Dear Friends,
Yesterday was my friend Rick's birthday. I missed it. I sort of celebrated him last year at this time because I wrote about our drive across country in October of 2021, but that wasn't really a birthday treat. I should tell you about him.
Rick is the kind of guy who will drive across country with you on Fall Break. He's the type of guy that will put in long hours behind the wheel and enjoy a cold beer with you when it is all said and done. Or many cold beers, to be honest. We had a time when he came to Rangeley with me and there were lots of dead soldiers (empty beers) to prove it, much to Rhondi's chagrin.
We met back in grade school, but we weren't close friends in those days. Rick was the type of guy, though, way more so than me, who could hang out with anybody and I always admired that about him. It seemed like he was friends with everyone and that's good quality to have. As we got older, our paths would occasionally cross and started to get to know each other a bit better, here and there, and when he moved back from Asia several years ago, we connected more often.
Last year, we taught the same grade at the same school and our friendship really blossomed. He's had quite a year, which is his story to tell, but I hope I've been the type of friend to help make that year a bit better. I've had those years, too, and they are not fun. We enjoy playing golf and horse shoes and talking about what joys our students are, even when they are not living up to what we hope they will be.
Sorry I missed your birthday, pal, on the blog here. Hope it was an excellent day.
*****
I went to a training yesterday that was really good. The woman who did the training kept things moving and had our attention throughout, which is not bad for an almost three hour block of instruction. I hope she was handsomely rewarded for her efforts. I certainly feel like I got good stuff out of it and look forward to implementing the material we covered in my classroom. I need all the help I can get getting my young reader to flourish a bit more, especially those who are just learning English.
Towards the end of the training, the Superintendent of my district sat down next to me while I was sharing with my small group. She seemed to be impressed with what I had to say, which was nice, and was very pleasant. She stayed at our table for the rest of the training and I feel like that was a good sign.
I was also the only male teacher there out of about fifty teachers. It felt a little strange, to be honest, but there was not waiting for me during the obligatory pee break. I had the whole crapper to myself. It was glorious.
*****
Put new strings on my bass, too. Getting it ready for the onslaught. Lookout eardrums!
See you tomorrow.
Rick and I were playing Encanto a few months ago and I got this pic.
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