| February 2011 Daniel Taylor |
February 4 (Friday) 6:05 pm
Ice has visited Riverbend, as can be seen in the picture I took below. The picture looks toward the house,
taken through one of the crepe myrtles in the front yard. Fortunately, no significant damage to any of the
flora about the house has resulted from the ice storm; and even more fortunately, no damage to the house
has ensued.
The Willow Oak crew, which now must be referred to (I guess) as the "Riverbend" crew all are in good
health both physically and mentally. I hope to erect a fence about the yard soon to accommodate the
driving needs of the dogs to run around and stretch their legs.
School was dismissed early on Thursday, and we had today off as well. Louisiana does not fare well with
inclement weather such as ice.
February 8 (Tuesday) 5:45 am
Snow expected for tomorrow. Besides school closing, the only real worry for Riverbend is snow
accumulation on the trees. We have several very old, very large trees that hover over the house, and a
heavy snow accumulation could spell havoc. Here's hoping that we pull through relatively unscathed.
February 12 (Saturday) 4:25 pm
The snow did not come. We experienced some very cold precipitation, but not cold enough to be of the
frozen variety.
Today the weather was warm enough for our high school baseball team to host a baseball "jamboree" at the
high school baseball field. The sky was clear, and the sun was bright. Spring break from school is only two
weeks away.
February 17 (Thursday) 4:32 am
Talk about a weather change! Last week and the week before we were held in the grip of a deep freeze and
inclement weather; this week the temps are causing some people to run their air conditioners at night.
Friday ends the fourth six-week period of the school year, and I've finally begun to settle in really good.
New teachers and teachers new to the district must be formally observed once each semester, and I have
fared well in each of mine. Students tend to cooperate whenever an administrator is present in class, but
most of the students I've had this year have behaved well all along anyway.
Sam has a nasty contusion on his cheek. I'm certain his sore is a result of a fight he had with Fred, but the
fight occurred two weeks ago, and to have such a persistent sore is troublesome for Sam and for me. Sam
does not appear to be excessively bothered by his sore, but it sure does bother me.
My friend, Cliff, may come for a visit during spring break week, which is the first week of March.
February 24 (Thursday) 5:20 am
I've been "under the weather" lately, but am feeling better this morning. According to my philosophy that I
would rather "crawl in sick than call in sick," I managed to make it to work Tuesday and yesterday. Sam had
his visit to the vet and appears to be better. He had a nasty infection, and I just could stand it no more. He
got cleaned up really good and received some antibiotics and spray. During it all, Sam always kept up his
good and spritely disposition.
February 25 (Friday) 9:35 pm
Spring break begins. Ten days off until we return to school. One of the down sides of being a teacher is
one week off for Thanksgiving; two weeks off for Christmas; one week spring break; here-and-there federal
holidays; and two and a half-months off for summer. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it.
My plans for this time off is to catch up on some much needed work: there is still much school work
preparation to do, and there is work around the house in need of attention. I am hoping to expand the area
the dogs have to play in the yard. I also hope to fix some way for the cats to go outside without escaping
the yard.
I am thinking of reviving an idea I had some back involving a "soap box." I am back in the education field,
and many ideas and frustrations are resurfacing from when I taught several years ago.
February 26 (Saturday) 6:25 am
Per my usual practice of dragging my carcass to work when sick I managed to make it to work every day this
week despite fever and sore throat and congestion and headaches. Years ago I attended a church where I
heard the pastor say, "I would rather crawl in sick than call in sick." I adopted the motto. Now I have a
week-plus to recuperate.
Also, per my usual practice, I am at the computer on an early Saturday morning working and preparing for
when I return to school. Thanks to "No Child Left Behind," all public high school students must pass a
battery of national, standard tests in order to receive a high school diploma. I have no real objection to
such a test -- it only increased the demand for good math teachers. In the meantime we must spend most of
our remaining school year tutoring students for the tests, and I plan to spend some time preparing myself
for that.