I was a tourist teacher

When I started teaching in 1960, I did not know that I would become a tourist teacher. I thought that you got a job and kept it till you retired. My first job was in Castleton-on-Hudson for the Schodack Central Schools teaching junior high science and high school mathematics. I could see that there was little room for advancement in this small school system, and so I worked on my master's degree in mathematics at Albany State in the summers and applied for some other jobs such as community college teacher in the Adirondack area, a (NSF) National Science Foundation Fellowship to study mathematics at Cornell University, and chairman of a mathematics department in a different school system. I ended up being selected for all three positions and had to make a choice, so I decided to attend Cornell University for a second master's degree in mathematics. After all, NSF paid for the whole thing, including living expenses. The Cornell experience was hard work but great fun, and I ended the year there with two masters degrees, one from Cornell and one from Albany State. So then what.

We decided that teaching in Hawaii would be different, and so I applied for jobs in that new state and was accepted to teach math and physics at the Iolani School (an Episcopal school for boys). After three years there, I thought more graduate work would be a good idea and was accepted to attend the University of Arizona in Tucson to do further graduate work. In the nine years living in Tucson, I finished my PhD and taught or did administrative work at the Green Fields School, Pima Community College, and six years at the University of Arizona.

A position opened at the University of New Mexico, and we moved and taught there for four years. Then I moved to San Diego State for one year, and then back to New Mexico to be an administrator of the Pine Hills School on the Navajo Indian Reservation. This one year stint was followed by a job in the Albuquerque Public Schools as an administrator. I finally decided that all this moving around, or tourist teaching, had to stop if I ever wanted to retire before I was 80 years old, so I stayed with the APS schools for the next 14 years.

I guess it is not so surprising that when we retired, we started to get itchy feet again and have found ourselves full-timers in our motor home and back on the road as tourists this time, if not teaching.

Ebay

Have you ever purchased or bid on something listed on Ebay? HW2 really like to do this. First of all, it is completely in sync with her Scottish soul. She loves to shop and purchases lots of gifts for family and friends. She has a closet full of gifts ready for any occasion, although currently it is more of a drawer due to lack of closet space. Daughter Kim gave her a list of possible Christmas ideas for the boys and suggested that maybe she could find some of them on Ebay. This appealed to HW'2 sense of frugality, and she has been having a ball. Now this is not just shopping. It is also the hunt to find just exactly the correct item and, of course, the bargain price. Then comes the bidding over several days or hours. Finally the end result is either, "I got it!" or "Somebody out bid me at the last moment."

One time HW2 was looking and bidding on Chico clothes, and grandson James came in the door and saw what his grammy was doing and said, "Grammy just bid $100, and you will get it for sure." This gave us all a laugh. $100!!! Not very likely from this frugal shopper.

I have observed that when HW2 returns from a shopping trip with her prizes, I get an edited version starting with, "You have to see the bargain I got. It was only $15.80 after the store discount and after applying my coupon, and since it was senior shopping day, I got another 15% off. What a bargain." Now, in her defense, it was a bargain, I will admit. Several other things might not have been so cheap, and she had to have them too, but she might neglect to tell me the price. Later on, I just look at the bill from the store and pay it. I know that she loves to shop, and who would want to rain on the parade of a dedicated shopper who loves to buy things for family and friends. Not me! I do prefer to stay home while she shops and think this is a good thing, because then she can take as long as she likes.

Losing a parent

Our good friend Rachael has lost her father. He died on Sunday, and even though it was anticipated, it is hard to accept. He has been ill for several years, and probably for him and his family it will come as a welcome release for him. I firmly believe that when you lose a parent for the first time, you truly become an adult. The finality of their generation becomes reality when you lose the other parent, too. Rachael still has her mom, and, hopefully, this reality will be a long time off.

Two of our children's spouses have neither parent, and frequently we feel that we have become in some ways the surrogate parent for these wonderful additions to our family. We could not love either of them more than if they had been our own children. We are just pleased that our kids had the good sense to marry them in the first place.

HW2 lost her mom when she was only 60 years old. When HW2 got to her 60th year, it was a hard one. My dad and his dad both died when they were 70, and when my oldest brother turned 70 last year, he experienced the same thing. He was very glad to celebrate his 71st birthday. The whole question of mortality is brought home when you start to lose members of your parents or your own generation. This is when your religious beliefs strongly take hold and help you face your own inevitable end. I get comfort from the passage, "for everything there is a season," a time to be born and a time to grow, a time to live and a time to die. I know that I paraphrased this passage, but hopefully you get its meaning. Rachael, our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. I know you have strongly held beliefs that will carry you through this time.

Chestnut Trees

When I think of chestnut trees, I get several images. One is walking in London at Christmas and smelling chestnuts roasting and being hawked by the vendors and sold in little bags and then the eating of the delicious nut. Then of course come the words of the song, "Chestnuts roasting on the open fire..." or the poem, "Under the spreading chestnut tree, the village smithy stands..." These are such wonderful images. Most chestnut trees were gone when I was a child because of a blight. All that was left was Horse Chestnut trees which did produce those shiny brown nuts, but they were not eaten by humans, and only maybe, horses. They were fun to collect and throw, of course. Yesterday I read in the paper that in a year or so they may be reintroducing an enhanced chestnut tree that has genes that are resistant to the blight. I think this is wonderful and amazing.

We have had many trees fall victim to pests or blight like the elm tree, victim of the Dutch Elm disease as an example. Then on the evening news, I learned that a woman in Africa has set a goal of 4 billion trees planted this next year(s). What a wonderful way for individuals to try to help stop global warming as trees take in carbon dioxide and give off oxygen.

Then I think about living in Nebraska and learning about the Morton family. One of the sons founded the Morton Salt Company. His father founded and sponsored Arbor Day. Now annually, millions of trees are planted on this day throughout the world. When we had moved to Newark Valley, Dad got the idea or reforesting our side hill, and he got young pine trees, and we worked our way up the hill planting them. Today, maybe 40-50 years later, the side hill is re-forested. A lovely memorial to his wisdom.

Cookies

I woke up thinking of cookies, and grandkids helping to make them. My mom is a self taught, by the cookbook, good cook, and she taught me to make cookies. Now she measures everything the way you are supposed to do it, and her cookies turn out perfectly almost every time. Somewhere along the way, I rebelled and began making cookies by inspiration or something. I have had some spectacular failures but gradually got the feel of what they should look like before putting the dough into the oven and generally get edible ones, at least. For the last dozen years or so, I have been occasionally teaching various grandkids my method of making cookies. I must say that when I ask, "Who wants to help make cookies?" I get lots of volunteers. Realism intrudes and suggests that they want to help because they want to eat the end results, but, then, so do I.

My favorite cookie is a takeoff on Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies, usually due to laziness, made in a pan rather than dropped onto a cookie sheet. My plan is to put as much stuff as possible in the cookies. It all comes down to what might be in the cupboard or pantry. I like to add nutmeats, craisins, white chocolate chips, other dried fruit, candied fruit, raisins, and oatmeal or granola, to name a few things to add. The grandkids come up with their own suggestions and, of course, help along the whole mixing process. The whole thing gets dumped into a greased pan and baked for 30 min at 375 degrees and then comes the tasting after a bit of cooling. We are all really good at this part and, of course, have to talk a bit about what else we could have put in to make them even better.

At Christmas time we gather up any nearby grandkids and make candy and cookies all day and later make up plates of cookies to spread among friends and especially the neighbors. Mom helped us on two different years and loved the whole thing. Best of all, we got to bring a smile to a neighbor or friend who hopefully enjoyed our small treat. Maybe we can do this again when we are in Ann Arbor and can get two boys into making cookies, too. It is fun to make cookies with grandkids and even better, to make memories.

All Who Wander are not Lost

On the day after Thanksgiving it was misty/rainy here, and we decided to drive the 25 miles north to Fredericksburg and shop or eat or both. You will be relieved to know that we managed both. We found lots of "Hi, we are here and came to visit presents" and lots of nostalgia type candy that HW2 liked as a kid, and me, too. Best of all, we found the sign which had the message, "All who wander are not lost." Well, we certainly had to have that, and now the sign graces our front window to amuse all the other walkers who come by our motor home. We found a restaurant that served superb German food (Fredericksburg was settled by German immigrants), and settled in for a good lunch of schnitzel and cabbage and hot mashed German potatoes. A slice of white chocolate cake finished us off, as we watched our waitress hurry too quickly around our corner, causing a dish of red cabbage to go flying onto the people next to us. It was a mess, but they seemed to take it in stride, although her tip might have been lowered. We staggered back to the car and drove home.

On Saturday we drove to San Antonio to visit their botanical gardens, as they had advertised in the paper that they had set up five working garden train exhibits (you know I like garden trains) and a poinsettia display. We had a bit of a time finding the gardens but persisted. The buildings that contained the train displays were very modernistic and reminded us of I. M. Pei's (glass pyramids) work in Paris. The trains were primarily just ovals and had engines and cars running around. It was fun although a bit rainy, and so we did not visit other portions of the gardens. We will save that for a later visit. Then lunch was followed by Christmas shopping, and we headed through the rain back to Kerrville. We had been promised rain and possible sleet or snow for the night but only got rain, which the hill country really needs. This area was very dry until this rain, which should lower the fire danger threat. It seems that we are now ahead of the curve on Christmas shopping although there is still more to do. The crowds had been crazy on Friday but were back to normal on Saturday, thank goodness. Our local wanderings produced two good lunches and lots of shopping, which made HW2 happy.

The Day After

The park owners of Guadalupe RV Resort sponsor an annual Thanksgiving Dinner for all who wish to attend from the park. We signed up to help serve and brought dishes to pass . Don (the park owner) provided turkey, stuffing, gravy, sweet potatoes, dishes, silverware, and things to drink. Residents brought dishes to pass. We had opening ceremonies (which included a quartet singing "Come Ye Thankful People" and all of us singing "God Bless America), a welcome from Don and a salute to our troops, a blessing, and then we began the serving process. Everyone was so polite, thanking each of us for serving, calling us "ma'am" and "sir," and very quickly, nearly 200 people were enjoying the feast. Once all were served, we went through the line and sat down to our dinner. Even though we had dessert, neither overate. What a fine tradition this is, and we have enjoyed it several times when we were staying here at this time of the year.

We also thoroughly enjoyed talking with our children and grands, and the final call was from Mom, who had just returned to her home after dinner at granddaughter Joan's house. She had made mincemeat pie from a recipe that uses green tomatoes and a bit of rum. Not keeping such a thing in her house, she had to go to the liquor store earlier and purchase a bottle. She asked the girl waiting on her about getting the cork out of the bottle, and the girl laughed and assured her that the screw-top was easy to get off. Nothing in the recipe told her how much rum to add, so she put in a quarter cup and then added some more. Now this is Maurice's favorite pie, so later at their dinner they tasted the mince pie, but neither could find any trace of the rum. Mom, maybe you need to add some more! Anyway, while talking to us she wondered out loud about what to do with the remaining rum. Maurice's wife Anne had suggested a nip or two each night might be a good idea. Mom didn't think so. She instead put bottle under the bathroom sink and wondered if someone would think she was a closet drinker if they found the bottle after she was gone. I just laughed and laughed and suggested she make rum cake or rum ball cookies. No one that I know in the family will ever think she is a closet drinker. We hope each of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving Dinner with family and friends.