The daily meanderings of a teacher

Tag: Life

  • 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…

  • Living a moment at a time

    Bird Droppings November 26, 2025 Living a moment at a time On Tuesday morning, I walked out into my yard to take a few photos after missing the sunrise. From the field behind us, a red-tailed hawk soared around once and landed in a large, black walnut tree next to us. It was only seventy-five…

  • Within the circle of life, infinity exists

    Bird Droppings November 19, 2025 Within the circle of life, infinity exists I had a doctor’s appointment first thing this morning, and, as usual, I had Carlos Nakai playing on my radio as I drove. There is something about his calming music that, for me, is almost meditative. Over the past few days, I had…

  • Isn’t friendship a rather simple concept?

    Bird Droppings November 16, 2025Isn’t friendship a rather simple concept? Recently, I had the mother of three former students tell me how much her sons and daughter thought of me while I was coming into my favorite store, Kroger. So here I am, sitting upstairs in my writing hovel, pondering in the stillness of early…

  • Bird Droppings November 14, 2025Searching for a flower, the butterfly pea (Clitoria marina), in the winter or is it gone now forever Interestingly, I had two thoughts earlier in the morning, when I started the day, that made me think of the butterfly pea. One I heard on the radio was that I was heading…

  • Imagination is a key to unlocking a higher level of thought.

    Bird Droppings November 13, 2025Imagination is a key to unlocking a higher level of thought. Over the years, I have visited many places and met numerous people. In 1973, I was living in Macon, Georgia, and had the great privilege to meet Bill and Gerald Harjo. Gerald was in school at Mercer University finishing his…