Morning Thought
Regardless of my efforts to the contrary, my house is covered with dirty fingerprints and smudges. Today, I appreciated rather than yelled about it.
One Year Since Jan 6, and Still No Consequences for then Commander in Chief
We managed to score last minute tickets to the Holocaust Museum, where we spent hours reading through the horrifying evidence of genocide on display. The subtlety of Hitler's intentions preceding WWII and how his propaganda methods shielded the German population from recognizing and impeding them are undeniably similar to the methods used by former president Trump and his supporting legislators.
Petition Against the State's Override of Durham's Nomination for Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor
Phoebe Gooding is an incredibly qualified BIPOC woman who the Durham Soil and Water Conservation District unanimously nominated for a recently vacated position on the board. In an unprecedented move, the state Soil and Water Conservation Commission chose not to appoint her and instead appointed another old white man with farming roots. This article is an appeal to readers to sign the petition in opposition of the state’s override.
Give your kids the gift of practical STEM education while supporting a Community Public School
To help educate the students and school community about the “stormwater control measure” installed on the big playground at E.K. Powe Elementary School (in Durham, NC), I've created a picture book containing before, during, and after photographs with text explaining the reasons and mechanisms behind the changes. Best for grades 4-7, it educates readers of all ages about the importance of sustainable landscaping, collaboration, and grants.
Regarding Durham's Capital Improvement Plans (2021)
We must make more existing outdoor spaces and playgrounds -particularly those at public schools - environmentally sustainable in terms of stormwater management. Too many of them, particularly in underserved schools/communities are being flooded or washed away in ever increasing rain events, polluting our streams, rivers, and lakes, which effects low-income citizens far more than those who can afford to drink bottled water.
Grounds Maintenance at Durham Schools? Call BETC!
This article addresses Durham Public Schools’ Bionomic Educational Training Centers or BETC program, which *pays* occupational course of study (OCS) students and teachers to install and maintain raingardens and other sustainable landscaping on school campuses and private properties: https://www.dcomanagingforresults.org/environmental-stewardship/bionomic-educational-training-center].
Covid Camping and Bear Hounding
During our 14-day quarantine after contracting Covid, my 5th-grade son, husband and I went camping in West Virginia and got educated in ways no classroom can provide. Despite our generally positive assessments of the Mountain Mama, our introduction to “bear hounding” was the lesson that stuck most…
My Covid Followup
Since my post a few weeks ago about my family contracting COVID (and the disturbing revelation that negative Covid PCR tests are wrong at least 20% of the time), a lot of people have asked me what it was like to have COVID as a doubly vaccinated 50-year-old. Here's my best attempt at putting it into words:
Thanks, Durham, I needed that! (EK Powe Elementary School Playground Dedication)
This morning was the dedication of a 3-years-long stormwater-control and playground redesign project at EK Powe Elementary School, on the edge of the Watts Hospital Hillandale Neighborhood in Durham, NC. It is the result of collaboration between the EK Powe PTA and Principal, Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association, Durham Matching Grants Program, Durham Public Schools…
Why Mystery Snails Make Great Pets
If you have children, then your children probably want a pet. If you don’t want the added responsibility of a dog, cat, or other fuzzy animal but your kid(s) won’t let it go, I urge you to get them a mystery snail. All you need is ~$3 and the info in this article.
Sally and the Something
Ever since my young son and I checked it out from the Durham Public Library years ago, George O’Connor’s Sally and the Something has been on the top shelf of my children's book collection. With permission from the author, this article contains a video of me reading the book aloud, displaying the delightful illustrations within.
On Forgiveness
Support Whistle Blowers: I used to harshly judge people who, after having knowingly enriched themselves in an unethical system, call out that system and try to lock the door behind them - hypocrites! But they are far better than the alternative majority, who knowingly enrich themselves in the same unethical system and wholeheartedly support it.
Protect Durham's Crown from Development
The Eno River needs protection from impervious development *again* 🥺. If you live in Durham or North Carolina, please write your elected representatives in support of saving the land surrounding the Eno River and the few remaining pristine places we have left.
Covid PCR Test Results are wrong 20% or more of the time!?
How can we base quarantines, travel, and returns to work/school on tests that report false negatives, at best, 20% of the time? Please do NOT assume that you don't have COVID if you test negative but have symptoms of the illness. Read this article for details…
To Dr. Mubenga and the DPS Board of Education (re Principal Hiring Process)
This is the letter I sent to the Durham Public Schools Superintendent and School Board to implore them to *truly* choose a parent/teacher/community-oriented principal for my son’s and all Durham public schools, not just by their words but by the expectations that are communicated to prospective candidates as well as their previous records in this regard.
First Day of School
My dreams have been ridiculously stressful as my son’s first day of middle school - and first day of school post Covid - approaches. After the bittersweet drop off, my dreams suddenly make sense. Hindsight truly is 20/20 - sometimes immediately so.
On the occasion of my son starting college...
Yesterday, eyes wet and heart full, we drove home from Asheville, NC, for the first time without our son Seamus, who is now a UNC-A student in Music Technology. From the get-go, we have tried to raise our children to be empathetic, nonmaterialistic, inclusive, generous, and happy people…
FREE STEM AR App to Use with Elementary Students (and beyond)
Teachers and HomeSchoolers (and all parents are the latter), this is a great AR (Augmented Reality) App to engage your kids in science. ***It's FREE to schools***; so, if you work for whatever constitutes a school these days, please don't miss this opportunity.
Do your Work, Seek your Path, and Maintain Your Community
In light of the people who get financial rewards they haven't worked for, don't deserve, or don't need, you wonder, "Why them and not me?"; you ponder the short cuts you could take to get where they are and the opportunities you've missed thanks to your naïveté…
Guns
I felt the same way when I first heard Coldplay's Guns that I did when I first read Jonathon Swift's Modest Proposal. Even the most obvious and entertaining presentation of the truth won't change people's minds; but it can instigate and perpetuate the discussion until it leads to action.