Blogging Friends and Strangers

Unexpected milestones. Gotta love ’em. You’re doing something you’ve never done, before, and suddenly, you realize… Hey, that was new. The moment your blog readers start talking to each other in the comments. The moment someone contacts you to ask if they can use one of your stories or posts or photos… The moment you

The Times, They Are A–What the Fuuuuu-?!!

Ah, Hanes. Purveyors of economy underwear and socks in bulk… Well, it was bound to come to this. We have face masks by the box. Obviously, I bought a box. Black and white. I got black. The white ones seem just a little too much like wearing underpants on my face. There’s the part of

How to Fully Reopen the Public Schools By 2026

The first step in reopening schools is figuring out what the actual, mathematical 6-foot social distanced capacity of the school is. Add a margin for error–or for children pretending to be dinosaurs. Room by room. If everything runs perfectly, how many children can be in this room? What if it doesn’t go perfectly? Guess what?

World Bird Sanctuary

I’m back. Well, most of me is back. The mosquitoes took their chunk and then some. You know that friend who can attract every blood-sucking insect in a field? Well, that’s me. So, as I mentioned, before… the World Bird Sanctuary in Valley Park, Missouri is home to a number of rescue birds. They would

Heading for the Hills

Happy 4th of July, everyone! This year, in true introvert fashion, I’ll be skipping the noise, the crowds, and the charred meat and heading for the World Bird Sanctuary in beautiful Outside Saint Louis, Missouri. (Valley Park, to be precise.) The goal? To see an American Bald Eagle up close and personal. The World Bird

And the Ashfall Fossil Beds…

Somewhere in the northern part of Nebraska… nestled between grass-covered hills… is a prehistoric watering hole where animals caught in a super volcano were fossilized.  The site is far enough away from the volcano, itself that death wasn’t instant. They died over the course of weeks after the eruption. This is a working dig site,

Teaching What You Don’t Know

I was talking about technology on the internet the other day. It’s a half-hearted pastime. I’m not at the top of my game, but I like listening to other people talk. And the topic turned to how we teach minors **ahem** children about technology. Specifically, the question is: how much does a teacher need to

I Went For a Walk In the Woods

I went for a walk in the woods (Fontenelle Forest, to be precise) and a quick visit to the connected raptor rescue, where they rehabilitate birds of prey. (Just birds of prey. Not ducks. Not woodpeckers. Birds of Prey) They also house a number of birds which would not be able to survive in the

The Eclipse: A Starred Review

Before the eclipse, the group I was going to see it with and I were debating the weather–and alternate plans–and exactly how far into the line of totality places were. The weather was… not bad, for a random Monday, but pretty sketchy for watching an eclipse. So, staying was a gamble, and so was going.

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