People were Talking

So, I'm watching my guilty pleasure, Dancing with the Stars, and a long-ago memory suddenly flashes in front of me. I'm with my journalism class from 1988 at Boston's channel 4, WBZ-TV, at a live show of "People are Talking," an afternoon talk-show hosted by local guy, Tom Bergeron!

The day's theme was upstart entrepreneurs, and two of the guests were Ben and Jerry, of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream fame, just named "Small Businessmen of the Year" by President Reagan. My students and I had a great time. Part of the show involved audience Q and A and several of them asked questions and in the end, we all got samples of Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

I had forgotten that until now, but think it's kind of cool, now that I think of it. Of course back then, Tom wasn't the mega-star he is now. He was just a home-town guy hosting a very popular local show. Little did we know that our experience would become one of those "we knew him when" moments = )

Minds to Think and Hearts to Love

Earlier this afternoon, while I was putting the finishing touches on work for the day, I glanced out the window of my office. The rain-drenched woods were beautiful. Birds were flitting about the branches. The sumac was brilliant amidst the yellow and brown of the surrounding leaves. I paused to admire the panorama as nature gathered its strength for the last hurrah of fall. It's November in New England. I love every glorious bit of it! Even rainy days like today. Maybe especially days like today.

I've been watching Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman for the past several weeks. Let's face it. I'm addicted. I watched it periodically when it originally aired, but didn't follow it regularly. We had boarding at our school at the time, so I was mostly busy elsewhere on Saturday nights. But this fall, I rediscovered it on DVD, and what a treasure! Episode after episode unfolds revealing layers and layers of truth about human nature, some of them warm and comforting, others not so lovely. But all of them, in one way or another, thought-provoking and inspiring.

The episode I watched last night, set at Thanks- giving time, ended with this wonderful prayer, so relevant for today:

Dear Lord,
Let us give thanks to God our Father for all of His gifts so freely bestowed upon us. For the beauty and wonder of your creation, and earth and sky and sea; for our daily food and drink, our homes and family and friends; for minds to think and hearts to love, and hands to serve; for health and strength to work and leisure to rest and play; for the brave and courageous who are patient in suffering and are faithful in adversity; and for all valiant seekers after truth, liberty, and justice, We thank you dear Lord. Amen.

Two Old Chestnuts

I treated myself today to two of my favorite TV adaptations of great books: The Scarlet Pimpernel and Christy. It all started because I forgot about turning my clocks back, resulting in my getting up before 7 this morning. It was awhile before I realized my mistake, too late to go back to bed, so I decided to take advantage of the extra hour by curling up in my recliner and watching a movie I've shown so many times to students that I know much of it by heart: the Anthony Andrews/Jane Seymour version of The Scarlet Pimpernel. It's been several years since I last saw it, though, so even though I knew exactly what was going to happen, I enjoyed the anticipation of certain scenes or lines.

Later in the afternoon, I watched the first installment of the TV series Christy. The book by Catherine Marshall is one of my all-time favorite books about teaching. I've read it numerous times and have loved it every time. The TV show wasn't exactly like the book, of course, and you miss out on a lot of the subtleties that the book affords, but it's still nice and uplifting. It was a good way to recover from all the hustle and bustle of last week and to refocus my priorities. When Miss Alice asks Christy why she came to Cutter Gap, she replies that she wants to give her life meaning and purpose. Teaching definitely does that for me...it was good to be reminded.