Time magazine’s cover story this week is “The Life of the American Teacher.” (Shown is one of the three cover photos.) Since teaching is my third and current career, this issue got my immediate attention. While I haven’t had time to read it yet, I thought this would be a good opportunity to share my
Teamwork. It’s important in any organization, essential in the military. And once you learn how important it is, you never forget. Even when you’re 70 years old. My reminder came at the Providence Hood To Coast Relay on August 24-25, 2018 (https://hoodtocoastrelay.com/htc/). Classmates from my alma mater, the Air Force Academy class of 1970,
This is original writing, just not by me. It was sent to me by a friend, and was attributed to the New York Times’s annual lexophile competition. “Lexophile” describes those that have a love for words, such as “you can tune a piano, but you can’t tuna fish”, or “To write with a broken pencil
This is the kind of clever writing I’d like to do, but I’ve never been able to. These were sent to me by a friend; the original author is unknown. This Should Keep You Busy For A While — – Do twins ever realize that one of them is unplanned? – What if my
It’s been awhile since I’ve been in a national park. But on a recent trip with family, I visited three — Rocky Mountain, Yellowstone, and Badlands. Over the years, I’ve visited every major park except one — Yellowstone. I’d heard so much about this park, and I was eager to see for myself. I wasn’t
My first trip to mainland China made me curious as to what I might find. After all, this country was supposed to be one of our Cold War enemies. How much has really changed? Unfortunately, I only spent a few days in Beijing. But even that was instructive — a lot has changed. The Chinese
I haven’t written anything lately because I’ve been traveling again. I’ve just completed a very satisfying two-week trip to China and Bhutan. (Before you ask, Bhutan is a Buddhist country between China and India, east of Nepal.) I didn’t get to see much of China this time, just Beijing and a part of the Great
This was written by my niece Stephanie. Once there was a fisherman who lived next to the sea. He loathed his job and longed to move far away to a big city, but was too poor and could barely afford the shack in which he lived. Day after day, he would leave at the crack
I’ve always had an interest in outer space, and last year I began subscribing to Astronomy magazine. It’s full of fascinating scientific articles and tidbits, but what caught my eye in the May 2018 issue (yes, it’s out already; you have to plan ahead to watch the sky) was the “Strange Universe” column by Bob
One of the frustrating aspects of life is to say something to be taken at face value, then have it completely misinterpreted. I have a story along those lines that I’ve been relating to friends and they enjoy it, so I’ve decided to repeat it here. During my Air Force career, I worked mostly in