The first time I ever heard of mentoring was from my mom. I was young and she was an elementary school teacher. She had a new student who had significant struggles at home. Mom became her mentor. She helped the girl meet classmates, form friendships, get to know her way around and even met ...

Time to hit the books and refresh on the basics. As I read through some of my old favorite textbooks, preparing to teach again, I thought of previous teachers. Some favorites come to mind. Mrs. Wilde, my first-grade teacher who cemented my love for reading and for learning. A scattering of ...

I’ve been thinking of hard times lately. Not necessarily the hard times that come from outside causes, but the ones we bring on ourselves. How we ignore what needs to be done. Or complain about it, just all “woe is me’ bemoaning our plight. Or pretending it’s all fine, just part of the ...

As I hike familiar trails, and trails that are new to me, this season, the naturalist’s creed has been on my mind. The version I recall learning as a teen, “Take nothing but pictures. Leave nothing but footprints. Kill nothing but time.” I was told that was the caver’s motto. When I ...

Mom, Mom, MOm, MOM, MOOOOOM! Just like a toddler wanting attention, our little screens are beeping, booping, chirping, pinging, ringing and singing for our attention all the time. Day and night if we let them. It is incessant. Our attention is a valuable commodity. Enough so that most media ...

There was already a line Saturday morning when I went to Origin Coffee to pick up some breakfast. I’d put on my mask to go in, but as I looked in the door around the line, I didn’t see the usual table for pick-up orders. I was early for it anyway and stood at the end of line. Seeing the ...