“America—you gotta love it!” ~My fiend Jim, after I explained to him what a beer mile is The week began with rest, at least for my legs, though I was busy finishing up my tenure at North High School, smoking ribs for the neighbors on Memorial Day, and planning presentations I am to give at…
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“Extremists have shown what frightens them most: a girl with a book.” ~Malala Yousafzai Monday was the last Monday I’d ever teach a class at the high school level—assuming I don’t resign from my professorship to return to the high school setting someday in the future. Walking into the building felt more and more surreal…
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“I chose Afghanistan.” ~A student in one of my classes, when asked what country she was planning a trip to as part of our final assignment. Trevor Noah, whom I often refer to semi-jocularly as “The Philosopher, Trevor Noah,” once said in a standup comedy routine that “The antidote to ignorance is travel.” I’ve always…
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“They say ‘find a purpose in your life and live it,’ but sometimes it is only after you have lived that you recognize that your life had a purpose, and likely one you never had in mind.” ~Khaled Hosseini The reality that I had resigned from my job settled upon me in much the same…
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“Good things come slow—especially in distance running.” ~Bill Dellinger The nurse at school emailed to suggest I cool it with the running while my Covid symptoms persist. I had forgotten until then that she followed me on social media, and had clearly seen my post about the half marathon I ran on Sunday all by…
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“Don’t try to become a teacher overnight with psychological bookkeeping in your heart and educational theory in your head.” ~Janusz Korczak I ended last week thinking about the fact that Afghanistan has seemingly slipped into the background of the world’s collective conscious. We don’t appear to have room for Afghanistan alongside Ukraine’s war, France’s elections,…
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“We can’t afford to leave Afghanistan to the Taliban and the terrorists.” ~Condoleezza Rice Monday morning we had meetings that didn’t start until 8:30, so I allowed myself an extra half hour of sleep before climbing out of bed to get my run in. I was scheduled for five easy miles, but as I moved…
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“’Marcus was just arrested,’ Casey said, steadying himself. ‘I can’t say why. There’s nothing we can do for him right now, except play the rest of the game like it means something to us.’” ~Paul Volponi, Black and White I slept terribly Sunday night, though I couldn’t say precisely why. When I finally did fall…
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“Ten thousand going once, ten thousand going twice, sold to bidder number seven-five-seven.” ~Stu Smith, vinNEBRASKA Auctioneer since 1990 vinNEBRASKA has been a part of my life, and an important one, for many years now. I was originally invited to be a part of the group, the foundation that plans the annual event, by my…
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“The expert in the law replied, ‘The one who had mercy on him.’ Jesus told him, ‘Go and do likewise.’” ~Luke 10:37 (NIV) It had been a while, quite a long while, actually, since I had opened a Bible to read it. As a World Religions teacher, my focus on religion has been largely academic…
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