Looking back...

Looking back over 2008 there are two happenings that stick out: our family gathering in California early in the summer and our kayaking. For Christmas I made posters for Nicki to celebrate both of those events.

Happy Holidays!

Oliver wishes everyone happy holidays! May Santa bring you plenty of treats, may the squirrels stay away from your bird feeders, and may the weather allow for walks and car rides and chasing balls in the snow.

Free Dog Food for Voting!

Oliver thinks it is a good idea.

Michigan Trip

Nicki and I were part of a guided canoe/kayak tour in several loosely connected lakes including Gun Lake in Michigan. We started with a champagne brunch on the launch ramp, entered the water on one smallish lake (where we met the swans and geese), went through a culvert to another (where we met the turtle), carried our boats across a road to a narrow waterway through the tall cattails and weeds, which eventually flowed into Gun Lake. Afterwards we had a late lunch at Sam’s Joint. The weather was perfect, the company good, and the guide got us through the maze of cattails. Nobody got wet and nobody complained. A very good day.

Oliver and his Ball

Oliver has a strong attraction to balls - tennis balls, soccer balls, great big exercise balls. This particular ball became very deflated soon after this video was filmed (teeth do that) but that doesn't stop Oliver from trying to play with it. I think a major expense for us will be ball replacement.

Evening update: We found a supplier for the exercise balls so Oliver has a brand new toy (with two extra backups handy). We even had a choice of three colors! He barked his joy watching me pump up the new one - and I think I've learned what the "exercise" in "exercise ball" means. I can see a strong possibility of a new video forthcoming.

PS: Can you name that tune?

Oliver

Meet Oliver, our newest dog. So far he's shown that he can really herd an exercise ball. And he has "come", "sit", "down", "stay", and "heel" mastered but I predict we adults may be a little lax with consistent enforcement. We'll see how that works out. It may be interesting as we get accustomed again to sharing a house with a dog.

Fallen Tree

We had a bit of a problem during a storm last night. The top third of a very large sweet-gum tree broke off in the high winds and came down in our yard but luckily leaned gently(?) onto the front of our house. It smushed the rain gutter but didn't penetrate the roof or break our big living room picture window. We weren't at our house during the fall but had a call soon from a neighbor. Early morning call to the insurance agent. Possible appointment later today with our tree trimmer guy. And maybe some roof work?

The storm also knocked out power in our section of Oberlin for almost 12 hours which gave us an evening of candlelight and a lot less technology. But nice that our cellphones did work.

California Trip - Summer 2008

To see the photos in much larger screen-size versions, click on the photo group title that appears when you slide your mouse cursor over the bottom left corner of the small photo. When you get to the Picassa site collection click on the "Slideshow" link. There are 5 groups of photos in this post.


Wedding Celebration

Held at the Roberts Regional Recreation Area, near Oakland. Friends and family of Sarah and Sergio. A beautiful Sunday afternoon.


Yosemite Valley & Evergreen Lodge

Monday’s breakfast was in downtown Alameda. Arrived in the valley of the Yosemite National Park mid-afternoon. Began with a walk to the Lower Yosemite Falls. Martin climbed to the base of the falls while Sarah, Laura, Nicki and I waited and watched and played with the cameras. On the drive out of the valley we spotted a bear (tagged 31) and a one-antlered deer in the same meadow. Arrived just at sunset at the Evergreen Lodge and had dinner in their outside area and roasted marshmallows in the fireplace of the recreational building (internet access and free landline phone). Watched a few shooting stars on the balconies of our cabins. Tuesday began with Martin and Sarah climbing up to a pool beneath Bridal Veil Falls, lunch in the Ahwahnee Dining Room, walking in the valley, and then back to the Evergreen Lodge. A good sunset, great dinner again in the outside dining area, more marshmallow roasting. Nicki spotted a deer running between our cabins.


Carlon Falls - Tuolumne River

Kids woke up Wednesday with a scorpion in their bathtub. Martin relocated it to a more natural environment. Goal for the day was to swim beneath a waterfall. Headed for Carlon Falls near the Evergreen Lodge on the northern border of Yosemite National Park. We thought it would be a nice scenic walk along the Tuolumne River but it turned out to be a mile and a half one-way of undeveloped trail with some steep ups and downs. You wonder what you’ve got yourself into but the falls was worth the exercise. Nice drive back to Alameda. Dinner with Sergio at Zachary’s Pizza Excellent deep dish pizza - not Lorenzos- but the best on the west coast.


San Francisco Chinatown

Started Thursday with a great breakfast in Oakland - Rockridge Cafe. Then we drove into San Francisco and did a walking tour of the Chinatown area. Finally we drove south along the coast to the Half Moon Bay area watching surfers and pelicans with dinner at the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company.


California Coast - Beginning & End of Trip

Photos taken Sunday along the coast near our hotel in Alameda at the beginning of our trip and Thursday near Half Moon Bay at the end of our trip just before going to the airport for the overnight flight home. Touchdown Friday morning in Cleveland at 6:30 AM.

Around the house...

Got a new camera - a Nikon D300. I do this every couple years to keep pace with the technology. Here's a few experimental shots around the house taken yesterday before, during, and after a summer thunderstorm. To see the shots in a bigger slideshow form just click on the D300 link above and then "slideshow". Nicki wasn't left out - she got a Nikon D60 which is smaller and lighter and has a few less of the gizmos I like playing with.

Kayak Season Begins Again

It's been a busy spring so kayak season started late and slowly. So far Nicki and I have only been to our local favorite Findley Lake and a smaller and less eventful lake near it. Photos above from several visits to Findley Lake - Blue Herons, Green Heron, Night Heron, Turtle, and a Birdhouse.

Portrait in Rods

Two of my favorite 4th grade students decided to create portraits of several teachers using cuisennaire rods during our math class. I was their first subject and I think they captured me well.

"Hat Day" at Prospect

It was Hat Day at my school - Prospect Elementary School. Note the new computers in the background.

Poetry Reading

My 3rd graders read their favorite poems by Shel Silverstein.
Click on the run arrow to start the readings.

Visitor

This is the 2nd or 3rd year that our local white squirrel has dined at our birdfeeders. Our only worry is that he/she makes an easy target for the hawks that frequent our yard especially now that we've lost our snow. There are several white squirrels in Oberlin but this one resides in our neighborhood. She/he does not socialize with the routinely colored squirrels. We often hear the rumble of their chases across our roof.

Independent Study Fair

This is what I do this time of the year. We had 46 kids working on independent research projects since last November and presenting in a big fair with judges last Wednesday evening. A list of projects and the kids' work can be found here with almost 300 photos here.

A good time was had by all - kids, parents, and the 51 judges we had working that evening. The kids are already talking about next year's projects.

A Little Too Much Snow

It started snowing early Friday afternoon and after school I shoveled the driveway. Today (Saturday) I've snowblowed twice (after doing some maintenance work on its sparkplug and muffler) and it is still snowing. A good old-fashioned snowstorm - a blizzard. In between snowblowings I went out for gas and house stuff. Glad I have all-wheel drive and snow tires. Still had to dodge the college kids walking in the unplowed streets.

Of course, Nicki just left to go to a student's piano recital at the Con. I warned her about the adverse conditions. Now I'm waiting for her phone call so I can tell her I told her so. (PS - She made it there and back but reports conditions as awful)

Dog Tracks in Snow

Well the snow kept coming last night and now we have a total of about a foot. No school again. Got a 6:00 AM call form the Superintendent requesting several event cancelation notices to go on the district website.

Part of my morning was taking the snow blower out to clear the drives - just like yesterday. Nicki had to go into work. Oberlin College's motto when it comes to weather and all else: "Fearless". She took her camera and got shots around the Conservatory while I contained myself at home.

I'd call last night's debate a draw. A little testy at times which was expected. And they both sounded like Democrats which helps. Didn't change my vote.

Bird Tracks in Snow

Four to eight inches of snow - the magic numbers with the magic words. And we have no school today. We haven't had many full 5-day weeks in school lately. Next week the kids have Elections Day off while the teachers work.

Once again it is time to remember the exposure compensation numbers for snow photos (+1).

Tonight is the Democratic debate in Cleveland. I'm sure they will spend some time talking about the weather. Ohio must be important again. Nice to have so many phone conversations with my union brothers. They sure want to know how I'm going to vote next Tuesday.

Valentines Day

For our celebration of the day (and yet very spontaneously) Nicki and I went into Cleveland to see the Cleveland Orchestra play. They did a Hungarian opera selection called Bluebeard's Castle by Bartok about a bad duke who takes his new bride to his dark and gloomy castle. She finds 7 locked doors and wants them opened to brighten up the place. It's the old fatal "if you love me there will be no secrets". He suggests she leave the doors locked and don't ask questions but she insists. First door finds a torture chamber with walls covered with blood. Second door finds all his bloody weapons of war. Third door finds jewels and riches - splattered with blood. Fourth door finds a garden and more blood everywhere. Fifth door finds some other bloody stuff - I forget what. He keeps telling her he loves her and please stop asking - but she doesn't of course. Sixth door finds a lake of tears (symbolizing sadness over running out of blood?). And the last door finds his three dead former wives - which she joins. And he's back to being alone and sad. It really fit the valentines theme perfectly. Somebody had a sense of humor about scheduling. The singers and narrator actually did the lyrics in Hungarian and they ran the subtitles off a thing hanging from the ceiling and their voices were fantastic. The orchestra was great - very moody. We had good seats and the tickets were free (Nicki has connections at the office).

Ursula

Ursula Stechow
1911 - 2008

One of her grandchildren jokingly said that Ursula was one of the three most powerful beings in the universe, along with Yoda from Star Wars and Mr. Miyagi from Karate Kid. Indeed, Ursula Stechow was a powerful figure in Oberlin for many years. Her influence was felt both here and abroad. When she saw that something needed fixing in the city or on the campus, she made the call that got it fixed. When someone needed to be heard by an influential music critic, she made certain it would happen. In spite of her tiny size, Ursula commanded attention, demanded action, and was loved and respected in this community and around the globe.

No one was less pretentious than Ursula. She treated everyone with equal respect, but she also had equally high expectations of everyone, regardless of position or station in life. As a beloved French teacher at Langston Middle School in Oberlin, she was an inspiration for many young minds to pursue careers in teaching French. She also taught French and her native German to other interested students of all ages. Nobody understood the English language better than Ursula, who was often fierce and quick with corrections.

Ursula’s caring nature for animals (she was once dubbed “the bird woman of Oberlin”) and for friends she helped through their elderly years, her recognition and sponsorship of talented musicians, and her commitment to the arts made her a beloved part of the Oberlin community. But nothing in life was more important to her than music. Music was Ursula’s soul. A fine violinist, she enjoyed playing chamber music with family and friends. She was also a “consumer” of fine music performed by others, sometimes critical but always understanding and appreciative. And she loved and believed in Solfege as the basis for teaching and learning music.

Ursula Hoff was born in Hanover, Germany on February 15, 1911. She met her future husband, Wolfgang Stechow, when he was conducting the orchestra in which she played at the University of Goettingen, Germany, where she was studying medicine. They were married in 1932 and emigrated to the United States in 1936, when Dr. Stechow’s career was threatened by the Nazi government. After four years in Madison, Wisconsin, the Stechow family moved to Oberlin where Wolfgang was a professor of Art History.

Ursula passed away on January 16, 2008, at the age of 96. She was preceded in death by her husband in 1974. She is survived by her son, Hans-Axel (Norma) of Oberlin, daughters Barbara Harris (Bob) of Lansing, Michigan, and Nicola Memmott (John) of Oberlin, nine grandchildren, six great grandchildren, and one great, great grandchild.

The family is planning a memorial service for sometime in the future. Memorial contributions may be made to the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute - Oberlin Conservatory of Music, 77 West College St., Oberlin, Ohio 44074-1588, the Oberlin Schools Endowment Fund, 153 North Main St., Oberlin, Ohio 44074, or OASIS Animal Shelter, PO Box 11, Oberlin, Ohio 44074-0011.

Seasonal Lights

The deer are ours. The bicycles are in the front yard of the Oberlin Inn.

A Hatbox from Connecticut

Laura lives in Connecticut. Norma had this hatbox.

"A Christmas Story" House

The movie "A Christmas Story" is set in Hammond, Indiana, and most of the film was shot in various locations but the exterior shots of the house were filmed in Cleveland, Ohio. Nicki, Laura, Sarah and I had a real nice mid-afternoon dinner at the Great Lakes Brewing Company and on our way home we did a quick visit to the "A Christmas Story" house and museum. The neighborhood is a little worn being in a depressed section of the city and only a half-mile from the former steel mill area (now a shopping mall of course). If you have time to kill in Cleveland we highly recommend a visit to the museum. Get directions - it's not easy to find. (Photos mostly by Sarah)