Tag Archives: Family

Beware, the ides of November

Saturday, November 16, 2013, @ 11:26 amcountry, Family, growing up, Life in General, Music, sports, Teaching and Learning, WeatherChicago Bears, education, fall leaves, Family, hard work, making the days count, NFL Salute to Service, reading, Salute to Service, seventh grade, teaching, Veterans Day, weather, writingClay

my MO, it's growing in — my MO, it’s growing in – go ahead click me!

It does not exactly have the same ring as the classic line from William Shakespeare’s play, “The Life and Death of Julius Caesar” warning Julius Caesar of his impending doom; “Beware the ides of March.” I don’t have a soothsayer to remind me, I don’t need one, because I know the Ides of November – the middle of November – is a tough part of the calendar for me, it always has been.

Last Sunday was my birthday, I rolled over one more year, and I feel great. My birthday was a great time. W treated me to the Bears vs. Lions at Soldier Field. We had a great time. We took the train – the ‘8:15 into the city’ (“Takin’ Care of Business” – Bachman-Turner-Overdrive). Actually, it was the 8:53 and we arrived without fanfare just before ten. W read his book for English class and I read a book, too. Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick was just beginning to get good when we pulled into the train station. We caught the express bus to the stadium and we were inside watching the teams warm up before eleven. It was W’s first professional game. Even though he’s seen countless high school football games and a couple of Division III College games, the NFL experience is something to experience. It was my first time at Soldier Field for anything. I was impressed. I grew up on games inside in the Astrodome in Houston. They don’t play pro games there anymore, and I have heard they are thinking of tearing it down. Sad. The stadium is right along the Lake Michigan shoreline, America’s great inland sea. It was an absolutely beautiful day – clear skies, cool and sunny. The temperatures stayed in the forties and we were comfortable the entire day. It was Veterans Day weekend and the game was one of the games the NFL selected to be “Salute to Service” games where the league recognizes America’s soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen. American military and national pride was prominently on display. Continue reading Beware, the ides of November →

It ain’t over ‘til it’s over, and the gun goes off

Saturday, November 9, 2013, @ 12:10 pmFamily, growing up, Life in General, sports, teaching, Teaching and Learning, Weather, Writingchildren, education, fall in the Midwest, fall leaves, Family, football, hard work, high school football, making the days count, teaching, writingClay

'77' is for Red Grange a Wheaton alum and NFL Hall of Famer — ’77’ is for Red Grange a Wheaton alum and NFL Hall of Famer

The Tigers lost their playoff game Friday night and their season is over. I am sad. My son played his last game a couple of weeks ago when the regular season ended and is now waiting for wrestling season to begin this coming Monday. It will keep him busy and fully exercised during those lean months of little sunshine and bitter cold. It’ll give me and B something to do on Friday evening and Saturday. He wrestled last year and had a good freshman season.

If you have been following MtDC over the past several years or high school football seasons or however you want to count it, you know I am a passionate high school football fan – especially the Wheaton Warrenville South Tigers. Even before W got into high school, we were there on Friday nights. It was our Friday evening entertainment. B grew up in a small town in southwestern Ohio where her Tigers were legendary in the small school section of Ohio high school football in the mid to late 1990s and early 2000s. She played in the marching band in high school and marched Friday night in the late seventies before graduating and going off to college. Her dad played for the high school team in the forties and later at Miami University after his navy service at the end of WWII. When W was a little kid we went to watch my nephew play for the Ohio State Football Championship in Paul Brown Stadium in Massillon, Ohio. They won 26-0 and it was a good game, and it was worth every minute of the four-hour drive there and the four-hour dive home.

I guess that’s why I am so agitated this morning and was even more agitated last night. The Tigers began the season rated in the top twenty and knocked off the defending 7A state champion in the first game. In the second game, they defeated another state power. In the third game, the Tigers were up against the crosstown rival Wheaton North. In a hard fought game, the Tigers dominated the Falcons in every way. The Tigers had a bump in the road mid-season and lost a game to a team they should have defeated and were soundly defeated in the second to the last game of the year to last year’s 8A state championship runner up and possibly this year’s 8A state champion. Who knows? Regardless the Tigers finished 7-2 and qualified for the playoffs. They won last weekend and moved on to the second round.

The Tigers have been successful, very successful in the nineties and ever since. Continue reading It ain’t over ‘til it’s over, and the gun goes off →

Movember

Saturday, November 2, 2013, @ 9:49 amadventure, Family, Reading, sports, teaching, Teaching and Learning, travel, Weather, Writingchildren, fall in the Midwest, fall leaves, Family, Grayling, great days, making the days count, reading, seventh grade, teaching, weatherClay

It’s Movember, the first Saturday in November. There is a chill in the air and after a couple of days of gentle rain to soak the ground, it looks like the skies will clear and it will be a sunny day. I can only hope.

Last week at the time, I was just waking up. Friday night I watched W play his last football game of the season and then driven north to the cottage for fall cleanup and a couple of last season chores. Saturday morning I was alone. The phone was ringing and I needed to answer it. I must have sounded horrible because my mom asked if I was okay. I was okay, just exhausted and spent. But, it was a good thing, I told her I would call her back and I crawled out of bed. I brushed my teeth, started the coffee, and began the day. I was still sleepy as I looked out onto the lake, shrouded in grey with the windows splattered with rain. It was a dreary day. It was windy, cold, and wet; perfect weather for a day spent in the yard raking and doing fall cleanup. I sipped my coffee and stared out onto the lake. The lake has power, even a grey cloudy rainy day lake. It has the power to relax, the power to heal, and the power to rejuvenate. I needed the lake and the cottage needed me. I called my mom back, sipped my coffee, and gazed out at the lake as we talked. Continue reading Movember →

After Midnight

Sunday, October 20, 2013, @ 11:04 amadventure, Family, growing up, Life in General, Reading, teaching, Teaching and Learning, Tuesday's Tune, Weather, Writingchurch, education, fall leaves, Family, football, friends, great days, making the days count, Mississippi, Oxford, reading, seventh grade, teaching, writingClay

It is another Sunday morning and the sun is up, the air is cool and crisp, and leaves litter the front lawn. I slept late this morning, or at least later than I should have although I have reasonable excuse – I stayed up too late last night, past eleven – almost to midnight.

I remember (often) the days of my youth when after midnight was truly after midnight, well after midnight. Eric Clapton’s song says it all about what I was doing:

After midnight, we’re gonna let it all hang down.
After midnight, we’re gonna chug-a-lug and shout.
We’re gonna stimulate some action;
We’re gonna get some satisfaction.
We’re gonna find out what it is all about.
After midnight, we’re gonna let it all hang down.
Eric Clapton – “After Midnight”

These days, I can’t hang much after ten, maybe it’s because I have aged or I have gotten wiser, or just that I realize that have to get moving and accomplish something before noon. Continue reading After Midnight →

October morning

Sunday, October 6, 2013, @ 9:51 amadventure, Family, Life in General, Reading, teaching, Writingeducation, fall in the Midwest, Family, great days, high school football, reading, seventh grade, weather, writingClay

Yesterday was our 22^nd anniversary. I have known B for much longer, almost thirty years. The time has flown by. If I close my eyes, it seems like yesterday when we met, got married, and had kids. It was also my younger brother’s birthday. For a short time, we will be consecutive 51-50-49. I am the oldest, the smartest, the best looking, and the most humble, in case you didn’t know. Yesterday was also homecoming for W and it was a day full of activity finishing with a dance. Oh, the memories it brings back. It’s fall in the Midwest, again. It happens every year. The days get shorter and cooler, and the trees begin to turn and then leaves begin to fall. It happens, always. Continue reading October morning →

Sunshine Report – Equinox Edition

Sunday, September 22, 2013, @ 7:38 amFamily, growing up, history, Reading, sports, teaching, travel, Weather, Writingchildren, education, fall in the Midwest, Family, football, geography, great days, hard work, high school football, reading, seventh grade, softball, teaching, writingClay

Night and Day 2002 - courtesy of sunthingspecial.com — Night and Day 2002 – courtesy of sunthingspecial.com

This morning the sun rose at 6:40 AM, it’ll set this evening at 6:49 PM. It’s a cycle that has been repeated for as long as earth has existed and will continue long after I’m gone, my kids are gone, and their kids, too. It’s a cycle that continues without any help from man (or woman); it just happens and it will always happen. But, that doesn‘t keep me from thinking about it or forcing my students to think about it. I am the king of things kids don’t think about. That’s my job, and I love every minute of it.

Last week was gone in an instant and the week before it, too. Next week looms ahead full of opportunity and challenge. Time waits for no one. The sun rises, the sun sets, no matter what. It’s a cycle. Last year, I challenged my geography students to observe the world around them and a couple reminded me in the hall last week about the Sunshine Report. Last year’s geography students began each Wednesday morning looking at the sun’s angle, recording the sunrise and sunset, and we’ll do it again this year, but differently. Just as my students learn in my classroom, I too, learn from them: from good lessons that could be better, lessons that were awful, and lessons that should never be tried again. I learned from those students and this year’s group will teach me something different, something new. I can hardly wait. Continue reading Sunshine Report – Equinox Edition →

Blink

Sunday, September 15, 2013, @ 8:11 amFamily, Reading, sports, teaching, Teaching and Learning, Weather, Writingchildren, education, Family, great days, high school football, making the days count, reading, seventh grade, softball, sports, teaching, word parts, writingClay

French market roses - all sorts of pinks — French market roses – all sorts of pinks

I blinked and my week was over. It seems like I was up North yesterday pulling the dock out, cleaning the garage, and tidying things up for the long winter or maybe the day before, but that isn’t possible, it was a week ago and a week has passed in blink of an eye.

I must have the best job in the world; no, I have the best job in the world. Continue reading Blink →

Blame the dog

Sunday, September 8, 2013, @ 9:14 amadventure, Family, jobs, Life in General, pets, Reading, teaching, Writingchildren, education, Family, Grayling, great days, hard work, high school football, making the days count, pets, reading, seventh grade, softball, sports, Summer Vacation, teaching, writingClay

I am up north for the weekend. It’ll be the last weekend for a while and I enjoyed the sunset last night and the morning view with my coffee for one last time this summer.

I drove up by myself Friday after school. B and the kids stayed home; W had a football game Friday night and again Saturday morning along with loads of homework, I do hope he is making a dent in it, and O had softball Friday and Saturday, too. It’s strange being here alone. I had a long list of things to do and I added to it as I walked around yesterday. The boats are out and stored for the winter, the dock and boat lifts, too. The patio furniture is in the garage and I have shuffled the organization from summer to winter mode with snow shovels and the snow blower ready for action when we come back this winter. I have a few more chores before I close up and leave this afternoon and I am debating about leaving the vents open and scheduling one more trip before winter sets in to close them. Continue reading Blame the dog →

A season for everything

Sunday, August 25, 2013, @ 8:22 amFamily, growing up, history, jobs, Life in General, Reading, sports, teaching, Teaching and Learning, Weather, Writingchildren, education, Family, football, great days, hard work, high school football, making the days count, reading, seventh grade, softball, teaching, writingClay

School started Monday and the kids, my students, arrived Thursday. It was a good week, no, correction, it was an excellent week and it was over before I really knew it.

the first day - "Who do you want to be?" assembly — the first day – “Who do you want to be?” assembly

All things have a beginning and an end – there is a season for all things. I was unwinding Thursday after school trying to piece together all of the papers, memos, reminders and notes I had made during the day and I was tuned into my iPhone listening to a playlist headlined by “Long Cool Woman” by the Hollies. I don’t really listen to music anymore, like I did as a kid, rather I hear the music, the beat, and using it to block out other noise. Continue reading A season for everything →

First day, again

Monday, August 19, 2013, @ 5:44 amFamily, food, Life in General, Reading, teaching, Teaching and Learning, Writingchildren, education, Family, first days, great days, Guys Read, hard work, making the days count, seventh grade, teaching, writingClay

Summer is finished. It went quickly, it always does. This morning the sun rose at 6:05 and it will set this evening at 7:46. I’ll have 13 hour and 41 minutes to make the day count – during daylight, that is. That is very different from the 15 hours and 13 minutes of daylight in June 21^st, the Summer Solstice. I was up early before five and I’ll probably be up long after the sun sets, thank you Edison.

Today is the first day of my school year. I’ll spend it in meetings hearing about new procedures, important dates, and reminders about how education has changed since my REAL first day in 1999. I’ll re-connect with teachers I haven’t seen since school ended in June. We’ll talk about our summers – share a laugh, and then we’ll get down to getting ready for our first day of school with kids in our classrooms. I can’t wait, that is my favorite part of teaching – the kids.