Lesson 747: Tears

 Good evening, Readers.

Eloise's mascara was running a few times this week.

This photo I snapped as I came in from the cold.

My eyes always have  been sensitive and water easily

in cold, 

wind,

or bright light.

Or heartache.

We've had some of that, too, this week.

We got one nice day on President's Day.

I made my kids get outside.

Sam took a nap in the 50 degree sun.

It came as quickly as it went.

We are back to temps in the teens,

but winter landscapes sure are pretty.

Cried a tear or two for the varsity boys basketball team.

They fell 3 points short of moving deeper into the playoffs.

Even with the JV guys rubbing the lucky water bottle.

Penny cried some doggie tears

because I wouldn't let her bring the stick she found

in the house.

Tears for Elsa.

Oh, how I love 1883,

and not just for the McGraws.

The storytelling is superb.

Some tears of joy this week, too.

This Klein School duo

figured out how to make a water piano.

The kid in the black mask knows almost all of the

countries of the world--

but I'm not allowed to ask him about the islands.

He needs more time.

He's ten.

Plenty of time to learn the islands.

Maybe they can find me a deserted one

for some precious moments of quiet.

That would be nice.

Sam and his friends are all turning 15--

a year for a loud, teenage restlessness.

This--the wallpaper on all of their phones.

And when Sam won't respond to a retrieval request 

nearing midnight--

you text the buddy most likely to be on his phone.

This is from my Habit app--

you receive an interesting photo

overlaid with quote every day.

I loved this one,

and can think many fitting of this clever wording.

The opposite of ignorance is knowledge

and my teacher friends and I learned a lot about 

launching weather balloons.

Our launch on our in-service day last Friday

was successful.

Part of the team went out for the retrieval on Monday.

The cameras worked

and we got some photos of the curvature of the earth,

reminding just how small the world can be.

If you have it in your hearts,

please pray for our world.

Eloise

Lesson 736: Cold Hands Warm Heart

 Hello, Readers.

It sure has been cold.

Then warm.

Then cold again.

The wintry mix left the landscape breathtaking 

on the ride home from work today.

Cold hands,

warm heart, so they say.

Valentine's Day always warms my heart.

Natalie got a Minnie Mouse valentine.

My dogs sent me one.

They should have stuffed the card with money.

Or drink chips.

Cold hands,

warm belly.

I love this tea at nighttime.

Yogi tea has the tea bags with little sayings on the tag.

This one is good, too,

but I only buy this one because I like the bear on the box.

Hot hands,

Cool player.

You are lucky if your kid is playing a game and 
Kevin Soles shows up with a camera!

You can look through his shorts,

order right from Smug Mug,

and they are sent right to your house in a few days.

It's nice to have friends.

It's even nicer to have friends with cameras 

that take good indoor shots

in our dimly gym.

Here's a capture from Wendy.

Sam caught an elbow from a charging Bison this week.

It didn't make the ESPN News segment though.

Busy hands,

Busy minds.

My students made fruit pianos this week.

More from the school front:

Tom Atkins came to talk with some interested teachers today.

He taught us about weather and wind patterns.

We worked through the process of launching a 

weather balloon.

Cold hands,

warm heart.

We had to inflate in the bus garage

because the balloon needed to be bigger than the doorways

in the school.

What a great learning experience!

There she is!

And there she goes!

We tracked the balloon for about an hour as it traveled to a spot near Ellicottville, NY.

We'll go retrieve it this weekend.

Warm hands from turning pages...

Verity was a page turner,

but not a book for everyone,

nor the faint of heart.

This is really well written and reads easy,

but it's tough content--a mother who doesn't bond with her child--

and that makes for sad and frustrating for Eloise.

Here's what I really want to read this weekend.

Cold hands, cold butt.

The controversial Russian skater

met her end--literally and figuratively,

finishing 4th and leaves with no medal.

I still don't understand how she was allowed to compete.

The real question for your homework this week:

Analyze this photo.

Was the disgruntled Russian figure skater

who threw a fit over receiving a silver medal, 

really flipping off the judges?

Look at her left hand, and, um...

piercing eyes.

Cold hands, frozen heart.

Enjoy your weekend, Readers.

Not much of the winter left.

Hang in there.

Eloise