"For That"

As you all know, I'm a teacher. In my profession we come across all sorts of people just as in any other occupation. But, the education of a precious child is is of vital importance not only to the child and his parents, but also to the society as a whole. Most parents will go to great lengths to ensure their children are getting the best education possible. And, in cases where the parents fail to do their duty to their children, the states have set up laws and regulations to ensure children are in school.

One thing never ceases to amaze me about the latter kind of parents. These are the ones who buy their children $180 tennis shoes and $300 purses. They adorn them with gold jewelry and fancy clothes. Anything the child wants is given to him. However, they won't buy them basic school supplies. They expect the school to provide those things, or for them to get it from other students. Some except some charity organization to give them supplies. Once in a while, the parent expects the teacher to purchase these supplies for their child.

When you question a student about why they are not prepared for class, their reply may astonish you. Imagine my shock the first time I heard the explanation come out of the mouths of these high school students. The reply was "Mom said we don't have money "for that". The meaning being they have money for the aforementioned items, but they will not spend money on school supplies. They expect others to purchase those items for their teenager who is capable of getting a job himsself.

I worry about an attitude such as this. It seems to be that this line of thinking is a sort of entitlement rationalizing of behavior. If everyone feels entitled, how can a society survive and function?

New York City -vs- Los Angeles

I have traveled all but five of the contiguous states, Canada and Mexico. Many hours were spent in Los Angeles, some in Washington D. C. I saw all the sights and for the most part, did what the locals do too. Mexico felt old world while Los Angeles felt hurried. Canada felt like Minnesota or Michigan. New York City though, there is no comparison. Standing in the street and looking up, or looking down from one of the tall buildings, the feeling is the same . . . we're not in Kansas anymore. Ok, I live in Texas, but you get the idea. If I had to choose between the two cities for my next vacation, New York City would win every time.

Nobody Answers When I Called Your Name, and Other Songs of Interest

One of my all time favorite Country artists is Vince Gill. No one can sing a sad song with more feeling and heart. If you need to have a good cry and a little help with that wouldn't hurt, Vince will help you. It seems as if he wrote his songs for me. Like he looked at my life and my heart and sang them so that I could sing them too. Its like he knew I had tears to cry and shouldn't cry alone.

"Go Rest High On That Mountain" came out many years after I lost my babies. It took me many years to get over their loss. Who am I kidding? You never really get over it. It always hurts. You just learn to live with it. This song is burned into my heart and soul. It reminds me that even though I don't have them, they are with the Father and someday I will be too.

When I Called Your Name speaks to how many times I have felt alone and abandoned. Even though I am over 50 years old, I can still remember living in our 1850's large farm house as a child and how it felt to feel all alone and afraid. There were people around, but I knew if I called out for someone no one would answer. I thought when I grew up and moved away and got married I would never have to feel that pain again.

"I Never Knew Lonely" is always good for a cry. This song has been part of my life for a long time. It seems as if it is here to help me when I need to think and cry and think some more. Its what I listen to when lifting weights and running won't take the edge off the searing pain.

This seems like a depressing post, doesn't it? Well, maybe it is. But, doesn't everyone suffer some pain from time to time? Doesn't everyone find themselves in a situation where mourning the loss of a family member or a romance? As a society we spend so much time on telling people to be happy, we forget what mourning and grieving are for.

In varying degrees, everyone mourns the changes in their lives, even if the changes are happy ones because no matter what, familiar things are being left behind. Some people cling to old ways of doing things because they fear the unknown. They resist change or sometimes embrace it at first and then flee from it.

When the change is thrust upon them, they must do the things required to gain that control of their lives again. Even if in the end they are happier and stronger for it, they still mourn the loss of the past. I know I have felt that way. I often think about what could have been or what should have been.

Grieving for would of and should of beens is mourning the loss of a dream. When a persons dreams die, its often difficult to get new ones. Dreams are personal goals, a picture of something you want to accomplish in your life. When those dreams require another person to complete it, you are certainly in the heartache check out line. But, that's another song, buy another artist.

And, yeah, right now things hurt pretty bad. I did the thing I swore I would never do and it came back to bite me in the butt. So, I go to my job, exercise till my body can't take no more, and when that still doesn't quiet the screaming pain, I turn on a little Vince Gill and sing and cry till my heart says enough. I still hope things will work out and like my dreams, but if they don't, I know what not to do and in the end, that's how I think its supposed to be for me.

Here are some youtube.com links to the songs mentioned:

Go Rest High On That Mountain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRyKg5xMaXA&NR=1

When I Called Your Name

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZgLDUDn3Fc&feature=related

I Never Knew Lonely
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKA4y4UIfMU

New York City -- The Adventure

Ah... there it is. New York City in all of it's glory. People all over the United States and even the world, dream of coming to New York City. There's no need to say which state or even which country New York City is in. Everyone knows. It's a world city.

In geography, a world city is a location on the globe that people in all other parts of the globe know about and perhaps want to go there. A world city will have people from all over the world traveling, working, living and talking in various cultures and languages and interacting in meaningful ways with other cultures and languages.

Over eight million people live in New York City. In just this one photograph you can see that the social structure is compact and tightly knit. People live and work in skyscraper buildings that lazily sway in the wind.

I took that picture on a recent trip which included Jacksonville, Florida, Washington D.C., and New York City. In total, I drove 4, 480 miles in less than two weeks.

The adventure was grand! I'll be posting about the trip and all the things we encountered during those days. But, I have to tell you, you can't truly say "been there, done that" until you have driven in New York City.

The Quest for Knowledge

The two girls are my daughter and her best friend. These girls went to school together, got married within days of each other, had their first babies just 10 days apart and now go to college together. They are nearly inseparable. Inviting my daughter on a little outing almost always comes with "can she come too?" No one can deny these sweet girls anything.

This particular trip was to Marfa, Texas. The town where orbs are seen floating around in the sky at night. We were curious, so we packed up and jumped in the car and off we went. What a glorious trip! Eight hours of talk, talk and more talk. We laughed and had fun all the way there and all the way back.

We explored the countryside and speculated about the mountains and what may have gone on in centuries past both in human and natural history. We had a pic nick at a roadside park and enjoyed the bright sun, good food, and great company.

When evening approached, along with many other people, we were parked at the roadside observatory with cameras in hand to look for and take pictures of those famous orbs. It was an awesome experience. The girls took pictures and I looked after the girls. Eventually, the cameras ran out of batteries and we got tired, so we returned to our hotel room where we visited and finally slept.

We had just as much fun on the return trip home. The difference was we were also speculating as to the strange orbs we photographed. We knew they were not headlights of cars because that would have been physically impossible. They were not some strange kind of lightening, it was a full moon and clear night. They didn't remain stationary, the photo evidence proved that. They were not moved by wind, it was a calm night. Some people believe they are spirits of ancestors. Other people believe they are alien beings inhabiting the region. Some people believe they are angelic or demonic spirits.

We don't know any more about the orbs than before we left except that we experienced them. We plan another trip to see what might happen some other night. But, the important part of the trip wasn't to solve that mystery. After all, if people from all over the world can't explain it, how would we? The most important part was the trip itself. The time we spent together being together is precious and can never be duplicated no matter how many times we make that or any other trip. Sometimes, its not the treasure at the end of the quest that people need but in fact the quest itself.

Stop!

Yeah, you heard me. Stop that. Don't do it any more. Life's too short. "What?" you say? Stop giving away your joy. Enjoy every day. Find something good in it. Believe me, as a teacher it would be easy to never have any joy in my life. After all, negative attitudes spread from one area of your life to another and before you know it, you end up with people who are angry and/or depressed. Nope. Not for me. I want to spend my life enjoying the people around me whether they be family, friends, co-workers, or students.

One of my students told me the other day that I only see good in people. For the most part, that's true. It's not that I don't know that bad people exist in my life, because they certainly do. It's just that I don't see any reason to dwell on those things, or to give them too much thought. Why spend too much time worrying about things you can't control? I know some of my students are very violent people and have hurt people. Worrying about it won't change the fact that I still have to teach them. I choose instead not to think about it, or sort of pretend it isn't so. If there is an issue someday, I'll deal with it then. But I'm not going to let that person rob me of my joy in teaching every day.

When joy is absent, life becomes difficult and strenuous. People often call that "stress". Another way to look at stress is when a rope is stretched out tight on two winches. The tighter you pull the rope the more stressed it becomes. Eventually, it will break. People are no different. You can only stress so much before you break. When people break it shows in various ways. Frequent illnesses, headaches, stomach ailments, and if nothing is done other more serious illnesses and diseases. It destroys relationships. Then there are some people who break emotionally and lash out at others. Those people do emotional and bodily harm to others and their property.

Yep. Joy is important and necessary to the emotional well being of every person. Don't give yours away. No matter what your life circumstances, find things in which to take joy every day. Its important for you and those around you.

Back to Work!

Toady is the fist weekend after the students came back to school. It also happens to be Labor Day weekend. I made quite a few discoveries this past week. First, I discovered that for some reason teaching is harder than it was last year. That doesn't shock me much though. Last year was harder than that year before. And so on. It's because of TAKS and other other such things as NCLB.

But one thing never changes. That's the excitement I feel when I see for the first time faces of my new class of ninth graders. They come in not quite knowing what to expect, but they plan to do well. Everyone of them come in with an attitude of this is going to be their best year yet. Its my job to help them succeed in that mission. I intend to do my very best.

Home At Last!

It's been a glorious summer! I traveled over 11,000 miles. I started with a visit from my daughter-in-law and granddaughter. Then I went to California for a brief stay. When I got home from California I went to Louisiana to see my son and return his family to him. Then things really began to heat up!

After my trip to Louisiana, I went to Austin a few times. Once for school and the rest to see my sister. Then I traveled to see my brother in Oklahoma, and Uncle in Arizona, and my son in Kansas. All said, I was only home to mow my lawn three times this summer and only home long enough to attend to things at school and leave again.

The saying that you need to go back to work so you can rest from your vacation has been true for me this year. Teachers went back to school today, and I feel calmness just knowing I can't go anywhere very far away for at least three months!

Seeing my Uncle and Aunt was great. We rode around in dune buggies in the desert mountains and had a blast. Who knew a 70 year old man could be so much fun?

Seeing my oldest son was great. He works so much its hard for him to get away, but we got to spend some quality time together.

And, after all, that's what this summer was about. Spending some quality time with members of my family because I don't get to see them very often and opportunities like this don't come along very often. Everything just sort of clicked and all the opportunities were there at the right times.

That's how I want to spend my life. Making the decision to capture the opportunities as they arise and not wish later that I had taken them. I don't want to look back and say "if only".

The Finer Things In Life

Last week my mother and I went to C.E.'s (my brother) house to visit. Its only a 12 hour drive, so the conversation with my mother was lively and fun as we meandered down the long highways. Once we got there, it was late in the day so we just hung around C.E.'s house the rest of the night.

I had fun with my nieces and nephews and got to visit with my brother and his wife. During the course of the long weekend, we did a variety of things, played games, watched movies on his real home theater and did a little wandering around town.

Our conversation was about the upcoming holidays and what the family plans are going to be for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The siblings live so far apart we have to plan in advance to try to make it so we are together at least at one of those holidays. Then we some how got onto what we were all going to do on New Years Eve. To which mom said she always wanted to try some Russian Black Caviar. Every year she says she is going to do do it, but then never does.

C.E. spent quite a good amount of time in Russia some years ago working in the oil fields of Siberia. So he opens his refrigerator and pulls out a can of caviar. That's the can in the picture. He goes through a small disaster of trying to get it open because it seems the can opener he has does not do that type of can. Once open, everyone sniffed it and tasted it. My nine year old niece threw up when she tasted it. Eventually, the can was placed on the front porch for the enjoyment of cats and any other wild animals that would come along.

Don't get me wrong, the caviar was not spoiled. But, it certainly wasn't up to its famed quality and taste. Caviar is supposed to be one of the finest things a person can indulge in. C.E. bought many cans while he was in Russia, and that was the last one. He had been saving it for a special occasion. This was the occasion he was looking for. It has been in the refrigerator for nearly 12 years. Even though the can is made of metal, the moisture still leached out of the can. Some of the caviar had lost some of its color and the flavor was just plain fish. I'm quite certain that if the caviar had been eaten when it was fresh, or even canned within a reasonable amount of time it would have been delicious.

That's how life is for some people. They find the finer things in life but try to save them for something special. In the end, the finest part of the delicacy, day, or person fade and disappear before anyone gets to enjoy it. Sometimes saving things for a special occasion is the greatest waste of all. We should enjoy the special occasions as the opportunities arise. Taking my mother to see my brother wasn't just something a daughter does for her mother, it was a special occasion which I will treasure the rest of my life.

Traveling

It seems traveling has been my most frequent activity this summer, and I'm still not done. So far I have been to California, Florida, Louisiana, all over Texas, and Kansas is waiting for me. Some of the trips I have taken alone, two taken with co-workers, but the best ones have been taken with family or to visit family.

All through our lives we can make friends, and when necessary, we can make more friends. Not so with family. When they are gone, you can't get more. You have to enjoy them while you can. More importantly, I want to be someone they can enjoy and when I'm gone I hope they look back and say they enjoyed the time we spent together.

This post comes from my stay at my brother's house in Oklahoma. There aren't too many places in Oklahoma I would want to live, but his place is great. The house sits on a few acres surrounded by trees on the top of a heavily forested mountain. The front deck provides this picturesque view of the front yard, with a winding driveway to the road. The trees are close together so that the ground barely has sunlight. In contrast, when you look out over the back deck you can see Tulsa in the distance. There on the deck there is nothing to block your view of the countryside or the night sky. I'm miles away from the hustle of the city.

There's more to my enjoyment of being at my brother's house. He has four children still living at home. I am jealous because mine have all grown and gone. Its more than that. He has a peaceful home. There's no hurry to be any place. No agenda, hidden or otherwise. It's just a family filled place to be.

The trips with or to family always end too soon, but the trips for work take too long. In two days I will return home to yet another conference and then I have to start gearing up for school. The property needs to be readied for winter. Amongst all that, I still have one more trip. My daughter and grandson will join me to see my oldest son. In the end, I will have seen all my children and siblings and spent time with all the people who mean the most to me. I didn't accomplish all the tasks necessary to maintain the property or prepare for work in the fall. I guess I better work fast when I get home from my last fling, but what a great summer!

Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks are coming soon, to where should I travel?