It is morning Up North. O, Ivy, and I loaded the car and left home yesterday and after a couple of stops, we were on the open road headed east, then north. We pulled into the cottage driveway a little after sunset, but the lake was bathed in blue with a crisp orange and red northwestern shoreline. Venus and Saturn provided bright white punctuation marks in the evening sky. B and W followed in another car a few hours later.
the first sunset of summer – at least for us at the cottage
It’s sleepy and peaceful this morning Ivy sleeps on the footstool in the front room while O watches a video on the iPad on the couch. B and W are still sleeping and I am here struggling with the right words to match the photos. Continue reading muse→
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 14th and this year it falls on June 26th – 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
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.
“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.
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.
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.”
Thick clouds enveloped the lake, as if to keep it safe for another generation, a new season.
the morning’s lakescape, quiet, peaceful, serene – enveloped
This morning, I awoke a few degrees further north, a smidge from being halfway to the North Pole or halfway from the equator. Yesterday afternoon, we drove east, then north and arrived at a lake shrouded in darkness. It felt good to unfold after the long drive, stretch the legs, and breathe in fresh air.
It is the time of year, when few folks are here, except for a few permanent residents along the lane, the lake is deserted. Next weekend is Memorial Day, and summer’s official start, but we’ll kick off our summer this weekend. We’ll open the crawl space, pull out the deck furniture, pull weeds and breathe fresh clean air basking in the freedom of the lake. We’ll make lists and dream of warmer days. I’ll referee arguments, grill steaks, and sit beside the first campfire of summer, hopefully. And, if the clouds recede, I’ll gaze up to the heavens and soak in the wonder of the night sky. Continue reading Enveloped→
The last couple of days began with reminders from my students – one present, and the other a former student.
thanks, Alyssa!
Friday morning started with the quote above and it was a wonderful way to begin the day. It is getting close to the end of the year and tests err, I mean assessments, are on the menu. My advanced chemistry students were finishing their two-day quest and my regular science classes were getting reviewing for their environmental science test on Monday. And, in US History, it was VE Day, and the WWII assessment. Giving assessments also means grading – and homework for me, too.
The end of the year brings closure and squirrely behavior, too. I’ll admit I am looking forward to summer, but not like, I was when I started writing MakingtheDaysCount.org. With 20 days remaining in the year – not counting weekends or Memorial Day – I am constantly reminding my charges that summer goes much more quickly than time in school. Especially for me.
I have been trying to stay afloat all year. This year’s trek began almost a year ago when I learned about my move to science from English Language Arts. There have been days when I have felt like a turtle with its nose just barely above the surface gasping for air. Then, there are the days, like yesterday when I felt I was floating in the air; and the day before when I could have been tumbling through air.
the sun sets through the trees – soon, leaves will appear – spring is here
Change is never easy, especially when it is not of your choice, and as the school year winds down, I look back and reflect on the successes of the past year as well as the many opportunities for the coming year. At present, I do not know next year’s teaching assignment, so change could be in the air or not, I just don’t know. However, what I do know is that the coming year will be full of chances to teach my students life lessons, regardless of the content area. I teach kids, that’s what I do. I’ll focus on what I know and what I can do for now and float.
A month ago, our area got its heaviest snow of the season, 19 inches, and this winter rivals last winter for being cold. According to our local weatherman, this February tied the record for being the coldest on record. We have had snow cover since that early February snowstorm and the snow has thawed, frozen, thawed, and refrozen leaving the backyard a crust of frozen icy snow. I don’t venture out into the yard often, just occasionally to quiet a barking Ivy, our Brittany Spaniel, or to toss Ivy a ball, or clean up after her. It is rather perilous tramping through the frozen yard. It doesn’t seem to bother Ivy – she has smaller paws and is much lighter than I am, so she can walk across the yard without sinking in as I do. Last Wednesday night we got another three or four inches of snow and the driveway was covered Thursday morning. I cleaned it off and the bright sunshine finished what I didn’t clean or clear; it’s evident spring is on its way and the days are getting longer again. Continue reading Chocolate bunnies→
Legend has it that when the Romans defeated the Carthaginians in the Third Punic War in 146 BC, the victorious Romans sacked Carthage plowing under the crops and sowing salt into the soil, rendering the land ruined. Probably by pouring seawater into the farmer’s fields because salt was valuable at the time. I learned this in middle school history in Mr. Burn’s class. It was a harsh punishment and the lessons of history are full of harsh penalties and punishments, of people acting with vengeance instead of reaching out and pulling up. Sadly, history repeats itself – repeatedly.
the sidewalk outside the school – it’s dry but crusted with salt
Last week I was in Mississippi to visit my step-mom and I had to leave a day early because of Octavia. Octavia was the winter storm that wreaked havoc across America’s midsection at the beginning of last week. I decided I couldn’t risk being stranded in Oxford or at the Memphis airport on Monday and flew out Sunday evening. It was a good decision because all of Monday’s flights from Memphis to Chicago and the first two flights Tuesday were cancelled. I got home and it was bitter cold here but the roads were dry, in part to large doses of salt when it has snowed. The roads are coated with a white salt brine that seems to leach from the road and sidewalks until the spring rains wash it all away.
It’s Super Bowl Sunday and for the last four Super Bowls, I’ve made a prediction and every year my prediction has been a fail. Epic fail. Last year’s prediction was the worst ever. So this year, I won’t predict, I won’t share which team I am rooting for, I won’t tip my hand in any way. I just want to see a good game that keeps my interest until the very end, and of course I want to see some good commercials.
Last night I went to bed and the snow was beginning to fall. The weather guys began predicting a major snowstorm on Wednesday or Thursday and the hype has been building since. When I flipped on the radio yesterday, it was all I could hear – major snowstorm, blizzard warning, yada yada yada! The grocery stores were nuts yesterday as folks were out getting bread, milk, and eggs – in case we were snowed in. This morning when I peered out the window, the trees were coated and it was lovely. The snowplow had yet to clean the street and everywhere I could see was covered with a think velvety blanket of fresh snow.
