Back to School

During the past year or so, I've become a fan of CaliforniaTeacher Guy's blog. He takes great photos and then writes haiku which so aptly fits his picture. Last year he shared his experiences at the Jewel School in Dirty Little Desert Town. Because of cutbacks, his position was not filled this year, and he is on his way to northern California for a new experience. Another teacher, Bellezza, wrote of soon having to go back to her unair-conditioned classroom to get ready for the new year. She teaches third grade, and I am sure that the children who come to her class develop a love of reading if they did not already have that love.

Visiting their blogs brings back memories of my own experiences in the classroom. I started teaching in the fall of 1963...wow, forty-five years ago. To look at me you'd never think I'm that old...just kidding. I went to a small private school in Ohio where I taught a combination second/third grade classroom. The children were lovely, as well as the parents. Many of these parents were in their early thirties, and when I would say "yes ma'am" to them, they would look at me sort of funny. It wasn't their practice. I still say "yes ma'am."

While I was in Ohio, I got my master's degree from Miami University, and then I went to Haiti and taught children of missionaries for three and a half years. I arrived in January, so I finished that school year and continued for three more. There I taught a group of sixth through ninth graders. Now that they are in their fifties, those that I've seen frequently call me Bev, rather than Miss Wright.

Then I came back to Florida, met the gentleman whom I would soon marry and taught for twenty-six years in the same school until I took the early retirement package that was offered in 1999. Times surely changed from 1973 until 1999. When I first started teaching at my local school, air-conditioning was unheard of; we had no carpet anywhere. Copies of work papers for the children were done on the old duplicators that produced a purple product while the fumes from the fluid made you a little funny. If you've taught for any time, you know what I mean.

When we put up bulletin boards, we used stencils to trace the letters that we needed for captions. The day that we got the Ell*son press that would stamp out letters and shapes for us, we were ecstatic. We used to have to make all our visuals, and then when we began getting money to use in our classes, companies sprang up who made lovely visuals that we could buy instead of creating ourselves. Then the laminating machine was a favorite tool to use to preserve those products.

That last two days I've spent at my old school in the classroom of a friend, helping her get ready for the new year. We put up background paper for the bulletin boards; I used letters that had been stamped from the Ell*son press to put up the captions. While I did that she was working on her home page for the school website. Every child has a laptop computer for his personal use at school. There is air-conditioning and carpet, white boards instead of black boards...no more chalk dust.

I stopped and looked in my classroom that I was last in. A first-grade teacher is in there now, and I would love to see the children as they walk in Monday morning for the first day of school. Her walls were adorned with all the things that one would expect...color words, number words, alphabet, classroom duty chart, and on and on. I wanted to take some pictures, but because I didn't know her at all, I didn't ask.

There is something about the beginning of a new school year. You get to get a fresh start with a new group of children. People have asked me if I miss teaching. I miss my comrades, and I miss the children...some of them. I'm glad I was able to go and help and then come home and take a nap. More on another day.

Doesn't this look good!

Last week Sarah and I drove to Virginia to be with Ella for her second birthday. Her mother and daddy invited friends over from work, their church, and their neighborhood for a later afternoon of dessert and activities inside and out. Behold the lovely table that was set. If you couldn't find something that would satisfy your sweet tooth, there was just something wrong with you. From left to right you see a carrot cake, phyllo cups filled with chocolate mousse topped with whipped topping, a lime cheesecake, and a black forest trifle.

When we arrived on Saturday afternoon, Sabrina said to me, "I need your help." She had made the cheesecake the day before, and it had cracked. She wanted to know if I had ever made a ganache. I hadn't, but I had watched Ina make it many times on the Barefoot Cont*ssa. So with a recipe in hand we made a white chocolate ganache and filled in the cracks. I don't believe anyone knew any better. The cheesecake was one of the first desserts that was eaten up.

Ella's parents hadn't wanted this to be a time when everyone brought presents for Ella, so she invited her babysitter over the next day, and that was when we had cake. A slice of the carrot cake served as Ella's cake. You can see that in the post further down.

Everyone loved the party on Saturday. One gentleman said, "Sabrina, is this going to become an annual event?" The neighbors have already planned the next evening when they'll get together and play games outdoors. The party was indeed a great success. A good time was had by all.

Carmi's Photo Theme - Signs

When I first started teaching first grade in Florida, I had a little boy in my class, who, one morning during "show and tell," talked about going to South of the Border. "What on earth is that?" I thought to myself. Well, I had never taken a ride up I-95.

Several years later, our family drove to New York for the wedding of my husband's brother. So our route took us up I-95, and, lo and behold, after all those years, I knew what Steven had been talking about. Many miles before you reach the South Carolina-North Carolina border, you begin to see billboards for South of the Border. The closer that you get, the more frequent they become. Since Carmi was doing a "sign" theme this week, as we were driving north, I got my camera out and began taking photos of these billboards.

Some of them are informational; all are amusing. Sarah reminded me that there is one that says "Kids, keep screaming for mom and dad to stop." That one was on the way coming south, and I didn't see it in time to get a photo. There is a little bit of everything there...a gas station, motel, clean bathrooms, rides, a place to walk your dog, and so on....

As much as I don't care for billboards littering the landscape, I do find these amusing, and they help to pass the time a bit along the way.
For other sign photos, check out Carmi's blog.

And now I am 2!

I mentioned last week that I'd be going to help celebrate Ella's second birthday. And celebrate we did. Sarah and I left Friday morning and drove as far as Selma, North Carolina, and then finished driving to David's on Saturday. When we got there, David's grandpa was there. He had been visiting his son over in eastern Virginia and came to David's before coming back to Florida, so it was nice that his visit coincided with Ella's birthday. She calls him Great Pa-pa. He really liked that.

On Saturday Sabrina and David invited friends over for an evening of Midsummer Sweets. She set a lovely table and had lots of goodies. I'll post a photo of that another day. Instead of having a separate birthday cake, she used the carrot cake that was left. Since the soiree wasn't expressly a birthday party, she asked Ella's caregivers to come over on Sunday evening for cake, and they brought their gift for Ella then. These photos were taken then. After the candle was lit, she and her daddy blew it out, and then she didn't want to let go of it.

A proud mama and papa and Ella. Happy birthday to my precious little granddaughter. She has enjoyed a healthy year, and we pray that she continues to be well in this year to come.

A Day at the Park

Ella went to visit her grandparents in Ohio a couple of weekends ago. Her two little cousins were there, as well. My daughter-in-law (I'm assuming) took these photos. She has such a great eye and captures great shots. In fact, she has been asked to shoot some birthday parties.
It is so neat to watch this little girl and her love for life. She is quite the adventurer. From early on, David had her flying through the air as he twirled her around. She still likes to go for a "plane ride."
The monochrome shot of her further down was such a serious shot, I thought I'd let you see her beautiful smile. Just six days until I see her again.
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Steve Goodier shared this story on his website the other day. You've probably read it before, but it is a good one.

"Two little children, a boy and a girl, walked hand-in-hand to their neighbor's house. Standing on her tiptoes, the little girl was just able to reach the doorbell. A woman greeted them and asked what they wanted.

"We're playing house," the little girl answered. "This is my hus­band and I am his wife. May we come in?" Thoroughly enchanted by the scene con­fronting her, the lady said, "By all means, do come in."

Once inside, she offered the children lem­on­ade and cookies, which they graciously ac­cepted. When a second tall glass of lemonade was offered, the little girl refused by saying: "No, thank you. We have to go now. My husband just wet his pants."

I don't want to forget what it is like to be a child. To believe the world is full of magic, wonder and awe. I want to remember to take time for play and, just as important, to feed my imagination. The older I grow, the more it seems that ordinary events are now all too common­place and the extraordi­nary cannot hold my attention for long.

I never want to be too old to be "awe-struck!"! Today, I want to rekindle that touch of won­der. It's part of being fully alive!"

The touch of wonder...fully alive!

Monochrome Theme

Carmi has a new theme this week - monochrome. I haven't ever played with photos much, so I went through a lot of the ones that we took while Ella was here with her parents in June. Ella loved the swimming pool, and this is one of the photos taken during the time in the water. I think she makes a good subject for monochrome, don't you. By the way, she will be 2 in another week. So guess where I'm going! To a party.

Skywatch Friday

Last week was my first entry into Skywatch Friday. I chose photos of storm clouds which I had seen during the week. This time there are clear skies. This photo was taken when my son and his family were down in Florida for a week in June. We went to the beach on Monday morning, and a nearly cloudless sky was our backdrop for the day.

See other entries here.

He came too

Continuing with Carmi's theme, behold the python. When I was at Snooty's party on Saturday, this fellow was too. I actually found him beautiful and would have like to have touched him. I didn't hear his name, but in looking at photos on the internet, I think he is an albino ball python. Please correct me if I'm wrong. There was a little boy there who asked if he could please touch him, and the gentleman who had the snake there said that he used to be able to let people touch and hold his snakes, but insurance doesn't permit it any more.

This python is in stark contrast to my little pygmy rattler that I met the other night under my garbage can. After that meeting, I dreamed I had rattlesnakes in my house. I remember when I was young, I used to dream I was at my grandpa's house, and the dirt road would be full of rattlesnakes...probably some deep-seated psychological problem there, but I survived.

I'm looking at you

Saturday at Snooty's birthday party, several animals were there for the festivities. These wise guys were there from one of the local wildlife shelters. The top one is a screech owl, just about seven inches tall. I'm reminded of the time that we were having our driveway widened. The friend who came over to give us a price said, "I hear a screech owl."

Along the front of our yard are several royal palms. One of them got hit by lightning a few years ago and died. The fronds were no longer there, but up in the top was a screech owl's home. Charlie made their sound and up they popped to let us know they had heard him. That tree also became the home to some woodpeckers.

I didn't pay attention to learn the name of this owl. In looking at photos of owls, he appears to be a great-horned owl. They are such interesting birds, aren't they. Join the photographic theme of animals over at Carmi's place.

Happy Birthday, Snooty

Today was Snooty's 60th birthday. Snooty, our resident manatee resides at the Parker Aquarium in the South Florida Museum in Bradenton. As I mentioned the other day in my Project Black post, the county I reside in is Manatee County. Snooty came to live here in 1949 when he was brought to Bradenton to be part of our yearly DeSoto Celebration. For a while he was called Baby Snoots, and then when he was a baby no longer, Snooty became his moniker.

For many years he lived in a small tank with not a lot of room for movement; it was more like a big swimming pool. Now he has a lovely tank. I don't remember how many gallons it is, but it is well-suited for him. From time to time he has companions in the tank. Lowry Park Zoo has a rehab facilities for manatees that have been injured by boat propellers, and sometimes they have more than they can handle, so the aquarium here houses some until they can be released back into the wild.

When I arrived at noon, this docent was telling the large crowd that had gathered a lot of facts and figures about Snooty. He was being fed while she was talking, and as you can see, the paparazzi was there. Snooty eats around 70 pounds of lettuce a day. Today since it was his birthday, he was going to given some strawberries for a treat. The other manatees are not hand-fed. Their food is tossed into the tank. The lady said that they must think that their food falls from the sky.

Our local newspaper had an article about Snooty yesterday. If you go here, you can see a photo of Snooty's face. He really is a cute guy. There is also a video of him and his birthday.

For more animal photos, visit Carmi's blog. He is sponsoring a photo theme of animals this week.

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A couple of people have commented that they didn't realize that manatees lived so long. I don't actually know if they do in the wild. Perhaps now they tag manatees as they release them to follow up. They are interesting creatures. There are places in Florida, one place I know for sure, where you can swim with them. SeaWorld houses quite a few, and we have our Snooty here in Bradenton.

Skywatch Friday

When I was growing up here in Florida, you could almost set your watch every afternoon at 3 o'clock by the showers that came our way. Over the years, the weather has changed. We go through periods of drought, but generally in the summer we get our rains, and sometimes, hurricanes.

I love looking at the sky and the cloud formations and I'm glad to have found this project. I saw several of the SkyWatch Friday posts when I was looking at some of the projects on Anna's blog

Thematic Photographic - Animals

Carmi has posted a new phot0graphic theme for this week - animals. If you go to his site, You can see his entry - cows - and look in the comment section for others who are participating. The day the we took Ella to the beach we saw this little guy as we were leaving. He sat on the picnic table munching away and paid us no mind at all.

Project black - 4

While photographing the manatee sculpture pictured in the post below, I walked over and looked down into the marina. And lo and behold, there were some black rocks, so I got two photos for Project Black in one day. I know this isn't project green, but I do like the little plant who is sticking its head up in the middle of the black rocks.

Project black - 3

T

I live in Manatee County. The river that separates Bradenton from Palmetto is the Manatee River. From time to time one sees manatees in the river. Boaters are asked to be cautious in certain areas of the waters, but sometimes these gentle giants get injured by boat propellors.

During the winter, large numbers of manatees can be seen at a power plant not too far from here. They come looking for warm waters and find them there.

This Saturday is the 60th birthday of our resident manatee, Snooty, who lives at the South Florida museum. He was born in captivity and brought to Bradenton when he was young. When we took our first graders on field trips to the museum, he was always the favorite. Of course, he was the only living thing in the place. After the party, I'll post some photos of the goings-on.

To see more Project black photos, visit Anna's blog.

On another note, this evening when I came home from church, I went to put my garbage can out by the street for pickup in the morning. When I moved the can, there was a small snake underneath it. On first glance I thought it was just a black snake or garden variety of some kind, but when I looked at him, his tail was shaking like a rattlesnake. He was only about nine inches long. As I looked at him again, he gathered himself as though he were going to strike, and strike he did. His mouth opened up as he got into position. Normally I would leave snakes alone, but I'm sure this was a baby rattler, so I went into the garage and got a shovel and killed him. Now I'm wondering where the mama is.

Often on the night before garbage day I go out late and put the cans out, but I don't think I'll do that again.

Tony Snow's thoughts on Cancer

The first thing I heard this morning when I woke up and turned on the television was the news that Tony Snow had died during the night. He had been on my mind the last few days as I wondered how he was doing.

After his recurrence of cancer, he wrote an article that appeared in Christianity Today. Z, over at her blog has posted the article that he wrote. Read it and consider.

I remember when Don died the gentleman who had been my field director in Haiti sent me an e-mail when he heard the news. He wrote, "We just heard on Don's arrival." He arrived too early as did Tony in our eyes. But what wonderful comfort is to know that we'll meet on the other side.

Project Black -2

Taken at the fair this year, this mama was being groomed for show.

Her calf was there too with her mama. The little girl in the photo below wasn't old enough to show an animal this year, but her mother said she could hardly wait until it was her turn.

Mama cow is my entry for project black tonight. Visit Anna's blog to see more.

Black -1

Tucker, my daughter's first cat, my first grandkitten, was a beautiful black cat, who lived with Sarah for six years before he succumbed to cancer. This is my first in a series of black photos for Anna's Project Black.

Thematic Photographic - Light

Carmi's photographic theme this week is light. My mind went immediately to this kitchen table at my cousin's cabin. The afternoon sun provides all the light needed. My cousin and her husband moved an old cabin that was going to be torn down to their property and restored it. Walking into it takes one back a few years. To read more about the cabin go here, here, and here.