seemed to originate in the piano. My stories often come in a similar fashion: they begin with sound or cadence, a pulse or rhythm to which I begin to attach words.
S[r]: "Ladies and Gentleman of the Pavement" took me to a place I have never been. Obviously it is an alternate reality, but on another level it deals with complex ideas including (but not limited to) resistance and redemption. Where did the idea for this intricate story come from?
JQ: I saw an image online, a distance race somewhere in Europe in which the competitors had giant crucifixes strapped to their backs. The image haunted me. Why? What was the point? If I were going to strap something to my back during a race, what would it be? It's anyone's guess how I wound up with phallic statues. Thank goodness there are also objects d'art bobbing around in the runners' moisture-wicking carriers.
S[r]: In an interview with The Center for Fiction you mentioned that you weren't thinking about a book until most of the stories were finished; yet there is a strong momentum between your stories. Can you describe the process of selecting these stories and arranging them in the order they are in now? Was that a simple or difficult task?
JQ: I agonized over the story order. I had these self-imposed parameters: start with a flash piece, to hook readers quickly and "break them in" to the voice; disrupt the expected narrative order in the linked stories; intersperse flash pieces among the longer ones; don't put stories with similar family structures side-by-side; mix surreal and traditional stories. I spread the fifteen stories on the floor and shuffled them around like puzzle pieces until I reached a kind of stasis: I couldn't move one without disrupting five others. Just before the book went to print, I decided to put "Relatives of God" last. I liked the final image: the parents looking at the children, the children glancing back. It felt both recursive and redemptive.
Now after readings, people will come up and say, "I read your last story first" or "I'm skipping around." Which is, of course, how many of us read story collections. I read the title story in Saunders' Tenth of December first, even though it's the final piece in the book, because everyone kept saying "you have to read this story." Still, the order is important to me, if only for personal aesthetic reasons. And readers who do move straight through might appreciate the time I spent agonizing.
S[r]: Although a similar underlying current propels your stories, this was one of the most stylistically diverse collections I have ever read. The differences in point of view, tense, quotation styles and chronology were refreshing and impressive. Is there anything you can't do?! What story took you the most out of your comfort zone and how did you overcome that?
JQ: "Demolition." No question. I wanted to try a Millhauser-esque "we" narration, and it proved a big challenge. And what actually happens in that story—the cave, the undressing, the kudzu—that all took me by surprise. I didn't want the ex-parishioners to go in that (deeply unsettling) direction. Alas, by the time they started going there, they were running the show entirely.
S[r]: Despite the diversity in your collection, there are several similarities between the stories involving infidelity. Many of these similar details were so beautifully subtle that I had to go back to make sure I wasn't imagining them. There is a nameless woman in an emotional affair—some stories divulge that she has been married for seventeen years; others involve her four children, a pastor and most frequently a four year-old son. Is this character indeed the same woman? If so, were these stories once part of a larger one, and how did they evolve into the collection as they are now?
JQ: Yes, they're meant to be linked: same woman, same lover, same families. My editor and I had to go through and make sure all of those details lined up. And no, they were never part of a longer work. In fact, all of the flash pieces, as well as the three short sections of "What Friends Talk About," began as poems. I was obsessed with the material and wanted to see how far I could push, how deep into the well I could go.
S[r]: On a similar note, "Georgia the Whole Time" is a prequel to "Here," and in your collection they appear out of chronological order. Which story did you write first and how did that affect your approach to the other?
JQ: "Georgia" came first, "Here" about a year later. Originally they weren't linked stories—they had different settings, family make-ups, types of cancer, names/ages/number of kids. When my editor and I began working together, we decided the two stories could, in fact, be about the same family. It took some adjusting: adding a child here, taking one away there, making sure the years added up. It was tricky. I had to do math.
S[r]: You've said before that it is important for fiction writers to explore unknown experiences. How do you balance the expectations of fiction with the expectations of family or religion?
JQ: I try not to think about expectations when I draft—moral, familial, aesthetic, or otherwise. To write with anything less than complete moral and aesthetic freedom would be a kind of suffocation. Of course one can make adjustments in the revision stage. But freedom from stricture while drafting is essential to the authentic writing life. I think of what Barry Hannah said about music, its relationship to prose: "it's ineffable. It is the highest thing you can reach for. It is beyond good and evil; that's why I don't like to attach morality or philosophy to the deepest things I feel. They're just beyond it."
S[r]: What fabulous advice. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer our questions, we look forward to seeing more from you in the future!
Literary Partners	book readings, Changing Hands Bookstore, Chopin, Fiction, Grand Central, I Want to Show You More, Jamie Quatro, Liszt, Melissa Pritchard, MFA, Pepperdine, Princeton	Leave a comment
Double Author Event: Jamie Quatro and Melissa Pritchard
March 22, 2013 April 2, 2013 Superstition Review
Award-winning authors Jamie Quatro and Melissa Pritchard visit Changing Hands Bookstore at 7 pm on Thursday March 28 with their new books, I Want To Show You More and The Odditorium, respectively.
In I Want To Show You More, Quatro shares stories of lives stretched between spirituality and sexuality in the New American South. A wife comes home with her husband to find her lover's corpse in their bed; a teenager attends a Bible Camp where he seduces a young cancer survivor with hopes of curing his own rare condition; marathon runners on a Civil War battlefield must carry phallic statues and are punished if they choose to unload their burdens; and a husband asks his wife to show him how she would make love to another man.
In The Odditorium's eight short stories, Pritchard transports readers into spine-tingling milieus that range from Robert LeRoy Ripley's "odditoriums" to the courtyard where Edgar Allan Poe once played as a child. She sets the famed figures of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, including Annie Oakley and Sitting Bull, against the real, genocidal history of the American West; contrasts the luxurious hotel where British writer Somerset Maugham stayed with the modern-day brothels of India; and illuminates the many ways history and architecture exert powerful forces upon human consciousness.
Jamie Quatro's work has appeared or is forthcoming in Tin House, McSweeney's, Oxford American, and elsewhere. A finalist for the Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction and the winner of the 2011 American Short Fiction Story Contest, she is the recipient of fellowships from Yaddo and the MacDowell Colony, and was the Georges and Anne Borchardt Scholar at the 2011 Sewanee Writers' Conference. Quatro holds graduate degrees from the College of William and Mary and Bennington College.
Author of nine books, Melissa Pritchard has received numerous awards for her fiction, including the Flannery O'Connor, Carl Sandburg and Janet Heidinger Kafka Awards and NEA and Howard Foundation Fellowships. Four of her stories have received O. Henry and Pushcart Prizes, and The Odditorium, an Oprah Pick, was one of the San Francisco Chronicle's Best Books of 2012. Her novel, Palmerino, is forthcoming in 2014. Pritchard teaches creative writing at Arizona State University.
Events	Changing Hands Bookstore, Edgar Allan Poe, I Want to Show You More, Jamie Quatro, Melissa Pritchard, Robert LeRoy Ripley, The Odditorium	2 Comments


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Alexandra Konings
Assistant Professor of Earth System Science and, by courtesy, of Geophysics & Center Fellow, by courtesy, at the Woods Institute for the Environment
Alexandra Konings leads the Remote Sensing Ecohydrology group, which studies interactions between the global carbon and water cycles. That is, her research studies how changes in hydrological conditions change ecosystems, and how this in turn feeds back to weather and climate. These interactions include studies of transpiration and root water uptake, photosynthesis, mortality, and fire processes, among others. To address these topics, the groups primarily uses the tools of model development and remote sensing (satellite) data, especially microwave remote sensing data of vegetation water content. Alex believes that a deep understanding of remote sensing techniques and how they can be used to create environmental datasets enables new opportunities for scientific insight and vice versa.
Assistant Professor, Earth System Science
Center Fellow (By courtesy), Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment
Assistant Professor (By courtesy), Geophysics
Administrative Appointments
Faculty Affiliate, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment (2016 - Present)
Assistant Professor, Stanford Department of Earth System Science (2016 - Present)
Visiting Postdoc, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (2016 - 2016)
Visiting Postdoc, Columbia University (2015 - 2016)
NASA Earth and Space Science Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2012 - 2015)
NSF Graduate Research Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2011 - 2011)
NSF Graduate Research Fellow, Duke University (2009 - 2011)
Global Environmental Change Early Career Award, AGU (2021)
Editor's Citation for Excellence in Refereeing (Geophysical Research Letters), AGU (2020)
CAREER, NSF (2020-2025)
New (Early Career) Investigator Award, NASA (2018-2021)
Group Achievement Award: AirMOSS Implementation Team, NASA (2016)
Best Doctoral Thesis Award, MIT Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (2015-2016)
Earth and Space Science Fellowship, NASA (2012-2015)
Graduate Research Fellowship, National Science Foundation (2009-2012)
James B. Duke Fellowship, Duke University (2009-2011)
Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations
Member, Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve Faculty Advisory Committee (2017 - Present)
Member, AGU Hydrology Technical Committee on Remote Sensing (2016 - Present)
Member, IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society (2010 - Present)
Member, American Geophysical Union (2008 - Present)
Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Hydrology (2015)
M.S., Duke University, Environmental Science (2011)
S.B., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Environmental Engineering Science (2009)
konings@stanford.edu
University - Faculty Department:&nbspDepartment of Earth System Science Position: Assistant Professor
Curriculum Vitae PDF
Remote Sensing Ecohydrology Group
2021-22 Courses
Citizenship in the 21st Century
COLLEGE 102 (Win)
Remote Sensing of Hydrology
CEE 260D, ESS 224 (Spr)
Independent Studies (4)
GEOPHYS 100 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum)
Directed Research
EARTHSYS 250 (Win)
ESS 400 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum)
Research in Geophysics
Biosphere-Atmosphere Interactions
EARTHSYS 123A, EARTHSYS 223, ESS 123, ESS 223 (Win)
Ecophysiology and Land Surface Processes
ESS 223 (Win)
Stanford Advisees
Doctoral Dissertation Reader (AC)
Tristan Ballard
Postdoctoral Faculty Sponsor
Meng Zhao
Doctoral Dissertation Advisor (AC)
Nathan Dadap
Master's Program Advisor
Olivia Flournoy
Doctoral (Program)
Natan Holtzman, Krishna Rao, Trent Robinett, Matthew Worden
Interannual Variations of Vegetation Optical Depth are Due to Both Water Stress and Biomass Changes GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS Konings, A. G., Holtzman, N. M., Rao, K., Xu, L., Saatchi, S. S. 2021; 48 (16)
View details for DOI 10.1029/2021GL095267
Extreme wet events as important as extreme dry events in controlling spatial patterns of vegetation greenness anomalies ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS Famiglietti, C. A., Michalak, A. M., Konings, A. G. 2021; 16 (7)
View details for DOI 10.1088/1748-9326/abfc78
Global Coordination in Plant Physiological and Rooting Strategies in Response to Water Stress GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES Liu, Y., Konings, A. G., Kennedy, D., Gentine, P. 2021; 35 (7)
View details for DOI 10.1029/2020GB006758
Global ecosystem-scale plant hydraulic traits retrieved using model-data fusion HYDROLOGY AND EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCES Liu, Y., Holtzman, N. M., Konings, A. G. 2021; 25 (5): 2399-2417
View details for DOI 10.5194/hess-25-2399-2021
Optimal model complexity for terrestrial carbon cycle prediction BIOGEOSCIENCES Famiglietti, C. A., Smallman, T., Levine, P. A., Flack-Prain, S., Quetin, G. R., Meyer, V., Parazoo, N. C., Stettz, S. G., Yang, Y., Bonal, D., Bloom, A., Williams, M., Konings, A. G. 2021; 18 (8): 2727-2754
View details for DOI 10.5194/bg-18-2727-2021
Satellite Observations of the Tropical Terrestrial Carbon Balance and Interactions With the Water Cycle During the 21st Century REVIEWS OF GEOPHYSICS Worden, J., Saatchi, S., Keller, M., Bloom, A., Liu, J., Parazoo, N., Fisher, J. B., Bowman, K., Reager, J. T., Fahy, K., Schimel, D., Fu, R., Worden, S., Yin, Y., Gentine, P., Konings, A. G., Quetin, G. R., Williams, M., Worden, H., Shi, M., Barkhordarian, A. 2021; 59 (1)
View details for DOI 10.1029/2020RG000711
Patterns of plant rehydration and growth following pulses of soil moisture availability BIOGEOSCIENCES Feldman, A. F., Gianotti, D., Konings, A. G., Gentine, P., Entekhabi, D. 2021; 18 (3): 831-847
View details for DOI 10.5194/bg-18-831-2021
Empirical estimates of regional carbon budgets imply reduced global soil heterotrophic respiration NATIONAL SCIENCE REVIEW Ciais, P., Yao, Y., Gasser, T., Baccini, A., Wang, Y., Lauerwald, R., Peng, S., Bastos, A., Li, W., Raymond, P. A., Canadell, J. G., Peters, G. P., Andres, R. J., Chang, J., Yue, C., Dolman, A., Haverd, V., Hartmann, J., Laruelle, G., Konings, A. G., King, A. W., Liu, Y., Luyssaert, S., Maignan, F., Patra, P. K., Peregon, A., Regnier, P., Pongratz, J., Poulter, B., Shvidenko, A., Valentini, R., Wang, R., Broquet, G., Yin, Y., Zscheischler, J., Guenet, B., Goll, D. S., Ballantyne, A., Yang, H., Qiu, C., Zhu, D. 2021; 8 (2)
View details for DOI 10.1093/nsr/nwaa145
Global-scale assessment and inter-comparison of recently developed/reprocessed microwave satellite vegetation optical depth products REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT Li, X., Wigneron, J., Frappart, F., Fan, L., Ciais, P., Fensholt, R., Entekhabi, D., Brandt, M., Konings, A. G., Liu, X., Wang, M., Al-Yaari, A., Moisy, C. 2021; 253
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.rse.2020.112208
L-band vegetation optical depth as an indicator of plant water potential in a temperate deciduous forest stand BIOGEOSCIENCES Holtzman, N. M., Anderegg, L. L., Kraatz, S., Mavrovic, A., Sonnentag, O., Pappas, C., Cosh, M. H., Langlois, A., Lakhankar, T., Tesser, D., Steiner, N., Colliander, A., Roy, A., Konings, A. G. 2021; 18 (2): 739-753
Leaf surface water, not plant water stress, drives diurnal variation in tropical forest canopy water content. The New phytologist Xu, X. n., Konings, A. G., Longo, M. n., Feldman, A. n., Xu, L. n., Saatchi, S. n., Wu, D. n., Wu, J. n., Moorcroft, P. n. 2021
Variation in canopy water content (CWC) that can be detected from microwave remote sensing of vegetation optical depth (VOD) has been proposed as an important measure of vegetation water stress. However, the contribution of leaf surface water (LWs ), arising from dew formation and rainfall interception, to CWC is largely unknown, particularly in tropical forests and other high-humidity ecosystems. We compared the AMSR-E VOD and CWC predicted by a plant hydro-dynamics model at four tropical sites in Brazil spanning a rainfall gradient. We assessed how LWs influenced the relationship between VOD and CWC. The analysis indicates that while CWC is strongly correlated with VOD (R2 =0.62 across all sites), LWs accounts for 61-76% of the diurnal variation in CWC despite being less than 10% of CWC. Ignoring LWs weakens the near-linear relationship between CWC and VOD and reduces the consistency in diurnal variation. The contribution of LWs to CWC variation, however, decreases at longer, seasonal to interannual, time scales. Our results demonstrate that diurnal patterns of dew formation and rainfall interception can be an important driver of diurnal variation in CWC and VOD over tropical ecosystems and therefore should be accounted for when inferring plant diurnal water stress from VOD measurements.
View details for DOI 10.1111/nph.17254
Lagged effects regulate the inter-annual variability of the tropical carbon balance BIOGEOSCIENCES Bloom, A., Bowman, K. W., Liu, J., Konings, A. G., Worden, J. R., Parazoo, N. C., Meyer, V., Reager, J. T., Worden, H. M., Jiang, Z., Quetin, G. R., Smallman, T., Exbrayat, J., Yin, Y., Saatchi, S. S., Williams, M., Schimel, D. S. 2020; 17 (24): 6393–6422
Interannual variability of ecosystem iso/anisohydry is regulated by environmental dryness. The New phytologist Wu, G., Guan, K., Li, Y., Novick, K. A., Feng, X., McDowell, N. G., Konings, A. G., Thompson, S. E., Kimball, J. S., De Kauwe, M. G., Ainsworth, E. A., Jiang, C. 2020
Plants are characterized by the iso/anisohydry continuum depending on how they regulate leaf water potential (PsiL ). However, how iso/anisohydry changes over time in response to year-to-year variations in environmental dryness and how such responses vary across different regions remains poorly characterized. We investigated how dryness, represented by aridity index, affects the interannual variability of ecosystem iso/anisohydry at the regional scale, estimated using satellite microwave vegetation optical depth (VOD) observations. This ecosystem-level analysis was further complemented with published field observations of species-level PsiL . We found different behaviors in the directionality and sensitivity of isohydricity (sigma) with respect to the interannual variation of dryness in different ecosystems. These behaviors can largely be differentiated by the average dryness of the ecosystem itself: in mesic ecosystems, sigma decreases in drier years with a higher sensitivity to dryness; in xeric ecosystems, sigma increases in drier years with a lower sensitivity to dryness. These results were supported by the species-level synthesis. Our study suggests that how plants adjust their water use across years - as revealed by their interannual variability in isohydricity - depends on the dryness of plants' living environment. This finding advances our understanding of plant responses to drought at regional scales.
SMAP Detects Soil Moisture Under Temperate Forest Canopies GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS Colliander, A., Cosh, M. H., Kelly, V. R., Kraatz, S., Bourgeau-Chavez, L., Siqueira, P., Roy, A., Konings, A. G., Holtzman, N., Misra, S., Entekhabi, D., O'Neill, P., Yueh, S. H. 2020; 47 (19)
Divergent forest sensitivity to repeated extreme droughts NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE Anderegg, W. L., Trugman, A. T., Badgley, G., Konings, A. G., Shaw, J. 2020
View details for DOI 10.1038/s41558-020-00919-1
Data-driven estimates of evapotranspiration and its controls in the Congo Basin HYDROLOGY AND EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCES Burnett, M. W., Quetin, G. R., Konings, A. G. 2020; 24 (8): 4189–4211
SAR-enhanced mapping of live fuel moisture content REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT Rao, K., Williams, A., Flefil, J., Konings, A. G. 2020; 245
Plant hydraulics accentuates the effect of atmospheric moisture stress on transpiration NATURE CLIMATE CHANGE Liu, Y., Kumar, M., Katul, G. G., Feng, X., Konings, A. G. 2020
View details for DOI 10.1038/s41558-020-0781-5
Carbon Flux Variability from a Relatively Simple Ecosystem Model with Assimilated Data is Consistent with Terrestrial Biosphere Model Estimates Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems Quetin, G. R., Bloom, A. A., Bowman, K. W., Konings, A. G. 2020; 12: e2019MS001889
View details for DOI 10.1029/2019MS001889
SMAP VALIDATION EXPERIMENT 2019-2021 (SMAPVEX19-21): DETECTION OF SOIL MOISTURE UNDER FOREST CANOPY Colliander, A., Cosh, M. H., Misra, S., Bourgeau-Chavez, L., Kelly, V., Siqueira, P., Roy, A., Lakhankar, T., Kraatz, S., Konings, A. G., Holtzman, N., Kurum, M., Entekhabi, D. L., O'Neill, P., Yueh, S. H., IEEE IEEE. 2020: 3338-3340
View details for DOI 10.1109/IGARSS39084.2020.9323889
Validation practices for satellite soil moisture retrievals: What are (the) errors? Remote Sensing of Environment Gruber, A., De Lannoy, G., Albergel, C., Al-Yaari, A., Brocca, L., Calvet, J., Colliander, A., Cosh, M., Crow, W., Dorigo, W., Draper, C., Hirshi, M., Kerr, Y., Konings, A., Lahoz, W., McColl, K., Montzka, C., Munoz-Sabater, J., Peng, J., Reichle, R., Richaume, P., Rudiger, C., Scanlon, T., Van der Schalie, R., Wigneron, J., et al 2020; 224: 111806
Satellite-based vegetation optical depth as an indicator of drought-driven tree mortality REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT Rao, K., Anderegg, W. L., Sala, A., Martinez-Vilalta, J., Konings, A. G. 2019; 227: 125–36
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.rse.2019.03.026
Global satellite-driven estimates of heterotrophic respiration BIOGEOSCIENCES Konings, A. G., Bloom, A., Liu, J., Parazoo, N. C., Schimel, D. S., Bowman, K. W. 2019; 16 (11): 2269–84
Macro to Micro: Microwave Remote Sensing of Plant Water Content for Physiology and Ecology. The New phytologist Konings, A. G., Rao, K., Steele-Dunne, S. C. 2019
Although primarily valued for their suitability for oceanographic applications and soil moisture estimation, microwave remote sensing observations are also sensitive to plant water content (Mw ). Since Mw depends on both plant water status and biomass, these observations have the potential to be useful for a range of plant drought response studies. In this paper, we introduce the principles behind microwave remote sensing observations to illustrate how they are sensitive to plant water content and discuss the relationship between landscape-scale Mw and common stand-scale metrics, including plant-scale relative water content, live fuel moisture content and leaf water potential. Lastly, we discuss how various sensor types can be leveraged for specific applications depending on the spatio-temporal resolution needed. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Physics-Based Modeling of Active and Passive Microwave Covariations Over Vegetated Surfaces IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING Jagdhuber, T., Konings, A. G., McColl, K. A., Alemohammad, S., Das, N., Montzka, C., Link, M., Akbar, R., Entekhabi, D. 2019; 57 (2): 788–802
View details for DOI 10.1109/TGRS.2018.2860630
Beyond soil water potential: An expanded view on isohydricity including land–atmosphere interactions and phenology PLANT, CELL, AND ENVIRONMENT Novick, K. A., Konings, A. G., Gentine, P. 2019; 42: 1802-1815
Over the past decade, the concept of iso/anisohydry, which describes the link between soil water potential (ΨS ), leaf water potential (ΨL ), and stomatal conductance (gS ), has soared in popularity. However, its utility has recently been questioned, and a surprising lack of coordination between the dynamics of ΨL and gS across biomes has been reported. Here, we offer a more expanded view of the isohydricity concept that considers effects of vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and leaf area index (AL ) on the apparent sensitivities of ΨL and gs to drought. After validating the model with tree and ecosystem scale data, we find that within a site, isohydricity is a strong predictor of limitations to stomatal function, though variation in VPD and leaf area, among other factors, can challenge its diagnosis. Across sites, the theory predicts that the degree of isohydricity is a good predictor of the sensitivity of gs to declining soil water in the absence of confounding effects from other drivers. However, if VPD effects are significant, they alone are sufficient to decouple the dynamics of ΨL and gs entirely. We conclude with a set of practical recommendations for future applications of the isohydricity framework within and across sites.
View details for DOI 10.1111/pce.13517
Simultaneous retrieval of global-scale vegetation optical depth, surface roughness, and soil moisture using X-band AMSR-E observations Remote Sensing of Environment Karthikeyan, L., Pan, M., Konings, A. G., Piles, M., Fernandez-Moran, R., Kumar, D. N., Wood, E. F. 2019; 234: 111473
Macro to micro: microwave remote sensing of plant water content for physiology and ecology NEW PHYTOLOGIST Konings, A. G., Rao, K., Steele-Dunne, S. C. 2019; 223: 1166-1172
Although primarily valued for their suitability for oceanographic applications and soil moisture estimation, microwave remote sensing observations are also sensitive to plant water content (Mw ). Since Mw depends on both plant water status and biomass, these observations have the potential to be useful for a range of plant drought response studies. In this paper, we introduce the principles behind microwave remote sensing observations to illustrate how they are sensitive to plant water content and discuss the relationship between landscape-scale Mw and common stand-scale metrics, including plant-scale relative water content, live fuel moisture content and leaf water potential. Lastly, we discuss how various sensor types can be leveraged for specific applications depending on the spatio-temporal resolution needed.
Satellite soil moisture observatins predict burned area in Southeast Asian peatlands ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS Dadap, N. C., Cobb, A. R., Hoyt, A. M., Harvey, C. F., Konings, A. G. 2019; 14
View details for DOI 10.1088/1748-9326/ab3891
Moisture pulse-reserve in the soil-plant continuum observed across biomes NATURE PLANTS Feldman, A. F., Gianotti, D., Konings, A. G., McColl, K. A., Akbar, R., Salvucci, G. D., Entekhabi, D. 2018; 4 (12): 1026–33
The degree to which individual pulses of available water drive plant activity across diverse biomes and climates is not well understood. It has previously only been investigated in a few dryland locations. Here, plant water uptake following pulses of surface soil moisture, an indicator for the pulse-reserve hypothesis, is investigated across South America, Africa and Australia with satellite-based estimates of surface soil and canopy water content. Our findings show that this behaviour is widespread: occurring over half of the vegetated landscapes. We estimate spatially varying soil moisture thresholds at which plant water uptake ceases, noting dependence on soil texture and proximity to the wilting point. The soil type and biome-dependent soil moisture threshold and the plant soil water uptake patterns at the scale of Earth system models allow a unique opportunity to test and improve model parameterization of vegetation function under water limitation.
Characterization of vegetation and soil scattering mechanisms across different biomes using P-band SAR polarimetry REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT Alemohammad, S., Konings, A. G., Jagdhuber, T., Moghaddam, M., Entekhabi, D. 2018: 107-117
Global-scale assessment and combination of SMAP with ASCAT (active) and AMSR2 (passive) soil moisture products REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT Kim, H., Parinussa, R., Konings, A. G., Wagner, W., Cosh, M. H., Lakshmi, V., Zohaib, M. 2018; 204: 260-275
Hydraulic diversity of forests regulates ecosystem resilience during drought NATURE Anderegg, W. R., Konings, A. G., Trugman, A. T., Yu, K., Bowling, D. R., Gabbitas, R., Karp, D. S., Pacala, S., Sperry, J. S., Sulman, B. N., Zenes, N. 2018; 561: 538-541
Plants influence the atmosphere through fluxes of carbon, water and energy1, and can intensify drought through land-atmosphere feedback effects2-4. The diversity of plant functional traits in forests, especially physiological traits related to water (hydraulic) transport, may have a critical role in land-atmosphere feedback, particularly during drought. Here we combine 352 site-years of eddy covariance measurements from 40 forest sites, remote-sensing observations of plant water content and plant functional-trait data to test whether the diversity in plant traits affects the response of the ecosystem to drought. We find evidence that higher hydraulic diversity buffers variation in ecosystem flux during dry periods across temperate and boreal forests. Hydraulic traits were the predominant significant predictors of cross-site patterns in drought response. By contrast, standard leaf and wood traits, such as specific leaf area and wood density, had little explanatory power. Our results demonstrate that diversity in the hydraulic traits of trees mediates ecosystem resilience to drought and is likely to have an important role in future ecosystem-atmosphere feedback effects in a changing climate.
Tall Amazonian forests are less sensitive to precipitation variability NATURE GEOSCIENCE Giardina, F., Konings, A. G., Kennedy, D., Alemohammad, S., Oliviera, R. S., Uriarte, M., Gentine, P. 2018: 405-409
L-band vegetation optical depth seasonal metrics for crop yield assessment REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT Chapparo, D., Piles, M., Vall-llossera, M., Camps, A., Konings, A. G., Entekhabi, D. 2018
Active microwave observations of diurnal and seasonal variations of canopy water content across the humid African tropical forests GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS Konings, A. G., Yu, Y., Xu, L., Yang, Y., Schimel, D., Saatchi, S. 2017; 44: 2290-2299
Water, Energy, and Carbon with Artificial Neural Networks (WECANN): a statistically based estimate of global surface turbulent fluxes and gross primary productivity using solar-induced fluorescence BIOGEOSCIENCES Alemohammad, S., Fang, B., Konings, A. G., Aires, F., Green, J. K., Kolassa, J., Miralles, D., Prigent, C., Gentine, P. 2017; 14: 4101-4124
A new global estimate of surface turbulent fluxes, latent heat flux (LE) and sensible heat flux (H), and gross primary production (GPP) is developed using a machine learning approach informed by novel remotely sensed Solar-Induced Fluorescence (SIF) and other radiative and meteorological variables. This is the first study to jointly retrieve LE, H and GPP using SIF observations. The approach uses an artificial neural network (ANN) with a target dataset generated from three independent data sources, weighted based on triple collocation (TC) algorithm. The new retrieval, named Water, Energy, and Carbon with Artificial Neural Networks (WECANN), provides estimates of LE, H and GPP from 2007 to 2015 at 1° × 1° spatial resolution and on monthly time resolution. The quality of ANN training is assessed using the target data, and the WECANN retrievals are evaluated using eddy covariance tower estimates from FLUXNET network across various climates and conditions. When compared to eddy covariance estimates, WECANN typically outperforms other products, particularly for sensible and latent heat fluxes. Analysing WECANN retrievals across three extreme drought and heatwave events demonstrates the capability of the retrievals in capturing the extent of these events. Uncertainty estimates of the retrievals are analysed and the inter-annual variability in average global and regional fluxes show the impact of distinct climatic events - such as the 2015 El Niño - on surface turbulent fluxes and GPP.
Estimating global ecosystem iso/anisohydry using active and passive microwave satellite data JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH - BIOGEOSCIENCES Li, Y., Guan, K., Gentine, P., Konings, A. G., Meinzer, F. C., Kimball, J. S., Xu, X., Anderegg, W. R., McDowell, N. G., Martinez-Vilalta, J., Long, D. G., Good, S. P. 2017; 122
View details for DOI 10.1002/2017JG003958
L-band vegetation optical depth and scattering albedo estimation from SMAP REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT Konings, A. G., Piles, M., Das, N., Entekhabi, D. 2017; 198: 460-470
Relationship between vegetation microwave optical depth and cross-polarized backscatter from multi-year Aquarius observations. IEEE JOURNAL OF SELECTED TOPICS IN EARTH OBSERVATIONS AND REMOTE SENSING Rotzer, K., Montzka, C., Entekhabi, D., Konings, A. G., McColl, K. A., Piles, M., Vereecken, H. 2017
View details for DOI 10.1109/JSTARS.2017.2716638
Interacting effects of leaf water potential and biomass on vegetation optical depth JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH - BIOGEOSCIENCES Momen, M., Wood, J. D., Novick, K. A., Pangle, R., Pockman, W. T., McDowell, N. G., Konings, A. G. 2017; 122
Regionally strong feedbacks between the atmosphere and terrestrial biosphere NATURE GEOSCIENCE Green, J., Konings, A. G., Alemohammad, S., Berry, J., Entekhabi, D., Kolassa, J., Lee, J., Gentine, P. 2017; 10: 410–414
View details for DOI 10.1038/ngeo2957
The global distribution and dynamics of surface soil moisture NATURE GEOSCIENCE McColl, K. A., Alemohammad, S., Akbar, R., Konings, A., Yueh, S., Entekhabi, D. 2017; 10: 100-104
Global variations in ecosystem scale isohydricity GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY Konings, A. G., Gentine, P. 2017; 23 (2): 891-905
Droughts are expected to become more frequent and more intense under climate change. Plant mortality rates and biomass declines in response to drought depend on stomatal and xylem flow regulation. Plants operate on a continuum of xylem and stomatal regulation strategies from very isohydric (strict regulation) to very anisohydric. Coexisting species may display a variety of isohydricity behaviors. As such, it can be difficult to predict how to model the degree of isohydricity at the ecosystem scale by aggregating studies of individual species. This is nonetheless essential for accurate prediction of ecosystem drought resilience. In this study, we define a metric for the degree of isohydricity at the ecosystem scale in analogy with a recent metric introduced at the species level. Using data from the AMSR-E satellite, this metric is evaluated globally based on diurnal variations in microwave vegetation optical depth (VOD), which is directly related to leaf water potential. Areas with low annual mean radiation are found to be more anisohydric. Except for evergreen broadleaf forests in the tropics, which are very isohydric, and croplands, which are very anisohydric, land cover type is a poor predictor of ecosystem isohydricity, in accordance with previous species-scale observations. It is therefore also a poor basis for parameterizing water stress response in land-surface models. For taller ecosystems, canopy height is correlated with higher isohydricity (so that rainforests are mostly isohydric). Highly anisohydric areas show either high or low underlying water use efficiency. In seasonally dry locations, most ecosystems display a more isohydric response (increased stomatal regulation) during the dry season. In several seasonally dry tropical forests, this trend is reversed, as dry-season leaf-out appears to coincide with a shift toward more anisohydric strategies. The metric developed in this study allows for detailed investigations of spatial and temporal variations in plant water behavior.
View details for DOI 10.1111/gcb.13389
Sensitivity of grassland productivity to aridity controlled by stomatal and xylem regulation NATURE GEOSCIENCE Konings, A. G., Williams, A., Gentine, P. 2017; 10: 284-288
Triple collocation for binary and categorical variables: Application to validating landscape freeze/thaw retrievals REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT McColl, K. A., Roy, A., Derksen, C., Konings, A. G., Alemohammed, S. H., Entekhabi, D. 2016; 176: 31-42
Vegetation optical depth and scattering albedo retrieval using time series of dual-polarized L-band radiometer observations REMOTE SENSING OF ENVIRONMENT Konings, A. G., Piles, M., Roetzer, K., McColl, K. A., Chan, S. K., Entekhabi, D. 2016; 172: 178-189
L-Band Radar Soil Moisture Retrieval Without Ancillary Information IEEE JOURNAL OF SELECTED TOPICS IN APPLIED EARTH OBSERVATIONS AND REMOTE SENSING Bruscantini, C. A., Konings, A. G., Narvekar, P. S., McColl, K. A., Entekhabi, D., Grings, F. M., Karszenbaum, H. 2015; 8 (12): 5526-5540
How Many Parameters Can Be Maximally Estimated From a Set of Measurements? IEEE GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING LETTERS Konings, A. G., McColl, K. A., Piles, M., Entekhabi, D. 2015; 12 (5): 1081-1085
View details for DOI 10.1109/LGRS.2014.2381641
Characterization of precipitation product errors across the United States using multiplicative triple collocation HYDROLOGY AND EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCES Alemohammad, S. H., McColl, K. A., Konings, A. G., Entekhabi, D., Stoffelen, A. 2015; 19 (8): 3489-3503
The Effect of Variable Soil Moisture Profiles on P-Band Backscatter IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING Konings, A. G., Entekhabi, D., Moghaddam, M., Saatchi, S. S. 2014; 52 (10): 6315-6325
Extended triple collocation: Estimating errors and correlation coefficients with respect to an unknown target GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS McColl, K. A., Vogelzang, J., Konings, A. G., Entekhabi, D., Piles, M., Stoffelen, A. 2014; 41 (17): 6229-6236
Thermodynamics of an idealized hydrologic cycle WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH Konings, A. G., Feng, X., Molini, A., Manzoni, S., Vico, G., Porporato, A. 2012; 48
View details for DOI 10.1029/2011WR011264
A phenomenological model for the flow resistance over submerged vegetation WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH Konings, A. G., Katul, G. G., Thompson, S. E. 2012; 48
Mean Velocity Profile in a Sheared and Thermally Stratified Atmospheric Boundary Layer PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS Katul, G. G., Konings, A. G., Porporato, A. 2011; 107 (26)
A stability correction function φ(m)(ζ) that accounts for distortions to the logarithmic mean velocity profile (MVP) in the lower atmosphere caused by thermal stratification was proposed by Monin and Obukhov in the 1950s using dimensional analysis. Its universal character was established from many field experiments. However, theories that describe the canonical shape of φ(m)(ζ) are still lacking. A previous link between the spectrum of turbulence and the MVP is expanded here to include the effects of thermal stratification on the turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate and eddy-size anisotropy. The resulting theory provides a novel explanation for the power-law exponents and coefficients already reported for φ(m)(ζ) from numerous field experiments.
View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevLett.107.268502
Drought sensitivity of patterned vegetation determined by rainfall-land surface feedbacks JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-BIOGEOSCIENCES Konings, A. G., Dekker, S. C., Rietkerk, M., Katul, G. G. 2011; 116
Unsteady overland flow on flat surfaces induced by spatial permeability contrasts ADVANCES IN WATER RESOURCES Thompson, S., Katul, G., Konings, A., Ridolfi, L. 2011; 34 (8): 1049-1058
View details for DOI 10.1016/j.advwatres.2011.05.012
Comparative hydrology across AmeriFlux sites: The variable roles of climate, vegetation, and groundwater WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH Thompson, S. E., Harman, C. J., Konings, A. G., Sivapalan, M., Neal, A., Troch, P. A. 2011; 47
Effect of Radiative Transfer Uncertainty on L-Band Radiometric Soil Moisture Retrieval IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING Konings, A. G., Entekhabi, D., Chan, S. K., Njoku, E. G. 2011; 49 (7): 2686-2698
The rainfall-no rainfall transition in a coupled land-convective atmosphere system GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS Konings, A. G., Katul, G. G., Porporato, A. 2010; 37
Conditioning Stochastic Rainfall Replicates on Remote Sensing Data IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING Wojcik, R., McLaughlin, D., Konings, A. G., Entekhabi, D. 2009; 47 (8): 2436-2449

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


UNITED NATIONS (CNS) — Conditions in many parts of the world force women and girls to bear the burden of carrying out everyday chores for their families and communities, keeping many of them from getting even a basic education, the Vatican's U.N. nuncio said Oct. 6.
Females are often the victims of sexual and other violence, which prevents them from improving life for themselves and their families, said Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Vatican's permanent observer to the United Nations. Migrant women and girls are particularly vulnerable to these situations, he added.
He addressed the issue of women's advancement during a session at the United Nations of the Third Committee, which focuses on social, humanitarian and cultural issues.
Failure to achieve "that basic human right" of universal access to safe drinkable water "can undermine other human rights, as it is a prerequisite for their realization," he said.
Women and girls often bear "the heaviest burden from these deprivations," the archbishop said.
Regarding education, "significant progress has been made toward parity between boys and girls from families of relative wealth or decent economic standing," the archbishop said, but women and girls who live in poverty lack schooling, literacy skills and opportunities for adult education.
To change this reality, the "basic material needs of every school-age girl living in rural areas must be addressed," Archbishop Auza said. One initiative that has "proven efficient," he said, is providing school meals to reduce girls' absenteeism. Such efforts should be encouraged "to guarantee access to education to each and every girl," he added.
A current partnership between local farmers, including women, and the World Food Program of the United Nations to provide "homegrown school meals" in 37 countries is "a hopeful example," Archbishop Auza said. The effort "attends to the needs of girls and boys, fosters education and increases market access for women, all at the same time," he said.
Based in Rome, the World Food Program is the world's largest humanitarian organization addressing hunger and promoting food security. It provides food aid to an average of 80 million people in 76 countries each year.
Archbishop Auza also discussed the current global migration crisis and its effect on migrant women and girls in particular, reminding the global community it has a responsibility "to welcome, to protect, to promote and to integrate" migrants and refugees.
"Millions of women and girls are fleeing violent conflicts or extreme poverty only to find themselves exploited by traffickers and manipulators along perilous routes and even in host communities," the archbishop said.


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MassDOT Announces $500,000+ in Shared Streets & Spaces Program Funding Awards
23. July, 2020 | Posted by Michael Quinlin | Categories: Create, Grow, Innovate, Learn, Visit, Work
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) announced more than $500,000 in awards for the second round of funding in the Baker-Polito Administration's Shared Streets & Spaces Program.
The program, which was launched on June 10, provides technical and funding assistance to help Massachusetts cities and towns conceive, design, and implement tactical changes to curbs, streets, on-street parking spaces and off-street parking lots in support of public health, safe mobility, and renewed commerce. The first round of funding went to 12 communities and 75 percent of the funding was provided to Environmental Justice communities. This second round of funding is going to four communities, totals $513,000, and directs 45 percent of the funding to Environmental Justice communities.
The quick-build grant program provides grants as small as $5,000 and as large as $300,000 for municipalities to quickly launch changes to sidewalks, curbs, streets, on-street parking spaces and off-street parking lots in support of public health, safe mobility and renewed commerce. These improvements can be intentionally temporary, in the style of tactical urbanism, or can be pilots of potentially permanent changes to streets and sidewalks.
The list of cities and towns receiving Shared Streets & Space Program funding in the second round are as follows:
Norwood received $120,000 to establish four 'parklets' throughout the downtown and Washington Street commercial corridor in order to create a sense of place, including additional pedestrian walking space and room for safe outdoor dining and recreation.
Lawrence received $115,000 to pilot eateries and parklets inside containers used in the shipping industry, which are scheduled to be installed in parking lanes, to be used year-round for dining, recreation, commerce, a farmer's market, and public seating.
Plymouth received $172,727.50 to temporarily convert a parking lane and travel lane to shared space, to install temporary curb ramps and planters to buffer pedestrian crossings, and to implement wider crosswalks and buffered bike lanes. Funding will help procure temporary barriers and rental of traffic signs to re-route motorists.
Westford received $105,000 to improve and increase pedestrian access to the Abbot Elementary School, including ADA-compliant wheelchair ramps, new striping, and pedestrian-safety signage.
The Shared Streets & Spaces program will continue to make awards to municipalities who filed applications eligible for funding. The awards are made on a rolling basis for projects that can be implemented and used this summer and fall. MassDOT has allocated a total of $5 million for this 100-day program. Applications are being accepted through September 29 and projects must be mostly or completely implemented by October 9. Preference will be given to projects that can be operational within 15-30 days of award, projects in designated Environmental Justice areas, and projects that show potential to be made permanent.
Types of projects may include:
Shared Streets and Spaces: supporting increased rates of walking and/or biking by increasing safety and enabling social distancing.
Outdoor Dining and Commerce: calming roadways, modifying sidewalks and streets, and/or repurposing on- or off-street parking to better support curbside/sidewalk/street retail and dining.
Better Buses: supporting safer and more reliable bus transit, including expanded bus stops and lanes dedicated for bus travel, (extra scoring credit will be granted for dedicated bus lanes).
Safe Routes to School: creating safe routes to schools and other programs for children and youth, including safer walking and biking networks with lowered vehicle speeds.
The Baker-Polito Administration launched the Shared Streets & Spaces municipal grant program to support quick-build projects that can bring meaningful benefits to cities and towns. The program is modeled after the Administration's Complete Streets Funding Program, created in February 2016, which, as of January 2020, has awarded a total $46 million to cities and towns for municipal projects improving infrastructure to improve safety for pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and public transportation customers. The Administration included $20 million for the Complete Streets Program as part of the Administration's $18 billion transportation bond bill which was filed in July 2019.
Additional information about the Shared Streets & Spaces program can be found at: https://www.mass.gov/shared-streets-and-spaces-grant-program.


This 288 sq. ft. tiny cottage for sale in Chatham, MA is used as a rental investment property.
In 2014 it brought the owners $15,000 in income. The asking price for the tiny home and property right now is $274,000.
It was built in 1963 and is located near beaches, farmers markets, and more. Please enjoy and re-share below.
If you enjoyed this tiny cottage for sale you'll absolutely LOVE our free daily tiny house newsletter with even more! Thank you!
Darling as can be but at $951/square foot, this is sheer insanity!!!! I'll be the first person to defend a pricey tiny home on acres of land but THIS….are you kidding me?!?! I followed the zillow link and looked at the Bird's Eye View of the street address: this tiny home sits smack dab in the middle of normal sized homes! No privacy, no escaping your neighbors…and your income is a measly $15,000.00 per year? It would take you 18.25 years to earn your money back on this "investment".
A folly, for sure, despite how super cute it is. Hum-Bug, I say!
Even in New Zealand dollars, that is pricey for a 1 bedroom place. But, the rental rate is higher than you would get here in most places, apart from the expensive cities of Auckland, Wellington & Christchurch.
and then convert NZ dollars to US dollars.
Then prepare for your heart attack. Especially when you see the asking prices in Auckland & Christchurch.
Wishing you a Merry, Merry Christmas among the heat and eucalyptus trees. 😀 We'll be dreaming of a White Christmas in Michigan.
You will be more than dreaming of a white Christmas, you will be living it. Wish it was me living it, but Fresno, California would be praying for it, relentlessly, and still not get a white Christmas. When my oldest granddaughter was two years old, we did get about a quarter inch, that lasted less than an hour. She is nineteen now, and unless we move, she will near see any more. You are so lucky.
I have 1800 sf on a 1/4 acre lot in sunny Florida in an historic county and I paid no where near this amount, plus my property taxes are under $500.00/yr and I'm Homesteaded (so no ugly surprises).
Sure it's pricey and I like it a lot. But it's in Chatham on Cape Cod, a desirable touristy area. There are many people who will jump at the chance to invest in a property like this. As I've moved around the country in the last 50 years or so, I've come to realize that the cost of things is completely relevant. Everyone needs to decide for himself or herself what is appropriate.
This so reminds me of the roadside tourist cabins back in the 50's and 60's before motels started to replace them.. I could live happily in something like this in a heart beat.. Love the big sliding back door..But I agree with Cahow. about the asking price…It is sheer insanity ..
On second look . I don't see any closet space at all.. not even one small one. So where is one expected to hang their clothes or store stuff? And for that price they are asking..Is it insanity or just plain down right greediness? to see who will be foolish enough to throw away that kind of money on something like this….
The assessment of the home is only $164,300. Taxes are just over $800. Why the crazy price increase? Surely they aren't banking on the fact that people don't check these things prior to a huge purchase? Ick.
Hi everyone! I'm new to this whole scene and way of life. My wife and I are looking forward to buying or preferably building our own somewhat small home (500-700 sq. ft.) in the hopefully near future. I may not know property worth as much as the next person, I however feel that this is extremely over priced for such a small place. I would not spend this amount on a McMasion let alone a small cottage. Even at the assessment price it is far more than what I am willing to pay. It is nice but I have seen many much smaller homes with far less of a cost that offered more than this one does. Just my two cents worth. Have a great day everyone!
Well, if Chatham, MA is a 5-minute subway ride from Harvard Square, or if the house comes with a gardener, housekeeper, and a handwritten note from the sellers, thanking me every day for financing their his-and-hers yachts, maybe.
But they can always hope for that buyer who has more money than sense, and whose wallet starts hemorrhaging money whenever they see something cute.
No reflection on you, Alex–I think this is a great way to educate people as to what's out there. Who knows? Maybe someone will snag a great DIY idea from looking at the photos.
I love the outdoor space but the inside leaves a lot to be desired. Look at the size of the actual kitchen in the context of what is next to and around it! Maybe the price is in line with the location, but I don't think it's worth it.
I get that some people are put off by the "high" price, but according to Zwillow, average price in that area is around 900K. So if you really wanted to live in that area, 230K might be how you do it. However, I have a feeling this place was purpose build for vacation/rental as an income generator.
this price for anywhere on Cape Cod is quite reasonable…..
and to think this may be under water one day!
Lisa, it did sell: http://www.robertpaul.com/real-estate/314-orleans-road-chatham-ma-02633/21402787/18807648 And my family lives not far from Chatham. I know the price is high, but to be honest it's VERY reasonable for the area.
Well, I can't argue that the prices are high on the Cape. My family used to summer in Brewster; our main residence being out by Concord. I can remember when Cape property was dirt cheap. Now you're lucky if you can afford to spend a weekend there. This happened as a result of the Republicans taking over MA, which originally was a cornerstone Blue State. I can't imagine who laid out that kind of money for this cottage, but more power to them!
That's Chatham for ya! We live in thenext town, and this was in the Sunday Cape Cod Times Real Estate section. My house is about 2 1/2 times bigger than this (and that's still petty small), and it's worth about 185,000. Wow. Speechless.
In my local market, commercial investment properties often trade at or near a 5.5% capitalization rate (income vs sale price). And I have to ask, what is land value in that neighbourhood? You can cart the house away in a day, so that $274,000 is essentially land. Possibly outrageous land, market dependent, but…..
Its lovely. I guess they can ask whatever they want for the place, but if they get that price is another story.
Nice floor plan but……. I didn't see a bathroom.
This house, sitting on 20 acres in the remote mountains of Arkansas, would cost about 25k t0 35k. That would be just my speed. You might get a creek and a cave with the deal.
I get that it's overpriced, but if I had the money I'd snap this up! And who cares about the rental income? You wouldn't be able to pry me out of there with a crowbar. Gorgeous!


The pellet basket is an easy complimentary source of heating allowing you to burn wood pellets or briquettes in hot air stoves, tiled stoves or open fires.
A basket filled with wood pellets will keep heating for up to 4 hours, depending on the fireplace and the adjustment of the draw.
Half the time the pellets burn with decorative flames, the remainder it becomes an efficient bed of embers.


I'm glad to see this project is still active. Looking forward to further developments!
I've found a great page where they test several lua code performances.
bartbes wrote: Prevent as much table lookups as possible.
do you mean loop through a table using pairs or table?
I have no clue about what you are talking about, anonymous functions?
Topic: what is this code doing?
Re: what is this code doing?


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Need help! I took a bottle of magnesium citrate and nothing but burning runs?
It's Worked before great this time no go just burning runs but I still cannot pass the really hard stool. It's the next day runs have stopped until I try and go here comes the fire!! But the big one still hasn't passed out should I get a stool soften and put it up there it's been 2 days since I eaten anything and lots of Xmas shopping to do help!!
Out of all the different methods, when I've been blocked up for days, the only thing that has made an enormous difference very quickly was taking suppositories. I know the idea of sticking one up there sounds awful, but when it comes down to it the job gets done.
Try Miralax. Follow the directions on the bottle. I mixed mine with Gatorade. If not the first day, try again for another day. It will make you go. I went to ER after a bad bout of diverticulitis, with terrible abdominal pain, my doctor was out of town - was told to use Miralax. It worked. Drink lots of water.
Magnesium Citrate - do I take the whole bottle ? I took 3oz then 4oz and nothing?


Moree professional boxer TC Priestly will fight Canberra's Ben Dencio for the Australian super featherweight title in Canberra. Priestly will headline a star studded program of nine professional fights in the main event at the Hellenic Club on Friday, April 5. Trained out of the Moree Boxing and Fitness gym under the coaching of Chalky Rice and Mark Pitts, Priestly has had one of his best preparations leading up to a fight. He's sparred more than 90 rounds of boxing against the likes of Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Andrew Moloney and twin brother Jason, who's also a Commonwealth Games representative. Both brothers hold the WBA Oceania and Commonwealth titles in their respective divisions. Among Priestly's other opponents was Australian lightweight champion Jacob Ng, who recently won the World Boxing Federation youth lightweight title. Former Australian champion, Kye Mckenzie, and NSW state super lightweight champion Georoid Clancy also stepped into the ring to spar Priestly. READ ALSO: Professional boxer Albert Nolans from Gunnedah and Shannon Doole from Coonabarabran made up the rest of the rounds sparred. "So far we had to travel to Kingscliff on the coast, Sydney, Coonabarabran, Tooraweenah and Narrabri just so we could spar with this quality of boxers," Priestly said. "And this would not be possible without the help of O'Neill Concreting, Gwydir Chiropractic & Physiotherapy, Johnstone Concrete and Quarries and of course Moree Boxing and Fitness gym." Moree Boxing and Fitness coach Chalky Rice said Priestly has been preparing for his first attempt at a tough 10 rounds and vows to produce an explosive performance and bring the title back home to Moree. Priestly is a disciplined trainer who never complains and always meets any challenge given to him, has a strong mind, a great attitude and excellent discipline, and he's excited to be given a shot at the title. Australian featherweight champion Jackson Jon England stated that Priestly was his toughest boxing opponent so far. Priestly's opponent Ben 'Demolition' Dencio is the current NSW state title champion and is coming off a victory over former Australian champion Brenden Saunders. He is a very tough come-forward type of fighter who likes to continue to apply pressure and break his opponent down. Priestly's coaches Rice and Mark Pitts believe that his fitness, speed and skill will give the Moree boxer the upper hand in this contest and are quietly confident of a victory. Former Moree and Guyra boxer, Abe Archibald, will also appear on the program when he takes on Grafton's Ryan Cotten. Priestly would like to thank the Moree Community for their support and vows to show his appreciation by returning to Moree with the Australian state title.
READY: TC Priestly (middle) with his coaches Chalky Rice (left) and Mark Pitts (right).
Moree professional boxer TC Priestly will fight Canberra's Ben Dencio for the Australian super featherweight title in Canberra.
Priestly will headline a star studded program of nine professional fights in the main event at the Hellenic Club on Friday, April 5.
Trained out of the Moree Boxing and Fitness gym under the coaching of Chalky Rice and Mark Pitts, Priestly has had one of his best preparations leading up to a fight.
He's sparred more than 90 rounds of boxing against the likes of Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Andrew Moloney and twin brother Jason, who's also a Commonwealth Games representative. Both brothers hold the WBA Oceania and Commonwealth titles in their respective divisions.
Among Priestly's other opponents was Australian lightweight champion Jacob Ng, who recently won the World Boxing Federation youth lightweight title.
Former Australian champion, Kye Mckenzie, and NSW state super lightweight champion Georoid Clancy also stepped into the ring to spar Priestly.
Professional boxer Albert Nolans from Gunnedah and Shannon Doole from Coonabarabran made up the rest of the rounds sparred.
"So far we had to travel to Kingscliff on the coast, Sydney, Coonabarabran, Tooraweenah and Narrabri just so we could spar with this quality of boxers," Priestly said.
"And this would not be possible without the help of O'Neill Concreting, Gwydir Chiropractic & Physiotherapy, Johnstone Concrete and Quarries and of course Moree Boxing and Fitness gym."
Moree Boxing and Fitness coach Chalky Rice said Priestly has been preparing for his first attempt at a tough 10 rounds and vows to produce an explosive performance and bring the title back home to Moree.
Priestly is a disciplined trainer who never complains and always meets any challenge given to him, has a strong mind, a great attitude and excellent discipline, and he's excited to be given a shot at the title.
Australian featherweight champion Jackson Jon England stated that Priestly was his toughest boxing opponent so far.
Priestly's opponent Ben 'Demolition' Dencio is the current NSW state title champion and is coming off a victory over former Australian champion Brenden Saunders.
He is a very tough come-forward type of fighter who likes to continue to apply pressure and break his opponent down.
Priestly's coaches Rice and Mark Pitts believe that his fitness, speed and skill will give the Moree boxer the upper hand in this contest and are quietly confident of a victory.
Former Moree and Guyra boxer, Abe Archibald, will also appear on the program when he takes on Grafton's Ryan Cotten.
Priestly would like to thank the Moree Community for their support and vows to show his appreciation by returning to Moree with the Australian state title.


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Smart leaders know that they won't be able to retain their employees forever. Many managers wonder what the right course of action is in this situation. Do you confront the employee and fight to keep them, or pretend you don't know and let them keep looking? Minieri & Company CEO Thomas Minieri and fellow Young Entrepreneur Council members weigh in with their opinions.
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Finding a customer is hard work. Asking some of these questions may make it easier to find and keep them. Check out our July 2018 article featuring Minieri & Company CEO Thomas Minieri and fellow YEC.co members!
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Scaling a service based business in particular is tricky. Many try to scale but then crash as they outpace their own growth. Thomas Minieri & fellow YEC members offer tips!
9 Questions Your Team Should be Asking Customers
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Act on Your Feeling That Something May Be Dangerous!
Ask students the following questions. Encourage them to give you quick, alert, but brief answers! You only have 15 minutes per lesson!
What does it mean to be "aware"?
Does being aware mean you are observant? Focused on what's going on around you? Living in the moment?
What's one way you were aware today?
What does it feel like to be aware? Is it hard work? Does it take practice to stay "in the moment" rather than worrying about what happened yesterday or what might happen tomorrow?
Does being aware make you feel strong? If so, in what way?
Sometimes we get a sense that something near us may be dangerous.
That "awareness" usually appears for a good reason. Pay attention to it!
It's good to be aware all the time, but when you're in an unfamiliar area, or talking with suspicious strangers, it's especially important.
The voice inside us that tells us to beware is usually right! Listen to it! Focus! Be aware!
One way to practice being aware is to challenge your senses! Do you know what your five senses are? (Give students time to respond.) Are they sight, sound, smell, taste and touch?
When you walk down the street, are you aware of what's in your line of vision? Do you really look at what's on the street, who is on the street, and what's going on?
Do you listen to sounds — the birds in the trees, an airplane or helicopter in the sky, people talking, horns honking? Are you aware of any aromas or stenches — garbage, or flowers, or gas?
Let's sit, right where we are (if the weather is good, take students outside). Sit comfortably, close your eyes and just LISTEN. For two whole minutes, sit as quietly as you can and do nothing but LISTEN. (Whisper:) On your mark, get set, go.
(After two minutes:) Let's open our eyes now and just LOOK. Don't move from where you're sitting but, as quietly as you can, just LOOK around you. Say nothing, but NOTICE what you see.
By sitting quietly with your eyes closed, did you notice any sound that you don't normally notice? What did you hear?
By sitting quietly and looking around, did you notice any sight that you don't normally notice? What did you observe?
How do you think you could practice being "aware" — when you're at home, at school, or out in the world? Does this activity help?
Do you think your family would be amazed if you suddenly "noticed" something good they do, and mentioned it to them? Would your brother or sister pass out in disbelief if you observed something they never knew that you noticed? Want to try it? It could be fun to show friends and family your new powers of observation!
When the Situation Doesn't Feel Right!
Ask students the following questions. Encourage them to give fast, but observant answers! It's important for them to think quickly, on their feet! But limit their answers so you can finish on time.
Did you "notice" new things about any friends or family this week? Did you try last week's exercise on them? What happened?
How do you think you ought to apply your new awareness to strangers?
Do you think it's a good idea to talk with any stranger who approaches you? Why do you think so?
Do you think you are always able to distinguish between a stranger who intends to do harm, and one who doesn't? How can you tell?
Is it important to ignore a suspicious stranger — get away from a suspicious stranger — when a situation does not feel right? Do you think that your "instinct," your "awareness," your "inner voice" sometimes tells you when a situation doesn't feel right?
Knowing when to ignore a suspicious stranger gives us a great sense of power.
This feeling of power comes from using our brains instead of ourfists.
Our Mental Self-Defense™ strength increases as we learn how to use our awareness to help us feel strong and, therefore, act in ways that can be more powerful than anything we do with our fists.
✓ BEFORE CLASS, write these column zones on the board, or make a copy for each student.
✓ Tell students: Here are three Stranger Awareness Zones that could help you deal with a stranger who might be dangerous! Zone 1 has some mildmannered, gentle approaches, if the danger level feels low. Zone 2 approaches are more energetic, if something tells you there is danger! Zone 3 approaches are the most aggressive, and can be used when you feel certain that danger is on the rise, and you're going to have to deal with it.
If you were approached by a stranger, and unsure whether there was danger, would you: Try to make friends? Use humor or be clever, to throw the stranger off guard? Walk away, as quickly as you can?
Do you think that being friendly, using humor, or being clever can throw a stranger off-guard and give you more time to keep your distance, or get away?
If you agree with a stranger, ignore the stranger's threats, refuse to go with a stranger — all the time keeping your distance, preparing to run away — is this a good strategy to use when you suspect there might be danger? Which of the "hot" responses would work best for you, if you believe the danger level is high? Standing up to the stranger? Calling for help? Screaming loudly, "Leave me alone!"? Preparing to fight the stranger?
IMPORTANT: BEFORE CLASS, MAKE TWO COPIES OF ROLEPLAY ON THE NEXT PAGE!
Ask students the following questions. Encourage rapid, brief responses!
Do you think it's important to know that when you shout, "Leave me alone!" or "I don't know you!" — you are not being a coward?
Do you think it's important to understand that shouting these words, to a stranger who might be planning something dangerous, might stop the stranger from doing harm?
Do you think that shouting at a stranger might throw the stranger offbalance, and stop violence before it starts?
Lots of people "hang around" our schools and communities. We know some of them, and others we don't know as well. Sometimes people who "hang around" do so to make themselves familiar to us, so that we begin to trust them.
It's smart to be on guard, to be ready to take action, in the event a "familiar" person tries to take you somewhere, or attempts to hurt you.
It's sad that there are such people who will say these things in order to get their way, but the fact is — they do exist, and we need to be aware, in case we're the ones they're talking to.
✓ BEFORE CLASS, make TWO PHOTOCOPIES of the roleplay on the following page.
✓ Ask for two Volunteers to play the parts of STRANGER and DALE.
Remind Volunteers that words in parentheses ( ) are directions to the Volunteer and should not be read out loud.
Tell Volunteers to get into their parts and to have fun with the roleplay!
✓ AFTER ROLEPLAY, thank the Volunteers. Leave enough time to ask the following questions! Always encourage students to think quickly, on their feet, and to respond with whatever thoughts enter their minds.
Were there any indications that this stranger meant to do harm? Was Dale imagining it all?
Did Dale make use of any of the Stranger Awareness Zone skills? If so, which do you notice? Did Dale use humor, reason, cleverness?
Do you think the stranger intended harm? Were you able to know for certain?
Do you think that Dale wasn't sure but perhaps "felt" uncomfortable?
Do you think Dale heard, saw, or became aware of something that signaled possible danger?
What do you think it was that made Dale feel that way?
If you were in that situation, how would you handle it?
✓ Thank Volunteers and other students for their good work.
Walk Away from a Stranger Who Wants You to Follow!
Ask students the following questions. Be sure to limit the discussion time so that you can get the whole lesson done in 15 minutes!
Do you sometimes find it difficult to say no to people?
What makes it difficult to say no? When you're talking to someone with "authority"? Someone older? Apparently stronger? More demanding?
Do you think it's important to practice saying no, so that we are good at saying no if we're ever approached by a stranger who does not have good intentions?
Learning how to say, "No, thanks," is particularly important. Especially when we're talking to people we don't know.
The point is that we need to develop the mental strength to say "No thanks" when we sense that what we're being asked to do isn't right.
It's important to not be afraid to say no, especially when our instincts tell us that saying no is the only right thing to do!
All the Ways to Say No!
✓ BEFORE CLASS, make ONE PHOTOCOPY of the following page.
✓ Cut the page into strips, then fold the strips, so no one can see what they say, and put them into a hat or bowl. Make sure there are enough strips for everyone. You can make more than one copy of each, or be creative, and make up some strips of your own!
✓ In class, ask students to form a circle. They may stand or sit.
✓ Ask for a Volunteer to pick one strip out of the hat or bowl.
Ask the Volunteer to open the strip and say whatever the strip says. The Volunteer must give a quick, short response!
Then, ask that Volunteer to stand in front of another student, offer the bowl or hat of strips, and ask that student's to pick and say whatever question is on the strip of paper. Allow student responses to be serious or funny. The subject matter can be "touchy," and we want students to be able to respond any way they like. What matters is that they answer quickly and spontaneously!
✓ Continue until all students have had a chance to respond! But you'll have to move fast!
✓ Don't forget to congratulate students on their good work!
Tell a Reliable Adult If a Stranger Is Bothering You!
Ask students the following questions. Encourage them to respond quickly and attentively! They're learning to think quickly, on their feet!
In today's world, do you think it's sometimes difficult to tell trustworthy people from people who are not?
What does it mean to be "trustworthy"? What are the characteristics of a person you can trust? Is it usually someone you know well?
Who are the five most trustworthy people in your life? Can you name them? You don't have to name them out loud, but you should know who they are, just in case you have to call upon them.
Do you think that most of us are brought up to be kind to people, and that sometimes it's hard to believe that not all people are kind?
For stranger awareness, it's good to practice what we would do if approached by a stranger who bothers us.
The first thing to do is to think of one person you trust — the person you would contact first if you were in danger. This kind of thinking enhances your Mental Self-Defense™ skills and strengthens your brain!
Our number one martial arts goal is always to stop conflict before it starts. With that in mind, let's focus on the best way to stop conflict that could be caused by a stranger bothering you!
✓ Ask for two Volunteers to play the parts of MRS. SAVION and WALKER.
Volunteer and should not be read out loud.
Suggest to Volunteers that they really try to get into their parts and have fun with the roleplay!
✓ AFTER ROLEPLAY, thank the Volunteers. Leave enough time to ask the following questions! Always encourage students to think quickly, on their feet, and to respond honestly about what they think.
Do you think Mrs. Savion was really interested in helping Walker?
Do you think Walker trusted this teacher?
What do you think made Walker trust Mrs. Savion?
Do you think Walker heard, saw, or became aware of anything that signaled possible danger?
If it's an adult that was bothering Walker, do you think Walker might find it difficult to tell another adult about it?
Never Accept Presents from Suspicious Strangers!
Ask students the following questions. Do your best to motivate them to respond as quickly and honestly as they can! But limit the answers.
Do you like to get presents?
Do you think you would ever accept a present from someone you don't know?
Would it be difficult to say no to a stranger who gives you a big box of chocolate candy?
Do you think it would be very wise to not accept the box of candy? Why do you think so?
None of us likes to think about it, but do you think it's possible that someone with bad intentions might add something to candy before giving it away?
Do you go "trick or treating" for Halloween? If so, is the candy you get always from people you know — or people you know that are well intentioned? How do you know?
Someone might try to give you candy, or take your picture and offer to give it to you as a present, or offer you a box when you don't know the contents of the box.
It's awful to have to be wary of gifts people give us, but as the saying goes, "It's better to be safe than sorry." All we're trying to do is keep everyone safe!
One of the most powerful defenses we have is awareness! When we are aware that a gift might be dangerous, we are prepared!
Talk through the chart on the next page. Photocopy and enlarge it! Keep adding to it, on an ongoing basis!
Here is a list of possible stranger-awareness gift situations in which a stranger might offer you a gift. Ask your friends, family, adults and other people for suggestions and ideas to add to this chart. Keep adding to this chart!
While shopping at the mall, a stranger offers to give you a free backpack.
In a movie theater, a stranger says he bought too much candy and offers you some.
In the schoolyard, a "delivery person" gives you a package for one of the teachers and asks you to carry it inside.
Someone you don't know says there's a gift for you in the car, but you have to come and get it.
Ask students the following questions. Remember to go after quick, immediate responses!
Do you always tell your parents and/or teachers where you're going, when you leave their sight?
Is there any reason why you would not tell them where you're going? What would those reasons be?
Would you be afraid that perhaps they might not approve of where you're going? Or might worry about you?
Sometimes we like to feel independent and either forget or don't want to let our parents or teachers know where we're going. As much as you don't like to do it, can you think of one reason why it's safer not to tell them than to tell them?
The world today is more dangerous than it use to be. There have always been people around with bad intentions, but there seem to be more of them these days.
It's smart to always ask permission to leave the schoolyard or play area, or to go into someone's home.
It's always smart to let parents know where you are and when you're expected back.
One way to prevent conflict from brewing is to keep the people you know best informed about where you are and what you're doing. That way, if you need help, they know where to find you.
There are no right or wrong answers, so you have nothing to lose! Act from your clear, focused mind! If something funny or crazy or bizarre comes out, enjoy it! The point is to say it as it is.
Why do you think it's a good idea to talk with any stranger who approaches you?
How can you distinguish between a stranger who intends to do harm, and one who doesn't?
Can you think of a time when a person you don't know made you feel "uncomfortable"? When was that?
Can you remember meeting or seeing someone and immediately thinking, "This person is dangerous."? When was that?
When is it appropriate to say no?
When is it NOT appropriate to say no?
Is there an advantage in telling a trusted adult a problem you're having? If so, name one.
Are there disadvantages in telling a trusted adult about a problem you're having? If so, name one.
✓ Thank your students for their willingness to trust their intuition!
Never Go Anywhere With Someone You Don't Know!
Encourage students to give you rapid-fire, alert answers to these questions! It's important for them to think quickly, on their feet!
Is there a time when you would even consider getting into a stranger's car?
Would it have to be an emergency of some kind? And how would you know the emergency is real?
Do you think that someone could trick you into getting into their car by using the names of people you know?
Would you ever consider going anywhere with someone you don't know?
The way we think creates the way we feel, and the way we think and feel creates how we act.
If we think that a stranger has told us the truth, we will believe it, and possibly get into the stranger's vehicle. If we are aware enough to question whether a stranger has told us the truth, we are prepared!
When we learn to think intelligently — to stop and consider the best approach to whatever we're going to do next — we develop our Mental Self-Defense™ skills and get mentally stronger!
If we practice thinking, "I will never, ever get into a stranger's car," then we won't!
✓ Ask for two Volunteers to play the parts of LANE and CAMPBELL.
Suggest to the Volunteers that they get into their parts and have fun with the roleplay!
✓ AFTER ROLEPLAY, thank the Volunteers. Leave enough time to ask a few short questions! Encourage students to think quickly, on their feet, and to respond with whatever thoughts enter their minds.
What do you think? Did Campbell's mother really get into an accident?
Can we tell from this roleplay what actually happened?
Do you think Campbell knew for certain what happened?
How do you think Campbell responded to Lane's offers to help?
Do you think Lane was sincere?
Were there any danger signs?
Go Where You Know There's Protection!
Ask students the following questions and, once again, encourage them to give you quick, alert answers. Remember, you have only 15 minutes!
What does it mean to be "safe"? When do you feel safe?
Do you feel protected at home? In your room? In your classroom? In your community? In your martial arts school?
What's the safest place you can think of?
In today's world, places we think of as safe aren't always!
That's why it's good to think about a variety of "safe" places — places you might want to go to, if you ever found yourself in some kind of danger.
Think of one place, right now, that you believe is safe.
Ask yourself what makes this a "safe" place.
In a fire, or in an earthquake, being inside your home is not always the safest place — so it might be helpful to think of some good, alternate locations!
Activity 9: My Safest Place!
✓ BEFORE CLASS, make TWO PHOTOCOPIES of the roleplay on the following two pages.
✓ Ask for two Volunteers to play the parts of SIMPSON and KARLIN.
Remind Volunteers that it's good to really get into their parts and to read their lines with enthusiasm!
Tell Volunteers to have fun!
✓ AFTER ROLEPLAY, thank the Volunteers. Ask the following questions and, as always, encourage students to think quickly, on their feet, and to respond with whatever thoughts enter their minds.
What did you think about Karlin and Simpson's choices for safe places?
Would these "safe" places work for you, in your neighborhood?
What do you think of their idea of making a chart to put up at school, at home and in certain places in the community?
Do you think it might be helpful to make a chart for the people you know, in your home or school?
What are some of the safest places you know?
✓ Thank Volunteers and class for their good work.
Stay Away from Deserted Houses and Dark Alleys!
Ask students the following questions. Encourage them to think clearly and effectively — but fast!
Do you sometimes see or read the news and think, "I'm so fortunate that has not happened to me"?
Do you take a hard look at how these things DID happen to these people?
Have you sometimes heard that someone walked through a dark alleyway alone, or ran through a large park at night — and was attacked?
Do you sometimes think that these things could never happen to you? Do you feel confident, strong, invincible?
No matter how strong you are, how much martial arts you've studied, and how smart you may be, do you think that everyone is basically vulnerable, at one time or another?
The phrase "Better safe than sorry" makes good sense! Whenever you find yourself in a place where you do not feel safe, it's good to stop and think for a moment about your next step.
You never want to walk through dark alleys, poorly lit parks or deserted areas — especially when you're by yourself.
You never want to go into a deserted house, day or night – especially when you're by yourself.
The more we think about dangerous places to avoid, and safe places to go, the more our Mental Self-Defense™ skills are strengthened. Let's think!
What makes this place so dangerous?
Is there any time of the day or night when it would be okay to go to this place?
What kind of risk would you be taking to go to this place with a friend?
Do you think it would be helpful to let other people know that they ought to stay away from this place?
What do you think would be the best way to inform people you know about the danger of this place?
Are there any people you know who hang out in this place, even though they are aware that it's risky?
Are there any people you know who hang out in this place, who do not know that they may be putting themselves in jeopardy by being there?
Do you think that it's always better to be safe than sorry?
✓ Congratulate students on their excellent Mental Self-Defense™ work!
Listen to the Voice Inside Your Head!
Ask students the following questions. Keep the lesson only 15 minutes!
When we are in trouble, do you think we tend to panic and not always use our best common sense?
Do you think that sometimes our "inner" voice may be shouting at us and we don't hear, because we're afraid, or unbalanced?
Is it your opinion that our "inner" voice is our gut feelings trying to give us some good advice?
It's important to respect our gut feelings. Those feelings are not just wild or crazy thoughts running rampantly through our heads! Those feelings are based on our instinct, which is doing its best to give us some important advice!
We tend to ignore our instinct, because it comes from a place inside us that we're not always used to listening to.
More often than not, our gut feelings are accurate. They are like built-in signs or warning bells, signaling us to pay attention.
I'm Listening to That Voice!
✓ Ask students to sit or stand in a circle, as comfortably as they can.
The point is to be quick and fearless!
It's good to empty yourself of old thinking!
It's important to trust your instinct!
✓ Go around the room many times, as many as you wish, firing the questions that appear on the following pages. You're always invited to make up some of your own that you know are appropriate for your students. It's okay to re-use the questions over and over again, because different students will have different responses.
✓ Afterward, congratulate students on their fine work!
Many Strangers Are Good People!
When you ask your students the following questions, keep in mind that this is the last segment – make it the best one! Remind students that there are no "right" or "wrong" answers — only honest ones!
Do you think we should distrust all strangers, no matter who they are? Are all strangers dangerous?
What do you think is the best way to distinguish a kind stranger from a menacing stranger?
Do you think we should trust our instinct all the time, no matter what it tells us?
What is the most important thing you think you've learned from becoming more aware of strangers?
Do you think you've developed your stranger awareness? In what way?
Do you think you've strengthened your Mental Self-Defense™ skills? In what way?
Let's say that you've been inducted into the local Police Department.
Your job is to come up with safety tips for kids and to go around to schools to help students learn more about stranger awareness and what they can do to live as safely as possible.
✓ Ask students to freely share their thoughts, their ideas in their groups — to not be afraid to say what they think. Give the groups five minutes to come up with their ideas. Ask them to write them down quickly!
✓ After five minutes, call time. Ask each group to quickly report their findings to the rest.
You've come up with some fine ideas. Congratulations on your good work! It's been a pleasure to have you with us!
There are other classes we offer, that are longer, more involving, where you can learn even more!
Next time, bring a friend!


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Stadtbauamt Hannover steht für:

 Bauverwaltung Hannover, Behörde für Gebäude in Hannover
 Bauamtshaus Hannover, Gebäude im Maschpark, siehe Bauverwaltung Hannover #Geschichte und Baubeschreibung

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia