Bird Droppings March 22, 2025
Wind in the trees
Over the past weeks, several storms have come through the area. I Had a tree guy come out and take down some trees that were leaning or broken off. Just before I went to bed last night, according to the weather forecast, we were expected to get another in the morning; now, it is clear through Saturday. Several times during the night, I awoke to the sound of wind blowing, and Pat woke up several times as well throughout the night. She doesn’t like storms.
When my son’s dog was with us, no one else ever heard him, but I would get up and let him run about, checking out the backyard and running whenever he felt like it. When it is just wind, he will search diligently. When storms came through, he would keep me awake all night, barking and going out to bark at the storm. I recall a night when I was seriously considering using duct tape to silence the dog, and in the end, there was no storm, just a steady wind blowing through the trees several times. I went out and listened. While a bit chilly, the wind still makes an eerie sound on the tops of the pine trees.
In the past, I would walk outside at school and watch the clouds pass by. The sky has been clear this morning, and blue and substantial white clouds pass by in a never-ending procession. The pines just past our house often sway in the steady wind and are almost hypnotic. I was reviewing the final draft of my dissertation and found a bookmark on my desk that my wife had given me several years ago. Several quotes from Chief Joseph and an artist rendition of the great Nez Perce leader are on the bookmark.
“I am tired of talk that comes to nothing. It makes my heart sick when I remember all the good words and broken promises. There has been too much talking by men who had no right to talk.” Chief Joseph
I thought about our current and past leaders to whom these words were addressed. Yesterday, a Senator accused several significant companies of generating over $100 billion in excess profits from the American public over the past few years, amounting to more than $100 per person per year. Of course, the company’s attitude has been that they are willing to pay; why not profit for our stockholders? Their other point has been that several significant companies paid little or no taxes at all. It seems the double talk is about to end, at least, hopefully. This morning, I filled up my wife’s car with gas and visited my second favorite store, Quick Trip. The price of gas is going up. There are no lines, screaming, or hollering, but Exxon’s CEO is smiling as plans to pump money into the oil industry are being made. We have become used to low-priced gas. We have become accustomed to the fact that it is low due to a price war between countries. We are producing more gas and oil than ever before in this country, and still, it is a shell game on the American people by big business and our government. Capitalism rocks if you are a multi-billionaire oil gas baron.
For many years, the Native Americans, as I look back at Chief Josephs’s words, but we average Americans from Europe, Africa, and Asia have been duped by our leaders and businesses because we have been willing to settle for what is offered. I observe in education how federal laws, supposedly intended to improve education, often stifle it while benefiting corporations. A notable example is a new math curriculum that lasted approximately three years, causing significant disruptions in schools and among students in Georgia. Book companies reaped a small fortune, however. Georgia is still struggling with math, and amazingly enough, instead of remedying the math curriculum, they make it harder. The logic befuddles me. If our children have math difficulty, why make it harder? If I were in the industry and faced a problem, I would investigate the cause and apply risk management principles. Put treat, tolerate, transfer, or terminate the problem. In education, we have a more straightforward solution. We compound the problem.
“If you tie a horse to a stake, do you expect him to grow fat…?” Chief Joseph
Under federal and state mandates, schools failing to meet standards are criticized. Some states are suing in federal court for the law. This law or that law has created a paradox, leaving children behind and demanding schools without the resources to support the programs and laws. We have issues with how children are being taught yet evaluate not what they have learned but what they know when they take a test. Sadly, the scores being used are not valid indicators of learning.
As Chief Joseph surrendered to a superior force that outnumbered and outmanned him, he made his mark on history through his words.
“It is cold, and we have no blankets; the little children are starving. My people have run away to the hills and have no blankets, no food, and no one to care for them; they are perhaps freezing to death. I want to have time to look for my children and see how many of them I can find. Maybe I shall find some of them among the dead. Hear me, oh chiefs! I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more.” Chief Joseph
After his pleas for asylum in Canada went unheeded, he stopped fleeing the approaching army, and the Nez Perce had been defeated. They had outmaneuvered and outrun a superior force for months, but their supplies were low, morale was low, and winter was coming. A proud man laid down his rifle. As I reflect on the past and look to the present, I wonder how often we can truly accept people as equals. So seldom can we try and live in peace without making demands. Why do those in power have to flex muscle and have what is not theirs to have? Often, we interfere in the affairs of other countries. We interfere with our own citizen’s rights and privacy. Power is such an addictive thing. Power a simple word and a simple thought. I wonder why we so often abuse it. Please keep all those in harm’s way in your hearts and minds and always give thanks to namaste.
My family and friends, I do not say this lightly,
Mitakuye Oyasin
(We are all related)
docbird
The daily meanderings of a teacher 