All-Star Teachers

In a post a while ago I mentioned I was thankful for some teachers in my life.  Today I want to highlight some of my favorites.

My second grade teacher, Mrs. Parker was my first favorite teacher.  I loved that lady.  To be honest I don’t exactly remember why but she was very grandmotherly.  Very nurturing.  She only died in recent years and she 100 years old so I figure she was in her late 50’s when I had her.   There is a big difference between 50 something today and 50 something then, she looked and acted quite elderly. (Or perhaps it was because I was only 7 then and now I am 50 something!!)  A couple things I remember well though....one day she encouraged me to try the monkey bars.  I was really scared to do them until she told me she’d catch me if I fell.  So off I went and then I did fall and she didn’t catch me and I broke my leg.  You might assume that would tarnish my good opinion of her but it did not!  Another thing I remember was one day my dad came to the classroom and told me to go to the Matthew’s house after school because my mom had to leave town.  My mom NEVER left town and I was so afraid they were getting divorced and she had left me with my dad.  I remember crying at recess and Mrs. Parker comforting me and assuring me my mom would be back.

In fifth grade I had Mr. Bruce and I adored him as well.  Again, the details are a little hazy but I know he read us really interesting books and we did some really fun art projects.   I loved school in grade 5!

In high school I took algebra from Mr. Scharnbroich and I loved him.  I can’t exactly pinpoint why but he just commanded my attention and respect and I really liked algebra too.  I had him for two years and I really excelled in his class.  I still remember (and still have) a midterm test where I got 117/110 because I got a perfect score and the extra credit.  I remember also that a friend of mine took that test and showed my dad and he was very impressed until he realized the test was mine and not the kid who had it.  There just was no pleasing the science teacher!  The summer after I signed up for his geometry class he left his post at the high school and went to teach junior high.  I never have forgiven him!!

Finally there was Mrs. Pryse.  She taught typing and bookkeeping and she was the classiest lady ever.  She never raised her voice and always looked impeccable.  She wore fake fingernails and my friend Cheri and I were so enamored with her!  We remained friends after I graduated.  I saw a picture of her not too long ago and she still looks great.

There were other teachers I admired and enjoyed but those were my favorites.   There were plenty of others who were probably great teachers but they certainly could not teach in today’s world.  I remember them throwing erasers and chairs and essentially beating students.  It makes me wonder what kind of affect, if any, that had on the students on the receiving end of such behavior.  I also remember my 7^th grade teacher, Mr. Hanson, who suffered the abuse of his students.  There were 4-5 boys in my class that made his life absolutely miserable.  I always felt bad for him and thought, even at the time that I would NEVER want to be junior high teacher. 

I'm sure most teachers, like parents, do the best they can.  It is not a profession one would enter into unless you had some genuine desire to make a difference. There are certainly easier ways of making a living.

I am Thankful; Part II

Yesterday we got the big things out of the way, today is dedicated to the simple pleasures in life that I’m thankful for.

1. Pomegranates! I recently bought a box of 6 HUGE, ripe, juicy pomegranates at Costco and have been eating one a day.  I fill a bowl with all the seeds then sit down and enjoy each seed as it burst in my mouth in a big, juicy explosion.  Just writing this incites a party in my salivary glands.
2. A good book.  There is just nothing better than being transported by words and your imagination on a journey where all the worries and heartaches of life melt away.  When the book ends you feel like you’ve lost your new best friend. 
3. A really good laugh.  The kind where you just belt out the loudest, most undignified laugh ever and you don’t care because it comes from a place deep inside you and nothing can contain it. Where you have tears streaming down your face and your face hurts and your stomach feels like it’s going to implode.  There is no release as good as a good belly laugh. 
4. Smell of the rainforest.  I love hiking through the woods after a rainfall when everything smells so fresh and cleansed.  When the moss below your feet is a little soggy and raindrops rest in puddles on the leaves of plants.  That is serenity.
5. A great sunrise/sunset.  There really is no wonder like watching a beautiful sunrise or sunset.  Where the ultimate creator paints a picture no earthly artist can fully capture.  It rivals only a great display of Northern lights where the colors of the rainbow literally dance across the dark backdrop of the sky with millions of twinkling stars to cheer them on.
6. A great night’s sleep.  Especially when you haven’t had one in a while, nothing can make you feel better.
7. Gardening. Tinkering in my garden is zen time for me.  As I look back through my pictures that bear witness to the evolution of my garden it simply amazes me.  It is such a great creative outlet and to see your yard just burst with color is so rewarding.  In the summer months I walk through my garden area probably 5 times a day and every time I see something I hadn’t noticed before.  I can’t say it always turns out the way I anticipated but it always turns out.
8. Appreciation.  Nothing feels better than truly being appreciated.  Except appreciating someone else.
9. Music.  I get a very visceral reaction when I hear a song that touches me. 
10. A comforting childhood memory.  Sometimes it’s a story about something I had forgotten about or seeing a picture I’ve never seen and sometimes it’s as simple as a smell.  Nasturtiums do it for me, they take me back to being 10 years old in one little sniff. 
11. A rare bird sighting.  We get a lot of birds at our feeders and I love it when one shows up that requires some digging to identify because it is so rare here that it isn’t in the regular bird books. 
12. A hot bath.  Nothing more relaxing and rejuvenating than reading a good book laying in the bathtub!
13. Wildflowers.  I love a mix of lupine and white daisies or a field of fireweed and iris.
14. God whispers.  Those moments when you clearly discern the voice of God speaking to your spirit.
15. Ipods.  With head phone 180’s. On a long wintery walk with the frozen snow glittering like diamonds and crunching underfoot.  A canopy of white above you.  Love that.

I am Thankful

With Thanksgiving approaching I thought it would be a good time to inventory the things I am thankful for.  There are many and listed in no particular order:

1. God.  For a loving, caring, living, interactive God that loves me more than I can comprehend.  For his unceasing intercession, for his strength, mercy, grace and compassion.  For blessings that make my cup runneth over.
2. Alaska. For this incredible place I live.  Some days on my drive to work, it literally takes my breath away as I take in the beauty that is Juneau.  Lately it has been cold and clear and the first light of day is beginning to appear I drive in.  The sun is starting to come up down Gastineau channel with all the hues of orange and just a hint of pink to paint the landscape.  The mountains are in silhouetted against the dark sky.  It is exquisite and I wish had a picture to prove it. (I tried my Iphone and it failed miserably.)
3. Family.  I am thankful for my husband.  For the mother I had, my dad, my brother and my sisters.  For my nieces and nephews and their expanding families.  For the blessings and joy of the babies that have been added that will forever be joined together in the bond of cousinhood.
4. My animals.  The love I have for them cannot be measured.  For the joy they bring to our lives as well as the entertainment, companionship and comedy that can only come from furry bundles of deliciousness.
5. Friends.  For those I see or talk to daily and those that brighten my day by an unexpected encounter at the grocery store.  And those I hear from only at Christmas and those I’ve reconnected with on Facebook.  Friends present and friends past, all have a special place in my heart.   Also coworkers, many of whom I wouldn’t connect with were it not for being thrown together in the work place but are part of my “work family.”   These are the people I spend more of day with than any of the friends and family listed above so I am grateful for their contributions to my life.
6. My home.  Even though there are plenty of things I’d love to change, I am still so grateful for the house we call home.  It keeps us warm  and dry and comfortable and meets all our needs.  It has a yard that allows me to garden and create.  And woods that harbor birds and squirrels.
7. Employment.  I know I complain endlessly about having to work but I do, in fact, have endless gratitude that Chris and I are both employed.  In these times in our country where so many people have lost their income, their homes and their security we are truly blessed.  We have medical insurance and retirement accounts and vehicles that can be relied on.  We are able to pay our bills every month with money left over.  We are fortunate to be able to give to the charities and causes of our choosing.  We really want for nothing.
8. Teachers.  To all the teachers in my life past and present.  Not only in academics but people who have taught me about life and God either by lessons and books or by example.  People who have enriched my life by empowering me with knowledge.
9. Country.   America the beautiful, land of our liberty.  For the freedoms we enjoy and the men and women who defend those freedoms.  With all its flaws and problems it is still a country to be proud of, as are the principles we stand for.  Our democracy is a shining example for the world to see as we strive to do better and be better.
10. Health.  I have not always treated my body with the respect it deserves but I still have more working parts than non-working parts so I’m happy.

More tomorrow........