Bird Droppings June 20, 2026
Standing in line at Kroger, always thinking about teaching

I am always looking for coincidence. This could be why so often I find it just about anywhere. It might be walking in my yard and seeing an owl sitting in a tree or standing in line at an odd hour at our super Kroger and finding a book. As it goes, I am a creature of some routine, though not as early as I was during the school year, when I would leave the house for high school by six or so in the morning. I still am up and moving before many even consider the idea. I have been doing well with my caffeine intake for a couple of months. That’s an understatement- probably too much caffeine.

I am sitting in my Airbnb on Sanibel Island in South Florida without my tea from home and trying to avoid my caffeine fix each morning from extremely high-caffeine energy drinks, which my cardiologist said to avoid. However, a mini-Keurig is sitting quietly by the fridge. It has been a few years since I would down big mugs as I wrote each morning, and I’m having that urge again. The collection of empty mugs in our cabinet at home bespeaks my former habit.

My son is taking care of watering the plants and the geckos at the house while we are away for a few days to visit our son and the grandbabies. Yesterday, when we pulled into the Airbnb, we had hit 31 miles per gallon on our road trip in my Honda Pilot was pleasantly surprised to get 30 miles per gallon on a 360-mile trip. Sunday, when I went to the store, as I was checking out, I entered the checkout line, and there was a book cart of sorts, a large cardboard box marked book sale. Generally, in a grocery store, books in a large cardboard box marked for sale are ones no one wants, discounted as a “buy this now” sort of approach. As I bent over to look, a little book, “Teachers are Special,” by Nancy Burke, was on top. The adventure begins. On page seven, it is a nice start to the day, as I am always looking for ideas. I shared this one yesterday and have shared it several times before.

“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” William Arthur Ward

That summarizes many education and how-to courses in teaching, all in one place, and here I am, always searching for what makes a great teacher. Inspiration is the key, as I look back on teachers over the years; very few inspired me. There were some, and I could count them on my fingers, and I have been through many teachers in undergraduate and graduate school. I got thinking back to another morning, and I was writing as usual. My son had called me to ask if I was watching the news. One of his good friends was in London on a summer study trip, and things were not so good where his buddy was staying. Jamie came out of it okay, by coincidence.  I thought of the young man whose wedding I had officiated, and more recently another call from my son to inform me of his tragic death in a half marathon two years ago. My son lives in North Carolina with his wife and two children. Sitting here thinking as I reread the line from this little book, and you know the word teacher could be substituted with parent, friend, manager, supervisor, and nearly any other word describing relationships. It is so interesting how we all are teachers in life at some point or another.

“Everywhere, we learn only from those whom we love.” Johann Wolfgang Goethe

One of my projects today is to finish several thoughts on storytelling that I am using from my dissertation, and to always look for new books while here on the island. What is the better time to work on storytelling than while spending time with grandkids? Storytelling is essentially how I teach and convey my lessons. I found several universities researching the subject, basically teaching with inspiration, emotion, and feeling. What if, for today? What if everyone taught, listened, spoke, managed, supervised, coached, and/or just was friends with feeling? Would our world be any different?

“I like teachers to be nice and sweet and cool and let us do our own stuff, and to be kind, really kind.” Meagan, age 7

I wonder: what if a child could rule the world? What would the world be like? Nice, sweet, cool, kind, really kind, and we could do our own stuff, maybe. 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