W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, September 8, 2021
Herrick Lake Forest Preserve, Wheaton, IL September 7, 2021 6:21 PM
Tuesday afternoon strong storms passed through the area. My classroom weather station registered 2.27 cm of precipitation, a little less than an inch, but at home – none. Once the storm passed it was beautiful, so Fern and I went for an early evening hike. Herrick Lake is a favorite hiking spot of ours with some elevation change, forest, and prairie with a little bit of wetlands mixed in. The two of us made hay while the sun shined and it was a good hike. The sun set over the prairie as we rounded our halfway point. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, hiking to move and moving to live.
It’s Sunday morning and I am sitting at my summer office, knowing full well ‘summer’ is another nine months away. The days are numbered on the summer office with a few more days left in August. Soon it will be too cold, too wet, or both to sit outside and work. But,
I’ll make hay while the sun shines. Farmer’s wisdom
The birds are flocking to the feeders, and I watched three hummingbirds hash it out over at the hummingbird feeder. Sorry, no photo, those birds are just too quick.
“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” Viktor E. Frankl Austrian neurologist, Holocaust survivor
There has been a lot of talk in the media about learning loss. The pundits love to point out deficiencies in public education because it’s easy to point out what’s wrong. It’s much more challenging to find what is good and that is what Making the Days COUNT dot org is all about. Always has been. There is far more good in the world than the media is apt to share. So, that’s why I have tuned it out. The loudest sound in the room isn’t always right, it’s just loud.
It’s Day 68 +2 and I am back to school. My first day back was Monday and my new students arrive tomorrow on Thursday. I am excited and nervous, and I am certain they are too.
I woke early Monday morning, much earlier than I was accustomed to over break. I sat outside listening to the birds’ chirp while sipping coffee and working through my morning routine. I realized that the sun rose after 6 AM and it was similar to the final sunset after 8 PM or later a few days ago, this was the last time until next spring that sun rise before 6 in the morning. Summer is winding down and being back in school is a sure sign that summer’s days are waning.
Yesterday we had meet and greets for a few students to come into school, meet their teachers, and find their classrooms. It was exciting to meet them and hopefully I will remember them on Thursday when they sit up front as a suggested. I made notes before I left school of whom I met. I am excited and I am sure they are, too.
games can teach us about how science works…
Monday morning, I arrived early, before the meetings began, I opened the packages that arrived last week. The contents are in the photo below – they are games I am going to use to help develop science skills – observation, classification, evidence, claims and reasoning.
“In the summer, we write life’s summary with the slow waves of love flowing over the sandy beach. The slow breeze and the warm sun write our memories.” ― Debasish Mridha
We are up at the lake for the race, the famous canoe race. Canoe race weekend is an important time for us as a family and I have written about this weekend in past years. The canoe race is always the last full weekend of July.
The canoe race is begins in town and ends 120 miles down the Au Sable River in Oscoda, Michigan where the river empties into Lake Huron. For many, the race defines this town, but Grayling is much more.
the view from my perch at the table… I can see the lake and both feeders.. and Saturday morning’s gentle rain
The rivers have been important where trapping along the three rivers – Au Sable, Manistee, and Muskegon – which begin here in the Michigan Highlands was the first industry when Europeans arrived in the seventeenth and eighteenth century. Grayling, the town, was established as a logging town when it was settled in the late nineteenth century. Logging, forestry, and wood products are still key industries in town, but tourism – hunting, fishing, and recreation – is the industry that sustains this little town near the headwaters of the Au Sable River.
When the pandemic began last year, the cottage along the lake was my hideaway. I spent the last two months of the 2019-20 school year teaching remotely from our place on the lake up here. I felt safer away from our densely populated home region. In many ways we were safer here – there are significantly less people in the county and the reported COVID cases were significantly lower here than our suburban county.
And because there are less people wildlife thrives and is more abundant in the absence of people.
During this time by the lake shore, the beginning of the pandemic, change, real lasting deep change, began for me and my family.
We spent more time paying attention to nature and spent more time walking. I walked more last year with my wife and kids than I remember. I also stopped listening to music, podcasts, or audio books when I walked and I started listening to the birds, the trees, and nature around me.
And, I have paid more attention to nature.
For Father’s Day, my wife gave me a couple for bird feeders and shepherd’s double crook to hang the feeders for our lake house. I placed it just off the deck where we can see it when we are sitting in the front room or on the deck. Continue reading Friday morning birding on Saturday→
We’ve been home for the week, and it’s been glorious. The partial drought of late spring has been replaced by more seasonal rain pattern and unseasonable coolness.
We returned home late Wednesday evening wrapping up details at the lake house and driving home while it rained much of the way home, traffic was light, and we made good time on the road.
Day 30 and Thursday was time to catch up on our home. The yard had grown wild and mowed the grass twice once at the highest setting allowed and then lowering the mower one setting and gathered the clippings – two full of grass clippings. I mowed it again yesterday, Day 35, catching the grass and have one bin full of grass clippings for my effort.
It’s that time in summer when nature thrives in the warm sunlight and abundant rainfall. We are blessed.
“And summer isn’t a time. It’s a place as well. Summer is a moving creature and likes to go south for the winter.” ― Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay
W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, May 5, 2021
Dryocopus pileatus aka pileated woodpecker #2 on the upright on a tree. Grayling, MI Saturday April 24, 2021 10:20 AM
Pileated woodpecker #1 on the ground foraging on a log. Grayling, MI Saturday April 24, 2021 10:20 AM
the field guide..
I have been looking for one these woodpeckers for over two years. Last fall I saw one, but by the time I had trained my camera it was gone. Two weeks ago, at the lake I spied one along the lane picking through a log on the ground and then saw another on a tree. I didn’t have my camera, but I was able to capture both with my phone camera. The following Sunday I recorded the video below as a pair of them worked the forest in search of food. it is the ABA Bird of the Year for 2021!
It made my weekend and I keep Making the Days Count, one day at a time.
It is Friday, Good Friday, and our spring break is winding down. Last year for spring break we were in Michigan and we watched the lake ice melt. I spent the remainder of last school year – April and May – teaching from our cottage in Michigan. This year, we are in the keys of Florida and it has been very relaxing. We’ve been safe or as safe as one can be in the world of COVID19, social distancing, and mask mandates.
Monday evening’s sunset from Sunset park, Key Colony Beach, Florida
This year spring break has a different outcome. Last year I was returning from break to remote learning – something I had never done – posting assignments by 8AM and monitoring student progress, using ZOOM to connect with my students and using email and comments on assignments to provide feedback. This year I am returning to having most students in class four days each week and the remainder joining class remotely via ZOOM.
Much has changed since last year and I am thankful, very thankful. This year there is hope, while last year there was fear and uncertainty. Even with hope, there is still some fear and uncertainty, but I have found that when I focus on what I can control and for the rest what I am unable to control, I rely on my faith and pray that hope rises above fear.
Sunday morning’s sunrise. Key Colony Beach, Florida
A week ago, Monday, I opened my email and found that my Lenten Journal had been published. I smiled and shared it with a few folks, and now I share it with you.
I had written the reflection in mid-January as we were preparing to begin hybrid teaching and learning. Hybrid teaching is having some students in class and the remainder remotely on ZOOM. In January, we had divided the students who wanted to be in school into two groups an A group – last names A-L and a B group – last names M-Z. The A group attended Tuesday and Wednesday and the B group attended Thursday and Friday. In all, I had a little more than a third of my students in class for at least two days of instruction and those students who were not in class attended class remotely via ZOOM. It took a bit of learning on my part and my student’s part but we figured it out. We made it work.
Below is my Lenten reflection.
“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light. (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)..” Ephesians 5:8-9
I teach 6th grade science and recently added an iPad as an extra screen to help manage my classroom with students in class and those following along at home. It helps me to create a single classroom and bring together the students who are in the room with those who are at home on Zoom. The iPad suggested I try ‘dark mode’ to help me better see the screen and improve the battery life of my device. But I soon discovered that it made reading more difficult for me and following along in class, dark mode became a burden and I turned off ‘dark mode.’ Continue reading Light Mode→
W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, March 3, 2021
The sunset over the frozen lake, beginning to melt at the edge. Grayling, MI February 26, 2021 6:16 PM
Winter is on its winding its down and spring is on its way. I never tire of watching a sunset or a sunrise it’s what keeps me Making the Days COUNT, one day at a time, each day is a step forward.
When was the last time you stopped to the sunset or rise?
W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, December 30, 2020
Fern and Ivy – left to right, their faces seem to say, “can you come out and play, it’s fresh snow and a lot of fun.” Wednesday, December 30, 2020 10:05 AM
Fern and Ivy enjoy getting out and running in the snow and I enjoy watching them. We’ve got a few inches of fresh snow and until the dogs ran through it, it was a clean white blanket. I’ll be stepping out to clear the drive and walks and playing a little, too. Making the Days Count, at play and work, one day at a time.
W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, December 23, 2020
a patient Fern waiting for her master in the sunlight, McDowell Grove Forest Preserve, Naperville, IL. Sunday, December 20, 2020 11:16 AM
4.69 miles on a Sunday late morning hike, we were less than a half a mile in, Fern was still patient while I snapped a photo or two. Making the Days Count, patiently, one day at a time.
It has been a challenging year, but I’ve been patient, have you?
