teaching
-
The Lure of the Porch
How am I supposed to get anything done today if it is going to be such a glorious sit-on-the-porch rainy day? I can count on one hand the number of days before I report back for the new school year. I have a to-do list of to-do lists and I have been dutifully checking my Continue reading
-
Sloth Week
It’s the end of July and–right on schedule–I have hit Sloth Week. Sloth Week is when I do absolutely nothing but lie around and read books. It usually coincides with hot, humid weather that, all by itself, induces lethargy. I believe it is part of my circadian rhythm. Brood X cicadas emerge every seventeen years, Continue reading
-
Emily and The Tree
Little Emily loves the Japanese maple in the Maywood yard. It’s over fifty years old, planted by Emily’s great-great grandmother Retta. And it is the perfect tree for little ones to learn to climb on. The main trunk divides into two very low to the ground, so little legs can easily climb into it. The Continue reading
-
Spinning Wheels
Let’s start with a poll: When I came home yesterday, I immediately noticed footprints leading to the front door. We hardly use the front door, so we don’t shovel to it. Maywood Man has enough to do with plowing and there’s no reason for me to shovel a walk that no one ever uses. There Continue reading
-
Embracing the lunatic fringe
I was called a lunatic this weekend and it made me really happy. Why? Because I was in an auditorium filled with other lunatics and it was so nice to have company. We were all lunatics. Language learning loonies who sold out a conference to hear a linguist. Stephen Krashen spoke at the MDTESOL conference. For Continue reading
-
Clouds
apple in hand looking through windows at the cloud What do you picture? A puffy white cloud seen through a window frame with a crisp Red Delicious waiting to be eaten? Or do you notice the incongruity of trying to access the Cloud using Windows and an Ipad? My day began with clouds. Real clouds. Continue reading
-
The Pedometer Contest
Oh, the tyranny of a tiny purple belt attachment. The health care provider at work was so kind as to give each plan participant a pedometer recently. They also are sponsoring a contest to encourage us to be more active, become more healthy, and thereby cost the plan less to maintain us. I see their Continue reading
-
Frozen Fog
Frozen fog? I’ve listened to a lot of weather reports over the years, but this morning’s was a first. Frozen fog was causing accidents all over Carroll County. The pre-caffeinated brain has trouble conceptualizing this. How can fog freeze? Isn’t that oxymoronic? Isn’t fog water suspended in the air? If it freezes, wouldn’t that make Continue reading
-
Hip chronicles: The bionic woman vs. the athletes
Here’s a little quiz. You will know my correct answers by the end of this post. 1. What does IT stand for? a. information technology b. iliotibial band c. idiot teenager 2. What does TFL stand for? a. texting as a foreign language b. Tahitian Football League c. tensor fascia latae 3. What does GM stand Continue reading
-
Busy as…
With the school year heading into its final stretch, I’m feeling as busy as a bee. And I’m feeling about as productive as the honeybees in our yard. Oh wait, we don’t have any honeybees in our yard. The 44,000 bees we ordered from Georgia haven’t arrived yet. We have carpenter bees in droves, doing their destructive thing and Continue reading
Slightly Off the Grid 