The daily meanderings of a teacher

Tag: Life

  • A morning meandering while the rain keeps coming down

    Bird Droppings March 10, 2025A morning meandering while the rain keeps coming down Almost ten years ago, after tutoring in an after-school program with a student who needs constant repetition of material to remember, I read through several old emails from my doctoral and graduate cohort friends as some are defending their dissertations in the…

  • Why should life be a difficult journey?

    Bird Droppings March 1, 2025Why should life be a difficult journey? “Use what talent you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best.” Henry Van Dyke It has been a few years since I visited with my mother, and I walked by my fathers and brothers’ grave…

  • To die a happy death:

    Bird Droppings February 12, 2025 To die a happy death: 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 twenty years now, elementary school for two, and college…

  • Can we teach a love of learning again?

    Bird Droppings February 10, 2025Can we teach a love of learning again? This has been a perplexing time of my life out of the classroom, giving advice here and there to fellow teachers, parents, and students. I recall a car wreck in which a young man died, and his passenger, a good friend of my…

  • Practicing Patience

    Bird Droppings February 6, 2025Practicing Patience It has been nearly forty-five years since I first went to Hemmingway’s just off the interstate in Decatur, Georgia. It was a favorite local entertainment establishment. My wife and I would go before and after our marriage primarily to listen to a local singer who provided a fantastic evening…

  • I am Reading and listening to a philosopher.

    Bird Droppings January 28, 2025I am Reading and listening to a philosopher. There was a beautiful sky this morning as I walked out; the weather was wreaking havoc with my sinuses: cold, hot, colder, and humid. On the one hand, I can count the number of mornings with frost this year. The sky, while partially…

  • Life and its alternatives become more of an issue as each year goes by

    Bird Droppings January 19, 2025Life and its alternatives become more of an issue as each year goes by Morning has been a special time for me each day, a new beginning. Several aspects make it special. The first one is heading out to chase sunrise and listening to Carlos Nakai’s flute music. It is a…

  • LIFE and FINALITY

    Bird Droppings January 1, 2024LIFE and FINALITY Morning has been a special time for me each day, a new beginning. Several aspects make it special; the first one is taking pictures of sunrises. Then, I ran some errands and started cooking supper, and then I wrote and read, which became my meditation for the day.…

  • Can you give it one more try?

    Bird Droppings December 29, 2024Can 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. Askenberg In my high school teaching days, teachers at my school judged seasons by testing season, not weather.…

  • A chill in the air but not in the heart

    Bird Droppings December 22, 2024 A chill in the air but not in the heart For several days now, we have been at or below freezing in the early mornings, which totally silences the crickets and tree frogs who need an ambient temperature a bit warmer, maybe high fifties or low sixties. So, for today,…