For the bookworm in all of us~

Hello everyone out there in the early morning hours from here in a place that as the "crow flies" is only a stone's throw away from the state of Utah.  Hey, I'm going to jump right to a question for you all.  When was the last time you picked up a good book to read?  It doesn't really matter from which genre it is found and ok, ok it's probably the teacher in me but are you reading?  I hope so.

Yesterday when I got home from school I found a package delivered by the postal service with a return address that made me smile, BIG time.  Up in the left hand corner, neatly written it read "Hutchinson, Kansas" and I knew exactly what it might be.  Inside was a birthday gift from two of my children, Grahame and Ursela.  As I shook it and began to unwrap it, I knew what they had sent me.  Nestled underneath sheets of the Hutch News was the greatest gift that teacher's kids could send to their mama~two new books to read this winter time.  

When I was back home in Kansas during my class reunion now nearly two weeks back, I mentioned to Grahame that my good friend Kathy Hanks had suggested a book for me to read.  Called "Nothing Daunted", it tells the story of two women who, bored with their life in upstate New York, decide to head to the West and become school teachers in northwestern Colorado.  The adventures they encountered there, beginning in the summer of 1916, sound kinda familiar to me as a school teacher from Kansas.  Kathy knew that I could probably identify with their lives and told me I should read it.  I only mentioned it in passing to Grahame but unbeknownst to me, he went out immediately and found it with the intention of mailing it to me for my birthday on the 26th.  That boy!

But they didn't stop with just one book and actually the second choice brought an even bigger smile to my face.  My favourite musical group, hands down of all times, is Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.  For you little kids reading this who will not even know of whom I speak, well you need to just find someone slightly older than you, most any really grown up person will do, and ask them about CSNY.  The copy of Graham Nash's "Wild Tales" tells his story of life as a rock singer and all that he went through to get from "there" to "here".  After reading the first chapter last night, it's a wonder that he or anyone from that era was able to survive all of the things that they subjected themselves to.  It kinda put life in perspective when I read the fact that he was born in 1942 and as I quickly did the math in my head, I realized that he turned 71 this year.  Wow, that was kind of a shock to me and surely the mid-20 something young guy with long hair and a beard is the very same man with white hair and wrinkles to the face shown on the back cover.  In my mind, they are still frozen on in time, singing my favourite song of theirs, "Suite:  Judy Blue Eyes" on the stage at Woodstock in 1969.  If I can keep my eyes open long enough tonight, I intend to see what is in store for the second chapter.  I love to read.

Before I close, I'm going to climb up on my teacher's soapbox and put in a plug for family reading. Some evening soon, preferably tonight, give this a try. Please dear friends, turn off the TV and walk away from the computer. Tuck your cell phone away and refuse to check it for a moment or two. Find a place, a quiet one, where you can sit down and crack open a good book.  Encourage your children, even the big ones, to sit down and join you with theirs.  Shoot, it wouldn't even hurt to make it a nightly ritual.  Imagine the possibilities that would arise from a scheduled 20-minute "we're going to be reading tonight" routine.  Oh yeah, and by the way another idea here.  We all read to our kids when they are little, but how many of you continue reading to them as they grow older?  It might seem strange to some as you say to your 11-year old, "Hey, I'd like to read this story to you." but I really believe that no matter how old they seem to have become, they still need to hear YOU read from time to time.  Just my thought on that one, for whatever it might be worth.  

Well the clock on the kitchen wall says I have very little time before I need to pack up my things and head to Olathe, just a few miles up the road from here in Montrose.  When I get there, 18 fourth graders will be waiting for me.  We spend most of the afternoon in reading and I'm really glad to say that they love it.  As a teacher, I gotta tell you that it's a whole lot easier to teach a child to read when they have the "taste" for it already.  Reading is a lifelong skill and passion.  I hope you feel the same.  

Have a great day everyone out there and take care of yourselves and of one another.  When all else is gone, what we have left is each other.  This is the 29th day of October, 2013 and I'm gonna call it a great day to be a "reader" in and when we lay our heads on the pillow in rest tonight, it will have been an even greater day to be alive in.

One of my favourite pictures of us all together way back in 2004.  Wow, seems hard to believe that 9 years have passed us by.  Grahame (named for Graham Nash), Ursela and Ricky.  I taught Grahame and Ursela when they were in first and second grade.  They all towered over me then and hey, I haven't grown much taller since then :)