Frank Bird III's Blog (16)

Bird Droppings April 4, 2012

Listening for nature’s call

Lately as I venture out in the wee hours of the morning whip o wills are calling. It has been a few years since I heard them with such regularity. They seem to start after midnight and go till nearly dawn. With a dense stand of pine within one hundred yards of the house the loudest are nearby and then listening carefully in the surrounding area several more calling out. Most nights owls sounding off can be heard and an…

Bird Droppings April 2, 2012

A song of the morning

There is a time each day when bird’s first start singing it is generally just before the sun begins to come up. First one and then another start in and soon birds can be heard throughout the trees. I stood trying to focus on the song with the morning quiet waning and in the early morning mist it was difficult to see much beyond the edge of the light. Today the songs permeated the air. I was wondering as I sat listening how many…

Bird Droppings March 28, 2012

Thinking back to each piece of the puzzle

Officially spring is here and around here daffodils are finishing up and most flowering trees are near full bloom which of course in Georgia means voracious amounts of pine pollen, everything is yellow between rains. While cloudy this morning the air is slightly cool and hidden behind clouds the moon is just starting to come back. The clouds are low lying and creating a haze with the lights from around the…

Bird Droppings March 27, 2012

A morning meandering here and there

Sitting in my classroom which in many ways for me is a sanctuary away from the hustle and bustle of reality I wonder as I sit writing pondering the day ahead. I sit listening to the haunting notes of R. Carlos Nakai a Ute Indian playing a handmade cedar flute and the constant flow of water through my aquarium filters a calming effect and wonder. I had my annual evaluation yesterday and was reminded of my major…

Bird Droppings March 26, 2012

We are where we need to be at the moment

“We are discovering again that we live in a deeply mysterious world,

full of sudden coincidences and synchronistic encounters that seem destined.” James Redfield

Throughout my life I have felt a sense of belonging to that specific moment in time. Often I will pass by a spot that I have passed by hundreds of times and see something new that had previously never caught my attention before but at that…

Bird Droppings March 25, 2012

A beginning or end in a circle is where?

“It is the function of art to renew our perception. What we are familiar with we cease to see. The writer shakes up the familiar scene, and, as if by magic, we see a new meaning in it.” Albert Einstein

Over the past two days we have had family visiting and friends and family coming to the house to celebrate the upcoming marriage of my cousin’s daughter. Last night we had a quick change as a cold front…

Bird Droppings March 19, 2012

Seeking that one moment midst the many moments in life

“Life isn't a matter of milestones, but moments.” Rose Kennedy

In a world filled with near misses everyone seems to be always seeking that one big one that perfect moment and lets close ones pass by unnoticed. I was thinking as I started this morning of my past life experiences in Loss Control Management which I was directly involved with for nearly 25 years as I worked in designing and…

Bird Droppings March 17, 2012

Sadly far too often children will become who we assume they are

“We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today.” Stacia Tauscher

So often I watch teachers treating students simply as things in the class room, items to be dealt with when needed and or if needed. Looking at a semester end test score yet to be, a number in an electronic grade book, or a number to be attained through the curriculum map and…

Bird Droppings March 16, 2012

Actions speak so much louder than words

Look at children. Of course they may quarrel, but generally speaking they do not harbor ill feelings as much or as long as adults do. Most adults have the advantage of education over children, but what is the use of an education if they show a big smile while hiding negative feelings deep inside? Children don’t usually act in such a manner. If they feel angry with someone, they express it, and then it is…

Bird Droppings March 15, 2012

When leaving behind and moving beyond a piece is always left

“All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter into another!” Gail Sheehy, American journalist, author

Yesterday we were informed our current principal was going to the county office a significant advancement for him and a great loss for us. As I look around my room and wonder…

Bird Droppings March 9, 2012

Thinking about Dr. Carl G. Jung and Billy Jack

“If there is anything we wish to change in the child, we should first examine it and see whether it is not something that could better be changed in ourselves.” Carl G. Jung

Over the years I have seen this with myself, so often those attributes we see and are upset with we too have within ourselves. Yesterday I got mad at a student who is very self-centered and focused almost entirely on himself. I…

Bird Droppings March 8, 2012

Examine carefully the threads of life

“Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it.

Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself." Chief Seattle, 1854

When I walk out into the darkness of a morning to give thanks for my day previous and for all to come this day I am always amazed at how I see something new even in the darkness. I was standing listening to the spring peepers chirping away in the small drainage ditch…

Bird Droppings March 7, 2012

A difficult journey

“Use what talent you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best.” Henry Van Dyke

I was visiting with my mother Monday evening and I walked by my fathers and brothers grave site or I should say stood by recalling the day I was called from work almost sixteen years ago that my brother had passed away during the night. I looked about the hillside where he was buried and now my father as…

Bird Droppings March 4, 2012

Grandpa needs to set the example

As I played with my grand baby throughout the weekend the learning that occurs often through simply watching the behavior of adults around her is amazing. One slip with a naughty word from someone and instantly vocabulary is increased even not connecting any significance to the word. Imitating movements as we go through our day is something that amazes me as a small child tries to emulate the parent or grandparent. I…

Bird Droppings March 5, 2012

It is only a dropped feather

"If we consider the eagle feather with its light and dark colors, we could argue that 'the dark colors are more beautiful and, therefore, naturally more valuable,' or vice versa. Regardless of which colors are more beautiful, or necessary, or valuable, the truth is the bottom line: Both colors come from the same feather, both are true, they are connected, and it takes both to fly." Dr. Michael Garrett, Medicine of the…

Bird Droppings February 29, 2012

An owl calling

Last night I woke for a few minutes my wife thought I had left the burner on with a pot still on the stove I had cooked up my world famous chicken and rice for dinner. While up I stuck my nose out the door perhaps intuition who knows when wandering about the house half asleep. Deep in the pines an owl called and of all memories to unlock an instance three years ago flashed before my mind’s eye. It was about three o’clock in the…