Bird Droppings February 15 2026

Patience

Since 2003, I have pondered the idea of a book, Bird Droppings, a teacher journal. The idea came from my daily postings I was using with students and started sharing through social media in the early days, with email and MySpace. In 2009, I began using WordPress for my postings and coordinated with Facebook, and what is now X. While out driving in the rain this morning, I felt the need to rekindle my writing and get this book going. I went back to my WordPress postings to the first one, and with a bit of updating and editing, shared that first post again today.

Bird Droppings, October 1, 2009, goes something like this. I am sitting here writing and listening to Neil Young from the   1971 CD Live at Massey Hall. I have been a Neil Young fan for many years, and more recently a bigger one as I have read and followed his contributions to children and adults with special needs. He and his late wife have a child who uses a wheelchair due to cerebral palsy. They started a school, The Bridge, in California, which is sponsored in part by Neil Young and friends’ annual concerts. I told my wife that I would like to go to a concert. Not this year, however. I need some patience. “Old man, take a look at your life,” Neil Young sings, and I wonder as I look each day at where I have walked and where I am going. Have I done all I could today, or was there something more I could have done?

“The man who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.“ William Faulkner

When I first read this earlier, it hit me hard. So often in life, we want to accomplish that great task in one quick, easy movement. Recently, I was reading a favorite author’s blog email, in which he mentioned that he has been working on an idea and a book about an artist for years. In the Dakotas, nearly fifty years ago, sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski had promised to honor the memory of Crazy Horse by carving out a mountain in his likeness. Literally rock by rock, he and his family have kept that promise since he died in 1974, and the face was dedicated in 1998. 

“Our patience will achieve more than our force.“ Edmund Burke

Often, as I teach, it is not a great lesson that succeeds, but simply Patience. Being able to deal with the difficulties of the day and move into the next without dwelling too long on a single issue, moving small stones one at a time, all in our effort to move or carve a mountain

“The two powers which, in my opinion, constitute a wise man are those of bearing and forbearing.“ Epictetus

“Patience means self-suffering.“ Mahatma Gandhi

“That virtue of the mind which is called Patience is so great a gift…“ St. Augustine of Hippo

I walked out earlier, taking the dog for his morning constitutional, before me a clear sky filled with stars. Our home sits slightly off the road, with a large field or pasture behind us, a dirt road to one side, and several empty lots on the other. It is actually very private. But it was stars that caught my eye in the chill. Each morning, they are there when the clouds allow. I was discussing the idea of Patience with another teacher yesterday.

A former student’s mother had been killed several years back in a car wreck, and we were talking about how students will come to certain teachers. This former student I had seven years ago would stop by every day when she was in school before graduation. Consistency came up in our discussion; students will flock to it since, many times, they have little in their lives outside of school.

“Let this be understood, then, at the start, that the patient conquest of difficulties which rise in the regular and legitimate channels of business and enterprise is not only essential in securing the success which you seek, but it is essential to that preparation of your mind, requisite for the enjoyment of your successes, and for retaining them when gained. So, day by day, and week by week; so month after month, and year after year, work on, and in that process gain strength and symmetry, and nerve and knowledge, that when success, patiently and bravely worked for, shall come, it may find you prepared to receive it and keep it,“ Josiah Gilbert Holland

“Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears.“ Barbara Johnson

I typed in “Patience” as a search, and the first few results were all lyrics for the Guns N’ Roses song. The words aren’t really applicable, or I would use them, but in the song. There is a whistling start to the song; I find myself sitting here writing about Patience and humming the opening. 

“(whistling) …little patience, mm yeah, mm yeah – need a little patience, yeah – just a little patience, yeah – some more patience, – yeah – need some patience, yeah – could use some patience, yeah – gotta have some patience, yeah – all it takes is patience, – just a little patience – is all you need” Guns and Roses 1989

In all honesty, the words really don’t quite do it without the whistling, the tune, and Axl Rose’s whining voice singing about patience “is all you need”.

“Consider the hourglass; there is nothing to be accomplished by rattling or shaking; you have to wait patiently until the sand, grain by grain, has run from one funnel into the other.“ John Christian Morgensten

Whether this was made by the 16^th-century artist or the more whimsical poet of the 20th century, this is a powerful statement. If you have never watched an hourglass at work, it truly is the best example of Patience. Bit by bit, one grain at a time falls through no more, no less, till the entire mass of sand drops into the lower chamber.

“If I have made any valuable discoveries, it has been owing more to patient attention than to any other talent.“ Sir Issac Newton

“Only those who have the patience to do simple things perfectly will acquire the skill to do difficult things easily.“ Johann Friedrich Von Schiller

It takes Patience to accomplish any task. It takes Patience when dealing with humans, especially high school students, five-year-old kindergarten students, and a five-year-old grandson. I am about to go sit down with him and watch a YouTube video of Minecraft games. I have talked about world peace more than once and am committed to that, but it will take Patience. I wonder if, as a society, we will ever practice Patience. Please keep all in harm’s way on your mind and in your heart namaste.

My family and friends, I do not say this lightly,
Mitakuye Oyasin
(We are all related)
docbird