Another Retirement

Rodney Stewart came to Armuchee Elementary in the fall of 2004 as our new principal. I appreciated that he was quick to buy into our EIC program that had begun under his wonderful predesessor, Anita Stewart (no relation). EIC is a well-researched and effective program for using the environment as an integrating context for learning. For the next several years AES was a poster school for learning in the context of the real world around us. We had kids out in the courtyards, the playgrounds, the nature trails observing measuring, timing, collecting, weighing, magnifying, recording data; and then coming in to analyze what they had observed,  discuss their discoveries, research questions about their observations, write about their experiences, and more. 

I really saw Rodney's heart when tragedy struck our school. A fifth grade student was killed in a four-wheeler accident. Rodney led us through that crisis with amazing poise and sensitivity and love. It is hard for me to imagine anyone handling such a sad and trying time with greater grace, compassion, and strength. I will always revere Rodney for that leadership.

And then there were the silly times. When we raised enough in his "penny-drop" fundraising project, he moved his desk to the roof for the day. I used that as an opportunity to have a gravity lesson: he dropped items of varying weight from the roof and my kids observed them striking the ground at the same time.

Rodney put up with a lot from the crazy teacher at the end of the fourth grade hall. Early in one school year he came by our classroom door and peeked in as I conducted my annual "Discovering America Across Beringia" lesson that involved having kids climbing atop their desks (representing the former floor of the Bering Strait now exposed by the falling sea level and growing ice cap). He says he just sighed and walked back to the office praying no broken bones resulted.

After I retired I got involved in a new cause and went straight to Rodney with it. He was the first principal in the county to sign on to the YoungTales storytelling/writing program so near and dear to my heart and stuck with it through all six years (till Covid struck it on March 11, 2020).

I think Rodney realized, with Plutarch, that education is about kindling a flame, not filling a vessel.

Here are a few pictures from the retirement celebration we had at AES this morning.

As it has turned out, I served nine years while he led our school. Then in retirement he continued as my friend and a great supporter of both of my two big retirement endeavors: the YoungTales storytelling/writing program and Arrowhead Environmental Education Center.

Some of the teachers present had left before we got this picture.

Dr. Nancy Johal Singh has been a dear friend of close to two decades now.

Maggie was my first assistant principal at AES. I had known her for years as a wonderful teacher at Midway Elementary.

Vivian Johnson was a great teacher at AES who was sometimes on our fourth grade team with me. Vivian figures into one of my favorite impractical joke memories, but I'll save that one for another time.  

Gleaning Facebook: Strawberry Festival

2022 Strawberry Festival, Vista CA.
Susannah and her Mom

 

Getting Close on the Mount Berry/Riverwalk Trail Connection

Sheila and I walked up the Riverwalk to the new trail section this afternoon for the first time in about a week to see the progress. My ankles are still giving me fits so long walks are off for right now. 

We were pleased to see that the shed under the trestle is nearing completion. 

It is interesting to see the geology along  Little Dry Creek near the new bridge. This is very near an exposed section of the Rome Fault.

Unfortunately the approach from the upstream side of the bridge is still closed off. 

My walking companion, Sheila, looking from the new bridge back toward the trestle and new shed.

Jubilation/The Great Commandment

I have some friends who are concerned that our denomination might be moving away from a Biblical foundation. I suspect my friends are, primarily, thinking of a certain verse in Leviticus. There's a whole lot of Bible after that verse. And there are many "abominations" of that time that few if any still consider such. 

I love barbecue pork and I eat it with great relish and not a bit of guilt. I have eaten rabbit. I love lobster and had a delicious plate of crawdads, over pasta with a great sauce, just last week at Henry's Louisiana Grill. 

Leviticus tells me I am guilty of abomination. 

My reading of the New Testament tells me that God is Love and that I should love God and my neighbors. 

There is no record of Jesus ever mentioning sexual orientation. My experience tells me God gave my friends, relatives, and former students a variety of different sexual natures, and some of all sorts are deeply moral, and some of all sorts are not. 

I am a preacher's kid. I have heard hundreds of sermons. I attended many Sunday school and Bible school sessions as a child. I passed courses in New Testament, Teachings of Jesus, and Basic Christian Beliefs at a very conservative evangelical college. In adulthood I have attended church services almost every Sunday for many decades. Still I had never read all sixty-six books of the Bible straight through till a couple of years ago. It's a chore --- in all my previous attempts I stalled out during all the repetition before I finished Numbers. This time I stuck with it. There are lots of rules and lots of vengeance and, really, a lot of unpleasantness in the Old Testament. But, wow, when I got to Matthew there was a whole new emphasis! Of course I knew that intellectually. But reading the whole thing straight through I was struck anew, and more forcefully than ever, by the revolutionary nature of the gospel Jesus preached in the New Testament. 

You won't find a bunch of "thou-shalt-nots" printed in red in the New Testament. Jesus' red-letter words are just saturated, instead, with love. Jesus did give us two "thou shalts", so basic that they came to be known as the "Great Commandment": Love God with all your heart, soul and mind; and love other people as you love yourself. 

In act two of Tom Key and Harry Chapin's wonderful Cotton Patch Gospel musical tune in at 22:00 to hear "jubilation". Whenever I think of the Great Commandment I think of this song. 

Ooo-wee.

If you have time to listen to the whole musical, here's the first act.

The divisions in our nation, really in our culture, are mighty obvious. And our congregation is not immune to those divisions. Already some congregations have voted to "disaffiliate" from our denomination, and soon there will likely be some more. It breaks my heart. I pray our congregation will not go down that path. I will not be a part of that. I will stick with the group that prioritizes love. I will stick with the group that welcomes all.

Here is what John Wesley said about disagreements in the church:

“No man can choose for or prescribe to another. Everyone must follow the dictates of his own conscience in sympathy and sincerity. He must be fully persuaded in his own mind and then act according to the best light he has. Nor has any creature the power to constrain another to walk by his own rule. God has given no right to any of the children of men to lord it over the conscience of his brethren. Every wise man will allow other the same liberty of thinking which he desires they should allow him… he bears with those who differ with him… ‘Tis certain, as long as we know in part, all men will not see all things alike. It is the unavoidable consequence of the present weakness and shortness of human understanding that we be of several minds, in religion as in common life. Though we may not think alike, may we not love alike? May we not be of one heart though we are not of one mind?” -- John Wesley, founder of Methodism

Rehabbing the Doll Cradles 34 Years Later

As I was preparing to have my two granddaughters visit last summer I got busy refurbishing the doll cradle that their mother had received as a three year old. It had been a final Christmas gift from her "GrandShaw" in 1986. I also had the pieces of the cradle that had belonged to Amanda, their mother's cousin. So I refurbished both cradles. Today Amanda was in town so she picked up her cradle. I hope her three little girls will enjoy it... and maybe some of their kids one day. A little love passed down now another generation.

Here's a previous post I wrote about these cradles.

The folowing video show a little of the back yard process.

Both cradles were a little worse for thirty years wear and tear so I decided to paint the bed portion, which was made of very ordinary pine, and stain the oak rockers. 

Amanda with the doll cradle (and Sheila) in my mother's front yard today.

 

Anamchara

"...anyone without a soul friend is like a body without a head." - Brigid of Kildare

I have been privileged in my seventy-five years to have some true "anamchara" -- soul friends. Kindred sprits are so vital to a well-lived life. Sheila is my best friend. She has seen me at my best and at my worst and still she loves me.

Today it struck me as I fellowshipped at Mike Burton's Anamchara Gallery in Cedartwon, that I was among kindred spirits. My pictures are not great but I post them here so that I can revisit this day more easily.

Mike bought this storefront in downtown Cedartown and, with his usual reckless abandon, set about transforming it into a recording studio, film studio, musical venue, art exhibit space. He wants his music-loving boys, Miles and Cody, to have a performance space. He wanted his artist friends, John Johnston, Grover Hogan, and others -- as well as himself -- to have studio and exhibit opportunities. He wanted his folk music enthiusiasts, like me and Richard Ware, to have a place for "hootenannies". He envisions it as a spot for storytelling, recording, and videoing. So he just plunged in and did it. Will it work out financially? It's a long shot probably, but how I admire this fearless grab-life-by-the-horns "anamchara" of mine.

I was about to snap a picture of this ceramic sculpture by John Johnston when the artist wheeled a big trash can behind it!

Michael J. Burton has been my friend since the 1960s. Some of the drawings on the wall and the bronze scultures in the foreground date back a few decades. I have always admired Mike's drawings and his scultures. We have one in our living room.

I remember Kieth Drew (on the left) as Mike's young preacher friend from several decades ago when he was pastor at Cave Spring United Methodist Church. Stve Craw has been our friend since 1975, and was our business partner when we were publishers together of Broadside weekly newspaper in the seventies.

Miles (left) and Cody Burton (only his hat shows above the music stand) are Mike's sons. They have developed into pretty good musicians!

Grover Hogan (left) is Mike's cousin and mentor. His exquisite prints line one wall of the exhibit. Lucy Hale has also been a friend and kindred spirit in progressive political endeavors over a couple of decades. 

Mike (right) and Stephen Hale solving the problems of the world together.

The ceramics on this table were by a younger artist whose name escapes me right now and whom I had not met before.

Sheila (right) and Laurie Craw exploring the art. Laurie is a wonderful painter and potter herself.

Gleaning Facebook: Narcotics and Guns

From a physician posting to Facebook:

I prescribe narcotics and other controlled substances. They have a purpose but also have risks of death. I had to be trained in how to prescribe these drugs. I have to have a license through the DEA to prescribe these drugs. I had to have a background check to get this license. Every couple of years I pay a fee ($700) to the government to update that license. During the license renewal my background check is done again. I also have to continue training to keep the license as well as to keep my medical license in the state I prescribe narcotics and controlled substances. I also pay a fee and undergo a background check in my state to continue to prescribe those narcotics and other controlled substances. I have to show proof of my up to date training to the state I prescribe narcotics in. There are certain narcotics that I have to get a special license and training to prescribe in my state. No matter what training or license I have I can NEVER prescribe heroin. There are also checks and balances. If I give the wrong dose or too much a nurse or pharmacist will see it first.

... If I make a mistake prescribing narcotics I could kill one person at most. People are horrified at one person dying.  

A gun can kill hundreds...

From Terrell: America has too many guns and not enough gun control.

Clocktower Friends

Today I got a call from Tony Pope at the Rome History Center. He said to drop by the center; he had a present for me! 

When a I arrived there a couple of hours later he and Selena Tilley were busy changing out the front display to honor our fallen heroes for Memorial Day. Tony brought out two History Center bags each with one budvase decorated with a painting of the city clock. I got my choice! Yay!

While I was there I bought a City Clock hiking staff medallion to add to my collection. 

Thank you Tony and Selena for all you do to help preserve the history of Rome and Floyd County!

If you will be in town on Saturday June 4, call the History Center to reserve your visit to the Rome City Clock that day. We will have tours from noon till two. I'll be the guy up top showing off an eagle's eye view of our city.

And any time you are downtown take an opportunity to visit the gift shop there! They have lots of great Rome-related souvenirs and art pieces.

I had a hard time picking, but finally settled on the one on the left

I attached the City Clock medallion to my walking staff as soon as I got home.

Another interesting City Clock item at the History Center is this bee hive. Surely any queen bee would be pleased to establish her realm in this grand palace.

A Horrible Day

I am so angry. 

I am so sad.

Yesterday an attractive candidate with no experience in government but a whole lot of money won the Democratic nomination for Congress over one of the finest public servants I have had the privilege of knowing. I wish the winner well in November and will do what I can to help him. But how do we establish a means for policy, experience, wisdom, and vision to be more important and money less important in our elections?

Yesterday a millionaire gun-lobby shill --- a Q-Anon sympathizer, an documented liar, a woman who chased a gun-violence survivor through the streets of Washington shouting at him, a candidate who disdained participating in non-partisan interviews, a racist, a Putin supporter --- defeated a bunch of more reasonable and patriotic right-wing candidates for the Republican nomination for Congress. How do we protect First Amendment rights and also lessen the influence of racism, trolling, foreign interference, and other evils on our elections?

Yesterday, as a council member at my church, I had to listen as some seemed to favor removing our congregation from our church denomination which would, in effect, remove me from the congregation that has been my church home since 1962. Heart-breaking. How do we bridge the divides even in our churches?

What a horrible day.

But all of that seems small compared to the horror of 19 children's and two adults' lives being obliterated by another gun massacre in Texas. In the last 36 hours authorities have had to ask parents for DNA swabs so the bodies of their children, mangled and exploded by high powered weapons, could be identified. How do we --- the vast majority of Americans who want common sense reforms like background checks for gun purchases, required training before first time gun ownership, "red-flagging" of those who are a menace to themselves or others while protecting legitimate gun owners from misuse of those restrictions, limits on huge magazines and semi-automatic weapons, etc.--- get past the gun lobby and pass laws to lessen the bloodshed and death?

Elections matter, my friends.

Let's be frank: If you vote for Marjorie Taylor Greene this fall you are voting to allow the slaughter of more children. Period.

If you vote for ANY NRA-supporter, you are voting to allow more carnage. Period.

Some folks want to talk about abortion as a horror and yet many of those same folks support politicians who want to continue to do NOTHING about gun massacres?

Other countries have crazies and extremists, but other countries do NOT have this degree of gun violence.

The problem cannot be completely solved or quickly reduced greatly, but we can do SOMETHING.

.

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P.S.: Disagree? Discuss it on your own blog all you want. I will delete any "gun rights" bullshit posted here. I am no longer interested in debating those who pretend the Second Amendment was intended to enable the slaughter of children.

Goodbye to Ryan

During the last two weeks we have served as hosts to Ryan Hill, a talented young veteran of many political campaigns who came in to assist Wendy Davis's effort at election to Congress. We enjoyed having Ryan with us even though the final two weeks of a Congressional campaign does not allow much social life for its workers. We usually saw Ryan very briefly during breakfast in the mornings and sometimes for a few minutes at bedtime -- providing that bed time came around midnight.

Our longest visit with Ryan was today, after yesterday's painful ending of our beloved candidate's 2022 political quest. Ryan rode with us to Acworth's legendary Henry's Louisiana Grill where we met Wendy for a delicious lunch before he left to visit Atlanta friends for a couple of days. He will fly home to South Bend, Indiana on Friday. 

Henry's was a real treat. I had the Louisiana Ooh La La which was chicken, oysters, and crawdads in a delicious sauce over pasta. Sheila had gumbo. We also shared  some hush puppies. All the dishes came with a salad and a sweet/peppery cornbread and small slices of a sourdough bread. It was all delicious.

A passerby agreed to take our picture afterwards in front of Henry's as we said goodbye.

L-R: Ryan Hill, Wendy Davis, Terrell Shaw, Sheila Shaw. 

Vote (for Wendy!) Today

Today, May 24, 2022 is Primary Election Day!

Sheila and I are proud to spend our day today volunteering as poll watchers. If you haven't voted yet, please get out and vote. Never has your vote been more important. And rarely will your vote be more powerful tahn in a midterm election. 

We have been proud to lend our support this year to the campaign to elect Rome's own Wendy Davis to Congress. How wonderful it would be to have a member of Congress from our own hometown! Wendy will be ready on day one to work for ALL northwest Georgians.  NOW, I know they all SAY that, but Wendy has a long service record of working with people of all stripes in our community to GET THINGS DONE!  She has the necessary experience experience from her days working for Max Cleland, through the campaign to bring the Braves to Rome, to her eight years as our Rome City Commissioner. 

We have watched her work with... 

• liberals and conservatives, 
• business folks and union folks, 
• Republicans and Democrats and Libertarians, 
• folks of all faiths, races, and heritages,
• and anyone and everyone willing.

And through that cooperative spirit she has helped to...

• greatly improve the openness and responsiveness of city commission,
• encourage citizen participation in our city affairs,
• bring professional babeball to Rome, 
• preserve our greenspace and build our trail system, 
• bring businesses to Rome, 
• build bridges between black, white and Hispanic communities. 

As our Member of Congress she will...

• open and streamline the services of our Congressional office
• listen to any and all her constituents on any issue
• work to improve Veteran Administration services
• work to make sure Georgians have equal access to healthcare services with those in other states
• work to make sure our elections are open and honest
• work to secure equal rights for everyone
• work to bring Americans together rather than to divide them.

Wendy is not only our friend, she is also the absolute best person available to restore dignity, honor, and fairness to our Congressional office. She will be a true Representative of the 14th District from Powder Springs to Rossville, from Spring Place to Fish Creek, from Plum Nelly to Booger Hollow, from the  Chattanooga suburbs that spill over into Georgia to the Atlanta suburbs of South Cobb County.

Please plan now to vote --- 

• before work at 7 a.m. or 
• after work before 7 p.m. or 
• during lunch or 
• ... you decide. 

When can you get to your precinct today? 

... and I have to ask, please, vote for Wendy Davis.

PTSW: All Things Work Together

My Daddy and Mother with their first six children about 1955. L-R on couch: Debi, Mother, (baby), Daddy, Carol, Me. Standing Janice holding baby Beth and Joan. David was not born till 1958.

My Daddy would have turned 103 day before yesterday. I have been plagued all my life by contemplation of the vicissitudes of life. Chaos theory; Lord only knows what changes occur in the history of the world because a butterfly flaps his wings. My youngest never knew my Daddy, even though I see him in her always. How he would have spoiled her given the opportunity.

---------------------------                                                                                                                                  

 All Things Work Together: 

A Daughter is Born
to Lillian

If Daddy hadn't died, would this poem be?

-- A bull through china, the ugly thought crashes --

Would his longer thread in the mesh

of years obstruct by chance

that one in a trillion accident of love,

coincidence of sperm and egg?

-- The breakage, unmanaged, scatters and

scratches! --

Could his garden bugs these years have fed

a nest of wrens to send a wanderer to my window?

And letting a living poem sleep,

might I have written, instead, the wren?

-- Bull-headed I sweep the debris --

If Daddy lives, must the poem vanish?

I weep for my Daddy;

I mourn the wren that never was;

And welcome you to my heart, my present poem.

- by Terrell Shaw

Suzie Cheer

 If this does not cheer you up, you are truly broken:

That Fellow Built My House!

Sheila and I were a politicking team yeaterday. We got our list of Democratic voters. Sheila drove and I hopped out at each house or apartment to ring the doorbell and talk to, or leave a note for, each voter. Our goal was to remind folks to vote on Tuesday the 24th and to ask them to please vote for our friend, Wendy Davis, to represent Northwest Georgia in Congress. 

-------------------

Time out to say: Wendy has a long heritage in our city and region. She has been an outstanding City Commissioner. She is smart, honest, articulate, determined, open, cooperative, patriotic -- all the things that the current 14th District US Representative is NOT. So please don't leave the voting to the fired up fringe... we need the sensible middle to GO TO THE POLLS! Thank you!

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Now, back to this post.

In one apartment building on Broad, a stone's throw from the spot where our founders first met to tlak about building a city here, I saw this large oil painting I've never seen before. These are our city's founders. The balding fellow in the middle is Daniel Mitchell.  He's the fellow who put the name "Rome" in the hat that day, AND also laid out the city street plan -- see his map on the wall behind them?! AND he, late in his life in 1869, built MY house here on the banks of the Oostanaula.

Does anyone know the history of the painting? It is well done and looks fairly recent.

Those Trout Fisherfolk Are Unlimited!

During my nine years at Arrowhead the Coosa Valley Trout Unlimited folks have been among our most important supporters, so I was thrilled to be invited to join them for their meeting and BBQ today at a private Coosa River getaway. I had never been there before, and since it is privately owned, I will not give specific info on the location, but what a beautiful -- and historic-- spot. 

The expansive back porch that wraps around two sides of the 150 year-old house is in sight of the river. 

And, according to my hosts, right there next to the porch is the even older one-room original Floyd County Post Office. At one time this little office was on the regular U.S. Mail route via boats on the Coosa River.

The interior of the old post office. If you look closely at plate that the roof beams rest on you can see the peg construction. 

Charlie Gilbreath, an old firend and fellow teacher, has been an active part of Trout Unlimited for many years. It was great to get to visit with Charlie again.

Thanks TU for all your support and for the chance to visit with you folks today!

Field Day for Alto Park & Cave Spring

I had packed the state truck late Thursday afternoon with

• six tables and a chair
• assorted mounts
• boxes of animal shells, furs, and skeletal bits
• posters about snakes, turtles, local endemic species, and frogs
• tablecloths
• and other stuff

I also put a green treefrog, a barking treefrog, and two gray treefrogs together in a terrarium and an eastern kingsnake in another terrarium.

And I took it all home with me for the night to save time Friday morning. Of course the live animals came in to a table in our mudroom for the night. 

Then it was up early (for an old retiree) to Alto Park Elementary before eight to set all the above up under a big metal awning and against the brick wall of the school. Alto Park and Cave Spring elementaries combined at Alto Park for Field Day this year. During the day every student in the two schools in grade level groups would rotate through for a 45 minute show and tell session. Since "adaptations" are a major theme that runs through lots of grade level -- and is an old standby theme for my lessons -- I featured my usual schtick of chants, featuring, usually, a different animal with each group:

"Have you noticed that animals often have superpowers? Scientists call animal superpowers "adaptations". It's a big long word but really its just anything about an animal that helps it live. So stand up right where you are and ...."

Me: "Repeat after me." Most Kids: "Repeat after me."

[Me as an aside: "Alright teachers, y'all are getting paid today -- you folks show me some rhythm; sway!)

Me: [Swaying] "I said, repeat after me!" Almost all kids & teachers: "Repeat after me!"

Me: "An adaptation...." Kids: "An adaptation...."

Me: [Shrugging] "Is anything...." Kids: "Is anything..."

Me: "I said it's anything...." Most Kids: "I said it's anything..."

Me: [Jumping] "It's anything!" Most Kids: "It's anything!"

Me: [Right arm out] "About a plant..." Most Kids: "About a plant.."

Me: [Left arm out] "Or an animal...." Most Kids: "Or an animal...."

Me: "That helps it live." Most Kids: "That helps it live."

Then we talk about the "superpower" adaptations of one or more of the animals that I have specimens or mounts of: 

• Kingsnakes are immune to viper venom
• Beavers have are "born to chew" look at those teeth; they never stop growing!
• Treefrogs have suction cups on their toes so they can climb anything, like Spiderman!
• Etc.

Soon sweat was soaking through my polo shirt and one little girl pointed out that I had a "smiley-face" on my chest; she was talking about the sweat marks!

The principal at Alto Park is my niece LaDonna Turrentine and she dropped by to give me a hug, and unbeknownst to me snapped this picture which documents, if you look carefully, the "smiley-face"!

One of the Cave Spring teachers turned out to be one of our "Big Fibbers" from our first Big Fibbers Festival in 2015, so I snapped a selfie with Gretchen Dodson. And there's that "smiley-face" again.

One treat of being with Cave Spring is getting to see my compatriot, Vivian Davis, who works with me after her day job teaching, at Arrowhead. Alas I didn't get a picture with Viv.

By the time two o'clock rolled around I was one exhausted septuagenarian. I loaded all that stuff back on the truck, stopped by the house for some lunch and a quick errand, then drove back to Arrowhead to unload and begin the process of putting things back in order. Called it quits at about six. 

It was a good day but this old night owl, who rarely crawls into bed before midnight, was under the covers and snoring about nine. 

Learning About Peaches: A Photo Essay