Bird Droppings January 22, 2018 Sitting thinking of a circle   I missed the last rerun of a favorite miniseries, Into the West, and one of these days will find the DVD set or Netflix will add it.  The movie starts and ends with a circle of stones with a line going east to west…

Bird Droppings January 19, 2018 How do we know if we are still human?   Perhaps it is from growing up in a situation where we were daily aware of special needs children and adults from the birth of my younger brother till his passing almost nineteen years ago. Those in my family have had…

Bird Droppings January 18, 2018 Counting knuckles: or is it No child will be left behind who does what we want and is considered totally normal   One of my students asked a few years back what day of the month the following Friday would be and I responded January 30. Just as quick another…

Bird Droppings January 16, 2018 We are neither wolf nor dog   It has been some time since I first read a book by this name written by one of my favorite authors Kent Nerburn. In much of his writing Kent Nerburn addresses the spiritual significance and depth of life of our Native Peoples. While…

Bird Droppings January 15, 2018 Finding a way to forgive   “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” Mahatma Gandhi   It was a little over six years ago I spent the morning on a field tip of sorts for a graduate school class. We visited the MLK Jr. Memorial…

Bird Droppings January 11, 2018 Why should there be no teasing?   “Before you speak, ask yourself, is it kind, is it necessary, and is it true, does it improve on the silence?” Hindu proverb   So often I speak first and clean up afterwards many times simply walking away quiet generally leaving whoever I…

Bird Droppings January 10, 2018 Trying to find a way back to normal   “Tin soldiers and Nixon coming, we’re finally on our own. This summer I hear the drumming, four dead in Ohio. Gotta get down to it soldiers are cutting us down should have been done long ago. What if you knew her…

Bird Droppings January 2, 2018 Horses and Trains and learning   It has been many years since I last rode on a train. I mean a serious train going more than the distance between concourses at an airport. Years ago when I lived in the Philadelphia area, we all used mass transit to commute, to…

Bird Droppings December 29, 2017 Setting an example is such a simple lesson plan “We taught our children by both example and instruction, but with an emphasis on example, because all learning is a dead language to one who gets it second hand.” Kent Nerburn, The Wisdom of the Native Americans I have over the…

Bird Droppings December 21, 2017 Understanding the symbols of life   “Symbols express and represent meaning. Meaning helps provide purpose and understanding in the lives of human beings. Indeed to live without symbols is to experience existence far short of its full meaning. Ways of expressing and representing meaning include the symbol systems of mathematics,…