Throughout my life there have been many instances where I have had to deal with mice. From early childhood, where we would have a number of mice in our apartment to my present day house and our quest for the elusive 7th mouse. I’ve always been fascinated by them. As a child it was in my parents domain to deal with them. Back in the 50’s if there were such things as Havahart traps, we knew nothing of them. Besides even if we did catch live mice, where would we send them, to another floor in our building? The simplest solution to deal with mice was the snap trap. Put a piece of salami in the trap, set it, wait for the snap and then remove the entire contraption to the incinerator down the hall. My father did all of the dastardly deeds. My only job was to locate the entrance or exit where these rodents had access to our apartment. Personally I didn’t mind the mice, when I knew they were there, it was the sudden appearance of them that usually shook me up.
Continue reading Catch that mouse!…
2008
Personal Safety
I’ve been an advocate for teaching Personal Safety in schools for most of my teaching career. In the district that I worked in, I had little success. Other than when an unknown car stops children on the road, does it get discussed in class. At that point a memo goes out to staff and parents from the district describing the incident and reminding parents that it will be/was discussed in school as part of their regular Personal Safety discussions. Other than brief discussions in class at that moment, nothing else is done. I’ve been out of the classroom for 2 years now, but do not think that much has changed.
The Three Hats of a Storyteller
I participated in a workshop over a year ago, from Master Storyteller, Elizabeth Ellis. She explained that as storytellers we wear three different kinds of hats. As a storyteller I am an artist, craftsperson, and businessperson. Here are the notes that I wrote at her workshop:
Artist: Researches, writes, new work, how does this part go with that. Does deep thought. What does my work need to meet the needs of the audience; wants to make a connection; what it means to their life.
Craftsperson: Teller: detail oriented; Chooses the stories to tell. Concerned about audience’s reaction and logistics of storytelling situation
Businessperson: Decision maker, marketing – process what is acceptable and accessible to this audience. How are we going to get invited back; Oversees tasks to be done, requires others to do them. Responsible for public relations.
Continue reading The Three Hats of a Storyteller…
Hiking thoughts
A walk in the woods
The dreariness of the day limits the amount of hikers
The quiet of the forest
Streams formed by the rain of yesterday
Some trickling down the path we walk on
Others in torrents, slowly eroding the sands beneath our feet
Boulders covered with moss and lichen
Slimy to the touch, slippery to traverse
Do we take the longer hike around the ridge to the top
Or the shorter, straight up on the wet boulders
The longer has the view, the shorter has the adventure
All roads lead to Rome, so we take the long way up, the short way down.
Fog descends from above to cover the vista view
It plays peek-a-boo with us, teasing us with glimpses of the lake
Our choice was good, we get to see sites that the other hikers miss in the fog
The way back is steep
Jackets get tied around our waists
Sweat drenches our shirts as we complete our journey
A passerby takes a picture of the three of us.
It is the only one of us three together on our week-long trip.
Back to the solitude of our cottage
Lunch, a rest and then back on the road again.