Farewell October! Welcome November!

 A busy time!   Oktoberfest and all of that was over before I even realized that I was somewhere in the middle.   And of course,  I forgot to blog about many things during that time.   Well,  "Forget" is probably not the best term.    More like: "Lacking time" would be a better fit.  

But here I am now...  Alone in the basement on a Saturday afternoon.   I have time before the evening Church call,  so why not catch up the blog and post a few of these pictures that crowd up my computer....

Last week,  John from Zebra finally signed off and moved to Texas to live with his brother and extended family.  ( He is Greek, so... HUGE family!)  I helped him move a few things and he gave me a few items that would not fit in his truck or the moving van.  ( A lamp and a few small items.) We hung out one last time at the Clubhouse and said our goodbyes to the waitresses and bartenders.  With him gone,  there will be very little reason to visit the Clubhouse now.  Unless Marion or Joan or Francisco bother to contact me for a beer and conversation.  I guess I could go there to visit Lidia ( She is one of the bartenders)  but she is often busy ( working)  so conversation is limited at best.  I will miss the bar/ thirsty Thursday events.  It was fun talking with those folks over a brew and 15 sports channels.  Even the food was not bad. ( Perch Fridays!  $15 bucks!)   With school taking up most of my time, it is probably a good thing that I move on and find something else to do with my evenings... 

Like Sports!   Specifically soccer!   

With most of the Fall Sports ending,   I find myself searching for other things  to harness that school spirit I'm supposed to develop.   With cross country and Tennis and football over,   that leaves only Soccer.   And Soccer continues to shine as they won yet another playoff game!   This one was close!  1 to zero.   The other team managed to score a point in the fleeting minutes of the last half, but they had an additional player on the field so the point was withdrawn.   Oh!  And it was Cold and VERY WINDY! that night.  The wind was so strong that it was blowing dust from the nearby fields over the game.   It also blew the ball around so corner kicks were difficult.    Their next game is tonight I believe with the winner of one of the other playoff games to be determined.   I wish them luck, as I will most likely not be able to attend tonight. 

The Cross Country team sent two boys to the State Championship today.   Tempi,  who broke the school female record three times this year, ( He own record twice!) Did not qualify for state!   (Unbelievable!) So only Zak and Lucus are going and I'm sure they are done by now as of the writing of this post. 

As for me.   Last night I went to the Musical ( High school Musical... of all things...) IT was pretty good.   Honestly, I did not like the movie that Disney made,  but knowing a few of the kids in this one made it far more enjoyable.   I didn't even know that Melissa (One of my Natural Science Club Members)   was the lead role!  And she knocked it out of the park!  The play continues tonight and tomorrow.  I wish them all the best!

Today,  I ran a 5K at the Pringle Nature Center in Bristol.   It was fun!  I ran it once to get a feel for the trail and then I ran it for real with the 150 or so people who signed up for the race.   It was a trail run, so getting a PR here was not on the agenda.   However, I did manage to pull off a modest 9:05 -9:10 minute mile...  Which I am actually pretty pleased with.   No one passed me the entire race.  (Meaning I was the one passing folks.... Yeah! Or everyone else was really slow....)  

The local Cross Country teams ran it with use as their "end of year finally" so I'm sure they were way up there in front.   Not that I was keeping score.   I didn't win any awards, nor did I break anything.   My goal is to not stop running and to not get hurt.   And trail runs are challenging enough without me trying to kill myself to outdo the younger generation.  (Breaking a hip in front of a teenager is never cool...) I did fall once,   but all that happened was I got my new shoes dirty.   And I did not look cool to the guys I had just passed...   In the end. I got to get outside on a beautiful day and I got my 6 miles in on a trail instead of a bike path.  

And finally,   I discovered a water quality test kit buried deep in the Earth Science closet last week.   I did  a bit of research and discovered the kit was missing instructions.  ( I managed to find the site and print them off myself...)  I also found a number of You Tube videos that shows you how to use the kit and what they will test for.   This kit looks like it is one of the higher end ones, used for O2, Nitrite, Chlorine, Phosphate, and PH levels.  This sounds like the perfect thing to use for the Pond.

Remember the Pond?   A few weeks ago, we installed a Floating Island in the middle of the small pond that captures all of the rain water from the parking lot.  We tossed out that it might be a fun, educational  responsibility for the Natural Science club to periodically do some tests and check the levels of quality on the small pond.   Unfortunately,  the age of the kit and the chemicals that it contains are questionable.    No one knows for sure just how old the chemicals are that are used for discovering the levels of nutrients in the water.   The O2 test is rather involved... SO I set that one aside for the time being.   And according to the test, there was no chlorine in the water.  

To be sure,  I brought the kit home to see if  at least a few of the chemicals were still in working order, and was happy to discover that our city water was well chlorinated!  ( 3.5 mg per liter, I think)  Even the PH strips worked!     

I will have to see if the O2 Part of the kit is still functioning.   It is tricky, as you have to add a number of chemicals while keeping the sample away from any contact with air.  ( Challenging!) But I may enlist a couple of of the club members to get wet and muddy for me as we figure out the process together.   Part of the fun of doing something like this is not knowing what you will discover or learn!  ( Right?)   

 As the cold weather settles back in,  the wind took much of the fall color with it.   That being said,  there were a couple days last week where the warmer air moved up,  giving us a few, last moments of Fall.   The deer are running around as well as other creatures.   The blanket of leaves makes it sound like everyone is eating a bag of Cheetoes!  And every now and then,  you see something that you don't see every day.   Twice now, in the last two weeks,  I have seen a coyote!   Once while running at 3 AM in the morning, (He ran right in front of me and hung out in the road as I passed by.)  and then just before the big Soccer game that cold windy night.   I managed to get a few pictures of that one.   He stood still right in the middle of a well lit field in front of everyone, as if he was part of the park! I'm shocked I managed to get a few pictures. 

Well, that is all for now.   Except school.   Which continues to challenge me every day...   My hope and prayer is that I improve.    And although I would  LOVE for my improvement to be an overnight success,  experience has taught me that that is rarely the way things go.  

Bit by bit, inch by inch...  One foot in front of the other. 

The only way I can fail is if I quit.   And I look at my Freshmen who struggle in my science class for my inspiration.   All they have to do is do the work.   All they have to do is read the sections.   They don't have to "get it!"  All they have to do is put forth a modest amount of effort and their grades will improve... And they will harness "enough" of what they need to progress to the next levels of Physics and Chemistry.  

And when I give that advice to them... I reread it and tell myself the same thing.     My Dad used to say, " You can't teach an old Dog new tricks."   I'm sure there are a number of ways you can interpret that phrase, but I took it as,  Old people stop learning because they can't learn anymore.   Well,  I disagree with that.    We never stop learning.    And the kids are teaching me possibly far more than I am teaching them!  (Not science, mind you.  Rather,  Human conditioning and the art of learning...) 

My struggle continues with the teaching.   And I find these blog posts helpful.   Like I'm talking myself into hanging in there and to press on.   And Before I pat myself on the back,  I want to give God all of the Glory.   For he made this possible for me.   And I know deep in my heart that he will continue to bless and challenge me until I get to the place where he wants me to be.  And When I say things like that,   it makes all of this struggling seem worth it.  

The other day, one of my students asked me why I wanted to become a teacher.   Without thinking, I rattled off an answer that came right from the heart.  I was surprised how quickly I answered and how quickly the answer came to me.   And it happened on a day where I was feeling a little down.   The right question at the right moment  keep me focused and to bring me back from the brink of self doubt.    Coincidence?   I think not.    Teaching may be one of the last things I do before I die.   A hill I never climbed, until now.   And as I continue to age,  I discover that there are things I will not be able to accomplish,  but this will be one of them that I will.   And I now have the opportunity....   Because time is short,  And every minute counts!