June 21st
Today is Fathers Day. So, first things first…the To Do List is created. The part for the pool sweeper has been strategically placed so I must move it or do something with it. So #1, Repair the Polaris. I make quick work of it and begin cleaning the pool as dawn breaks. A couple of odd jobs later and the children are up and having breakfast.
We check on our Carolina Wren. We have a new pet. At the Friends of Northwestern academic awards banquet I was given a couple of pretty white mums as a gift. My wife placed them on the screened porch. Soon after, we noticed a wren kept getting in the screen door, which remains cracked at all times due to children and the current humidity level (another long story). The wren was very persistent. We would just open both screen doors and allow her out. Then back she would come. But back to the plants… my wife, the Dr. Kevorkian of Plants, had placed them on the back porch so I assumed that she was taking care of them. She did…and they died. When she and the kids were getting ready to take them to the compost pile, they noticed a nest in the mums containing two eggs. So, now the mums cannot be moved and they shall not be watered. We were concerned the nest would be abandoned but a day later two more eggs were seen. Now every time we walk past the dying plants we check the nest. If you see the eggs then mamma wren is out and about. If you can’t, she is sitting on the eggs and you can get so close you can see her little eyes. She will not move and stares right back. It is a wonderful experience for us all.
Next, I have to put up my clothes because my wife wants to sweep and she still is not convinced that leaving my clothes on the floor is an effective system. My parents are coming to town to watch the children while I go to the Education and Business Summit, so the house must be cleaned and yard work must be done. I start the tractor and begin mowing the front of the property and work my way toward the house. As I start mowing the back yard my daughters are marching and laughing with Tupperware bowls on their heads. They are on their way to pick cherries from our two cherry bushes. I can taste the cherry pie already! They decide to sample some currants and mulberries along the way. Such are the simple joys of youth. I finished weed eating and don the backpack blower which usually is the final punctuation of yard work jobs. Thinking I am finished, I am sadly mistaken. I am informed the sweeper is not working in the pool. So I take it apart and adjust the gear system. Place it back in the water and entreat the heavens for assistance. It works, YEAH!
On my way to eat lunch, my youngest daughter makes a very insightful comment. “I will have to go to Grandma’s more often; she (referring to her sister) is so nice to me when I come back.” She already realizes that absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Lunch and packing are done at double time pace. I am on the road again to Greenville. I register at the conference and begin to peruse the workshops that are available as I wait for the evening’s keynote speaker. The keynote speaker is Andy Masters who talks on the subject of inspiring today’s students. He mentions several ways to make the classroom more relevant to students. For example, he gives a quote from a book by a recent winner of the TV show The Apprentice which is almost identical to the one Dale Carnegie used in his book How to Win Friends and Influence People. While the quotes are the same, he notes that the recent quote has more gravitas because students can relate better to someone they know. The point being if we are using an illustration from a movie by Rogers and Hammerstein, the students may not be able to relate. So update those lessons gang!