from the porches

south end

Yesterday afternoon Truett and I took a ride to the south end of the Ichetucknee River State Park. 

        

For many years our family would take baths and swim at the south end of the river.  This was well before we had AC (back in the 70's).  I would put supper in the oven, we'd hop in the car and drive to the river to cool down; and after a forty-five minute swim we would return home refreshed and hungry.

      

This photo shows the "get out" point, which has radically changed.  A new sturdy dock has been built with water barricades to keep the tubers from floating futher down the river into the river community.

      

Now they have these red buoys to guide you to the docking pad.  You have to stay to the left so you don't float into neverland.

      

Look at how clear the Ichetucknee River is.

      

Here I'm photographing into the water.  We moved to Fort White because of this pure water.

      

I was disappointed when we didn't see any herons or egrets, but on the walk back to the car, we spotted this hawk in an old oak tree.

      

Patiently we waited. . . and waited. . . and waited.  And then the hawk lifted off the branch and flew across the Ichetucknee River to the other side.  

After we left the south end, we drove around town deciding where to go next.  We ruled out the high school baseball game because we weren't dressed appropriately.  We checked out the land clearing around our elementary school, and then we chased a fire truck headed to a fire. We never caught up to it so we headed home. 

All in all, it was a pleasant afternoon. 

things i learned

I learned many things this week:

1.  Children like to wrap their arms around my belly and squeeze.  Ouch!

2.  Second graders lose focus in stories.  For example in one story a child was writing about flying.  So she says,  "It was fun.  Then my friend says, do you want to play hopscotch?  Sure.  So then we played hopscotch and my friend won three times."   This drives me crazy!  FOCUS WILL YOU!

3.  Teaching reading to small groups is a lot easier than teaching writing to large or small groups.

4. My house does not get cleaned when I'm at work.  Bah!  Humbug!

5.  New little birds are chirping at 6:00 in the morning.  I wonder what they are?

6.  Something is going to the deer feeder in the early morning hours because I hear Bubba barking in the front yard. I guess it could be a possum, raccoon or rat.  I doubt it was a deer.

7.  Purchasing a hand gun is stressful.

8.  Friday is my favorite day of the work week.

a bonus

The brown fields and drab woods are getting to me.  I want spring to hurry up and arrive.  I want to see fields of color and green pastures again.  So I thought I would brighten up your day with a little color around my house. 

      

I know color certainly lifts my spirits.

      

Work is going great and life is good.  Surprise!  I got my first social security check today.  Boy that's a bonus to the pocketbook!

missing you

I want to tell you a sweet story.

For the past three months I have taught reading skills to a small group of third grade students, along with my regular writing classes.

Oh, I complained and complained about added responsibilities; but finally accepted my new role and did my job.  (After all, I was the writing teacher and not the reading teacher.)

So since about October, four third graders diligently came to my classroom daily for thirty minutes of reading instruction.  It wasn't easy.  Oh, no. These four students misread sentences, substituted words that weren't even printed and at times acted totally disinterested.  It was painful for me to listen to such misreading.  I had them point word-by-word and read again. . .and again . . .until they got it right.

But we plowed through.  Day after day.  For three solid months.  I would compliment, congratulate, and sometimes berrate these eight year olds. I bribed them with a Life Saver if they would just read a short passage absolutely perfect, without making one mistake.  We discussed why they were sent to me for reading and how important it was to think while they read. On and on and on.  I certainly was more frustrated than they seemed to be. 

Then two weeks ago all of that ended and I now have many small groups throughout the day and not this original third grade group.

Well, Monday I was teaching writing to a third grade class and a boy I will call Seth, was waving to me from the back of the room.  A smile stretched from my right ear to my left.  "Hi, Seth,"  I said as our eyes locked onto each other's.  I completed the lesson and as the students were leaving little Seth hung back.  "Come here,"  I called.  And he came up to me.  "You'd better give me a big old hug,"  I said.  And he did.  He latched around my waist like an octopus.  "I miss you, Mrs. George,"  Seth said.  "I miss you too,"  I answered.

Then today one of the girls from the original small group came to writing with her class. She was always shy and hesitant in the small group, but once again, our eyes locked and I mouthed,  "I miss you." 

"Huh?"  she answered.  So I walked over and placed my hand on her back and whispered in her ear,  "I miss you."

Her answer,  "Oh, Mrs. George, I want to come back to you.  Please take me back."  Then I told her she did so well on her last test, she tested herself out of small group.  And when her class left I called her over and reached my arms out for the  big old hug.  We clung together for five to ten seconds and tears swelled in my eyes.  I have not seen the other two students in writing yet but imagine the feelings will be the same.

                                                            ******************

Now here's the point.  What I fought was the very thing I needed.  I just had no idea that small group of third graders and I had formed such a close bond. And it felt good and made the struggle all worth while. 

kids

You think I'm going to write about all the kids I had at school my first day back at work, don't you?

Kids?

Kids?  What other kids would there be?

Kids?  After all, I am a school teacher.  That seems odd.  Around the 80's, they told us not to refer to ourselves as school teachers. . .but educators who teach children.

So there you have it.  I'm an educator. 

But, back to kids.

This afternoon Truett and I took a ride around the area to basically center ourselves from a weird week of surgery (what surgery?) and Boyce visiting us for five days.  During our rides we discuss the day, or week in this instance, and plan for the upcoming days and weeks.  Along with my camera on our drives I always have a notepad and pencil.

Kids?  Along our drive around the countryside I saw kids.

      

                                              "Oh, these kids!"

Aren't they the cutest things.  "Pull over!"  I shouted.  So Truett pulled over.

      

                              "Aren't they the cutest things you've ever seen?"

      

                                                     "Yes, they are."

      

      So we watched these cute little goats for about ten minutes. . . and they watched us.

      

Do you realize that seeing a couple of young goats is therapeutic?

 

game 3

                    Take me out to the ballgame

                    Take me out with the crowd

                    Buy me some peanuts

      

      

                    And Cracker Jacks

                    I don't care if I never get back.

We did it!  We went to three baseball games in a row and saw Florida win all three games.  I'm sure Louisville fans were disappointed, but the good thing was we had perfect weather.

Today was a little different.  We sat in front row seats.  When the game was over Alyson commented that this game seemed especially quick.  We both decided that we actually watched the whole game because there were no distractions. . .no grandchildren or fans to distract us. . .only wire in our faces.

      

Albert managed to stand right in front of us, grabbed Truett's hat off his head, and placed it on Alyson's.

      

I think it looks pretty cute on her. As you can tell, she and Boyce are Louisville fans all decked out in their red and black.  Alyson wore her "Lucky Beads" for today's game, but she talked about throwing them in the garbage when she gets home.

      

Baseball is a great game to watch, and going to these three games caused me to fall in love with this sport again. I love the traditions:  the songs, the organ music (weird), the food, and the friendly spectators.

        

Congratulations Gators@!

game 2

      

Hey, I think I'm beginning to like baseball.  Yesterday was a near perfect day for a game.  The sun was shining and the weather was in the low 70's.  We all got sunburned and wind burned.

The best part was having the family there.

      

High in the bleachers sat my family.  Boyce, Alyson, Merry Jennifer holding Oliver, Madeline and Sam.

      

                            Boyce, Alyson and Truett give me a big old George smile.

      

                                Maddie wears her new white and pink Gator cap.

      

                              Oliver and Maddie surprisingly watch most of the game

      

                           Albert, the alligator, visits our section.

      

                      Merry Jennifer, Oliver and Maddie meet Albert.

      

                        Sweet little Oliver looks back at Granddaddy.

       

It was hard for me to watch the baseball game when I had two grandchildren that stole my camera's eye.

      

              Of course, the Osprey watched the Florida Gators win once again.

      

                              High fives to the Gators after a job well done.

Today is the final game in a three-game series.  Go Gators!

night baseball

      

Last night Truett, Boyce and I went to the Florida/Louisville baseball game.  We dressed appropriately, meaning we wore sweatshirts and heavy overcoats because it was supposed to be cold.

      

At 5:30 my fingers were already turning white and numb from the cold so we stopped at a cute little gator shop at the baseball stadium.  "Do you have mittens?"  I asked.  "No," the man answered.  "Gloves?"  I asked.  "No," the man answered.  "Look at my fingers. They're already white and dead,"  I stated.  "We have blankets,"  he answered.

      

"I'll take one."  This little blanket with fleece lining was the saving grace for my fingers and Truett and Boyce's legs.  Brrr!  We could have sworn it was 32 degrees out there last night.

      

I've not been to a night baseball game since Clay played baseball when he was eight years old.  I was impressed by the tiny little food shops at the Gator field, especially this one that sold fried oreos and funnel cakes.

      

This photo was taken at 5:45 as the players were warming up.  In the distance you can see Ben Hill Griffin Football stadium and the O-Dome where a gymnastic meet was taking place at the same time.  Billy Donovan, our basketball coach tossed the first pitch to open the season.  I think he was probably headed over to the O-Dome to do a backflip to open the gymnastic season.  More than likely, he was getting off work and they grabbed him to throw the first pitch of the opening baseball game. 

      

Before the game actually began I saw Osprey circling overhead.  Then I knew my purpose:

      

Watching Osprey.  On top of each light fixture were Osprey nests.  So I spent a good part of the remaining light taking pictures of these wild birds.

      

The Osprey seemed quite content to watch the game and the crowd as well.

      

Can you see this one on the top left of the photograph?

      

  Since there was a light pole directly above me I leaned practically upside down to get the underbellies of these two Osprey.

      

Soon darkness fell, the Osprey settled into their nests, and the game began.  4300 fans were at the game.  That sounds like a record to me. The stadium was  full of young boys and their parents, budding new talent watching the big game.  Stomping!  Screaming!  Chasing young boys.  All night long.  But it was fun to watch and made me nostalgic for the good old times when our children were young.

      

The mighty Gators won the game 6-3 and will play Louisville today at 1:00 and tomorrow at 12:00.  We will be there for the whole three-games.  I understand it will be 70 degrees today, so that's a good thing. 

      

Last night the three of us indulged in a funnel cake and it was scrumptious.  I guess it has been twenty years since I've eaten one, but I did learn a lesson.  Funnel cakes are to be shared!

Go Gators.  Beat Cardinals!

five days

This will be my final post about my week laid up with stitches.  "Five days," the good doctor reiterated.  

"But I will use up most of my sick days,"  I whined.

"Five days is best for you."

"So five days it is."

Now life will go back to normal.  Today I am promising myself I will not take any more Oxycodone.  Taking that wonderful little pill relieves the soreness; but there is a price to pay: constipation.  Now I've said it so I don't have to go into the details about that.

Truett's brother, Boyce, arrived from Kentucky last night, obviously bringing the cold weather down here with him.  His visit was planned at Christmas when his son gave him a gift to fly to Florida to watch Louisville Cardinals vs Florida Gators in baseball.  So tonight, tomorrow, and Sunday we plan to go to baseball games in Gainesville.  This should be interesting since I could care less about baseball, especially sitting in the cold weather. 

Boyce's daughter, Alyson, and her boyfriend, Alan, will be here tonight so it will be a busy weekend.  But I've healed enough to minimally entertain.  Thanks again to Truett for doing the cooking and other chores I normally do (But not the cooking.  Truett does that most of the time anyway).  He makes a good nurse if you need one.

When I return to work on Monday a new schedule begins for me.  Small reading groups will take up most of my day with writing to only second and third graders.  I'm anxious to see how that will all work and hope that my efforts will stimulate these little girls and boys to score higher on FCAT tests coming up in March.

Now do you want to see a colder sky?

      

Have a great weekend.  I plan to.

cheating?

I have a dilemma.  Is altering photographs with Photoshop Elements cheating?

Take this picture for instance.

      

This is a photo of our woods in front of the house.  Now I applied Photoshop Elements.

     

Kapow!  Trees jump out at you.

Now look at Bubba again.

      

Now let's add some life to this sweet dog.

      

Photoshop Elements was obviously meant for amateurs.  I suppose the professionals can set their camera settings and get the life in photos that amateurs can't get.

      

Enough.  It is nice to have the time to play around with my photographs though.