LISTEN. I am supposed to be writing something else right now. I drove the hour and a half to my family’s little get away cabin to spend a couple days in seclusion for the purpose of writing a few more chapters for the sequel to my book. On the drive down from Indianapolis, traversing the back roads of beautiful southeastern Indiana, I was listening to the NPR radio coverage of the opening day of the Republican National Convention. There was the... Read more
I hesitate to post this blog simply because it is political….and I hate politics. But I have to speak my mind here, knowing full well that I may risk offending a lot of my dear friends. I have many friends on the right and left side of the political spectrum. That is a side effect of living near the center, as I do. In the interest of full disclosure, I am no fan of Hillary Clinton. I just don’t trust... Read more
The tragic events of the last week have set the nation, once again, on edge. Spend any time on social media reading the heated comment sections of posts about police shootings or Black Lives Matter protests and you will quickly get caught up in a depressing cycle of vitriol and hate being spouted from left to right and right to left. As one who tries to see both sides of political issues, I quickly become frustrated. Part of me wants to... Read more
I spent a lot of time watching the non-stop coverage of the funeral of Muhammad Ali today. There was no mistaking the feeling that I was watching history being made. Some of the images from today’s 19 mile funeral procession through the streets of Louisville will, no doubt, take a place in the historic media pantheon of imagery that will be seen by future generation upon future generation, like the iconic images of the Kennedy funeral procession with little John... Read more
My little girl isn’t a little girl anymore (sniff). Molly is growing up fast. When school resumes in August, she will be a high school sophomore. The last few days she has been hard at work doing her online study in preparation for her fast approaching driver education (yikes). As I watch her changing and growing into a young adult, I find myself reflecting upon years gone by. I have recently been recalling a few situations from years ago, a... Read more
I recently had the pleasure of visiting Washington D.C. with almost 100 8th grade students. While in the nation’s capital we experienced a great deal of exploring. We crammed at least a week’s worth of sightseeing into three exhausting but rewarding days. I have been to D.C. several times but experiencing it as a teacher with my students present seemed to heighten my senses to some of the landmarks that would normally seem totally familiar. With fresh perspective, I came... Read more
Joe Shmoe, a middle class man, is watching the World Series of Poker on tv. He sees people much like himself playing hands and raking in chips worth thousands of dollars as if those chips were hard candy. He figures, “I’m as smart and crafty as any of those jokers, why not me?” So he looks into it. He learns that a nearby casino will soon be hosting a Texas Hold’em tournament. The buy in is $1,000 dollars with top... Read more
A major news story this week got me to thinking about about the environment. It seems one of the largest hardwood flooring retailers in the country, Lumber Liquidators, got caught buying some wood from a Chinese distributor. That timber had been illegally harvested from restricted areas of Russia that contain the last 500 wild Siberian Tigers on earth. This endangered forest is also home to another endangered big cat, the Amur Leopard. I found this to be disturbing news,... Read more
The recent decision by the Indiana legislature to scrap the current standardized test, called “ISTEP”, and replace it with something new comes as no surprise to anyone in the education game. We all expected it. The news also comes without much excitement. We fully expect the next test to be much like the one it will replace, except that the change will no doubt come at the expense of many millions of taxpayer dollars. What is not likely to change... Read more
Empathy Mining
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In
Perspective on Flat Land, Little Hills, and Big Mountains
This past weekend, my family was exploring around in East Cenral Indiana. I happened to know that the highest point in the state was in the area where we were, near Richmond. The fact that the highest point in the state is found anywhere near here might come as quite a surprise to anyone driving around the area because it isn’t exactly what one would classify as hilly. In fact, for the most part, it is flat. But we decided... Read more