Teachers: It’s Always About the Connection

“Perhaps you could come over one afternoon, and we could sit here and speak French?” Ms. Lenard suggested as I got up to leave almost four hours later. And that’s when I realized something about her and, really, about all great teachers: It’s always about the connection. For that reason, “Jeunes Voix” did for me what textbooks seldom achieve: It made me want to learn. It reached me by coming to me instead of asking me to go to it.

Upon leaving, I sheepishly asked Ms. Lenard to sign my aging copy of “Jeunes Voix.” She obliged, signing the page opposite a portrait of Christine. “Thank you, Courtney, for keeping both Christine & me alive and feeling loved. Yvone.”
-Courtney Lichterman

Courtney Lichterman is a freelance travel writer.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/30/education/edlife/christine-eustrade-french-lesson.html

Dream

I dreamed I had a studio in downtown Providence and I was looking out a tall window that had a view of the east side. As I was staring at the landscape I saw a pink marble building come crashing down and bounce. A bunch of police officers lined up in formation squatting and one officer opened a door. They responded as if there was a bad smell but it was a terrorist inside the building.

Today

Today Bill and I played fetch with Romeo in the ball field at Turbesi Park. He quickly understood if he dropped the ball we'd throw it for him. He ran like crazy and after a few throws he flopped down with the ball and was biting at the grass surrounding the ball. He loves this. It's a way of eviscerating an imagined animal.

We ran into Erin with her Rosie and Annabelle and the dogs were chilled out and happy to meet. Then we walked to the river behind the pond and played fetch with Romeo close to the shore so he could dip into the water bit by bit. I threw one ball off leash about ten feet out and Romeo had his first moment of swimming. He bobbed for the tennis ball a few times but he did okay. He hung onto the ball most of the way home. We saw two sun dogs in the sky. I showed a woman and her two sons how to spot them. "Right above and between those two trees!" I offered them my sun glasses to see.

Mike the Roofer

"My wife and I adopted a purebred dog, it was very high strung and we were in a little apartment. We were working 14 hour days. We'd come home to a three legged chair and a one armed jacket."
- Mike the Roofer

Swimming

Today I drove to the pool after many weeks. I knew I'd be rusty but I also knew I was due for a swim. It was the right thing to do. It lifted my spirits. I enjoyed using my swim muscles and it made me smile for the rest of the day.

Ram Dass on Mythology

https://www.ramdass.org/function-mythology-affect-culture/

Listen to

Krugman

Haunted

It's probably no accident that haunted is the theme in late October. This is the time of year when my self doubt creeps in.

Sinking In

My friend Peter is afraid of dogs the way I am afraid of receive-mode. His fear of canines creates tension that can frighten a dog. I saw him yesterday and he consciously tried not to be afraid of my dog. He stuck his hands out in a bright gesture that caused Romeo to retreat. I gave some kibble to Peter to feed Romeo. "They say no eye contact," he said, looking away. My dog hunkered down and barked which he rarely does. "He's wagging!" I said.

If I don't give into receive-mode by reading and sinking into the slower energy I will have a more difficult time.

The second half of Autumn which began this week is always rough and it has the holidays mashed up in it. February and March I love. Now that I think of it I like half of every season.

Human-Canine Irony

An unneutered large dog came charging at Romeo as we walked through a parking lot. Romeo was on a leash held by me. Romeo was polite but when the dog got nasty Romeo stood his ground. They sounded awful but luckily nobody got hurt. The sad part is I know the owner and the back story is she didn't neuter her dog because it seemed "unnatural" which reminds me of the mothers who won't vaccinate their kids thereby jeopardizing the community. Now this woman goes around saying all dogs are dangerous and unfriendly to her monster.

Romeo: An Awesome Toy Hog

Romeo is playing with his four toys all at once. He keeps switching from one toy to the next as if I was going to take them away from him.

Blind Runner

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/24/nyregion/a-blind-runner-and-his-guide-dog.html

Wanda Ramirez

“You have to put your part in,” she said of remaining drug-free. “A miracle doesn’t just walk in the door. If you want to quit, you have to be understanding and compassionate with yourself.” Ms. Ramirez smiled. “Today,” she added, “I walked in with my health.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/25/nyregion/coming-out-of-a-cloud-after-drug-abuse-and-mental-illness.html

Stay in Motion

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/04/well/move/for-your-brains-sake-keep-moving.html

Human Flow

http://www.npr.org/2017/10/13/555652263/-human-flow-offers-a-searing-look-at-the-global-refugee-crisis

Tesla

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/10/25/560045944/tesla-turns-power-back-on-at-childrens-hospital-in-puerto-rico

Do Not Wait

"Do not wait: the time will never be 'just right.' Start where you stand, and work whatever tools you may have at your command and better tools will be found as you go along."
-Napoleon Hill

Glass Half-Full

“We discover that difficult and unwanted thoughts and feelings can be held in awareness, and seen from an altogether different perspective – a perspective that brings with it a sense of warmth and compassion to the suffering we are experiencing.”
https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2015/apr/21/could-mindfulness-therapy-be-an-alternative-to-antidepressants

Jon Kabat Zinn

“The human mind, when it doesn’t do the work of mindfulness, winds up becoming a prisoner of its myopic perspectives that puts ‘me’ above everything else,” he says. “We are so caught up in the dualistic perspectives of ‘us’ and ‘them’. But ultimately there is no ‘them’. That’s what we need to wake up to.”
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/oct/22/mindfulness-jon-kabat-zinn-depression-trump-grenfell

“No difficulty, no joy.”

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/sep/17/ai-weiwei-without-the-prison-the-beatings-what-would-i-be