-
Today should always be the first day.
Bird Droppings December 12, 2025Today should always be the first day. Over the past several weeks, we have been cleaning out our storage buildings. It is a slow, tedious process of finding things we have not seen in twenty or more years. I found a briefcase with my bank statements from 1973-76 or so. I…
-
To die a happy death: perhaps that is something to attain.
Bird Droppings December 11, 2025 To die a happy death: perhaps that is something to attain. My mother’s spirit passed on four years ago. She went to sleep and moved on. As I pondered my thoughts for today, I always thought about education. I have been teaching public high school for nearly 20 years, elementary…
-
Looking in the direction of my journey in life to start the morning
Bird Droppings December 10, 2025Looking in the direction of my journey in life to start the morning “Beginnings start in the east – from where the sun rises, we begin a new dawn. Each day is a good new day with a fresh beginning, a new start. East is the direction of the physical body…
-
Can you give it one more try?
Bird Droppings December 9, 2025Can you give it one more try? “You win some, you lose some, and some get rained out, but you gotta suit up for them all.” Satchel Paige is often attributed to J. Aisenberg In my high school teaching days, teachers at my school judged seasons by testing, not by weather.…
-
Reconciling the importance of the present, past, and future to find balance
Bird Droppings December 5, 2025 Reconciling the importance of the present, past, and future to find balance I spent the better part of the past few days in Southern Pines, North Carolina, visiting our son, daughter-in-law, and grandkids. On our way home, we side-tracked Pawleys Island, South Carolina, and Huntington State Park for a quick…
-
One puzzle piece at a time, a secret formula for good teaching.
Bird Droppings December 4, 2025One puzzle piece at a time, a secret formula for good teaching. “Most people would succeed in small things if they were not troubled with great ambitions.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow How many times are we told “take your time”? So often in life, we are anxious to finish the job or…
-
Walking along the way in my journey
Bird Droppings December 2, 2025Walking along the way in my journey I am building up my endurance by walking as much as I can each day. Pat and I are heading to see our North Carolina grandkids in the morning, and I hope to take some serious steps. As I think back on who I…
-
To think, or at least trying tothis morning, my brain is foggy.
Bird Droppings December 1, 2025 To think, or at least trying to this morning, my brain is foggy. In the past year, I tore my rotator cuff, and my heart went into A-fib. I have had five biopsies and four surgeries for skin cancer, and I am waiting to hear about the fifth biopsy. I…
-
A morning meandering while the rain keeps coming down, and no sunrise
Bird Droppings November 30, 2025 A morning meandering while the rain keeps coming down, and no sunrise Almost ten years ago, after tutoring in an after-school program with a student who needed constant repetition of material to remember, I read through several old emails from my doctoral and graduate cohort friends, as some are defending…
-
I saw a Red-Tailed Hawk
Bird Droppings November 27, 2025 I saw a Red-Tailed Hawk As I look at that statement, it isn’t very sensible for many. A red-tailed hawk crossed my path as I traveled yesterday, flying across the road and landing in a tree. Since we moved in, a pair of hawks has hunted the fields and hedgerows…
The daily meanderings of a teacher 