You Will Remember

I came across this poem in my readings today and it reminded me of these photos.You Will Remember

You will remember
and sometimes a bird, wearing water
and slowness, its winter feathers.

You will remember those gifts from the earth:
indelible scents, gold clay,
weeds in the thicket and crazy roots,
magical thorns like swords.

You'll remember the bouquet you picked,
shadows and silent water,
bouquet like a foam-covered stone.

That time was like never, and like always.
So we go there, where nothing is waiting;
we find everything waiting there.

by Pablo Neruda

It Can Be So Simple: Let's All Wash Our Hands

We have an all-staff meeting once a month at my school. They are lively gatherings. Door prizes are awarded, we share student successes, and figure out things like carnival, hall passes, and when to have class meetings. Not today. Today Nurse Ellen gave us a very informative talk. I have to say it left me a little unsettled as I went back to my classroom to teach.

We learned about avian and pandemic flu. We were shown a video about how to prepare for a flu outbreak that could close schools. Next we were given information about MRSA. In my college education courses we learned teaching methods and content, but were never given training in the health procedures that have moved into classrooms through the years. I remember the tooth brushing, the fluoride rinsing, the AIDs education sessions. At our first staff meeting each year we are now informed about bloodborne pathogens.

Today we were given masks to keep in our rooms to wear over our noses and mouth if needed. We were given a sample of Purell. The main message was clear and so simple: we now need to teach our students to wash their hands: correctly and often. We also discussed the areas of the classrooms we need to keep sanitized. I thought about laptops, keyboards, headphones, and containers of markers that are for general use. I thought about the water I have in my classroom that takes ten minutes to heat up. My head was swimming with thoughts of bad bugs and germs as I stood at my sink after the meeting washing my hands.

There have been cases of MRSA in nearby schools. Fortunately all the students were diagnosed early and treated. I am blessed to have students that are good hand washers. They also cover their sneezes and coughs. All it took was their science teacher to do a few talks with slides and pictures for them to understand bad germs and why they needed to wash again and again. For at least a year we have had hand sanitizer available at the lunch line as students get ready to eat.

The cartoon at the top has been a favorite Far Side of mine for years. We have bathrooms right in our classroom so we don't need the bell and flashing sign like the cartoon. If a student doesn't head right to the sink and wash their hands, they are "gently reminded" by their middle school peers and words like "oooh sick" and " I think you forgot something" echo through the room. I must say after the inservice this morning I know I washed my hands at least fifteen times.... and that was just before lunch.

Strange Sitings On Recent Road Trips

I often share the beauty of nature on my posts after a road trip. There have also been strange things I have encountered on road trips, especially in signs. I have posted a few of these before. Here are some examples.


















When I traveled in Idaho in August to see the Idaho State Champion Western White Pine that I had remembered as a child I learned it died, then was cut. Some of the remains are close to the sign.


















During our recent trip driving along the Kettle River as we were heading to Pierre Lake we encountered buffalo. I believe this is the closest I have ever been to buffalo in my life. They were in a pasture along the road.


















As we left Pierre Lake I could tell this person was working hard at communicating his/her ideas to all of us. What part of No don't you understand here?


















On this same road another landowner was trying to be safe. As a teacher I wanted to help proofread or check on what huning meant.


















My favorite espresso stand in Chewelah always keeps us guessing on what we will find on the reader board.
Even though we never get tired of the natural beauty of the inland empire, these examples add humor and surprise to our road trips.

Autumn Skillet Supper: A Keeper from the Recipe Box

This dish has been a quick favorite of mine so many years I can't even remember the magazine this recipe came from. Mixing the flavors of apples, cabbage, sausage, and vegetables provides a hearty meal in forty minutes.

Autumn Skillet Dinner
2 TB olive oil
1 small onion, sliced
8 small potatoes, scrubbed
4 cups shredded green cabbage
2 cups 1-inch pieces green beans
1 tart apple, peeled, cored, and sliced
1/2 cup apple juice
1 pound Polish sausage, turkey sausage, or any other sausage you enjoy, thinly sliced
Seasoned salt to taste
Heat oil in a large skillet, saute onions 5 minutes.
Add potatoes, cabbage, green beans, apple, apple juice, and sausage slices. Mix ingredients. Cover tightly and simmer over low heat 30 minutes or until potatoes are easily pierced. Season to taste with seasoned salt. Makes 4 hearty servings. Add some hearty bread and it makes a meal. Enjoy!

A Busy Week-end: Saturday Road Trip, Dog Baths, and a Visit from a Skunk

Saturday we took a ten-mile road trip to Trout Lake Campground. We have always loved this drive and location, but it is often filled with campers and/or hunters. This lake and campground are off Highway 20 then north about five miles. Climbing up the steep mountain road the landscape turns quickly to a deep forest. We had the campground to ourselves. If you look close at the lake shore you will see ice. That is not a reflection, but thin ice that was melting after a cold night. Of course, dogs being dogs our two found all kinds of old fish and whatever else to roll in. They were just happy as could be as we held our noses and got them back in the car. We are glad we have a dog gate to keep them in the back end!I studied unique views of trees on my trip yesterday. I tried to capture them in pictures. I especially loved the way the green moss hung on the tree branches. The first picture on the bottom shows the work of a woodpecker, and the tree on the bottom right was just holding on to all the branches on the bottom close to the ground, black and dead as they could be. It looked like it had been spray painted with gray paint.

As we left the campground we found a place heading down that mountain that gave us a photo image of Sherman Pass. JEJ took a moment to enjoy the view. It was a peaceful lunch and drive and we were pleased that not another person was in sight. We loaded up our stinky dogs and headed for home.

Today we bathed those two much to their dismay. I think dogs like to carry those odors! A few hours later our quiet Sunday evening was disrupted by Annie and Shelby- the two dogs that were bound and determined to continue to stink. They had a bad encounter with a skunk that involved JEJ herding them into the garage, me mixing up the skunk odor removal stuff, and more baths and cleaning up. As JEJ loves to say, " You gotta love them or it just doesn't work." Once again our two clean dogs are resting close by, drying off with still a hint of skunk lingering. I hope our evening will calm down now!

Sunday Scribblings: Laughter, Learning, and a Friend Named Money

The topic of Sunday Scribblings this week is Money. It is only fitting that I deliver a tribute to my dear friend T. Money. A few years ago she gave me a birthday card with this quote on the front:
“You have a wonderful way of making people happy just by walking into a room” .

I could say the same for her. We met serving on a school district committee in the late ‘80’s in Kennewick. We hit it off immediately. At the time she was a primary teacher, but she had taught music. After I moved to middle school she joined me teaching language arts. She has since moved to the high school level.

We loved to learn together when we lived close. T. is very intelligent and had a way of making educational theory practical and teacher friendly. Together we read professional books, went to workshops, did fun road trips to conferences, and presented workshops together.

She has always wanted to make learning the best experience for her students. She is an inspiration to our profession in the way she reaches out to each student she works with whether she has ten students or a hundred. She is a talented performer, composer, writer, and crafter. Time spent together may include singing with the guitar, writing goofy poems, stamping, or creating a friend timeline that has all roads leading to a favorite hangout. We spent a month once in north Idaho participating in the Northwest Inland Writing Project. For both of us that experience was life changing. When we were stressed out I pulled out recipes and baked. T went for a walk to think. Not only did a night owl and morning person have to learn to adjust schedules, but we worked our tails off and through thinking and our own writing learned much about ourselves as teachers and friends.
T. has been there for me through the best of times and the worst of times. She helped me decide on adopting my dog Lucy. She loved my dogs like they were her own. She celebrated with me when I got my new job and moved away. She surprised me and traveled to my Dad’s funeral and was always ready to listen when my first marriage dissolved.

If I could pick one word about my friendship with T. it would be laughter. We love to laugh together. We are able to take a simple activity like bowling and turn it into a running gag. We were known to "get shushed" when we would explode in laughter. When you have a good friend you can say certain words and burst into laughter. Nobody else gets it but the two of you.

I wish we lived closer. Visits are the best though because we pick right up where we left off and the conversation and laughter begins again.

Thanks T. for years of laughter, learning, love, and friendship. I hope the best is yet to come.

You can find other Money Sunday Scribblings here.