Ode to teachers and tin dippers

School days, School days, 

Dear old golden rule days. 

Readin' and Writin' and 'Rithmetic, 

Taught to the tune of a hickory stick. 

You were my queen in calico, 

I was your bashful, barefoot beau. 

You wrote on my slate, "I love you, Joe, 

When we were a couple of kids.     

     Once again, another school year has ended, and a brief vacation from the books is here. For some, it is the end of formal study, as proudly, graduation certificate in hand, they are ready to face what life offers. Others look forward with great anticipation to future studies as they plan their life's career. 
     

     Students of every age eagerly welcome the freedom of care-free summer fun. But, now, accolades are in order for those teachers, who because of their dedication, love and perseverance, have helped the many students reach their goals. 
     

     Teaching, being my career for many years, the following excerpt from the 1951 edition of the National Education Association Journal, best describes how I felt about my chosen profession, and no doubt, many teachers today would share my view: 

     "As I compare my life with the lives of people I know in other fields, I feel I have something that many of them envy. Teaching has given me a sense of direction, a sense of my own value in the world, and a sense of continuing growth. Teaching is more than just a way to earn a living, it is a way of life.  It is a good life."   

A Smile for Today: 

School Excuses from Parents 

     The following is a list of actual written excuses given to teachers in the Albuquerque Public School System by parents of students:  

1. My son is under the doctor's care and should not take fizical ed. Please execute him. 
2. Chris will not be in school because he has an acre in his side. 
3. Please excuse Ray Friday from school. He has very loose vowels. 
4. Please excuse Blanche from jim today. She is administrating. 
5. Please excuse Pedro from being absent yesterday. He had diah (crossed out) diahoah (crossed out) dyah (crossed out) the sh*ts.       

A Teacher's Prayer  

     Lord, help me to make of my classroom a place where love and learning come to life. 
     Guide me in all that I do that I may strive not so much to teach as to awaken, not so much to instruct as to inspire.   
     Save me from the complacency of ready-made answers by an ever present sense of the wonder of your creation. 
     Above All, help me to give my students love-a love gentle enough to touch, but firm enough to leave them room to grow. 
     And help me to give it now — that they may share it with a world in need of love.     

     "Remember that childhood is that wonderful, special classroom in which the adult is developed."      

     "I saw tomorrow look at me from the little children's eyes, and I thought, 'How carefully we'd teach, if we were really wise.'"

     

     Growing up in the country, my elementary grades took place in a one room school house. I also taught in a one room country school, so I can certainly relate to the following poem.                        

The Tin Dippers

It hung on a pail that stood on a stool

By the door of an old-time country school.

And the water it dipped was cool and sweet,

Fresh as mountain dew in the schoolroom's heat.

It's handle was long, it's cup was battered,

But to shoving children all that mattered

Was the clear cool drink that would quench the thirst

Of the lucky youngster who reached it first.

And never was water so good, so cool,

As dipped from the pail at that old-time school.

Along with the schoolhouse of another day,

The common tin dipper has passed away.

But on warm still days it is good to think

Of that old tin dipper's refreshing drink,

From the shining pail on a wooden stool

By the door of an old-time country school.

— beulah

Home sweet home

 "If you look like your passport photo, you're too ill to travel."
 

— Will Kommen

     As summer approaches, many folk look forward to a "get-away" from their busy routines and pressures of daily living, whether cruising, booking an air flight, or choosing highway travel. 

     Someone aptly put it, who said, "When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money." What great advice!  

     

I recently returned from a road trip, on a tour bus full of happy, noisy seniors, which seemed to require large doses of patience and tolerance, along with my morning coffee. Yet, it was quite a picturesque journey with so much beauty and evidence of God's handiwork everywhere, I just had to keep alert with my eyes wide open lest I missed something. 

     
     I've heard it said that "genius" is the capacity to see 10 things, where the ordinary man sees one. The following poem says it best:

Two men were looking at the sea 

But one saw only quantity. 

The other soul was filled with awe, 

The handiwork of God was what he saw. 

And then the singing of a bird 

A noise is all the first one heard. 

The other felt uplifted all day long, 

And loved the Lord more dearly for the song. 

Eyes see when opened by His touch,

And ears unstopped can hear so much. 

— Author unknown.  

     

When travelling the highways, road signs can prove helpful in guiding us to our intended destination, and some can be quite humorous. I found a few: 

"Weeds are a pain in the Grass"; "Tom, Dick and Harry's Durn' Good Burgers"; "Bags without people don't make sense"; and the one that really impressed me — "Don't Drink and Drive, The Jamiesons lost their beloved son here."  

     

     
     However, when travelling abroad, signs written in fractured English can pose a problem as the meaning often gets lost in the translation, like the following: 

1. In a Copenhagen airline ticket office: We take your bags and send them in all directions. 
2. In a Rhodes tailor shop: Order your summer suit. Because is a big rush we will execute customers in strict rotation. 
3. In a Yugoslavian hotel: The flattening of underwear with pleasure is the job of the chambermaid. 
4. In an Acapulco hotel: The manager has personally passed all the water served here. 

     International Travel News. I often picture Life as a Highway, and no matter how long it is, it too will end. 

     Sometimes there are signs that we need to carefully observe as we make our journey through life. It may simply be the advice of another who has already travelled this same route, and perhaps could help us make sure we reach our right destination.      

     

By the way, "It's good to be HOME!" 

   

"No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow." 

— Lin Yutang

— beulah  

Nuts for summer

 

"And what is so rare as a day in June?"

— James Russell Lowell    

     

     Here is June, bursting forth with an abundance of bright, colourful flowers, soft breezes and warm sunny days. 

     
      


     It's a month filled with special celebrations: graduations, June brides, fathers' day events, strawberry teas, picnics, vacation trips, a break from the books, and lazy days at the beach as summer is officially ushered in. 
     

     
     Graduates breathe a sigh of relief, proud of their accomplishments, students of all sizes and ages eagerly await the freedom of carefree days in the sun.

     
     June brides are captured in the beauty of outdoor weddings, and the father is given the love and respect so rightfully his, on a special day of celebration.  
     



     

     So, bring on the suntan lotion, the bathing suit, a good book, iced tea or cold lemonade, the picnic basket, fishing rod and the canoe.

   As the dreamy crooner, Nat King Cole so aptly put it, 

"Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer, 
Those days of soda and pretzels and beer.  
Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer,  
You wish that summer could always be here."

A Smile for Today:  

     

     Three friends got married one summer. John married Pearl and got a jewel. Art married Rose and got a flower. Larry married Hazel and got a nut!    

     Why complain that roses have thorns? Be grateful that thorns have roses.

— beulah

Getting "Up" in years; no need to get down

     "This morning I awoke feeling old, or perhaps I should say, 'feeling my age'." 

— Beulah Eagles

     I'm not in a hurry to look in my mirror today as I've been told, mirrors don't lie.

     Could these feelings be the result of a recent visit with two of my grand-nieces who were passing through my city?    
     How thrilled I was to learn that they wanted to connect with their great-aunt. Our time together was pleasant. It was a vivid reminder of the generational cycle of life, and the reality of where I fit within it. 
     I speak of this, not with a complaining voice, but with one of amazement at having been allowed to live long enough to receive blessings such as these.

     Milton Greenblott has explained life's cycle in this way: 

     "First, we are children to our parents; then, parents to our children; then, parents to our parents; then, children to our children." 

     
     Though our time together was short, my youthful visitors seemed eager to learn more about the history of our connected families, relishing a story or two of the early life of their great auntie, from another generation. 
     Stories are what bind families together, helping us understand who we are.  

     "Through my grandmother's eyes, I can see more clearly the way things used to be, the way things ought to be, and most important of all, the way things really are." 
            

— Ed Cunningham

     As stories are shared, the younger generation will see that they, themselves, are links in the chain. They're part of something greater than themselves. They each have a responsibility to uphold family traditions, values and sustain a faith in God.  

Generations  

The way I walk I see my mother walking 

My feet secure and firm upon the ground. 

The way I talk I hear my daughter talking, 

And hear my mother's echo in the sound. 

The way she thought I find myself now thinking 

The generations linking 

In a firm continuum of mind. 

The bridge of immortality I'm walking

The voice before me echoing behind.

— Dorothy Hallard  

     Each of us are still writing our life's story and the last chapter has not yet been recorded. But, the moments we live today will inspire our stories of tomorrow. 
     As I view my life from a generational perspective, I have been considering what kind of a legacy I will be leaving. We think of a legacy as something left behind after a person has passed. It does not need to be a statue, and most of us will have few expensive treasures to bequeath. I believe our life is our legacy. 
     As we live our legacy, our influence will come from who we really are, and values and life's purposes become more important than emphasizing accomplishments or wealth. 
     When we bless people with our words and actions, and those blessings are multiplied and passed on, they are like family heirlooms — gifts that never lose their value.   

     "A grandmother was telling her little granddaughter what her own childhood was like.

     'We used to skate outside on a pond. I had a swing made from a tire, it hung from a tree in our front yard. We rode our pony. We picked wild raspberries in the woods.'  

     The little girl was wide-eyed taking this in. 

     At last, she said, 'I sure wish I'd gotten to know you sooner!'"

 

— Unknown   

     

     "Our generation doesn't knock on doors. We will call or text you to let you know that we're outside."  

— Unknown

—  beulah