I Think I Am Pushing More Longingly for the Retirement Years. Still Have a Ways to Go, but There's Something Appealing about Spending More Time By the Water

Celebrated Kaitlyn's 39th last night, but I am thinking she's still 25 and in grad school. Truth is, she was the first hire for Ubuntu Academy back in the day, when I was experimenting with a potential summer program for kids arriving from other nations to Bridgeport Public Schools. Just shaking my head, knowing that Abu, Lossine, & Chitunga always saw her and Patrick as older siblings to look up to and even weirder to know that even they have passed the ages of where Pat and Kaitlyn were when I moved here. Blink of an eye it all is. 

Walnut Beach has emptied. It belongs to the locals and their dogs again, and it will be this way until it warms back up. Nice to see the sands resting/restoring/resettling. I already put up the paddle boards, but I thought about going out, simply because it was all so calm and still.

I'm off to Norwalk Public Schools this morning, then onto campus for Academic Council, and then off to dinner with the promoted class of 2024 - all four of us who received Full Professorship. I look forward to the night of applauding one another.

Ah, and the cool temperatures at night (if not cold). So wonderful to have that back: windows open, a blanket, the joy of being under covers. I'm definitely a Fall/Spring person. That's the way my blood can handle it.

Bring on the hoodies.

Borrowed from Chitunga's One Dish: Cuban Rice with Black Beans, Onions, and Peppers (Paired with Salmon, Grilled Cauliflower, and Strip Steak)

It was delicious. I was afraid I'd get Chitunga's rice wrong...the dirty rice...but it came out marvelously and paired well with the grilled salmon, cauliflower, and steak. A great dinner for Pam, Oona, and Rose on a Saturday night where they didn't have any dinner plans. 

The morning started out with a trek to the new Stratford Bookstore, Odobo (meaning Community) where I meet fellow educators and showed local support for a good cause. Karal and I then hiked for 4 miles, before I returned to the Mahoney Arena to see the Binghamton Bearcats beat the Fairfield Stags 3 games to one in volleyball. Binghamton held out with strong teamwork and power. 

I came home to grill before the storms and, well, ended up grilling during the storms with an umbrella...only mildly drenched for the downpour. In the end, a delicious meal was prepared and a solid Saturday was had. 

I woke up yesterday with a stomach bug, and I was thankful it subsided by the afternoon. Ah, but now I have a Sunday, class preparation (life preparation) and reorganization of my everything that is due. I also started a book on Audible, The Anxious Generation, and I'm wrestling with chicken-little paranoia, and/or just another generation of human beings inherited the crazy world that we have. 

I mean, turn on the news and tell me how any of it is supposed to make sense to the adults in control, let alone the kids growing up in it. This too shall pass. Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, Gen Z, etc. We definitely have been living during a global paradigm shift with migration, technology, mental health, wars, colonialism, patriotism, and the usual insanity of a post-British, post-European empire. Something wicked this way comes. We shall only see. 

Finished Off the Work-Week with a Stags Women Volleyball Game Against Boston College. I Will Always Love College Volleyball

The good news for me the last few years is that college volleyball is on the up and up, so there are more and more games televised for consumers like me. I'm also glad to have a faculty liaison position with Coach Nancy Somera, and I'm looking forward to attending more games - tomorrow it's with my undergraduate alma mater, Binghamton University.

Boston College took three games for the match, but the score was always point for point for two evenly-matched competitive teams. I can't offer much for the play-by-plays, but I can cheer them on with my love of the sport, my literacy work, and the power of human togetherness. I am, because we are. Ubuntu. That has been the Skils4Life mantra for Hoops4Hope. I'm hoping that is what I might be able to bring to the team.

And books. I want to find a perfect book for all to read. We'll see. I'm being my usual dorky self with the possibilities. 

But for now, a Saturday. I'm still exhausted from summer work and little break, so I'm trying to choose joy for the semester, which usually comes in the form of a volleyball game, so I'm all in.

I saw the Binghamton team in the stands for tomorrow's game and it made me realize I haven't been back to that campus since I left in 1994. 30 years. Unbelievable. My everything was made better by attending that campus while I did. It launched the human being I am today. 

Here's to a good match today.

Fortunate to Be Able to See Paulie's Push to Ground Zero...One Man's Mission to Honor the Memory of American Heroes of Flights 175, 11 & 77

I can still remember the day. It was my planning and Alice had her sociology students 1st period. They had the television on and knew something was up in NYC. They called me over to watch the hysteria and that's when I saw the 2nd plane hit. I immediately went into teacher mode and focused on the day ahead. Alice twirled her hair and began researching why such a thing would happen, and then teachers around the school played the newsfeed live for their students (definitely not my choice). When kids asked why I wasn't watching I simply said, "This is too much for my comprehension. I need to go home, read, and figure out a game plan of action."

That's what I did, talking with Alice, of course. American Airlines Flight 11 left Boston, was hijacked, and was one of the two planes that went into the towers. Paul Veneto, aka "Paulie," is bringing back the memories of the flight crews who were the first responders that day, and who also perished in the tragedy. It is Paulie's Push and he pushes a flight cart from Boston-Logan to Ground Zero each year and covers 220 miles. He was working on United Flight 175, but left to be off-duty when they replaced his shift with another. It was the the other plane that hit the tower. He, now retired, is committed to keeping their memories alive and the reality of the 9/11 tragedy. This is his mission. 

Yesterday, while working with administrators at Marvin Elementary School in Norwalk, I was fortunate to bear witness to student presentations, celebrations, and speeches applauding Paul Veneto's mission. It is something, especially since American like to move quickly to the next buzzfeed, YouTube posting, or Instagram photo. History, world politics, and U.S. responsibilities are too often dusted to the side. His actions speak louder than any words I could post, so I'll simply leave this with a news story in his honor.

And, most definitely, it was my honor for being in the right place at the right time so I could bear witness to his quest. Phew. 

The First Week Back to School with All Its Glory. Needed to Photograph the Garden Before Getting Stuck in Traffic

Lucky for me, the flowers on both sides of the driveway are in full bloom, so it is easy to take a shot. I had a full Wednesday, but noticed the Morning Glories were in full bloom. And I had to stop and admire them...a shout out to Mia Toney from the Brown School who shared the affinity. I'm glad I got the photo, because I'm thinking a lot of things about blooms, hope, the stories we tell ourselves in the United States, workloads, and rebellion. Another school shooting yesterday. I just shake my heads and, actually, remembered I made a video to celebrate Trina Paulus's 50th Anniversary in New Jersey.

I find myself thinking about Shakespeare, Chaucer, Euripides, and pretty much all literature throughout the ages thinking about what they often named as the human condition. I realize, the only thing we can do is leave the legacy and insight to the next generation. I'm thinking of the Tomorrow speech from MacBeth and Whoops from Blues Traveler. I thinking of children, families and teachers. Whoops. If it all comes down to signifying nothing, then there's no reason for any of it.

But it is something...it's sharing blooms from your own life with others, so those blooms carry one a little while, and your blooms influence their blooms. That is how hope and goodness spread...actions, so much more than words.

At this point, I'm thinking school shootings are simply emblematic of the hypocrisy existing in U.S. politics and what the red, white, and blue stand for. As sick as it is, it's a fight for narratives and whose story gets told. 

Prudence Crandall. Reuben Crandall. Our National Anthem.

Ah, but it's Thursday. I'm heading out to a K-5 school to restore hope and possibilities. May your morning have glory, too.

Question: What Do You Call a Group of Octopuses (Note: It's Not Octopi, It's Octopuses). I Learned Something New Today

 I'm 52 and it's the first time I wondered what you would call a crew of octopuses traveling in the ocean. It turns out that the word is consortium, which I really like. At the last minute, I threw in an octopus theme for tonight's class and learned that even graduate students like to color. It was a 'getting to know you' activity where we colored and answered 8 questions about ourselves, and now that I think about it, I could have kept the conversation going longer because they really liked to color.

I'm intrigued by the cohort I have and we shall see where the entire semester goes - having tremendous joy with last year's lot. 

And I'm off to teach again this morning...Philosophy...of all things. The course maxed at 20 students but being me, I took six extra because I wanted to enjoy the numbers. Unlike many, I prefer large classes. And this one is a turbo, so I'll be on for 2.5 hours (which I have to compare to summer where I'm on for 6 hours with 60+ students each week).

Karal will need to get used to having the house to herself after a couple of weeks with all my attention. I hope to maintain the long morning walks, however, as they are a great place to clear my mind (just not on Wednesdays...they'll have to be afternoon walks). 

Alright, I need to hit I-95. It all begins anew.

And Once Again, It's Another Fall Semester - the 29th Year of Being an Educator & I'm Feeling the Labor in All My Bones.

Input 47th grade. Year 29 of teaching…next year will be my 30th, and I’m wondering if I will make it to the 50th year. I would be 72. I highly doubt it. Maybe. Because one thing is for sure…I’m tired. I know much has changed, things will continue to change, and change is inevitable. Last night, when I sat down to work, the Internet went completely down. Alexa played. Cable worked. But connecting to the Internet in Connecticut was a bust. I realized how much it’s become an extension of who I am, as an educator, and I was not pleased that I couldn’t get to the locations I habitually go each night (and morning). Bollucks. 

Welcome to the 29th year. Same amount of input necessary, with 50% less of the muscle, mind, and energy to do it. Actually, that’s not true. I still am at 100%, but am desiring respite so I can reflect a little, soak my bones, let my mind go to nothingness, and reconvene my intentions (and I do this while my OCD keeps checking to see if the Internet is back up) (writing offline now because I want to be able to post as soon as I can). That is the pace I am used to keeping.

Happy Birthday, Torrey Maldonado. Looking forward to seeing you in a few weeks.

Yesterday, I worked on syllabi, vacuumed the car, washed it, walked for 4 miles, did laundry, and prepped for classes. Because Fairfield begins after Labor Day weekend, it’s kind of hard NOT to labor, even though I tried hard not to.

I’m reflecting back to my Iroquois High Schools days, Louisville Nature Center and Beargrass Creek Task Force work, and eventually finding my way into the Brown School. I’m also thinking that the vast majority of teachers who graduated with me from the University of Louisville have since retired, yet here I keep going, because I have to (I turned over my State system benefits when pursuing a PhD). Ah, retirement at 52 sounds great, but I need to find a way to survive another 13+ years. I am unsure if I can make it that long.

And back to the Internet outage last night. Fascinating to use the phone to learn Optimum is the culprit…all that money each month for television I don’t watch, but justify with the Internet Service…I think not. 

Okay, onto the classroom I go. I want a summer off! Actually, I just want one week of floating in my parents pool like the ol’ days when I would visit from Kentucky. 

Glad to wake up and have the Internet back on. And post. Ta da.