Asking my daughter to describe a recent hike and her surroundings resulted in the following:

It’s

So

Long

Especially by

Rock Harbor.

Over

Years

All

Living things

Evolve.

   She doesn’t normally write in acrostic verse; rather this was just one of the many mini-lessons utilized to fill up the 16-hour days spent without the benefit of Nickelodeon, bicycles, soccer practice or dogs during our family adventure to Isle Royale National Park (http://www.nps.gov/isro/index.htm).

   Here is a breakdown of the trip, by the numbers:

   0: moose or wolf sightings, not counting the pics and posters at the visitor’s center.

[Read More]

            Last Friday a lunchtime email to my wife, which still remains unopened as she was at home recuperating from eye surgery, contained the following:

             Please go spend some quality time with the white chickens.  I think they sense your mean-ness towards them and consequently are laying less.  This dog thing has me thinking all over the place.  No dog tonight, one dog tonight, two dogs tonight.  I can build arguments for all three.

Football coaches are sitting up late at their kitchen tables pouring over charts, parents are budgeting for new clothes and spiral notebooks all the while wild rice is ripening on the stalk a bit more each evening.

This is late August around here. I’m appreciative to all the 'ball players that kicked off their seasons by working in the heat last week. It seemed to be a necessary, ironic sacrifice the weather gods required before bestowing actual summer weather upon us.

This time of year regularly has me eager to get back to school and see students. I think that is actually the case with most teachers. Curricula ideas that incubated over the summer are ready to be put into action. Today a past lesson idea intersected with some thoughts about another referendum our school board is planning.

As a social studies and history teacher I know the importance of bringing multiple perspectives of a topic into lessons, it is one of the most basic functions of my job. But are there exceptions, when all possible views on a subject are not wanted? Yes.

For example, how in depth could a historical inquiry of the Holocaust get if the readings of a Holocaust denier are utilized? Surely when one looks at a historical topic as wide ranging as the Holocaust there is room for historical inquiry, questioning, even disagreement.

What role did German citizens play in perpetuating the events leading to and including the building of concentration camps?

What positions were the Protestant churches taking?

What did people in the U.S. know and when did they know it regarding the extent of the genocide taking place? Were foreign governments obligated to act to stop such actions?

Was race and ethnicity as large a driving force or did economics help drive prejudice?

All these questions have a range of possible answers, depending on the historical evidence one uses to construct their argument.

In a history class these are the sorts... [Read More]

A few minutes after 4:30 a.m. I determined I was awake. It was one of those unusually rare early morning rises where fighting off sleep is not needed. I was awake before my eyes opened, and when they did I was up. It was a Saturday to boot.

In less than three hours Grandma’s Marathon would commence. In an hour a shuttle that would take me from the UNM-Duluth dormitory to the start line near Two Harbors, Minn., would arrive. 

Shop talk with one of my roommates and fellow runner dominated that time. We unexpectedly compared notes on the delivery of Inherit the Wind and observations of fundamentalism in our own time and town.  The shop talk continued on the shuttle, until he noted that our conversation helped pass “the lengthy trip out of town.” It was.

Our destination was Canal Park in Duluth, some 26.2 miles away.  I spent a few hours down there the night before, carbo-loading.  

Grandma’s Restaurant hosts an all-u-can-eat pasta buffet that I took advantage of with the wife and kids when they dropped me off in town. The chicken mornay – a white, cream-based sauce with bathing chicken breasts – was used to drown two platefuls of whole wheat pasta. Breadsticks too.

“Fuel for tomorrow” I thought without a shred of guilt. The waitress had given me a wrist band to distinguish myself from other non-buffet eating patrons. This would prove a useful tool.

Transitioning to race preparation after a week-long vacation with the family in northern Minnesota was a bit tricky. On one hand, hanging out with the family on the waterfront, showing them the big shipping freighters and loading docks, taking in the cobblestone streets and event atmosphere was entirely appropriate. 

On the other hand, part of me just wanted to pick up my packet, shove a bunch of pasta in the gullet, and focus on the run. A middle ground was found and they shoved off in late afternoon wishing me well as they left me in the... [Read More]