Afternoon in Boston

I took the afternoon off to meet a friend in Boston. She is in town with National Honor Society students from her school in Maryland. They were walking the Freedom Trail today and I set out to try to catch up with them. It was a fruitless effort to find them as we were both walking, and there was virtually no way for me to catch up. I finally gave up for the time being and just enjoyed the sights.

It was a beautiful day, not too cool to revel in the hour's walk through the historic Government Center, Theatre District, and Boston Common. Many times when I wander through Boston, I like people watching. This time, the architecture interested me. I found myself being drawn to the tops of the buildings, several of which I'm sharing here.

I finally caught up with my friend a few miles south of Boston at the Kennedy Library. While her students (and other adults) went through the library/museum, we sat outside and talked. It was an all too brief reunion, but worth the minor frustration of not finding her for nearly two hours...

In spite of my happiness at seeing my friend, the day was tinged with sadness. The daughter of our maintenance man was killed yesterday in a freak accident in San Francisco. She had been walking her dog and was putting it in her car when a huge branch from a redwood tree fell down on her, taking her life instantly. It's a devastating loss. I went to high school with her, but haven't seen her since then. Still, I feel overwhelmed with sadness for her parents.

Carpe Diem

Last week was so intense, that I have been drained of almost all thought ever since. It's been hard to do much, let alone write. After the exit report I went home and just sat for an hour. I went to bed early and couldn't even read, something rare, believe me.

Thursday, we had a candidate for next year flew in from New York and I had to take him out to eat (along with our vice principal). I didn't get home until after 10. Friday afternoon late, we interviewed him, and then the next day I took him with me to a teacher's retreat at the camp our school goes to at the beginning of each year.

The camp is at an altitude so that the ice on the lake has not melted yet, but the temperature was warm enough to cause a fog to rise off the ice. It was eerily beautiful. Unfortunately, we had to go right to the meeting, so I didn't get a picture of it. I regret being a "good teacher" now, because by the time we had free time to go check it out, the fog was gone.

One thing I'm learning... and trying to do more of... is that with photo- graphy, you have to go for it, take chances, seize the moment. If you wait until "a better time," you'll most likely miss it all together. Carpe diem. Take the opportunity when you have it. I'm working to do more of that so I have fewer missed photographic opportunities...

Photos of Camp Winnekeag in Ashburnham, MA

A turtle, a grave, a raccoon and a great big weight

I was working in my office this afternoon when the office manager came in saying "Come! Bring your camera!" I grabbed my camera and went to see what the stir was about: a turtle, a slider turtle, I think. Some kids found it out in the ball field and brought it to our science teacher.

We let it go in one of the gardens. Usually we have several coming out of the swamp across the playground to the gardens around the building to lay their eggs. several weeks later, dozens of tiny turtles scramble their way back to the swamp. Kind of cool!

While I was watching the turtle crawl away, I noticed something strange under some bushes: a little graveyard for a bird the 4-6th graders found dead on the ground. I thought it was kind of sweet the way they buried it, complete with flowers and grave markers...

The other cause for excitement came when two boys came running in from the dumpster to say that a raccoon was sleeping in it! I went to check it out, and sure enough, a coon was curled up at the back of the dumpster. No amount of banging on the side would wake him (or her) up. Our theory is that he gorged himself on garbage and then was too full and sleep to move. "We put a board inside to give him a way out. An hour later he was gone.

Aside from these native visitors, it was fairly quiet today as our visiting team left last night around 7 p.m. after delivering the exit report and giving us the recommended accreditation term: the second highest possible--6 years with an interim visit at 3 years! I am so relieved! I didn't realize the weight of the stress of this evaluation until it was over and a two-ton weight dropped from my shoulders!

Two Fenway Fly-Overs

Four F-14s were scheduled to fly over Fenway Park during the Red Sox' home opening day ceremonies. The cool thing for us at our school is that we are directly along the flight path for these amazing jets. We see and hear them either on their way to the ball park or on their way back (depending on which direction they decide to fly over). I warned the visiting committee that somewhere around 2 they would probably hear the 4 jets, and indeed some of them did.

I'm not going to say I'm jaded by now, having seen/heard a number of these. But I will say that there was another Fenway flyover that interested me just as much. The hawk I wrote about a few days ago has refused to leave Fenway Park! She and her mate continue to call the Park home, and today, during the opening ceremonies, the two of them flew all around the park, one of them with some kind of a rodent in its talons that it dropped into the crowd as it cruised by!!! I would love to have been there to see that!!!

The pre-game ceremonies were exciting, too. They brought in legendary athletes from all four of Boston's major sports...including several of my personal favorites from the '70s and '80s, including Bobby Orr, my favorite Bruins player, and Brian Daubach, a Red Sox player that my journalism class interviewed a few years ago in the pressroom at Fenway Park! The Boston Pops played while the team received their 2007 championship rings, and Bill Buckner (the "goat" of the 1986 World Series loss) threw the first pitch to my all-time favorite Sox player Dwight Evans.

A pretty classy affair when all was said and done. I just wish I had been there. (The only time I've had tickets to Opening Day, it got snowed out and was rescheduled for the next day...when I was flying to Russia on a choir trip. I had to give the tickets to my parents and had to watch the opening ceremony from the airport waiting area.)

Photos from the Boston Globe. I had a picture of the hawk with the rodent, but I can't find it. I'm afraid I deleted it. If so, I'm so sad because it was kind of cool...the photo here is by an AP photographer...admittedly much cooler than mine off the TV...

Elegant Diners and Visitors

It's been a busy, stressful couple of weeks. Our school is going through our accreditation evaluation. The visiting committee arrived yesterday afternoon. I met with the chair of the committee first, then took the committee (11 of them) on a tour of the school. At 5, they came to our annual fund-raiser dinner. This is our 6th year of holding this dinner. We raise $30-$40,000 each year. This year, it looks like it's more than $43,000! Not bad for a 3-hour dinner =)

Today, the committee arrived at 7:30 and worked all day until 5:30 when we went out to a nearby Italian restaurant for another delicious meal. I came home after that and crashed, as I was exhausted. I had to be at the committee's disposal all day long, including during my 2 hours of teaching. They even came to observe me, which I was not expecting, but which went well, thankfully.

So far so good. The committee will be here two more days and will give their exit report Wednesday afternoon. Until then, I remain on edge, even the though hard part for me was done a month ago when I sent off a 200 page self-study that I typed and edited myself (although I did not write it all).

And yet...for all the stress...I feel calm. We've done our best. Now, it's the committee's turn. (The beginning of May, I go off to upstate New York to do the same thing for another school. It's a very interesting experience.)

Photos: one of the centerpieces from the dinner; socializing at the dinner; my niece (who was home from college for the weekend) seranading the diners.

Hawk Attack!

One of the top news stories of the day is that a red-tailed hawk attacked a young teenager at Fenway Park this afternoon! Apparently the hawk had built a nest on a ledge outside the Press box inside the Park and the girl, who was touring the Park, got too close and upset the hawk who attacked her and scratched her face enough to send her to the hospital!

Mass. Fish and Wildlife officers were already on their way to check out the hawks and the nest, but the attack happened before they arrived. They did check out the nest and there was an egg, a cold egg, in it. Apparently the hawk flew away after the attack and hadn't been seen since (as of 6:30 tonight). You can read more about the story here.

Photo from The Boston Channel (Boston's channel 5) website.

Quick trip to TN and back (via Dallas and Chicago)

"`But I don't want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.

`Oh, you can't help that,' said the Cat: `we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.'
`How do you know I'm mad?' said Alice.
`You must be,' said the Cat, `or you wouldn't have come here.'

'Curiouser and curiouser!' cried Alice."
~Alice in Wonderland

It was a crazy busy week last week, not leaving me much time for anything but work. I was supposed to go to Tennessee Thursday morning for interviews for new staff positions, but just as I was leaving for the airport, I got a call saying my flight was canceled because of bad weather in Chicago, but that I had been rescheduled to leave at 6:50 a.m. on Friday instead.

That meant that I was up at 4:30 Friday in order to make my plane. It also meant that I had to cancel one interview and reschedule the other. The trip was mostly smooth, but we got out of Dallas (instead of Chicago) late, so I was late to my rescheduled appointment. Brother!

Tennessee is far ahead of us as far as spring goes. Redbud, magnolias, Bedford pear trees were all in full bloom. The grass was nice and green. Birds are already nesting, and I saw some baby ducklings crossing the road with their mother. It rained quite a bit, too.

But I got in on an orchestra rehearsal of my niece's (my meetings were all at her university) and heard the orchestra play the next day. I saw a lot of old friends, former students, and former classmates, and made a presentation at the inaugural meeting of a new alumni chapter for our school. Unfortunately, I also got sick during my presentation and had to step away for several minutes to recover. My niece and her friend ended up taking me back to my hotel where I promptly went to sleep for the next 5 hours.

I had to get up at 4 this morning to catch my flight back home. I left so early that I saw the sun rise...from above the clouds...I was on the western wing, so the other side was more vivid. Still, it was beautiful. I also saw lake Michigan, full of ice patches, and, at long last, Boston, my favorite US city =)

It was good to get home. I enjoyed spending time with my niece and friends, but it wasn't long enough to really relish it. I would love to have had the time to go up to Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, for example. But the glimpse of spring reminded me that good things are soon to come our way, too.

Photos: Teddy all packed and ready to travel; flowering tree and weeping willows; Bedford Pears line the street in Collegedale; a duck (no idea what kind) crosses the street in the rain; my friend Laurie conducts the Southern orchestra, my niece is playing the cello to her right; sunrise above the clouds; an icy Lake Michigan; Boston from the air

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

One of my all-time favorite hymns is When I Survey the Wondrous Cross. I've sung it in church and in choirs numerous times. I've also played the orchestral accompaniment numerous times as well. I find the words overwhelming sometimes, just thinking about what it all means.

This week, my nephew played in the orchestra that accompanied three choirs singing for the Easter service at the College Church at my alma mater. I went with my sister to hear him. Imagine my delight to see that hymn on the program. I could hardly wait to hear it. I just love the words, especially the third verse.

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it Lord that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His hands, His head, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Where the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my life, my soul, my all.

--IsaacWatts, 1707

The Selah Publishing company website offers this History of the Hymn:
"Isaac Watts first published "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" in his Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1707). Designated a communion hymn, it appeared under the heading "Crucifixion to the World by the Cross of Christ; Gal. 6:14." One of the first English-language hymns to use the word "I" and to focus directly on personal religious experience, "When I Survey" holds an important place in the history of hymnody. It offers an example of how Watts, sometimes called the father of English hymnody, enlarged the boundaries of English sacred song beyond the metrical psalms to include freer verse that readily lent itself to new musical settings. Watts fused two traditions of sacred song that had been developing side-by-side-metrical psalms and hymns-in texts characterized by unusual clarity and force in the choice of words."

Photo: from Snapshots of Joy graphics

Winter is past

I love this time of year when the branches are red with life (and sap). Buds are just about ready to burst. Birds are getting more and more numerous. Flocks of robins populate yards and fill the air with their songs. I'm glad I live in a place where there are seasons. The variety keeps me from getting bored with all that surrounds me outdoors...

Turkey Day!

Wednesday was a rather mild day, especially compared to the snowy first day of spring yesterday and the wild and windy day today. Several of the classes took their recesses outside, with kids jumping rope, swinging, and playing basketball.

I was in the office when one of our assistants came downstairs to ask if it was common for a turkey to be wandering around the property. Truth to tell, we have a flock of turkeys (one Tom and several hens) that live in the woods skirting our property and they often strut around the field. I'd heard word that they were out and about, so I was eager to see if I could get a picture.

I grabbed my camera and went around the front of the building (they'd been reported at the back) to see if I could meet up with him (it was the Tom). Sure enough, he was coming around to the front as I was going towards the end of the building. I was angling for a good shot when I heard "TURKEY!" from the basketball court and saw a herd of boys streaking towards the turkey. Poor thing, it didn't hesitate to see what the ruckus was. He just took off out the gate into the neighbor's yard. I was so annoyed with those kids, because of course they spoiled my shot. Turkeys!

Photos: The kids swinging and jumping rope; turkeys taken two years ago, almost to the day.

in Just-- spring

Spring, the sweet spring, is the year's pleasant king;
Then blooms each thing, then maids dance in a ring,
Cold doth not sting, the pretty birds do sing.
Cuckoo, jug-jug, pu-we, to-witta-woo!

~ Thomas Nashe (1567–1601)

in Just--
spring when the world is mud--
luscious the little
lame balloonman
whistles far and wee
~ e. e. cummings (1894-1962)

For winter's rains and ruins are over,
And all the season of snows and sins;
The days dividing lover and lover,
The light that loses, the night that wins;
And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten,
And in green underwood and cover
Blossom by blossom the spring begins.
~ Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909)

Photos: Newly blooming crocuses around the flagpole at school; beautiful calla lily my sister brought to my office yesterday. I've never seen one this color!

Live the verses

My sister sent me a link from her local on-line newspaper about the man I worked for when I was in college, Oscar Schmidt. He's 93 and still going strong. When I went to college, I had it in my mind that I wanted to work in the library (I hate to admit it, but "Love Story" played a strong part in my wanting to work there. Remember Ali MacGraw's character, Jennifer, worked in the library and that's how she met Ryan O'Neill's character, Oliver.

I had this silly idea that if I worked in my college library like Jennifer did, I'd meet my Oliver! So much for that plan! Who I actually met, though, was Oscar, my boss. He was a great boss, and put a lot of trust in me, encouraged me to develop a good work ethic ("No, you cannot work and talk at the same time without making mistakes.) And he showed me that you can work hard, be responsible and still have a good time. His life's motto was “Life is but once / Drink the cup / Wear the roses / Live the verses.” He surely is doing all that and more. Still. I hope I have the same vim and vigor that he does when I am 93!!!

Photo and caption from Wicked Local Lancaster (on-line): By Ann Ringwood/Staff Photographer/Oscar Schmidt, 93, still volunteers at the Atlantic Union College library more than 60 years after graduating.

No Man is an Island

Today I taught another one of my favorite things to teach: John Donne's Meditation XVII. How well the lesson goes always depends on the students in the class. It is, after all, 17th century metaphysical introspection, not always a thing easily understood by 21st century teenagers. Today, it went well. Today, they got it. And today, when we were done exploring what John Donne had to say about our interconnectedness, I asked them to write their own Meditation XVII. I have yet to see the finished product, but I am eager to do so. I should have tried to write my own while they were writing, but I was reading and grading journals at the time so I could hand them back before the class ended. I will, in time, write and share my thoughts on the subject. For now, appreciate and enjoy Donne's famous words:

No man is an island, entire of itself. Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were. Any man's death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee.

Photos: Toothaker Island, Lake Mooselookmeguntic, Rangeley, ME

Non Nobis Dominie

I just finished studying/watching Kenneth Branaugh's Henry V with my seniors. We loved the story of a young king trying to do the right and honorable thing. We were particularly interested in his skills as a good king. Having studied Hamlet prior to this and noting how not to be a king (Claudius, who kills his brother, married his brothers wife, and plots to kill his nephew/step-son), we felt strongly that Henry V had a positive message to learn about leadership, Christian leadership at that.

The final act is especially moving when the English soldiers are gathering their dead from the battlefield at Agincourt. Henry orders that Non Nobis Dominie be sung, and a soloist begins the piece, but is soon joined by a whole chorus of soldiers. It's quite beautiful. My students, who love music anyway, and who are used to music being played in the classroom during tests and quiet reading and writing periods, begged to hear the soundtrack to Henry V this morning while they took their vocabulary test. Happily, I was able to oblige them. They were so excited! So, there they were taking their test, singing their hearts out as the wrote their answers. It was really beautiful...

Here's that penultimate scene of the play, along with the Non Nobis Dominie. See if you don't agree with my students and me about Henry's character, and about the music they all sang.

Do You See What I See?!!!

I was leaving school this evening, just before dark. It had been in the 40s most of the day (it's 46 right now), so the snow had been melting all day long, although I did see some snow flurries at one point. Anyway...I was going down the front steps and looked to my left and saw...(drum roll, please)...the yellowed tips of DAFFODILS!!!

I'm so excited! The snow melted down to the ground just outside the door, enough to give breathing room to the bulbs that had been growing all this time under dead leaves and cold snow. Suddenly the snow melts, and there they are. Such a beautiful miracle!

Lost in the snow

Well, almost. My parents have had so much snow at their place in southern Maine that their house has all but disappeared from certain angles. Their neighbor sent them a picture (left) and the following note today: "From our viewoint you have almost disappeared behind the snowbanks. Let us hope Spring is coming soon."

My mom sent her own pictures to me yesterday after yet another snow storm. The first is the neighbor's house from my parents', next is the front walkway completely buried, and the last is the back patio with the bird feeders quite a bit shorter than usual and the heated bird feeder to keep ice from forming.