Irish Thanksgiving Blessing
From our house to yours this Thanksgiving Day…
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11, 2022
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11, 2022
Thanksgiving Blessings
The American holiday is not celebrated in Ireland. Likely as not, my Irish forefathers never heard of an attitude of gratitude. All the same so many Irish blessings and quotations show a deep awareness of the importance of showing appreciation for our blessings.This is one of my favorites:
“Hem your blessings with thankfulness,
So they don’t unravel.”
Chicken Wrangler Sara and I will be gathering with our family this week to count our blessings. See you next week.
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11, 2022
Duck Ears
A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara
Roosters have the reputation of being the noisiest birds on the farm. However, the ducks on Miller farm are really loud. A friend told me it sounds like they are laughing. I try to remember that when they annoy me.
The amazing thing is they seem to know when I open the back door and they start “laughing.” This gets the chickens started causing quite a cacophony at 6:00 in the morning.
I was wondering aloud if ducks have ears when Beekeeper Brian informed me that ducks actually have good hearing. This explains the effectiveness of duck calls in the hands of hunters. It makes perfect sense.
So then, I wondered what a duck ear looks like. I had to look at pictures because the ducks were not cooperating when I tried to examine their heads.
I saw nothing resembling ears.
So I did what any tech-savvy person would do and googled “do ducks have ears?” Up popped the article “Understanding Waterfowl: The five senses.”
According to this article “Waterfowl ears lack external appendages and are located slightly behind and below the eyes. The ear openings are covered with soft feathers, called auriculars, which offer protection and help muffle the sound of the wind when the birds are in flight.”
Very interesting! Now that I have learned something new today, can I go back to bed?
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11, 2022
Cicero on Gratitude
In this month of emphasis on gratitude, I’m an author who is grateful to and thankful for
readers who read my books.
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11, 2022
Gratitude begins with Thankfulness
Blogging about thankfulness and gratitude in November is cliché.
On the other hand, there’s no better time than the month when our nation pauses for a whole day to give thanks.
Ralph Waldo Emerson suggested we should “cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously.”
Here are two ideas that can help focus an attitude of thankfulness.
Use social media
Author friend Daphne Dyer is doing 30 Days of Gratitude posts this month. She suggests daily topics and gives her answers. Check out her posts on Facebook for daily gratitude inspiration.
Another friend Shelia Athens uses every Thursday to share gratitude posts all year.
Keep a gratitude list.
It can be hard to think of something to be thankful for, especially when those terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad days gang up. Research shows over time the act of physically writing out a daily list can produce a grateful attitude.
Writing’s not for you? Try grateful beads to help recall things to be thankful for.
I use a string of ten beads. Three beads remind me to be grateful for three people who touch my life. Six beads for six things, events, and occurrences, and the final bead reminds me to give thanks to our creator.
There are many options on Etsy Pinterest also has lots of ideas.
I discovered an M&M thankful game. Pick a color, name something I’m thankful for, and eat the M&M. Now that’s a game I can get into. Bring on the M&Ms.
Being grateful is a choice. Wouldn’t it be lovely to seek out things to be thankful for daily rather than only one day or one month per year?
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11, 2022
Reminder
A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara
I am not sure there is a rougher week for teachers than the week of Halloween. And if Halloween is on a Monday, as it was this year, the week stretches into almost two weeks.
Our Fall Festival was on Friday then they had a Haunted House at the school on Monday evening. We are still feeling the effects two days later.
In times like these, I find myself doing more correcting than cheering.
As I greeted students this morning, I noticed one of my “happy notes” in the outside pocket of a backpack. These are just small pieces of paper with a positive message that I hand out to kids who have done a good job in music.
It made me smile. I forget how much it means to students to be recognized.
In a culture that gives trophies for everything, sometimes just a small note can make a huge difference.
I am determined to look for students doing a good job from now on. It is an important reminder as we head into more weeks of craziness between now and Christmas.
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11, 2022
Veterans Day Gratitude
Veterans Day is the day set aside to honor all those who have served our country in war or peace — dead or alive — although it’s largely intended to thank living veterans for their sacrifices.
Pause a moment this Veterans Day to say “thank you” to a friend, relative, or co-worker who is a U.S. military veteran or actively serving.
Spectators and veterans hold up “Thank You” signs during the 2012 Fayetteville Veterans Day parade, Nov. 10, 2012 in Fayetteville, N.C.
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11, 2022
My love of Robots
Machines that do repetitious jobs using AI are manpower savers. Industry has employed robots for years.
As a longtime Star Wars fan, robots and droids fascinate me. I love watching these guys.
Back in my elementary school teaching days, I taught a robotics unit where we designed robots with Legos and wrote essays about the robot’s use. No automation, but each design had to have a purpose.
The kids loved the designing part…hated the writing part.
Legos advanced to motorized remote control robot kits and robotic competitions. Two of my grandchildren competed in several and won several
Robots are marvelous things for industry and movies. Now we have robots designed for repetitious household tasks.
I never realized how much of a good thing a household robotic vacuum would be until C-3P0 came to live at our house. I was always skeptical that a machine could vacuum as well as a human. Then our OES Finn was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that causes him to lose his hair.
Sick and tired of having to vacuum every day, we took the plunge and bought a robotic vacuum. Named after the Stars Wars robot, C-3PO is a marvel.
Using a phone app to control where he goes, we watch C-3PO buzz along sweeping the floors over rugs and door thresholds.
So does Finn.
When C-3PC’s finished, he gives a beep-beep like a roadrunner and heads to his station to recharge.
From teaching kids about robots to owning one—life’s amazing!
What next?
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11, 2022
New Challenges
A Blog by Chicken Wrangler Sara
Life has presented many challenges over the past few years, the most notable being the COVID-19 pandemic. Teachers had to rethink everything they did to protect themselves and their students from an unseen virus.
The current challenge also deals with protection, this time from threats of violence.
Schools across the state are being required to implement new security procedures including various drills to prepare for different dangers. In my school, we have had all the doors fitted with crash bars allowing them to be opened from the inside while remaining locked on the outside. This required that all the locks be replaced.
Since all doors are now required to be locked at all times, teachers are carrying multiple keys. While I understand the rationale behind these measures, it makes getting around the campus a little more difficult.
I now carry five keys: one for the sanctuary where I teach, one for the teacher’s workroom, the office, the cafeteria, and the room where I hold choir rehearsal.
I also have an Allen wrench to keep the door unlocked during morning assembly so students can enter after eating breakfast.
It is a little complicated and somewhat overwhelming.
Once we are safely in our room, though, we can sing, move, listen and play to our heart’s content, forgetting, if just for a moment, that the world is becoming increasingly scary.
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11, 2022
