Some Music to Make you Think

One of the pleasures of my life is the chance to see John Prine live in Hanford as a gift of friends. He had just recovered from a heart attack and was as deadpan as always.

Here is another it would be fun to see. I remember the Doc Watson version first, but this is nice also.

When Was the First Time You Saw Steve Martin?

For all of you old ones, or those that aren't old, but masquerading as old, what is the moment that you remember Steve Martin blasting into your world? Saturday Night Live, even before Wild and Crazy Guys? He had a banjo as a prop, remember?

Well, it ain't no prop. He can play. Or, he can frail if you know what that is. Have a gander at this. It just happens to remind me of one of my offspring. Guess if you'd like.



Happy fingers as well as happy feet.

Another Day on This Spinning Ball

The first weekend after the first week after a break is a Godsend. For teachers the week after a break is a mixed blessing. The students don't want to be back in school, but they have missed their friends and want to talk to everyone about how boring it was to be on break and complain to teachers about how it is such a terrible trial to be back in school. It becomes a struggle to reestablish all the routines that took you the first 9 weeks to install and instill. Back to page 2 again.

Today was the last day of our fall league baseball in Kingsburg. Wils and I rode to the game with Uncle Dan and cousin Elijah. It has been nice to see Eli play and to have him in class. Wilson has been working on a few pitches and this league has been good for him to give him a chance to work. It also is a mixed blessing as he has soccer, basketball and baseball to juggle and to choose from for his Saturday physical activities.

Annie had to hold up the Garver name on the soccer pitch today without Wilson and did admirably with a win. Then she was off to work at the high school soccer team fund raising dinner. Then off to the movies with soccer friends.

Brad is home for the weekend and ensconced at the computer or a TV. Modern technology must be nice for a college student to lounge and study by. The TV in my college house received 1 station in normal viewing mode and one with a built in snow storm. Nevertheless, it is good to see Brad.

Sam called last night. This is is last weekend before he begins RIP. He's resting and awaiting the challenges and mind games. He said they have already lost 11 guys and they haven't started. One guy was chewing tobacco. Gone. Another wasn't wearing socks. Gone. One guy forgot his allergy dog tag. Gone. They were told to close their eyes and not look around, and were asked if anyone wanted to quit. Three guys raised their hands. Gone. One guy late less than a minute for roll call. Gone. Sam said the fun has begun. He also said his chances are better to get stationed in WA at Ft. Lewis. Rumors are this class is scheduled to rotate there. He may not be home for Thanksgiving because of how things are falling out, but will be for Christmas for sure.

Maureen and I, mostly her, are planting the winter gardens. Also tidying up the yard and moving a few things around for better use. Just need to get rid of stuff, but most of us do.

Just another day spinning.

I don't know what I dislike more, the end of something or the act of starting up again. I used to really have disdain for starting up again. Jogging was easier because you made the choice to start once and ran until you finished. If you felt like running more, you kept running. Swimming laps involved a new choice to start when you were stopped at the end of the pool. I'd think is was just easier to hop out of the pool than continue. I never learned to do a flip turn, so there was that repetitive choice to make every 25 yards. Maybe if I had swam in a lake it would have been easier. Also the idea of stopping in the middle of a lake with its inherent motivation of not drowning would have kept me going.

Today is the last day of the "vacation" we call intersession. (Sidebar: I wonder if the Intersession will go away when the 4-period day goes away?) It has been very productive in many arenas. I have redone my classroom in ways that should have been done long ago. Much debris was removed and the room has a lighter, simpler feel to it. I feel changed when I walk in and I think the students will have less distractions.

Usually I have a sense of dread on the last day before restarting because I know what is in store for me because I left it a bit over a week ago. This time the dread is leaving behind family and the changes that have happened this past week. I can look forward to retirement not with dread of uncertainty, but with the drive of "Let's get this started!" Maureen and I have been talking about where we are going and the future looks difficult, but excitedly so. Events and long ago decision have shaped where we are going, but it has been energizing to talk about the journey. There is worry, but there is hope also.

School will be interesting in the next few weeks starting with some business leading up to the board meeting and the meeting. The journey afterwards will leave no one unchanged. But that is more about the ebb and flow of local politics and the financial issues of our time. The bigger issues involve our family and that is what I am excited about experiencing.

Brad is applying to the masters program. Sam will be processed for RIP either Thursday or Friday. If all goes well he will be home for Thanksgiving. Wilson is "Fightin'the Man" as a senior and having to make decisions about school next year. Annie has been preparing for the upcoming soccer season and this week begins the tryouts. I have to give Maureen huge credit for the gardens this summer. I have been less helpful than originally planned, but she has harvested over 800 pounds of produce and some plants are still putting forth. I helped, way too little, this week with the cleaning of beds and replanting across the street. The winter garden is always a source of amazement to me and this year should be outright astonishing. You see why it's about leaving what is here and not the starting this time?

I Have a Secret. . .

Well, it's not much of a secret. I not sure if it really merits being called a secret. Actually, it's known by most people here.

It's foggy today in Exeter. Who'd a thunk? We had rain out of season, why not fog. The dark gloom of January and February came early. Where is my fire?


P.S. The horse is called a Norwegian Fjord horse. Our friend Bonnie has a matched pair that are brothers. Not BIG like her Percheron, Sunny, but downsized for the Norwegians and their fjords. We dream of something like this someday.

Rain, Rain, Stay a While

We've had a spot of rain in the last day. A little over an inch here in Exeter. Nothing like the 24" in 30 hours we left behind in Atlanta, but still enough to slip and slide on while driving. I'm amazed at the weather reporters and their comment on TV. You would have thought this is about as common as Noah's 40 days and 40 nights. The adjectives used are simply astounding. But the unnatural pauses between words can stop. "You, ,know this storm is, , but a, , shadow of, , storms to come."

Yesterday I spent most of the day in my classroom purging. At the end of the day Wilson helped me take part of a pickup load to the trash in the rain. I mention that because when I asked for Wilson's help, he said "YES, gladly. I'm bored silly." I knew something was up with the quick positive answer, but I don't look a gift hand in the mouth.

The best part of the day was the total restructuring of my room. I am not just purging, I am purging the "19th and 20th centuries" as a friend and colleague guided me in making my choices. I recently received an LCD projector that will be mounted on my ceiling, if it stops leaking. I can use my computer to store the info and still show it to the students as needed. This will change how I present info to the students as well as how the room is structured. I'm trying to open up views of all the white boards, remember chalk boards are early 20th century and cause respiratory problems.

The wonderful part is the letting go of so many things that have cluttered up the room and my mind. I hold on to too many things that hinder me from moving forward. I now am using the cabinets for storing things I use instead of items unused for years. The information and materials that I gathered as far back as 1986 that is covered in dust. Their covered in dust because I don't use them any longer because we think we know better now. The report from the 90's that has been superseded 5 times by newer reports, gone. So much fun.

Next onto my own closet and goods, if I be real strong.

Just for fun look at his gentleman's idea of minimalism.

Oh, For a Bicycle

Yesterday I was reminded of why I dislike, maybe tolerate is a better word, motor vehicles. Especially modern ones. Brad's truck, not the one above, needed new brake pads. One in fact was scraping metal to metal on the rotor. Brakes pad changing is one of the few automotive tasks I still feel confident about attempting, though I do them so infrequently that I still encounter difficulty doing the ordinary.

The first obvious encounter I relive is that having the correct tool makes a huge difference. This particular truck we're working on has aftermarket wheels and tires. Not my usual desire, but you go with what you have. Oh, and they have a keyed lugnut to prevent theft. Digging on the internet finds me reading the blog of a car thief who explains all of the places people "hide" their keys and sure enough a look in the glovebox finds the key to unlocking the lugnut.

Next on this occasion is a jack. After cranking for too many minutes I decide a phone call is needed and a cry for help produces a great floor jack that makes many minutes of work into about 2.

After this the rest is relatively quick. The skinned knuckles, pinched fingers, greasy hands, sore back from leaning over, scraped knees, all record the fact that I don't do this for a living. The best part is the time with Brad and for that I am grateful.

And the fact that the brakes actually do stop the truck when we are done.

Yeah, or Neah?

It's Sunday morning and the house is asleep. Annie had a few friends over, Brad is home for the weekend and it is the eve of Fall Intersession and a week to catch up with life. Wilson and I went to a baseball double header yesterday and then to his soccer game. He is one tired and cramping young man. I got a bit sunburned and generally I'm looking forward to this week to get some things done. Sam is bored if I read correctly in GA waiting for the next round of training to begin in a few weeks. Seems that life is happening to us as usual. The Fall Festival happened yesterday and being coaching and playing, it was missed.

The question to be answered this week is how to pare your possessions? I read and I ruminate and now is the time to act. We'll see if I can pull this off.

Do You Ever Wonder. . .?

If people had manners, would we need speed bumps?

If people had real self esteem, would the Escalade have been made?

Who ate the first olive?

Why do we use the leaf from a Bay tree, but not the fruit? It looks like an olive.

Why cities paint crosswalks on the street, when people cross where ever they want?

As roads get better, why do more trucks and SUV's get sold?

Remember when underwear was only white, tan, or pink, $10 and it was in the far corner of the department store. Now it is neon, tiger-striped, or leopard spotted, costs $60 with less material involved than before; and it is on the main walkway of the store next to the checkout counter. Or it has its own store at the main intersection of walkways in the mall. What Michael Jordan did for young men and tennis shoes, Victoria's Secret is doing for young women and underwear. Except it isn't UNDER anymore.

Ever wonder what Victoria's secret really was? It ain't a secret any longer what ever it was.

What does a Pakistani woman think when she sews on a pair of blue jeans that has legs full of rips, tears and can be seen through?

What would Jesus really think? Or would he be too busy turning over the tables in the modern temple?

Random Thoughts for the First week in October About Sam, The Army and EUHS

Sam won't be jumping off the towers after all. Too many jumpers in too little time. He will be jumping out of planes this next week, if the weather complies. They are expecting thunder storms in Columbus and that will stop the flights. Sam needs to make five jumps to qualify and move on to RIP. This is what has happened in the last two weeks and will happen next week.

Sam also said that RIP is changing from 4 weeks to RAST (Ranger Assessment something and something that Sam told me and I forgot.) and 8 weeks. He will be in the last class of RIP.

If you are ever in Columbus, GA you should stop at the Infantry Museum. This picture was taken on the morning before Sam's graduation. It is a free/donation only museum that chronicles US Infantry battles from the Revolutionary War to Present. It is Smithsonian quality and the two partial days we were there were not enough time to do it justice. There is also an IMAX theater inside.




World War I Trenches


Vietnam helicopter

Just a few shots of what is there. The second day we went the Civil War and Revolutionary War sections were closed and we really wanted to see them.

The Monarchs beat Dinuba last night in the Homecoming game, 21-17. Great game, and for the second straight year Exeter prevailed after many years of shooting themselves in the foot.

With the game done, Homecoming Week is over. The frenzied madness of activities has finished. One more week of school and then a week off for Intersession. Intersession comes to mind as a once grand idea that evolved into something non-educational and mildly harmful to students (They have to "start" themselves up again after a break.), and is entrenched in the local mindset like dried concrete. Mostly people think of it as vacation when no one else has time off. Most teachers work at least part of the week on school related business.

We are in the process of changing our daily school schedule from 4 periods a day/8 classes a year to 6 periods a day all year long. This has been a long politically charged process and it seems far from over. Discussions on site took place this week regarding how the school will service the needs of the students, and how many teachers will be needed to make the school function. One of the spoken reasons for the change in schedule is the cost of the present schedule and the need and desire to cut costs. The fastest means to cuts costs with the greatest savings is to cut staff and salaries. Much of America, excluding bank management, is finding that out. The same mindset is being applied to EUHS. A problem has surfaced though. To operate the 6 period day with the current number of students only two teachers need to be eliminated. Some departments will need to add staff. Management is expecting to cut four teachers to gain the saving they have stated they need. But the class offerings cannot be maintained if four teachers and salaries are excised. And that is with current student enrollment. Enrollment is expected to increase next year based upon current enrollments at feeder schools.

Another of the frustrating aspects of this process is the lack of time allowed to make the changes and the lack of direction in making the difficult choices. 13 years ago the school moved to the present 4x4 schedule to give students more choices for classes. It took over a year of investigation, planning and work to make the changeover. We now have been given the order to change back in four months. There is little possible way to make the required changes in a student and teacher friendly way in that amount of time without some mistakes.

The wonderful surprise in this entire adventure is the school board was just told their budget reserve, their savings account so to speak, just inexplicably jumped to nearly double what was expected. A total of $900,000 in new monies. What could be done if the welfare of children and doing things the right way prevailed?