IMPORTANT – A couple of notes on today’s post….. it’s long, it’s personal, and it’s a re-post from 2015. Enjoy.
My dad was a Taurus. Today would have been his 82nd birthday. He passed away after a brief illness on July 20, 2009. He was 76, too young. His passing took me by surprise, though if I had been paying attention I would have known, or at the least been more prepared, more ready.
My dad and his mom – one year old – May 1934
It seems like just the other day, but it was almost six years ago. It was at the end of the school year and I remember the entire event unfolding in slow motion in my memory, as if it were yesterday.
A year after my dad passed away, my brothers and I escorted his cremains to France and spread his ashes where he wanted to spend eternity in the countryside of northern France. Since that summer, I’ve been on a quest to recapture and gather my history, my story – who I am, where I have been, and where I am headed. In a way, MakingtheDaysCount.org has been my journal and my travelogue. Continue reading Taurus the Bull – 11 years later→
It’s the third Sunday in May and I am winding down on another year of teaching. There are eight days remaining in our school year with the kiddos, then it’s summer break and another opportunity to rehearse for retirement.
Sunday May 3rd, on the way how from somewhere…. blessings > problems
I was reminded by the sign below that I have a great deal for which to be thankful. I found it a couple of weeks ago, and I found the time this morning to write about it.
A week ago, I had a flashback to my first year of blogging and I reached out to a parent of a former student from the 2010-11 school year. It was my first year of blogging and she introduced me to another blogger whom she had met the summer before. I was, and still am, thankful. My message was brief and it took several attempts to find the correct email address before the message went through without a mailer-daemon reply.
Good morning,
I am not sure if this going to work… but I’ll give it a try.
Thought of you and your son this morning as I started my day – it is the day the first Coca-Cola is served in Atlanta!
I remember your family came back from a trip to the UK with a copy of a CD by One Night Only as it wasn’t available in the US.
My son – who’s your son’s age and grade, is now a firefighter paramedic, married, and has twin boys (18 months old). How is your son? And how are you doing?
I hope all is well, peace. BTW, I am still blogging at https://makingthedayscount.org
Semper sharkus,
I received a reply and I have yet to reply, but I will before the day is done. It was great to hear of my former student’s successes since he left my class, I knew he was destined for greatness as he showed curiosity, resilience, and great sense of humor as a seventh-grade boy.
Friday afternoon, I attended a retirement celebration for three of my fellow educators who are finishing their careers and retiring this year. One of them has been at our school since it opened in 2001 and many former teachers and administrators showed up for the party. It was wonderful to see so many people I haven’t seen for several years and catch up.
One of them was a band teacher who left about the time I had Edward, or maybe it was before. But it’s been a while. As we talked, he shared how he remembered the MtDC posts I would share via Facebook. I stopped sharing my blog posts on the platform when FB labeled them spam and contrary to the rules of the platform. I never understood how it happened, but it was probably a word or phrase that got flagged, so I stopped. The entire thing had me in knots, before I let it go.
Friday evening, it was hazy and humid early in the evening. May 15, 2026, 7:36 PM CDT.
It’s true I have far more blessings than I have problems as the sign says. Sometimes I just need the reminder.
In a few weeks, my sixteenth year of blogging will roll over to seventeenth. It is hard to believe it’s been that long, but it has. I have learned a lot along the path, and I know I am a better person for my years blogging.
Today is going to be a great day, if I can only trust it. It could possibly be a million and six times better than yesterday. So, I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Making the Days Count, one day at a time making time to be present and patient.
I have a few signs of the week that haven’t made it to the blog, yet. I am not sure if any of them are relevant anymore as time ran out before I could write the post.
This week’s sign is too good to allow to wither away on the vine. I found it by accident. I drove past this week’s sign Saturday morning. I was in the left lane and didn’t see it until I was almost past it.
This morning, I went back to capture the sign I missed yesterday. I’ve have added the sign to my ‘must curate’ list, and I will be driving past it more often!
Mother’s Day in our house means celebrating my wife by weeding, spring yard cleaning, and spreading mulch, and getting the yard and garden, and anything outside looking great for spring.
It’s a labor of love.
At the end of a day’s work, we sit down and have dinner together on the deck, if it’s warm enough.
Mom, me and younger brother Warren. My youngest brother hasn’t arrived yet. late 1963, or early 1964.
Every year on this day I think of my mom, and my stepmom.
Those two moms shaped me onto the person I have become. Like the craftsman that shapes a block of wood; my mother sculpted me by knocking off corners first, then craving, and sculpting me before sanding to finish me. My stepmother aided in the process. I would not be the person I am without those two.
photos of my stepmother – upper left clockwise – dad and her, as a baby, probably her mum, and Juliana was a young woman – long before my father met her.
And the rough spots that remain, are the dominion of my wife (and daughter) who continue the work of removing any blemish or growth that remains.
It’s a labor of love.
I am work in progress and I am trying to be a better every day.
I am already behind my self-imposed schedule so; I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Today is going the be an amazing day. Making the days Count since 1961, one day at a time with the help of some very special women.
W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, April 15, 2026
Yellow was my mom’s favorite color, at least I think it was. She’s been gone seven years now and there are so many questions I have that will forever go unanswered. I am going to have to go on believing that yellow was her favorite color.
Sunday morning, I looked out the kitchen window and saw an American Goldfinch, or spinus tristis, at the seed feeder. It was bright yellow and I couldn’t miss it.
I also uploaded it to a new app I discovered while watching CBS Sunday Morning before spring break. It’s called iNaturalist. The app encourages amateur scientists across the globe to share photos of living things – plants, animals, insects, and birds. I am just beginning to explore with it.
I shared the app and video with my students before we left for spring break encouraging them to be curious and full of wonder completely oblivious to the scheduled launch of Artemis II the following week.
My mom encouraged me to be curious as a child, and often in our conversations through adulthood. She’d love that I was reminded of her through seeing a spinus tristis.
It’s Wednesday and I have a full plate today. So, I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Making the Days COUNT, one day at a time, seeing yellow is better than seeing ‘red.’
This weekend has been a cold one. Yesterday the high was in the tens, low tens.
This morning, it was -4F or -20C. At the moment, it is 3F (-16C), but the sun is shining brightly.
I discovered this week’s sign on the way home from serving others at Loaves and Fishes. It was a cold afternoon and fewer folks than normal were out getting what they need. We stayed warm and I shared my favorite cold weather hack. After several years of working out of doors for a few hours each Saturday, I have learned that the best way to keep hands warm (and dry, too) is to wear vinyl food service gloves underneath my regular gloves. Works every time.
I parked the car and walked back to get the photo above.
It’s been a few months since this church’s sign has been featured here. The past few months it’s been sharing messages promoting church events and I’ve been patient waiting for this week’s message of love, hope, and joy. There are signs all over – Christmas lights on houses, wreaths for sale, and sadly there are too many signs urging me to make a purchase in stores all over.
As the sign suggests, I am going to use love, hope, and joy take me far. There are eleven days until. Christmas and I have five ahead of me in the classroom.
Sunday is always a busy day but there is room for love, hope, and joy. There is always is and I hope it takes me far. Today is started and it going to be a million and six times better than yesterday. I am going to stay warm by Making the Day Count or doing my best at it.
November has been a beast, October started it. Maybe it’s the leaves falling, or first quarter ending and second quarter starting. Either way, I feel as though I’ve been chasing my tail all month long.
Last weekend, I took a quick trip to the lake house – up Saturday afternoon and back Monday afternoon. It was a trip to replace the Nest thermostat which Google stopped supporting in late October. I figured (correctly) it would still work, but we wouldn’t have a way to check or change the temperature settings. O offered her Nest thermostat from her college house, and I took off when my Saturday shift at Loaves finished. I packed the car leftovers from the fridge for dinner when I arrived and both dogs.
It was a good thing I drove up. When I arrived, the thermostat was set to OFF and the inside and outside temperatures were the almost identical! 44F (11C) yikes. It was cold. I turned on the heat and within a couple of hours the cottage was a comfortable 65F (18C).
I am thankful I had the flexibility to take off for a quick trip to the lake.
I remember the weekend when I installed it in 2013. It is funny how the mind works. I re-read the post and like almost every post I reread, I found a typo or two. I also discovered I’ve become a better writer, and I realize that WordPress has developed incredible storytelling tools, even when I still must edit after I press publish.
I am thankful I continue to learn and grow, and I am thankful for WordPress. It was a good choice fifteen and half years ago and it is still today.
Sunday morning, I had a list of chores and a hope. I decided to tackle the thermostat switch, but I discovered that O’s thermostat wasn’t a good match and I needed a replacement. I checked Home Depot and discovered I could get one on Wednesday, so I checked where I bought the original Nest – Lowes and they had three in stock.
So, the dogs and I took off for the Lowes in Gaylord and a new thermostat. Hopefully this thermostat will last another dozen (or more) years.
Two hours, total. Up, back, and then a quick install and now we can monitor the climate in our lake house remotely.
On our way back to the lake, I saw the above sign; boy, do I love the wisdom. Gratitude and thankfulness, indeed it is a lifestyle, yet like many of the values and ideals in America it has a day set aside for it – Thanksgiving.
This year my school district switched the timing of parent conferences to October, instead of November and set aside the ENTIRE week of Thanksgiving as a break for teachers and administrators. This year we had nine days instead of six.
I am thankful for the three extra days; it makes a difference in where I am on the ninth morning.
After the installing thermostat I had another errand and few chores before cooking dinner and settling down for the night.
It was a beautiful day to be working outside; and my canine companions enjoyed the time to play, and I enjoyed the sunset and moonset. Monday morning, while practicing gratitude with Five Minute Journal app, I caught the most beautiful morning sunrise. I was at the right place at the right time for all three photos.
Sunday evenings’s sunset, 5:08 PM EST
Sunday evening’s moonset, 6:57 PM EST
Monday morning’s sunrise paints the early morning sky, 7:41 AM EST
I am thankful I was able to see the sky and enjoy the beauty of nature.
It is the ninth and last day of Thanksgiving break, and yesterday we received a good amount of snow, had it fallen during the school week it might have been a snow day, but it fell Saturday. The yard is beautiful and I am thankful I was able to get the yard mowed, as many leaves as I could gather, and finish almost all our Christmas lights up Friday.
There was one thing I couldn’t squeeze into Friday, and it was refilling the bird feeders. Saturday morning as the first snowflakes fell, I filled the feeders. A couple of hours later, I saw a bird I have never seen at the feeder. I snapped a photo and asked Merlin to identify it, and it came back – Dark-eyed Junco.
There were several Dark-eyed Juncos enjoying the opportunity to take part in a Thanksgiving feast of their own. The bird feeders continue to spark my curiosity and learning. There is always something at the feeders to see and wonder.
I am thankful for the family of bloggers who encourage my curiosity and challenge me.
It has been an amazing break, and I have done the things I needed to recharge and finish 2025 strong. When I started writing t was Saturday and I was by a warm hearth, and it was snowing. It is still snowing and the fireplace has gone cold, for the moment. Today is going to be an amazing day, it could be a million and six times better than yesterday. But I will ever know unless I jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Making the Days COUNT, one day at a time, practicing Thanksgiving as a lifestyle, not a day.
What’s on your gratitude list?
The video above was created in October during our visit over the Columbus Day\Indigenous People’s break
W^2 or W squared for Wordless Wednesday, November 12, 2025
Yesterday, I had heard about the possibility our area would be able to see the northern lights, but by the time I had gotten home I had forgotten.
the Aurora Borealis from my backyard – Wheaton, IL Tuesday, November 11, 2025 7:55 PM CST
Fortunately, I saw several messages from friends with their photos of the Northern Lights and I went outside to see for myself.
At first I couldn’t see them, but my daughter joined me outside. While she stood beside me she pointed and said she could see them – her eyes are better than mine. So, I trusted her and used my phone camera to capture them – it is more sensitive to the light than I am. What a beautiful sight. The light pollution in our area limits what we can see, but I have to trust that it is there.
Some times I have to let the light shine and trust that it is reaching me. It’s Wednesday and middle of the week and I am going to make the day count. It is going to be an amazing day. I know it and I can feel it, so I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day.
When was the last time you had to trust that something was there, even if you couldn’t see it?
This week’s sign is from the ice cream shop I pass on the way to the lake and along the way home. Friday night it was well past closing time when I stopped to admire the message.
Summer season is the high season along the lake and there are few folks on the lane this weekend. Yesterday, I saw a few walkers and a neighbor couple, both of whom I watched grow up, are here with their newborn – their first. It’s hard to believe, but I am the first of three generations that come here now.
I didn’t make it to that ice cream shop this year, maybe I will next year. It all depends on if I get there in time or if the line isn’t too long and I can spare a stop along my way.
It’s Sunday and I’ll be looking for a new sign today but there are signs all around that fall is in full bloom, the weather has a chill in the air and the forecast promises sunshine later in the day. So, I’d better jump up, jump in and seize the day. Making the days Count, one day at a time, making time to take in the season.
I didn’t find this week’s sign until I was there, I’d been there before, seen the sign, and turned right into the parking lot almost as if the car knew where to go.
My go to sign at the church lists October’s upcoming events and I didn’t find any signs until yesterday evening just before sunset, after I had loaded the car. And there it was, this week’s sign.
Our family has been visiting this farm for as long as I can remember…my first photo evidence is from 2011, that I could find, but that was about the time that Saturdays were filled with kid’s activities of sports and scouts and family and whatever else we could pack in. Now that they aren’t kids any more, we still visit.
The farm is an hour’s drive into the flat plains of northwestern Illinois farming country. Soybean and corn fields lined the road as we drove west. An occasional farmhouse and barn surrounded by trees greeted along our journey. It’s been dry, very dry, and we saw clouds of dust in the fields as farmers rushed to bring in this year’s harvest with their combines.
The farm we visit is a multi-generation farm and the original farmer has since passed on, but his family – his kids, and their kids, and their kids, kids continue the tradition. The daughters run the operation now, and they remember us, even though we haven’t brought our kids in a few years. They grow pumpkins, and the midwestern field crops as well as raise a few head of cattle, too. The farmhouse is decorated with pumpkins and gourds sorted by size and price and there is quite the variety.
the farmhouse and a large tree surrounded by all sorts of pumpkins
this wage has the eight dollar pumpkins
They also raise rabbits and goats’ a few years back we almost came home with a rabbit to go with our pumpkins.
We always arrive late in the afternoon and have picked our pumpkins, visited, explored, and loaded before the sun sets over the fields. We always stop for dinner at a local restaurant on our way home. It’s our tradition and it feels right. When dinner is finished, it is dark, and we drive home. It’s been a full day when we pull into the driveway and unloading the car will have to wait until the morning.
a ‘framed’ sunset – I couldn’t really see what I had until I had taken it….
unframed, the sun seems small
this tree ‘spoke’ to me and I had to take the shot
I woke later this morning, later than normal, but earlier than the rest of the house. I was rested, the country air is always refreshing, and I was ready for the day. I was a reading a few blogs and I came read Dr. Gerald Stein’s post – Our Questionable Progress, and I thought how appropriate it was as I was feeling overloaded starting the day. Sunday is always a busy day for me I never seem to get everything I need to get done. So today, I am going to breathe and get done, what I can and leave the remainder for Monday. No pressure.
It’s my youngest brother’s birthday – all three of us are sequential 61-62-63 until my birthday in November when I will be two to the sixth power. It’s also my 34th wedding anniversary and it seems like the other day when a ray of light beamed in through window above us and illuminated the two of us just as we took our vows.
Today is going to be an amazing day, I am sure of it. So, I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Today is going to be a great day. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, being patient, focused, and purposeful.
I am little behind on my Signs of the Week posts, but school is back in session and it seems I am busier than ever. Sometimes I worry too much about posting when I should be focused on being my best self.
I found these gems on a sign back to back in front of the First baptist Church along M55 in Prudenville, Michigan over the Labor Day weekend a few weeks back. I found a couple more that’ll have to wait for another week or so, depending on what I find in my travels this coming week.
This is the other side of the sign, it was on the sunny side, facing west.
I was reminded that detours can be good, even if they don’t seem to be at the time.
Yesterday, while volunteering at Loaves and Fishes on my normal Saturday morning shift I got to talking with a fellow volunteer whom I have worked with many times before – at east the past couple of years…..the conversation went like this…….
Me: “What do you do when you are not volunteering at Loaves?”
KS: “I work in IT.” What do you do?
Me: “I teach middle school science?
KS: “Really, where?
Me: “Scullen Middle School…”
KS: “Really, I have 6th grader at Scullen…..”
Yep, and she’s in my class, my tenth period class which is my last of the day and a great way to finish every day.
It’s a small world and sometimes our detours are really good things.
I am wrapping up my sixth year of volunteering at Loaves and Fishes. I started volunteering because I wanted to be a positive example for my son, who’d landed in a tight spot and needed some community service hours. He volunteered and served the hours he needed, but has since moved on to other things. Things he should be focused on – marriage, parenthood, building his career, and other things a late twenty-something should be paying attention to.
And me a sixty-somethings? I am doing what I should be doing with the detour, practicing for retirement and staying active in the community. I get as much if not more from my time helping others get what they need to thrive.
I have a few more years before I hang up the chalk for good, but I am always learning, always thinking, and always being curious. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, and trying to look at things differently, even detours.
Have you ever had a detour that turned into a blessing?
And by the way, if you missed my post about my visit to the Netherlands, check out Operation Market Garden…
My dad and his mom – one year old – May 1934
