Category: Commentary

Birdsong: Paradise in South Georgia 

Studly and I had friends visiting this past weekend from Indianapolis. Gary and Lee Ann are two of my favorite people, and their annual visit to Doright Manor is a highlight of my year. 

Lee Ann enjoys exploring nature, so while our golf crazed husbands headed to the links on Saturday morning, she and I drove into Georgia to visit the Birdsong Nature Center just south of Thomasville. 

From their website: 

Birdsong Nature Center’s 565 acres of wildflower meadows, forests, ponds and swamps, are home to a myriad of birds and other wildlife. Here you can enjoy the serenity and beauty of the natural landscape and return home with a renewed spirit.

The preserve features several distinct natural habitats including grasslands, swamps, and lakes. 

Lee Ann posing in the tall grass. It almost looked like a wheat field.
Who wouldn’t love a place with this name?
Inside the Listening Place we were surrounded by the sounds of the swamp. Apparently none of the resident alligators were feeling vocal during our visit.
The swamp is a surreal setting. Scary and fascinating.

Lee Ann and I walked nearly four miles and climbed the equivalent of eleven flights of stairs during our trek through Birdsong. The day started out cool, but by the time we finished I was sweating like a nervous groom at a shotgun wedding. 

Our journey ended at the preserve’s main attraction, the Bird Window, a beautiful viewing area tucked away inside an old house on the property. The Bird Window is just that–a huge window overlooking a scenic spot landscaped with the goal of attracting our feathered friends. 

This area features fresh water supplied by a misting device and a small pool. There are bird feeders in key spots as well as loose seeds spread on tree stumps. Carefully placed rocks and logs provide perfect perches for the avian visitors.

I became so enraptured by the show of bluejays, chickadees, cardinals, woodpeckers, and titmouses (titmice?) that I totally forgot to snap any pictures! Still kicking myself, but the experience was breathtaking. Next time I’ll see if the camera works well through the glass. The birds come right up to the window as if to say, “Wow! What a great way to view humans!”

Come visit Birdsong Nature Center before the migratory birds return to their northern homes in late April. You don’t have to be a diehard birdwatcher to enjoy the experience. 

Here’s the link to their website:

http://www.birdsongnaturecenter.org

Peace and feathers, people. 

Calumny

I’ve never used the word “calumny.” To be honest I wasn’t sure what it meant. Thank goodness for Google!


I’m trying now to craft a poem around this word “calumny” that popped into my mind apropos of nothing. Words do that to me sometimes.

CALUMNY

Calumny, she said to me, ended my career. I’d arisen from nothing, no pedigree, no expertise,

With tears in my eyes I begged her to explain her downfall. Did calumny cause you

Pain? I asked. Was it akin to a canker sore or a bunion? She laughed ruefully. No, it was much worse.

You see I’d trusted someone and they smeared my name. Made me the fool of their wicked game.

And just like that, my reputation was beyond repair. I didn’t laugh, but still perplexed. Calumny 

Isn’t a physical malady? It sounds like a blow to the gut. Again, she smiled. Close, but no cigar.


Cartoonists for the People

Every day I find cartoons that give me a lift in this resistance movement. Good political cartoonists help allay our fears by reminding us that there are some smart, creative people on our side. Here are a few that I’ve enjoyed. Hope you find a new one to make you think and maybe chuckle. 









Probably won’t win a Grammy for his performance on the world stage.

The Highest Bidders

What’s your goal? 

Destroy public education? 

Scrap affordable health care? 

Reduce social security to rubble? 

Make shady deals with Russia? 

Undo decades of Civil Rights advancements?

No problem! It’s easy!

If you’re a wealthy political donor just buy your way into trump’s cabinet. 

A cool million ought to get you just what you want.

Don’t worry ’bout the poor!

No thoughts for the children!

Screw the elderly!

Who needs to vote anyway?

It’s all about the bucks, baby! 

You sure showed us. Indeed, you did. 

And you smiled and smirked all the way.

The School of Deep Pockets

On Monday a majority of Republican senators voted in favor of confirming Betsy DeVos to the post of Secretary of Education. 

Ms. DeVos has never attended public schools. Her children did not attend public schools. Yet she’s landed a position that will impact public school teachers and students in this nation for decades to come.

In the hearings leading up to her confirmation Ms. DeVos was unable to answer simple questions that every teacher in the country can respond to in a heartbeat. So what makes her qualified to lead the department of education? Silly me! It’s money!


http://mobile.edweek.org/c.jsp?cid=25920011&item=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.edweek.org%2Fv1%2Fblogs%2F49%2F%3Fuuid%3D64069
If she were a friend to public schools, perhaps the outrage I feel would be out of place, but DeVos is a proponent of charter schools and vouchers. What are vouchers in this context?

School vouchers, also referred to as opportunity scholarships, are state-funded scholarships that pay for students to attend private school rather than public school. Private schools must meet minimum standards established by legislatures in order to accept voucher recipients.–National Council of State Legislatures

So my tax dollars are going to pay for students to attend private and/or charter schools, also known as “for profit” schools. Wealthy parents who have heretofore paid the cost for pricey private education can now count on me to help subsidize their children’s schooling.

Middle class parents fearing a pending drain on public schools may be inclined to pull their students from public schools and enroll them in charter or private schools taking money away from an already beleaguered system.

Every public school depends on tax dollars. Those tax dollars are allocated on a per student basis. In some states the funding is decent, while in others it is deplorable.

http://www.governing.com/gov-data/education-data/state-education-spending-per-pupil-data.html
Regardless, our tax dollars are now going to fund private education, and those kids at the bottom rung of society will be the ones who most feel the loss. 

Throughout the history of this nation public schools have been the great equalizer. Are our schools perfect? Not by a long shot. Inner city schools struggle with issues we can’t even imagine, but without public school funding, they are set further adrift, while questionable charter schools receive my tax dollars.

So maybe I’ll get on board with this whole money making scheme. I’ll charter a school and call it The School of Deep Thinking. My students and I will convene at the pool on sunny days and contemplate our toenails at the 10′ marker. 

I might even teach a math lesson or two. Students can estimate how long they’ll hold their breath under water. They’ll learn how to convert meters to feet and back again. And we’ll read whatever novels catch our interest while reclining on beach chairs in the Florida sun. Screw higher order thinking. Send me the vouchers.

Big Money Wins…

Children lose.

Betsy DeVos, every breath you take, every move you make, we’ll be watching you.


https://youtu.be/OMOGaugKpzs

Pros and Cons

On Monday morning I have to have a little PROcedure. And honestly, even though I have a bit of anxiety about it, I’m enormously relieved that it’s not a CONcedure, or worse yet, an AMATEURcedure.