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my swiss cheese education

I can't say that if my school had it in a book I learned it. Far from it. I hated history, tolerated science, and wasted way too much time writing silly poems and letters to people. But I have realized that much of what I do know comes from books and not real life.

For example, my senior year of high school, my younger sister and I had the glorious (depending on who you ask will determine which adjective is used there) opportunity to work together. After a pay day, while we headed to the bank (in the next town), and my sister who was not yet driving pointed out a car, called it by name, and said "I wouldn't mind getting one of those one day."  I was flabbergasted. My littler sister could recognize a car's name just by seeing it? Then she asked me what kind of car I wanted. Other than wanting one that didn't stall at stop signs and didn't require one foot on the brake and one on the gas to keep it running during such times, I really didn't care. Perhaps that is why I had never really paid attention to cars. But I felt like there was a whole chunk of life I was missing out on that she had caught.

It happened again in college, as kids from more advanced high schools would discuss current literature and newspaper articles. I felt totally lost, as if I were a child in a grown up's world.  When I came home one weekend, my brother wanted to know exactly what I planned to do after college. When I told him I would live overseas and learn about other cultures and how to best tell them about Jesus, he harrumphed and told me I needed to learn my own culture first. That night he introduced me to a world I never knew existed - the race track.

And twice in the last month, it's happened again. I know that I don't see colors the same way other people do, and I never had the advantage of art classes growing up so am ignorant of the art fundamentals others know. But while showing a quilt to someone and while taking a quilting class the other day, both people talking said "Oh, it's in jewel tones." (one talking about the quilt and the other talking about material being used)  I was clueless.  Jewel tones? I understand the "spice colors" in quilting (greys, browns, blacks) and "earth tones" but jewel tones?  I am SO out of the loop! Perhaps that is why I think brown and black match perfectly (but have been informed by a cousin, a niece, and a friend on facebook that they don't). I can simply chalk it up to another hole in my real-life education and go on with living.

I'm just a walking slice of swiss cheese. :)

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