Gleaning Facebook: Mildred Joins Facebook

My dear friend Mildred Greear has joined Facebook. Some of our former students and fellow teachers and environmentalists and writers will want to touch base with her!

Monica Sheppard
I was just wondering about her! Glad to hear it!

Kathy Vogler Steinbruegge
I am so excited to know that I will be able to see Mildred on Facebook and I enjoy reading what you post. Did you know your daughter showed my son around New York last November? I didn't even know they were friends.

Terrell Shaw
Thanks! One of my high school classmates has read some of my posts and today declared me a Marxist! <grin> So it's nice to get a positive review.
Brannon and Lillian are both in the Big Apple (sigh!) and give regular tours to visiting Romans so I'm not surprised, but I didn't know.

Deb Joyner Dennemann
I Mildred someone we should get on the newsletter?

Gleaning Facebook: You Just Never Know Where the Triggers Are

 In the classroom. Me: "What did James Otis say?" Lackluster response from kids. Me: "Say it!" Kids: "No Taxation without Representation!" (better but not up to my standards) Me: "Say it!!" (Finally they shout while my student teacher is laughing herself to tears. (more)

(I save this just to remember one of the craziest exchanges of my years on Facebook. Wow.)

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Terrell Shaw
Turns out my "Say it"s were perfectly timed with intercom inquiries from our AP that I didn't hear, and puzzled AP is repeating herself as my kids are quoting James Otis. Ahhh the joys of old ears.

(I actually don't remember if it was that quote from Otis, or one from Henry, or Jefferson, or somebody else, so I picked Otis for FB purposes.)

Richard Dick Sapp
Sounds like T.E.A. party, history repeats itself

Terrell Shaw
<grin>
This is my favorite unit in social studies. I love teaching my young'n's the stories of the principled men and women of our Revolution.
However we disagree about things in 2011, Dick, both of us cantankerous ol' coots can agree we love that noble shared heritage! 

Richard Dick Sapp
I only seek the the truth, i know you have a slant towARD MARXIST BELIEFS , I KNOW THAT SOME OF YOUR RELATIVES Have a dicatATOR BELIEF TOWARD PEOPLE.

Terrell Shaw
Wow! How did you know! I have always enjoyed Harpo and Groucho... but I can't help but wonder if somebody's put something in your Duck Soup this evening!
BTW I am very curious to know which of my relatives are proponents of dictatorship. lol!
Have a nice evening Dick.

Betty Smith Franklin
Any especially bossy ones? Look our for teachers....

Richard Dick Sapp
Karl Marx, our Prez friend. Curious check your family tree

Terrell Shaw
LOL, Betty.

Ruth Baird Shaw
LOL. We may be one of the few families that has never had a "dicatATOR"...

Richard Dick Sapp
Keep looking

Ruth Baird Shaw
<smile>

Richard Dick Sapp
It is what it is, I only know the truth

Terrell Shaw
"I only seek the the truth, i know you have a slant towARD MARXIST BELIEFS , I KNOW THAT SOME OF YOUR RELATIVES Have a dicatATOR BELIEF TOWARD PEOPLE." [The caps are a nice touch.]
"Karl Marx, our Prez friend. Curious check your family tree"
"It is what it is, I only know the truth"
I did not know that you are acquainted with my family. Shoot, you obviously know us well!
So, Dickie, you truth-seeking sixty-three year-old loving (I presume) father and brand-new grandfather (congrats, by the way!), and cryptic classmate of mine, why don't you just share your awesome truth about those dastardly Marxist, dictatorial, relatives of mine who must have cruelly mistreated you? I've looked over the family tree from mimsy root to brillig twig. We Shaws are such slithy, frumious, maxome beasts! It's real hard to pick out which ones of us jabberwocks you're a'talking about.
It is, indeed, what it is. Fantastic.

Richard Dick Sapp
I will tell you face to face. I will let you know

Gleaning Facebook: Outdoor Classroom & Student Teachers

From Vivian Davis's Facebook...

An outdoor classroom is a wonderful thing!

Terrell Shaw

Tell 'er, Sayruh!! BTW what's with your new appellation? Are you just reveling in your Southern heritage? 

Natalie Williams
Mr. Shaw is the best! You will LOVE your time with him!

Terrell Shaw

The checks are in the mail Sarah & Natalie! BTW there are gonna be six of us tottering off into the sunset from AES this year. Time for you two to come home! Also Brittany & Sarah E.! AES should hire my Shondelle Sayruh and all three of these great student teachers -- I think Lori is where she wants to be, and Vivian has her sights elsewhere.

Cecelia Dawson
Terrell, love all your photos ... old and new!

Ron Kennedy
Your right Terrell. There's absolutely no educational substitute. I guess it's not, but this really looks like Texas Valley.

Terrell Shaw
Very close. Armuchee Elem nature trail at the foot of Lavender Mtn near the mouth of Little Texas Valley.

 

Gleaning Facebook: More Snow Pictures

Confederate memorial atop Myrtle Hill, Rome GA, Jan. 12, 2011, sunset.

Myrtle Hill, Rome GA in the snowy sunset, Jan. 12, 2011.

Robeert Redden footbridge, Jan. 12, 2011, sunset.

Heritage Park gazebo, Jan. 12, 2011, sunset.

Oostanaula levee at Second Ave. bridge, Jan. 12, 2011, sunset.

Oostanaula levee at Second Ave. bridge, Jan. 12, 2011, sunset.

John Ross Pedestrian Bridge, Jan. 12, 2011, sunset.

Oostanaula levee at Second Ave. bridge, Jan. 12, 2011, sunset. The snow now has a crunchy crust that resembles cake icing, named in turn I s'pose for ice-encrusted snow?

More icing on the Oostanaula levee at Second Ave. bridge, Jan. 12, 2011, sunset.

Sunset on the icy levee.

Sunset on the east bank of the Oostanaula, Jan. 12, 2011. I was in a tizzy to make use of the perfect sunlight before it faded!

Floyd County Courthouse, Jan. 12, 2011, sunset.

Downtown Rome GA from the Oostanaula levee, Jan. 12, 2011, sunset.

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The following are at my Mother's house in Rollingwood on January 11.

Ruth Baird Shaw
Terry made this pic on Wedbesday, after the snow began to melt off the shrubs. The five+ inches covered everything...I could not tell the driveway from the yard on Monday and Tuesday...

 

Gleaning Facebook: iPad Bragging

Dear Pop, I am updating you from my iPad that I have an iPad.

Terrell Shaw

Wow, I'm jealous! You must have a relative who works for Apple!

Lisette Lewis
What?!?! I am so jealous!

Sheila Matthews Shaw
Tell us about it!!

Lillian Shaw
It ain't me what's helped 'er git one of those iPad doohickeys.

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Evidence. Terrell Shaw When you take a picture of some stranger holding one, what kind of evidence is that?

Evidence upon evidence.

Terrell Shaw

...though something about the smirk looks familiar. <grin>

Nora Matthews
LOVE the hair...its very pretty

 

PTSW: Foul Shot

With nieces and nephews and students and former students and children of friends dribbling and passing and shooting, urging the big sphere through the netted hoop, I suppose it's time to trot out this moment captured by Edwin Hoey. It is taken that little text I taught from in 1970. If you want to reach a reader, push or pull or coax, lofting those verbs, nudging them to teeter and tremble and tumble into the world...

 Foul Shot 

With two 60’s on the scoreboard

And two seconds hanging on the clock,

The solemn boy in the center of eyes,

Squeezed by silence,

Seeks out the line with his feet

Soothes his hands along his uniform

Gently drums the ball against the floor,

Then measures the waiting net,

Raises the ball on his right hand,

Balances it with his left

Calms it with fingertips,

Breathes,

Crouches,

Waits,

And then through a stretching of stillness,

Nudges it upward.

The ball

Slides up and out,

Lands,

Leans,

Wobbles,

Wavers,

Hesitates,

Exasperates,

Plays it coy

Until every face begs with unsounding screams—

            And then

                                    And then

                                                            And then,

Right before ROAR-UP,

Dives down and through.

by Edwin Hoey

Those of you who have joined Lily's Garden, given donations, or been praying for Lily will be thrilled as I am at the hope of a big celebration coming up in Tennessee in one month. Please keep those prayers rising! AND IF you haven't yet made a donation to Lily's Garden, that would be a great way to help us celebrate! All proceeds go to help find cures for childhood cancer.

From Lily's Mom (and my niece) Larisa:

So excited---Lilys final chemo party has been booked. I have reserved the entire Brentwood Skate Center from 7-9 on Sunday, Feb 20th (the kids are out of school next day). She is going to take the final chemo pill there then we are going to Party!!!!! Everyone is Invited!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gleaning Facebook:Bea & Waffles

Bea turns the laptop over to Sheila while she catches a cat nap.

Waffles keeps track of her friends' Facebook comments on the iPad.

Bea wisely ignores the Falcons as she lounges on the warm mantle.

But even she is surprised by the interception and sudden score that ends the first half.

Oh well, maybe next year... yawn.

 

Gleaning Facebook: Our Campus in the Snow

Armuchee Creek
After a walk around the courtyards and playground, I decided to see if the view off the Little Texas Valley bridge over the Armuchee Creek might be worthy of a photograph.
 
Ann Gore Beautiful view!! My family were raised here in this area.

Little Texas Valley bridge
I found the bridge and the road up the hill on the far side completely covered with thick, hardened ice. After taking a few shots I managed to get my car rotated in increments of a few degrees at a time till I could drive back the way I’d come.
Ann Gore: Have gone over this bridge hundreds to times to see my grandparents.

McGraw Entrance to our Nature Trail
Cathy McGraw’s father built this nice entrance way to our school nature trail. The split rail fence designates the area where we once had a bog garden (now gone) of interesting insectivorous plants. I hope someone will resurrect that project some day

Bridge #1
This was the Eagle Scout project of AES alumnus Jesse Crider and Troop 56 BSA. This bridge gives classes access from the small original nature trail to a newer downstream section of trail.

The first bridge again
We have a much more interesting name for this bridge, provided we ever manage to install the third one.

The second bridge on our nature trail
Carsten Boehm, another alumnus of AES, and Troop 56 built this bridge as Carsten’s Eagle project.

The second bridge again
This bridge gives access to what I call “The Long Trail” that follows the brook to the very corner of school property then climbs the ridge and follows it back to the old trail near the McGraw entrance.

Our brook (a)
Today I took the upstream trail breaking with each step the crusted untrod surface of three-day-old snow.

Our brook (b) on Patterson property
I wish the school owned just another 100 yards of property. I love this low spot at the base of the ridge where two very small brooks and a wet weather waterfall form our school brook. An absolutely perfect spot for some more benches and outdoor lessons

CCC pond
Closer to the end of the fifth grade hall than the school bus entrance is a little pond and wetland that was part of a CCC camp during the Great Depression. Today a Great Blue Heron and I surprised each other. I was too slow to capture a decent shot of him. A couple of years ago a pair of Canada Geese made a nest right in the middle of it.

CCC pond (on Berry property)
 Barbara Helie: My dad was in the CCC's in New Hampshire.

Terrell Shaw: How about that. I have seen somewhere -- I think online -- a picture of this pond from the thirties with CCC guys and their barracks and such around. Did you ever talk with your Dad about his experiences. What kind of work did his group do?

CCC pond (Berry property)
There ia a Great Blue Heron in flight across the pond, but you can't really see him. Next time I get close to the pond with the camera I'll have it zoomed in and set on rapid fire.

Third bridge site (proposed)
This is near the back corner of our school property. We plan to place another bridge here. Last year the Martin twins cleared the new sections of the trail, installed occasional bollards, and created a switchback trail up the ridge from this point.

Outdoor Classroom
The huge benches were our first Boy Scout Eagle project at our school 15 years ago. The second was the platform that completed this outdoor classroom. Though the leafless winter branches you can see the fifth grade wing of the school.

McGraw Entrance and Fifth Grade wing
And this brings me back to the entrance and an end to my quiet Snow Walk.