I walked to the bay.

The ocean has always had its appeal. Even on a cold November day the draw is there to walk to the sea. To see and smell the surf and the salt.

Isn't it ironic?

A bike path sign covered in lichen. Like hiking boots or running shoes caked with dust. Or Thanksgiving with stores open for shopping.

Our Tenth Year

Gather together a turkey, duck and a chicken.  Debone the birds. Then stuff the chicken inside a duck and then stuff the duck inside the turkey. All layered in stuffing. Sew it up. Pop it in the oven for 12 hours. And voila you have a tradition. Family gathering. Each bringing a component of the feast. To share. Happy Thanksgiving. To family.  To friends.  With love.

How long was your yesterday?

Each of our days are prepackaged into distinct blocks of 24 hours. So how is it some days seem longer than others?

I'm thankful for the many blessings yesterday bestowed upon me. It was an awesome day. The key is: It was a repeat of the day before, and mirror image of today. As always.

A Glimpse

After work
After a trip to the car dealership to get a new tire... Impromptu...
After teaching religious education and then riding my bike... Yeah!!!
Came the time for prepping for Thanksgiving...
Tossing together one of the stuffings for our turducken; our 10th bird creation.

Thank God, neatness doesn't count in the prep. Only in the cleanup.

Can you see progress?

I had two hours this weekend to work on this latest project. Lucky me. I slipped back into work, where my boss has given me a corner of the office, and cut and fit and marked out glass. Again, lucky me to have the gifts of time and workspace . For this time of year life is so busy and scheduled. All good. Most required.

Alphabetizing Our Children

Talk to your mom friends. How many of them have children who are alphabetized? Maybe yours are alphabetized. You know the alphabet A, B, C...  A.D.D. or A.D.H.D or.... think of a letter, come up with a syndrome. Or string them together...  M.P.D...S.T.D.

I was talking with a dear friend about learning, teaching, testing styles. Our conversation focused on our local elementary school which is a multiple intelligence school but it truly teaches to a  limited population of children. And that being the children who sit up straight, sit quietly, learn quietly, listen and then take tests in the prescribed time. Yes the students learn through Physical Education, and Art and Music the same concepts they are investigating in Science and Language Arts, but they teach to the pool, the model. And then they test. "You have 50 minutes. Complete this essay. Fill in these blanks."  And if your child doesn't fit this mold, well then there is testing, meetings, I.E.Ps, and possibly medication.

Maybe my assessment is extreme, I will admit to not being a psychologist and I know I'm making huge generalizing here, but is it? There is little tolerance for variability in the public school setting. We must get through this material. The MCAS is coming.  What I'm seeing is many many children are being labeled as deficit or delayed or whatever. It all means the same, these children are not up to speed. Well, all these children cannot be wrong or broken. There are too many of them, and their pool is growing. So where is the error in our thinking?

Many children and adults labeled with ADD and ADHD are wicked smart. They are passionate, neurons firing, sponges. They think and think and think of new ways to do things and even cooler ways to think. Exploring and developing. But not always able to convey in the mandated ways the importance of their explorations.  So their value is not measured by standard tests. But there is awesome value there.

I'm proposing that before all this alphabetizing great engineers, musicians, scientists, mathematicians, writers, artists were just allowed to learn and explore, dream and develop and then produce on their own time. Trained as a scientist I have watched and been amazed at the wonder hypothesized by my more contemplative coworkers and classmates. They take in all this info, they ruminate and process all the data and their permutations, and then they produce beauty.  It's an art form to be able to think.

I wonder if Galileo was ever timed over his discoveries? Or Michelangelo ever rushed over his art?

What am I saying here? I'm saying the pace of life is increasing logarithmically with the speed with which we can access information. The electronic age is bombarding us with data 24/7. It's a ever increasing constant. Does that even make sense? An ever increasing constant....

And the masters, the thinkers, the passionate, they remind us to take the required time to evaluate all the data, and then move forward.  These thinkers are not disabled, nor are they working at a deficit. They are our artists for the future. Let them paint in their own time.

Gentle Reminder

Turkeys

Wild turkeys are a treat to watch. A little bit of wild in the backyard or field or roadside. But another turkey we come across, not served on our dinner tables, the naysayers, negative, sad, unappreciative, don't let them bring you down.

They carry a sadness and are so misunderstood. Even to themselves.

Seriously

Have fun with your kids.
These times are worth more than gold. Seriously.

Practice

Why do we practice? And what do we practice? Every day. All the time.

What did you do yesterday?

Yesterday in an effort to explain social justice and service and how it ties in with the responsibility of Confirmation I promised to lead my students down south to rebuild after last summer's tornadoes. The whole class wants to go. All of them. I'm thinking tonight's class won't want to be left out either.

Here is praying all the pieces fit together. I'm envisioning many many car washes, bake sales, public presentations requesting community support in my future. Can't wait.

Seussical JR

So how many of us have seen this play? Or the full fledged version Seussical? How many times? Once, twice, five times....

Last week my boss mentioned his son, a 4th grader, had the lead in today's production. He was a phenomenal Cat. His passion clearly evident. Someone to watch for on Broadway or movies.

And his message: A person is a person no matter how small, brought tears to my eyes. How many times had I heard this line before today? Obviously I needed to hear it again.

A person is a person, no matter how small.
What We Do Matters.

Opportunity knocks

The usual Saturday plans were canceled. Opening the door of opportunity for bike riding out through Sudbury and Wayland, dog walking with friends in the park, Mass and seeing two of my students and knitting quietly at home in the evening. Today did not go as planned, it went better.

Photo taken on my early morning ride.

Opening Night: Our Town

Framingham High School
Technical debut of my rock star on sound board. As the show tshirt ponders, she is living her life, every, every single minute.

Rock On! Live!

Cast a big shadow

Wherever you work, live, worship or play, pitch in, help out, roll up your sleeves.

Can you pick up a ton of leaves?

All at once? Probably not.
But what about if the load is partitioned into leaf bags?
Easier. Still requiring effort. Conquered.

Keep On Truckin'

Thinking of you, Dad.

Today, two things...

1. Blessings on this Veteran's Day. Veterans, thank you for your service.
2. Happy 50th Bro. Great seeing you yesterday. Love, Your Blister

Go To

Do you have something tried and true? Like these gloves, desired for bike riding, shoveling and even for raking. My go to gloves -- this time of year. I don't leave home without them.

In relationships, at our work, at home, on the street, desire to be valued. Strive to be that go to person. And strive to see the value in others.

Sleep tight.

Sleepy tight wooly bear.
See you in the Spring.
When the Earth is reborn.
And you are transformed.

Honestly, where has the time gone?

From three to thirteen in the blink of an eye. Three children; three times the blessings. Thank God.

Twice Blessed

My second out of three children is discovering her passion-technical theatre. The fire behind her eyes, the power in her voice brings me such happiness. Nothing beats watching a child bloom.

Go Girl Go!
Grow Girl Grow!

What time is the 8:10 train?

Or for that matter. When is the 3 o'clock parade? Life's easier questions.

And nothing compared to: Why did she have to die? Why does he have cancer? Or why doesn't that child have enough to eat?

Work by feel(ing).

It's early early morning. I feel for my glasses then for my phone. It's the same routine every day, every morning at this time. No light required. It's natural for me to be up in the wee hours. Excited and anticipating the day ahead. Working by feel. Moving forward on positive notes.

Laptop update: Nothing we can do for it at home. Somehow, somewhere I need to squeeze out time to get it to the shop. Too bad the repair place isn't open early early morning as I have plenty of time between the hours of 2 and 6 AM for this errand.

When my boss's computer died I got the task to purchase and set up his new machine. I wish I had a go to girl. I wish someone would say, "No worries Patty, I've got your back on this one." Food shopping after work today. Maybe computer errand tomorrow.

No to tunnel vision

My laptop died. Our family print server. The machine that is integral to my teaching. Holder of all my music and videos with messages.

God has a non media plan for my teaching. I'm patiently awaiting His lesson plans.

It's cute... But

It's cute to chase a tail, but what's next when you catch it? How many of our goals keep us spinning about and when we achieve them, we are at a lose?

Choose wisely my friend.

Where is God?

here

Today

Today is Daniel Boone's birthday. It's also my friend Jen's birthday and alas my birthday too. I'd like to think we are all pioneers. Forging ahead with life and adventure. Have a great day whether it's your birthday or not. For as my friend jeff noel says, "Life is not a dress rehearsal."

Get Your Ears On

We went out for some reverse trick or treating. A neighbor has been having some health issues and our chocolate chocolate chip cookies put a smile on her face. She is also a fellow Disney lover.

We knocked. She opened the door laughing. We presented her with our treats. All was lovely. Truly it is in giving we receive.