Summer 2022 - Week 1 - Getting Started

Getting Started with Summer

 June 3 - 2022 - Summer Kickoff

There's no better way to get started with the summer season when you're a teacher than to kick back and enjoy a social event with the friends you have from school.  We started with a campfire at the house and invited friends and families from school.  As most school-related things show, there were responsibilities that hung around for some of the PLC members - sports and family - that made it impossible for them to attend.  For the rest of us there was a cookout and fire.  It was great to laugh, share stories and get to know one another a little better outside the building.

Fires with friends will continue this summer.

June 4 - 2022 - Getting to Summer

Even as the days get longer in the spring and weather gets warmer, things get left until summer that I've planned to do for months and even years.  This is especially true when it comes to projects around the house.  I got started right away with making a new path, digging some dirt and getting some time in raking.  Nothing like facing how little manual labor I do during the school year . . . was a long, hard day and much soreness followed.  Made me reflect to 30 years ago when I could operate a shovel 8 hours a day and never think anything of it.  Getting old stinks.

As you might notice, this is the path to the campfire.  It's been something I've been thinking about for a long time and each summer I cherish the time we spend sitting around the fire sharing our lives together.  This is a nice way to get to the location.  I should also plant something to take care of the mosquitos . . . they're as bad as I've ever seen in June.

On a philosophical note, it's a manifestation of the belief I have that everyone should make their own path to the destinations they want most.

June 5 - 2022 - Wrapping Things Up

I'm very proud of all Pines students when they walk across the stage.  Sometimes it feels like high school graduation is a given . . . like it's just another milestone in the journey.  This year while I sat and watched rows of young people getting across the stage and getting the diploma I was struck with how wonderful our students have it with their options for graduation . . . everyone took a unique and personal path to that final march.

I love to be part of the options-based community I have the pleasure to work with.

But that's enough reflection on the end of the year;  it's time to get going with summer and all the wonderful possibilities it holds.  Today I'm hopeful to keep writing this at least once a week.  Writing is a passion of mine and I find that I push myself harder to reflect on my life and pursuits when I have an opportunity [obligation] to share those experiences with others.

June 5-8 2022 - Decompression in the Cold North

When you live at the top of Wisconsin, there are few "northwoods" options available.  If we want to travel north and camp, it's the UP or maybe Minnesota; if I want to fish it's Canada.  Both Rachel and I are[were] passionate about biking.  Three years ago we challenged ourselves to ride some of the best midwestern mountain biking; this year we decided it's time to go back and make this an annual trip.  Being the person I am, there's no getting away from looking for learning . . . I love to learn and especially love to learn through my experiences.  Contrary to what Rachel likes, I would rather just recognize the learning as I'm having the experience rather than go someplace specifically for the learning.  Not that there's anything wrong with it, I just prefer to see all the other learning outside that focus come together.  Hopefully the images and reflections show that as well.

For those of you reading this familiar with my approach to learning - consider this Inspiration and Exploration all muddied up together.

Biking, hiking, relaxing and exploring all are part of the theme for our trip to Fort Wilkins.  We started by bundling up for the 40-50 degree weather and walking around near the campsite.  We've been here before but the shoreline views overlooking the Lake Fanny Hooe and Lake Superior are always a new and exciting experience.  The rocky shores are a combination of Basalt rock from volcanic activity and sand, pebble, stones and boulders from glacial activities.  I know from the past that Superior itself was a result of a failed ocean and the rock formations on the shore represent the activity.

Lake Fanny Hooe

The campground is next to this little lake.  I only say little because just around the corner is Superior and everything looks small compared to that.

After 25 years it's nice to know that we can still spend three days together doing what we love and keep a smile on our faces.  Rae will always be drawn to every sign she sees but sharing those experiences with someone that not only tolerates me but gets me is priceless.

The first day was cold.  The temp struggled to get to 50 and campfires plus the little heater in the camper were a must to keep warm and cozy.  I was able to get back together with an old friend that gets neglected during the school year.

A little Harry Potter to enjoy with coffee

Since the campground is next to the fort we were able to walk through a piece of 150 year old history and reflect on the changes that occurred during the settlement of the UP.  Fur traders had been here before this and the fort was built to try to keep the peace (protection) for people that were finding the resources in the ground (copper) while trying to survive the cold winters and interactions with the residents that had already called this area home long before modern society showed up.

Fort Wilkins

It's amazing to walk through the sleeping quarters, offices and hospital buildings that are arranged in a U around a central yard; a tough life for rugged people.

One of the goals I had was to revisit a location that was surprising and meaningful last time we were here.  Unfortunately, Bob was not in his box on the mountain but it was still a great memory and worth stopping by to see.

Bob's box on the mountain

We wrapped up our trip with a pasty in Houghton and made our way back to "normal" life at home.  What a great way to kick off summer!

April Showers

 Bring what?  More snow?  This is getting a little ridiculous.  It's April 20th and we've had weekly if not daily snowstorms and still have piles of snow littering the ground everywhere.

This photo was two weeks ago in my front yard.  The railing on the Gazebo is 2' tall.  Since this photo we have lost some snow but it was quickly replaced by ice (.25 inches at one crack) and more snow on top of it.  It's time to be done.

Plus, the lakes have 2+ feet of ice on them.

Enough is enough.  It's getting hard to adventure with a two month transition to spring.

Anyway, enough whining about that.  I finally got my truck back after losing the transmission.

36K miles.

Engine replaced at 30K.

I'd buy a different one but there aren't any to be had.

Plans for the Future.

I can say for sure that it's been a long couple of years; most of the time I was in survival mode both at home and in the classroom.  Now that things have settled down a little I can get back to chronicling my adventures, expeditions, wanderings and wonderings here.

First, I looked back over the previous posts.  It's hard to believe I started this experiment in 2018 and even harder to understand why I stopped adding to it pretty much at the end of 2019.  It's a great look back at my adventures and it makes me look like a much more interesting person than I think I am.

This reflection caused me to wonder about my first foray into blogging: npsdglass.  This took me back to 2014 when I first discovered Google Glass and spent a year as an explorer.  Kind of disappointing how it fizzled out but, as I always tell my students, you have to take the opportunity when it's available.  You may never get the chance again.

So, my hope is to get back into adding regularly to this blog and what better time than when things are opening up and the feelings of wanderlust are coming out of hiding.

I'm going to start things out with planning.  Since before the shutdown (2 years now!) we've been talking about and in the infancy stages of expeditionary learning.  I won't bore you with the details about all of the resources we've checked into, rather I'll start where we are and move forward.

We're in the planning stages for resuming expeditionary exploration and quickly remembering how much work it can be.  It's also extremely exciting to think about adventures with students and places we can go together to learn.

Expeditions - The Beginning

Expeditions:  Beginning a Legacy

It's been a long while since I last posted regularly in the old blog here.  It's time to start things up again.  Consider this the fresh new page for an exciting, unwritten future.

Coming up in the Spring 2022/Fall 2022 learning cycles, I would like to officially call for proposals for Expeditions in our learning.  This venue (the blog) will be a record of our planning and adventures and a place to respond to ideas, propose new things and, generally, keep track of where we want to go.  We will update this as we go along with the process.  Keep checking back often!

Ideas and planning materials:

Ornithology(birds!) Spring/Fall - Plan local or regional opportunities for small or large groups - Biology evidence, Geography Evidence

• Grant Opportunities
• Northern Great Lakes Visitors center

Canoe/Kayak Adventures - Spring/Fall/Summer - Get out on the water and explore!  Design adventures that are going to connect with students on many levels.

• Vilas County Paddling page

Exploring the CCC in Wisconsin - Museum in Rhinelander (Memorial Day - Labor Day - during week), several camps, parks around the area to explore.

• Pioneer Park website

Hiking in the National Forest - Longer trail hikes in beautiful North Woods area. 

• Hidden Lakes Trail - 13 miles Hwy 70 East
• Anvil Trail - Can combine with CCC investigation, kayak/canoe/drone on the lake and hiking/birdwatching
• 
  

I Went for a Walk

Nothing new here.  Just went out for a walk.  The world is a funny place, though.  In the middle of everything going on with school closures and the inevitable panic people feel causing them to hoard, stores are trying to do their part to make sure everything is available to everyone that needs it. However, some things just don't make sense.

Makes sense that people should be limited in the number of items.  Three of anything should be just fine.  Unless you want the sale.

Not that anyone should need these as a staple of their diet, but the store is littered with the same offers . . . guess it's just optimism on the part of the store that things will get better.  Although, at the checkout line people were going through with more than three items (milk for example) and the cashiers were just setting it aside and then ringing it up separately.  Kind of a breakdown in the system.

Anyway, still went for a walk.  It was a nice day.  Inspired me to think of some poetry and ideas for some digital learning opportunities.  Made a couple of videos and plan to splice them together later; may be a challenge in it somewhere as well.

Whirlwind of Expedition and Opportunity

September 30, 2019

There have been tons of Opportunities in the past couple of weeks and it seems like it's been a whirlwind of activity with all of the students and activities surrounding September.  As it comes to a close I can't help but sit for a minute or two and reflect on everything that's happened.

Starting with right now I'm sitting in Madison for a colloquium on Kiss of the Spider Woman.  This is the second year we're participating and I'm ready for the new challenge with a new book and an exciting study.  Without a doubt I'm excited we have the Opportunity to be a part of a statewide book study and, ultimately, a huge gathering at the UW in the spring.  It was a great experience last year!

When we arrived in Madison we went right to the botanical gardens.  We couldn't pass up on the Opportunity to see what they have to offer.  What a great experience.  We Explored the grounds and were able to walk amongst some pretty amazing plants and architecture.

A walk through the bifrost in the garden.  Kudos to them for a little norse mythology!

This ramp leads up to an elevated platform.  No matter where you go you are surrounded by plants and flowers.  I guess that's why it's a garden.

This is a true gem in the Madison area.  I would love to spend a couple of hours here with students looking at the different plants.  Probably need some kind of an identification seminar first so everyone understands what they're looking at.  Either way, it's a great Opportunity to Observe.

Really cool structure in the complex.  There are tons of cool looking plants surrounding it.  I was even able to get a drink from one of the cupped leaf plants that gathered water from the rain.  Not sure if it was a good idea, but . . . 

Integrated into the area was a rock garden full of plants, running water and paths.

The area has seen a lot of rain lately.  Some of the areas were under water and inaccessible.

Overall it was a very peaceful walk.  There's something like 16 acres of area to explore.  I would love to come down here in the spring.

Can Never Go Home Again

September 25, 2019

A lot of this is going to be reflective and sentimental.  These are the events from over the past couple of weeks.  After just about 70 years living in the same town my mom retired and moved away.  This is a really great thing and a milestone in her life.  I was lucky enough to go back and help her move her stuff, sell some of her stuff and, eventually, be there with her on the last official night in the house she'd called home for the past 46 or so years.

Front view of the house I grew up in

It's funny, you know, how everything seems when you're a kid growing up.  As an adult going back to the small town I grew up in I get a parallel view of everything.  I see a lot of it for what it is; a town that doesn't have any industry or major source of employment.  A place in Northern Wisconsin that can't even lay claim to any tourist attractions that's slowly becoming a place people don't really want to live but end up in anyway.  I guess it might be a little more harsh than I need to be, but the town has definitely turned into a shell of what I remember it being.

Then again, when I drive down Main Street where I grew up, memories of walking along the sidewalk alone or with friends flood into my mind.  Riding my first bike, cruising through town for what seemed like forever with a packed lunch on the handlebars for an adventure to the wayside outside town for a summer lunch.  Maybe a 20 minute ride that seemed to take hours.  A different time, though, because now I'm not sure parents could get away with that much unsupervised time for children.

So anyway, this is the house I grew up in.  It looks just about identical in shape (different color) than almost every other house on the block.  As a matter of fact, just about every other house in the downtown area.  What isn't shown in the picture is a view south.  Down the road about a block away is what used to be the paper mill.  This was the life's blood of the town for a hundred years.  All of the houses along my street were put up by the mill to house its employees.  It's an interesting think when you go back and look at what that meant.  There was a time when employees were paid and then only had one choice: buy groceries at the store that the mill owned.  Pay rent in a house that the mill owned.  Live in a town that the mill owned.  I'm guessing this was a common theme in a lot of mill towns not only in Wisconsin but everywhere.

Times change and so does the industry.  The mill was bought out and torn down to prevent competition.  The good jobs associated with it disappeared as well.  More and more people relocated and the value of just about everything plummeted.  Anyway, here are some more sentimental images:

This was my bedroom. 

The house was more of a story and a half or three-quarters.  The ceiling was sloped to follow the roofline.  Not a really big room but enough for two boys to share for most of our time growing up.  This used to be one big room but was split in half so my younger brother would have his own room.  Three boys in basically one room.

The house was more of a story and a half or maybe three-quarters.  The ceiling was sloped to follow the roofline.  Not really a big room but enough for two boys to share for most of our time growing up.  This used to be one big room but was split in half so my younger brother would have his own room.  Three boys in basically one room.  The window served as a portal for us.

Back of the house.  Kitchen was added on making the house a little bigger than some of the others on the block.  Maybe it was a package you could order from the mill when they were first created.

The window on the left on the second floor was my room.  Actually it was for my older brother and I (he just turned 47).  Many of our nefarious activities started with popping out the window and screen and then climbing out onto the flat roof of the kitchen.  In our minds we were sneaky but I'm sure the thunk-thunk of feet on the ceiling brought more than frustrated yells; I'm sure there were a few resigned smiles as well.  A lot happens when you're young without the Internet, phones or video games.  This roof was a launching point for plenty of experiments, including umbrella tests for slowed descent, fireworks and stargazing.

Entrance to the "Hill"

The house was right in the middle of town.  If I ever write an autobiography, the hill is going to play an important role in my childhood.  The house was right smack in the middle of the downtown area.  The road in front is a US highway and we fell asleep to the sounds of tractor trailers downshifting just in front of the house to slow themselves before the hairpin corner by the mill and the school just a block away.  Behind the house was the hill.  Since we were at the bottom of the valley that wove through town we had majestic rock bluffs across the road past the railroad tracks and a large, undeveloped hill behind all the houses.  Above the hill was another street and similar houses (actually the middle of the hill because it kept going) but there was this oasis in the middle stretching behind all the houses that was the playground for the dozen or so kids that lived nearby.  When people ask how I spent my summers it was on the hill.  We'd scurry out at 7 in the morning and return at dark.  It was within earshot of the house but we were a thousand miles away from everyone.

The living room where we had every Christmas, every sleepover, more than enough TV and movies and a thousand memories.  When I grew up the carpet was green and felt like it was the original.  On the other side of the spindles used to be the front porch.

Like many houses, a narrow, steep staircase led to the upstairs and the bedrooms.

Moving on and moving out was something I encountered more than twenty years ago when college and marriage pushed me along.  I can't go back any more since the house has been sold but, even though it was a modest life, it was one I look back on with fond memories.  You can't go back in time and change anything but the events make you who you are today.  I turned out OK.

Evelyn and Waverly

Skipping ahead a few decades and Evelyn gets to sit with Waverly (grand-niece) on the deck at my Mom's new house.  A new chapter (no pun) for her and a bright future for both cousins enjoying some time together making memories.

Last week we went on an Expedition to the chain of lakes.  Without cramming a bunch of pictures into this post, I'll share my part in the whole deal"

Captain of the SS Trackside

Our Expedition out to the Eagle River Chain was a great Opportunity for some hands-on lake ecology study and gathering some needed data, but for me it was a study in the properties of waves and buoyancy.  With 15 mph winds the pontoon boat was tossed around and launching and landing it were a good test for me.  Not sure how well I would have floated with the three-sizes-too-small life jacket.  Would have been a good chance for a "fat man in a little lifejacket" song.  It was a great time to be out on the lake and a wonderful alternative way to learn.

Ruffed grouse from the opener in Michigan.  Taken at camp.

 Opportunity comes at all times of the day with tons of different activities.  Just looking at the grouse we shot on Saturday morning ties into the adaptations nature makes for camouflage.  Fall is a great time to be out in the woods walking around reflecting on different things you can find.  Pics and thoughts together with directed instruction can go a long way for understanding your standards.

Really getting to like this view.

At the end of the last couple of weeks I've traveled back home, spent time with family, worked in a job I love in a way I love and had many opportunities to learn.  I hope everyone who takes the time to sit down and read this takes Opportunity in their own lives to look around, talk to others and relax by the campfire.

. . . I can't help but point out the solar panels in the background.  Anyone for alternative energy discussions?