Category Archives: Life in General

Dear Mom,

Thursday, July 16, 2015, @ 9:38 pmChallenges, Family, food, growing up, jobs, Learning, Life in General, postaday, Reading, Writingeating, education, eighth grade, Family, great days, hard work, mom, reading, seventh grade, teaching, weather, writingClay

Dear Mom,

It was good to talk with you this past Sunday and great to hear your voice. I am glad you got the letter I wrote in Michigan.

I gonna sit right down and right myself a letter.... — I gonna sit right down and right myself a letter….

I write a lot about growing up on my blog. I reflect and write how growing up made me who I am, why I do what I do, and why I think the way I think. I have never taken an accounting of the balance on my blog posts between you and dad. If I had to guess at a ratio, it would be mostly dad, about 70 – 30. Abraham Lincoln said it best, or maybe wrote it:

“The past is the cause of the present, and the present will be the cause of the future.”

The complete quote is, “There are no accidents in my philosophy. Every effect must have its cause. The past is the cause of the present, and the present will be the cause of the future. All these are links in the endless chain stretching from the finite to the infinite.” From the Lincoln Nobody Knows by Richard M. Current (1958).

But, it really should be 50-50, after all I am a product of the two of you.

Every once in a while I’ll call to thank you for something or to apologize for all of the headaches and heartaches I put you through growing up, especially that period between 13 to 25. I don’t know how you did it considering since that period of time was magnified three-fold and lasted until we all grew up.

Growing up is a process and I continue to grow and mature, even at my age. When I stop learning and growing, it’ll be time.

Thank you for all that you shared with me that shaped me into who I am.

I love to cook because you love to cook. You taught me that it was okay to fail, as long as I learned from it and moved on. Your maxim of no comments until after dinner is good advice for a cook. You taught me to be open to new foods and even though we were young, we all remember Julia Child’s kidney recipe as well as Boeuf Bourguignon, Coq au Vin, S.O.S. – dad’s recipe from the Marine Corps – and so many other foods and dishes. Continue reading Dear Mom, →

Paint and Storms

Tuesday, July 14, 2015, @ 9:00 amadventure, Family, growing up, Learning, Life in General, Scouting, teaching, Weather, Writingchildren, Eagle Scout Projects, education, Family, great days, hard work, making the days count, scouting, Summer Vacation, weatherClay

It’s Tuesday morning and I have paint all over my hands. It’s white latex paint and I have speckles and splashes all over my fingers, fingernails, and ingrained in the lines of the heel of my right hand. I scrubbed in the sink and again, in the shower before falling asleep last night. No worries, I’ll have more paint on my hands this afternoon and maybe even tomorrow.

I’ve been painting the music room at W and O’s elementary school. We spent ten years in elementary school as a family. Our time at Wiesbrook School began in 2003 when W started kindergarten and ended in 2014 when O moved up to middle school in’14. My how time flies.

September 2004 - first a Tiger, then a Wolf, then Bear, and on to Webelo as a Cub Scout — September 2004 – first a Tiger, then a Wolf, then Bear, and on to Webelo as a Cub Scout

Actually, it’s we, not me, that’s doing the painting in the music room.

We’re back to paint the music room for W’s Eagle Scout Project. I remember the first Cub Scout meeting at the school when W joined as a first grader. He was so excited being a Cub Scout. My how he’s grown.

last Thursday at the doctor's office for his annual school physical - I saw this book and laughed! — last Thursday at the doctor’s office for his annual school physical – I saw this book and laughed!

Continue reading Paint and Storms →

40 years ago, today – part 2: Camels in the Night

Wednesday, July 8, 2015, @ 3:01 pmadventure, Family, growing up, history, Learning, Life in General, Reading, teaching, Writingeducation, eighth grade, Family, great days, making the days count, reading, seventh grade, Summer Vacation, writingClay

I had seen a car crashes and crushed cars, but I had never seen a car tossed to the side of the road and left behind destroyed after hitting a camel. I will always remember the drive from Dhahran to Riyadh across the Saudi Arabian desert in the middle of a hot July night with my dad, my new stepmother, and Warren and David, my two brothers. I was thirteen and it was 1975. It was the summer between my seventh and eighth grade. It was my summer vacation, it was our summer vacation, and we were driving across the desert to spend the summer with my dad in Riyadh. When my parents divorced, the divorce agreement gave him forty-five days of summer visitation and monthly visits, which were impossible because we lived in Sugar Land and he lived eight thousand miles away in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. When I first learned, I was going to spend the summer in Riyadh with my two brothers, a summer in Saudi Arabia sounded exotic and exciting, but soon the feeling of leaving and leaving my friends, my home, and fun things in our neighborhood made me resent my dad and the trip.

my passport - issued in 1973 — my passport – issued in 1973

Our summer vacation had begun normally. School let out and we were able to see our friends and have fun in the neighborhood. However, I knew, really and the three of us knew we would be leaving for at least a month to see my dad in Saudi Arabia. To get ready for our trip we had to get new passports and have our immunizations updated. We had our pictures taken and went to the health department in downtown Houston to have our cholera shot. The shot didn’t hurt, though the hustle and bustle of getting ready made getting ready for a trip I didn’t want to go on even more difficult. We also had to pack and make sure we had the things we needed especially, the medicines I needed and the shots for my asthma and allergies that my mom gave each week. It is hard to remember everything you need, until you need it. Finally, my dad came over to pick us up and fly with us. As glad as I was to see my dad, I knew his arrival meant we were really going and that made me sad. Continue reading 40 years ago, today – part 2: Camels in the Night →

40 years ago, today

Sunday, July 5, 2015, @ 8:29 amadventure, Family, growing up, history, Learning, Life in General, Reading, teaching, travel, Writingeighth grade, Family, hard work, history, London, making the days count, seventh grade, sportsClay

My parents divorced in 1975. I was in seventh grade and twelve years old. After the divorce, my dad moved to Saudi Arabia, remarried, and started over. My dad had visitation rights each weekend and half the summer – 45 days. The weekends were a moot point – a weekend commute of almost 8,000 miles one-way was not practical. Especially in 1975. My communication with dad was limited: letters took weeks to traverse back and forth with a reply. I have most of the letters saved in a box in the basement. Phone calls were too expensive and the connection was shaky, too.

Forty years later a much has changed, but a weekly commute still is not practical. There is the internet with e-mail, blogs, Skype, and more. Even a phone call is made easier, too.

summer75_before — the four of us – Warren, dad, me, David – taken before the trip in front of the garage

That first summer, my dad got us for 45 days, the summer of ’75. I think it was more my mom sent us to dad. All three of us, at the same time. I have memories, my passport, getting shots, a few slide pictures from the trip, but not much else. Memories come back in bits and pieces, jogged by an anniversary or a probing conversation with my brothers or mom. Sometimes those conversations are painful and the memories are not there and have been lost. Continue reading 40 years ago, today →

What a difference two days make

Thursday, July 2, 2015, @ 10:59 amFamily, geography, Life in General, Weather, WritingFamily, great days, making the days count, Summer Vacation, teaching, writingClay

“If you don’t like the weather wait a day and it will change” anonymous

I’ve heard that said about the weather almost everywhere I’ve lived and visited. I heard it in Houston, Chicago, San Francisco and when I visited – London, Paris, and northern Michigan. And, yes, it is true to a certain extent. Weather does change and it should because that is what weather is – change.

The weather yesterday and day before was cloudy, blustery, and downright chilly, especially when you consider it was the last day of June and the first day of July. This morning, it’s chilly but clear and looks to be a million and six times better than yesterday.

yesterday morning

this morning

I taught geography for fourteen years and most of my 7^th graders always mixed up the two terms – weather and climate. Weather is the day to day change in the atmospheric conditions in an area and the climate is the long term pattern of weather in an area or region. I wanted my students to understand that climate influenced where people settled, where cities grew and civilization developed.

Weather changes, climate should not, but it appears that our climate has been changing since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution and is the change is accelerating

Two weeks ago, Pope Francis issued his encyclical on Climate Change and it was the hubbub of the news for a few days, and then it disappeared. The subject will reappear after the next large weather event and folks will be concerned for a moment and then all will be forgotten. It’s an awful cycle – for a moment, a fleeting moment, we are concerned, then we return to the behavior that got us here.

It was 48F here when I began writing and 83F in Paris yesterday it was 103F. Yikes, that’s hot. It’s too cool here and far too warm there. Not normal.

Continue reading What a difference two days make →

My brain hurts

Friday, June 26, 2015, @ 6:15 amadventure, jobs, Learning, Life in General, Science, teaching, Teaching and Learning, Weather, Writingeducation, environmental science, Family, great days, hard work, making the days count, Science, stormwater management, Summer Vacation, teaching, water, weather, writingClay

My brain hurts AND that is a good thing; it’s a very good thing.

School has been out for sixteen days and today is the Day 17. When I first started blogging in 2010, I numbered all of the posts – Day 1, Day 2 and so on. In 2010, Day 17 was in France and the first full day of my trip to Paris and take my dad back home. Looking back to 2010, Day 17 was June 14^th and this year it falls on June 26^th – the days do not line up because every summer is different. Some summers begin early and others start late, some summers are influenced by the weather and others are not. This summer is no different, we had bitter cold this winter and it cost us three days; it really cost five days when the last day of school was moved from a Thursday to Tuesday and enveloped a weekend –swallowing two additional days of summer break. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it’s too cold to go to school, too snowy, or too wet, or even too hot – we’ve had bad weather days almost every year I’ve been a teacher. It happens. This summer is no different, we’ve been on the rainy end of a wet and stormy weather pattern for almost two weeks and the area has had over 6 inches of rain in June – well over the average of 4.5 inches for the month.

The Pope issued an encyclical on climate change last week, it got a lot of coverage in the press, and then it disappeared off the radar. But, is shouldn’t have, the issue of climate and climate change should be on all of our radars. That’s one reason my brain hurts, I am thinking and wondering, but there are other reasons.

I was in class last week – material science class. It was amazing and I walked away with many ideas of how to incorporate what I learned in science class this coming year. I melted metals, bent glass, made pottery, played with polymers, and all sorts of materials. My brain hurt all week trying to soak up new ideas and meld them with old ideas to form a composite.

This week, I am in class again. This week’s topic has been water. Clean water, storm water, sewage water, stream water, ground water – all kinds of water. The class began with a trip to the Jardine Water Filtration Plant in Chicago where the water I use to drink, cook, clean, and flush begins its journey to my house. The plant processes about 400 million gallons of water a day and provides water for Chicago and several suburbs with a population of almost 4 million people served.

the quarry - not even close to being full — the quarry – not even close to being full

We visiting a large storm water facility that is an old quarry and it can hold a lot of water – something like 2.7 billion gallons of water. Which if you do the math is like letting faucet run from the Jardine plant straight to the quarry for a little less than a week. That is a lot of water and part of why my brain hurts.

Continue reading My brain hurts →

Learning Never Ends: It’s a Fair Trade

Wednesday, June 17, 2015, @ 6:23 amFamily, Learning, Life in General, Science, teachingchildren, Coach Daddy blog, education, Family, great days, hard work, making the days count, teaching, writingClay

This week I am taking a professional development class at a local college. It’s a week-long seminar and I am blessed to be a part of it. The class, or camp, is sponsored by the American Society of Metals and the organization promotes awareness of the use of materials and careers in material science. I vaguely remember taking Material Science at Texas A&M, but yesterday I had a flashback to thermal expansion problems and coefficients of thermal expansion. That’s about as ‘sciencey’ as I’ll get this morning. But, one of the more interesting activities we did was to melt tin, cast a tin bar, and do splatter tests for tin. It was very fun and I am looking for ways to do it with my own students in the coming year – they would have a blast. Watch as a tin pellet melts before your eyes.

Also, summer is in full bloom and I can read and write more than I am able during the school year. Woohoo. I was asked by Eli over at Coach Daddy blog to write a guest post, so I did. Our paths like many bloggers he found me and I found him and despite a distance of 500 miles we follow each other and live parallel lives. Eli is a blogger and has kids about my kid’s age. We are both football fans and enjoy sport and the life lessons sport teaches us about hard work, toughness, perseverance, and teamwork. I am proud to call him one of my friends. Take a look at the Coach Daddy blog – read today’s post about how Learning Never Ends and poke around a bit while you are there.

Continue reading Learning Never Ends: It’s a Fair Trade →

Off-Season

Sunday, June 14, 2015, @ 7:24 amFamily, Life in General, postaday, sports, Weekly Photo Challenges, Writingeducation, Family, football, great days, hard work, high school football, making the days count, preparation, Summer Vacation, weather, writingClay

“It’s not the will to win that matters—everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.” Paul “Bear” Bryant

The first game in 2015 high school football season is 75 days away. The first official practice is a 56 days away. School is out for the summer and summer football camp started last Wednesday. The 2015 Tiger football team began preparing, for W it will (likely) be his last football season as a player. He has learned a lot and grown a lot as an athlete and as a person. Being part of a team has helped hone his sense of responsibility and preparation as well as his sense of service. He is a team player – that’s what it takes for a team to be successful – players willing to put the team before themselves.

NIU_tigertalk — Coach Muhitch addresses the team – the good, the bad, and the ugly – that’s why he is 103-24 with 3 state championships and 2 runners up – preparation

It’s during the off-season that the players come together and learn to work and play as a team. It’s the off-season when the coaches develop players and teach. There is a lot that will happen between now and the first game – a lot of growing – mentally and physically.

Continue reading Off-Season →

Superstition

Wednesday, June 10, 2015, @ 11:30 amadventure, Family, Learning, Life in General, sports, Weather, Writingbaseball, education, Family, great days, hard work, Major League Baseball, making the days count, Summer Vacation, super bowl commercials, superstitions, teaching, weather, writingClay

uscellularfield0607 — my view – US Cellular Field – 6/7/2015 – Tigers 6, White Sox 4 **FINAL**

I love sports. Football is my favorite sport, followed closely by baseball and auto racing, though auto racing does not get my interest as much it once did. The truth is that I enjoy just about any kind of competition.

Last week, I was invited to go to the White Sox game and tailgate with a group of men. I knew one of the men, Mark a teacher at my school; the other two were teachers in my district from other schools I didn’t know. The four men go to a White Sox game at least once a year and tailgate; they even travel to see an NFL game together. I joined because, Kip, one of the men, was sick, he has ALS and couldn’t attend. We had a good time, but for the entire trip, I was Kip. The trip was a ritual of sorts – getting ready, driving downtown, the seats in the van – I sat in Kip’s seat, parking in the same spot, setting up, cooking, eating, picking up, even to playing a game of beanbag toss. I had a good time, but the Sox lost.

it started as dreary rainy morning and ended a bright sunny day

On the way out of the ballpark one of the guys remarked,

“You know, every time we come, they lose. Maybe we shouldn’t come as a group!”

“Nah, that’s not it, the Sox suck. The pitcher gave it away today.”

Continue reading Superstition →

Intricate: Weekly Photo Challenge

Tuesday, May 5, 2015, @ 9:52 pmadventure, Challenges, Cooking, Family, Learning, Life in General, postaday, Science, Teaching and Learning, Weekly Photo Challengeseducation, environmental science, great days, lady bugs, making the days count, penguin poop, pets, teachingClay

Spring is in full bloom. I can see it and I can feel it. It’ll be gone before I know it. That’s the way things to work – gone and replaced by something new. The flowering trees and shrubs are in full bloom and they are absolutely stunning with their pinks, reds, and whites.