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)

School Uniforms?

A couple weeks ago someone suggested to our school board that they institute school uniforms for our students.
So I thought this would be a good opportunity for a language arts experience for my students as well as a way to gather some input from those that would be most effected by the school board's decision. And another nice way to use technology. So I set up a blog on my classroom website. To get to the blog just click on the word blog. Keep in mind that most of the comments are my 3rd, 4th, and 6th grade students with several posts submitted by older brother and sisters, a few parents, a couple teachers, the school board president, and an older former school board member (the "mysterious Kevin W." as my kids refer to him). I do have very stringent rules about posting - after all this is a language arts activity. And if a student has errors in his/her post I take the opportunity to edit with the student. All posts require my approval before they become visible. No slang - no slams - no cute CUL8R text - no calling someone else's comments "stupid". So far there are 230 posts and some of them are pretty good. I dare you to figure out who the 3rd grader is and who is a 6th grader. If you want to see the rest of my class website just go to http://jmemmott.oberlinschools.org/. And, by the way, it is pretty obvious what my students feel about the school uniform idea - can't tell you how many exclamation marks have been deleted during the editing process!

Cricket

Sad news. Our "young" dog Cricket died quickly and unexpectedly Sunday evening, October 28th. She had been acting oddly starting mid-afternoon - not eating or greeting us at the door with the usual sock in her mouth. By 10:00 she couldn't move and by 10:30 she had passed away - quietly and I'm convinced without pain. Both Nicki and I were with her.

The "old" dog Samantha seems accepting though a little confused.

This is going to take some getting used to.

Cricket was at least 10 years old. No services are scheduled. Burial will be in the family backyard plot after cremation.

John & Nicki