Smart, and a bit lucky

I decided to err on the side of caution and sent the Silverstein poem to ALL my colleagues… with a revised prologue. While including a wider audience might seem reckless, I based this decision on the assumption that if I sent it only to certain individuals they might [not incorrectly, perhaps] conclude that I intended criticism as much as humor. The dozen or so replies I got were universally positive and appreciative leading me to believe I chose wisely. [For once... go me!]

In a bit of synchronicity, I received an email today from a colleague that included this pearl of wisdom:

If you can’t be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.

Exactly!

Opism

Opism: when you take the tim out of optimism….

Tropical storm Fay never got as strong as she might have and didn’t roll right over top of me after all, but she hung around way too long and dumped tons of rain on us. Flooding was worse on the Atlantic coast and I fared better than many. Got some water damage in one corner room though and still cleaning that up….

Schools in my district were closed Tuesday and Friday. Others had to close all week — that’s a lot of days to make up.

This was already a tough time to be an educator in Florida. Budgets statewide were cut. We have to teach more students with fewer teachers — more classes of shorter length — and meet higher standards with no raise, not even a cost-of-living increase. [But I'm not bitter, because I should be happy just to have a job....]

A colleague has been passing the mantra, “Optimism Now!” And, try as I might, I’m just not feeling it.

This commercial has been running on TV:

Every time I see it I think, “This kid is an idiot — just another of the spoiled brats with over-indulgent parents and an unflagging sense of entitlement.” I am not inspired. I have a bad attitude.

Fay is gone, but there is still a tropical depression here….

Fie on Fay

Today was the first day of classes… and tomorrow the schools will be closed. Tropical Storm Fay is tracking its way toward Central Florida.

In a way, it’s like deja-vu for the hurricane season of a few years ago. This time the storm is not expected to reach hurricane status before barreling over top of us. But it IS expected to barrel over top of us. Even if it had stayed in the Gulf and made landfall further north (as it was projected to do for a while) we would have been subjected to high winds, lots of rain, and a good chance of tornadic activity.

As I write this, the eye is less than 300 miles away. It will probably be right over us late tomorrow night. So there’s a pretty good chance we will miss more than just one day of school. [The calendar already has several days identified as make-up days; we have learned a thing or two about scheduling around the unpredictable....]

At this point, all we can do is hunker down and hope that the damage is minimal. And, as long as I have electricity, I guess I’ll get to watch some more of the Olympics….

Sum Numbers, Revisited

Here are numbers that boggle my mind:

I work in a very large school district. How large? According to the most recent stats, the fourth largest in Florida and 11th largest in the U.S. How big is that? We have over 176,000 students in 155 schools. [The high school where I teach has a little over 3,000 students and we don't come close to being the largest school in the district.] We [the district] are the second largest employer in Central Florida with over 23,000 administrative, instructional, and classified personnel. The House of Mouse Disney employs more.

The annual operating budget (used for salaries, benefits, utilities, maintenance, supplies, and equipment) is approaching $1.5 billion. [Yeah, that's really big. But teachers are still underpaid in my admittedly biased opinion.] The capital projects fund (used for construction, improvements, and remodeling) is nearly $1.7 billion. Since 2003, we have opened 24 new schools and as many more are being replaced, renovated, or enlarged.

Here are the numbers that I find most interesting though. Our students come from 179 different countries and speak 132 different languages and dialects. [Quick. Without looking at a reference source, how many countries and languages can you name?] Central Florida is WAY more diverse than where I grew up in Kentucky. [To be fair, many parts of Kentucky have gotten more diverse over the years too, but nothing on this scale.] It makes for more interesting challenges. But these are numbers that can leave you numb….

otohPhoto: Strolling on the Beach

So… back during the first week of July (such a distant, faded memory now…) I got to spend some time at the beach. I watched the sunset almost every night and took way more photos of them than is in any way sensible. [Blame it on going digital] And on this night as I stood near the water’s edge some girl comes strolling along. And suddenly I realized, “Hey, THAT’s a pretty cool shot.” So I shot. [Right place, right time, crime of opportunity?]

And now that I’m getting back into the daily grind of a new school year, I want to drift away….

Technical Difficulties

Hmmph! I had hoped to post some videos. But I need to do some editing on them and Movie Maker has decided to stop working. I bought a replacement today, but haven’t installed it yet. (MM wasn’t all that great to begin with so I always planned to replace it eventually….)

So instead, here’s a little souvenir from a walk on the beach last week. I’m not much of a beach person — rather a shame in a way since there are several beaches only one to two hours’ drive from where I live. I wouldn’t have been on this one except that my brother and his son were there. Since I moved away from home we get precious little time together. [If one of your kids frequently torments another, there is hope that they may still end up on friendly terms. But that's another story.]

On this particular morning I was up early and walking [yeah me]. There was a dead sea turtle that would be reclaimed by the sea when the tide got a little higher. [I didn't take any photos of that.] There were a few other people out — shelling, jogging, walking. And one of them [not me] left this footprint in the sand. So I shot it. Maybe I should have just posted the photo and let you all make up your own stories….

On Balance

In the last two days I’ve had a blister on my toe, a rash on my thigh, a cut on my finger, a lot on my mind, and sunsets like these:

On balance, life is good….

Sweet November/Long December Suite

My crappy October stretched well into November this year leaving me a little mystified that we are in December already. As if waking, disoriented, from an unintended nap I blink my bleary eyes and try to regain my bearings. Where did the time go? Or perhaps more to the point, where the hell have I been?

The Atlantic hurricane season officially ended yesterday. It was a little milder than predicted projected forecast and yet we had one “severe weather day” cancellation of school that we made up last Wednesday. Hurricanes, of course, know nothing of calendars. Another storm this year is pretty unlikely but what the liars with maps weatherfolk call hurricane season is nothing more than a period of higher probability. I’ll be content never to suffer through another year as freakishly destructive as the one we had two years ago.

I had unexpected compliments from two administrators this week. [Hmm, compliments from administrators are always unexpected now that I think about it.] But one of them was a request to serve on a committee which in my experience is not always a great compliment. Still, it’s a chance to get on the good side of my new boss and I agreed to do it even though it means I had to reschedule a dental appointment and alter my lesson plans for Monday so I could be off-campus half the day. Grrr. I just hope it doesn’t turn out to be a waste of time. [I waste more of my own time than I should, but I try never to waste other people's time and I get really irritated when other people waste mine.]

I start listening to holiday music on Thanksgiving every year and I usually buy a few Christmas CDs each year too. I plan to write a post about some of my favorites, but in case I don’t let me tell you that I’ve been playing One More Drifter in the Snow Get the CD by Aimee Mann almost constantly this last week. (She’s probably best known as the voice singing Voices Carry when she was in ‘Til Tuesday in the mid 80s, but she’s done some great solo work since then.) Its ten songs are a bittersweet blend of traditional and original tunes. I especially like “Whatever Happened to Christmas” — I find it hauntingly beautiful — and “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch — gleefully sinister. Through the whole thing I imagine being curled up by a fire with some delicious hot drink — mocha, I think. That’s no mean feat in the 80 degree heat of a Florida winter. Perhaps there’s a reason to believe….

Technorati tags: Sweet November/Long December Suite~blog~personal~otoh

Tropical Depression

Ernie (as those of us who know Ernesto well call him) was much milder than expected. I’m grateful for that even though my day was a total waste. But I did enjoy being able to roll over and sleep late. That was tempered by spending all morning with a sinus headache. Ah well, I’m learning to embrace both yin and yang. Wait, does that sound dirty?

Technorati tags: blog~personal~otoh~photo~hnt~Tropical Depression

otohPhoto: Wekiva

I spent the day Saturday paddling canoe and kayak down the Wekiva River out of Wekiwa Springs State Park. This beautiful bit of “real” Florida is just about 20 minutes away from downtown Orlando. I am amazed (and grateful) that this area remains preserved in the middle of all the development and urbanization going on all around it.

I just had my little camera with me (and I had staying upright and dry as my primary goals) so I don’t have any great photos. Also, there were several wildlife sightings I didn’t get photos of at all. You’ll just have to take my word for it that I saw a couple gators (one on the bank and one under the boat), a snake (in the water so I didn’t get a good enough look to identify it), lots of herons, kites, and ibises, several fish, a wild turkey, a couple black vultures, and probably a few others I’m forgetting. These turtles

are pretty common all along the river, but this

is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a hawk like this. I think it’s a red-shouldered hawk.

OK. For you diehards that are still reading, the generally accepted explanation of the names Wekiwa Springs (note the WA ending) and Wekiva River (note the VA ending) is from the Timucuan Indian words for “bubbling water” (wekiwa) and “flowing water” (wekiva). Which makes both names rather redundant. See, I knew that would keep you up at night if I didn’t explain….

Technorati tags: otohPhoto: Wekiva~blog~personal~otoh