The Art of Being Human

                                            A very strange thing is happening. A couple of days ago I was in a meeting about our math curriculum and I wanted to reference Maria Montessori.   What I came up with was, “You know, that chick in Italy .”   Then to make matters worse I wanted to quote Pythagoras but the best I could do was, “The dead guy from a long time ago who lived in the place with blue water.”   Somehow Melinda managed to put math, blue water and a long time ago together and come up with his name.   A sugar hit from a couple of Pixi Stix helped, but not much.   I should have just shut up, but I didn’t and it didn’t get better. It’s not just happening at work either.   I was at a bluegrass jam not long ago and a young guitar player I had met once before came in. I knew everything about him, where he was from, what college he went...

   My ex husband used to say, “Always leave with a good taste in your mouth, Deb.”  There’s a lot of wisdom in that statement.  I knew it then and I know it now. I haven’t always been able to do it, heaven knows I’ve been known to pitch a fit or two, but mainly I make an effort for my own sake. When you leave with a good taste in your mouth you aren’t creating any more baggage to carry into the future. I’m trying to get rid of the baggage I’ve got. I don’t want to create any more.  Gratitude helps with that. It helps lighten the load, lighten the load and a whole lot more.     1Thessalonian 5:18 says “Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Jesus Christ.”   No matter what has happened in my life it is gratitude that has set me free and broken the barrier of fear that would hold me hostage to the past. It’s easier to be thankful when you are thankful, when you make it a daily habit. There are so many thing...

I needed help. I was up to my eyeballs in student projects and student conferences and if any more hands went up in the air I was going to start using them as a ring toss game.   “Help each other, help each other” fell on deaf ears. I called halt and explained that there were all kinds of experts in the room, not just me. I did not have a monopoly on anything.   Hard to believe, I know, but true none the less. I helped my students make a list of other students they could go to for help in a specific area.   Suddenly every eight year old in the room wanted to be on the expert list and they were not shy about it. They were very direct, “You didn’t put me on the expert list!”    One problem solved and another one created.   Luckily for me it was a problem that was easily and quickly solved otherwise I was going to have to suggest that they install a valium dispenser in the teacher’s lounge, an idea whose time as come by the way. We spent all of ten minutes pu...

    I had a busy day ahead of me last Thursday beginning with an early morning meeting with a mother whose son was going to be suspended and ending with a late night of music and a full day in between. The moment my feet hit the floor I was off and running and then I wasn’t. My normally smooth ride to work came to a grinding halt.   I was one of a string of early morning commuters on the steep curving on ramp to I20 that came to an abrupt stop in the rain. We didn’t slow down. We stopped. No one was moving period.  It was a little like being stuck on top of a Ferris wheel. None of us were going anywhere soon but the view was pretty if you took the time to notice it.  Five minutes passed, then ten. I called work, texted the teacher next to me so she would open up my classroom and then put on Red Haired Boy by Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem . It has some great licks I’ve been trying to learn and I wasn’t going anywhere.    Twenty minutes passed, I shut ...

    Last week a friend of mine committed suicide.   He was as good a guy as they come and I will miss him. I will miss his kindness and generosity. I will miss singing Hank Williams songs with him and seeing him smile across the circle.     I am grateful to know many men like him, good men, who are quiet, every day heroes. They do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do and expect nothing in return.   They’re the men who change a tire for a stranger, open doors for women, and make sure everyone in the circle gets a chance to shine.    They’re the men that chase down boats, show eager boaters the line at Five Falls and help because that’s who they are. They’re the guys who coach little league everything, cook pancakes for pancake suppers and build whatever needs built.     They don’t always get the credit they deserve and I know that too many of them suffer. They endure their sorrow alone and in silence with q...

      I have a friend who will never know how good he is for me. Whenever Revel shows up I get a little perk. He encourages my off brand sense of humor and creativity. In fact, not only does he encourage it, he usually has something interesting to contribute. He’s the reason I have a red kayak mailbox that stops traffic.   I’m getting ready to add a piece of art, something metal and circular that will go on the my fence behind a Japanese maple.   I’m leaning towards gears because I like their shapes but am keeping my eyes open. Revel suggested a line of Tibetan Prayer wheels below whatever ‘art’ I come up with.   See what I mean about a having something interesting to contribute?      I hadn’t realized that I needed a little burst of creativity until he came by.    Now, I have a skeleton coming out of my kayak mailbox with a broken paddle labeled property of River Styx Outdoor Center,   a skeleton sitting on a lawn chair w...

    “ There's a kind of a restless feeling and it catches you off guard ” Gordon Lightfoot .  I've been feeling like that this week, restless and ill at ease. River Daughter used to say,“Sometimes you just want to drive 90 miles an hour and do everything they tell you not to.”   She was 15 then and that pretty much sums it up.     Being disrespectful of that restless feeling and wanting to stomp it down will cause a grown woman to do all sorts of stupid ass things.   I know that because I’m a grown woman who’s done all sorts of stupid ass things.   And I don’t regret any of them for a minute, thank you very much, not even the drummers, and that’s saying something.        There are some women and not a few men who just can’t stand that itchy soul feeling that you get sometimes and before you know it they’re off on a reckless tear that will make someone cry for them.   They don’t give themselves time and space to l...