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In spite of the recent negativeness of some posts there are still many daily moments that make me smile. Here are some examples that happened today:
- Rows of ants crossing the bike path. There are at least 4 narrow lines of ants that are busy marching across the bike path every morning. Three of the rows are simply blank ants marching back and forth from one side of the path to the other. But the fourth row is very productive. Each ant is carrying a large dried grass seed on its shoulder. From a distance it looks like little spikes of wheat moving across a conveyor towards a grain elevator. Each morning I ponder why only 1 of the 4 rows seems to be working efficiently and I've come to the conclusion that the efficient, productive row of ants has a good queen. She has given them their instructions, made their work process efficient, and motivated her worker ants to be productive. Then I think of the children's story (I can't remember the name) where one ant plays and parties all summer but the other ant collects food and saves it up for the winter. Then I ponder the productivity of ants with the productivity of human beings...
- Turkish coffee and fortune telling. Thanks to a 7th grade field trip, I had an extra free period. While heading back to my office after receiving the good news several of the Turkish social studies teachers stopped me an motioned for me to join them for a Turkish coffee. One of the teachers speaks a little English remembering what she learned in middle school/high school about 35 years ago., (We are about the same age) The other teacher speaks only Turkish. We enjoyed a delightful 40 minutes together with a mixture of languages. Here's what I learned: 1) When both of them got their teaching degrees in Turkey, they were expected to teach in village schools. Therefore they had to know music, art, sewing, how to give injections (school nurse stuff) wood working, all the subjects plus and little English, French and German. 2) The teacher who speaks the English who has a haircut, glasses and wedding ring that look just like mine, is also a great teller of fortunes from the remaining coffee grounds in a Turkish coffee cup. Even more amazing is that she told my fortune with her limited English. She looked at the grounds with serious intensity and began like this...
You have a husband and you are very happy. You have a son and he is tall and thin. He is very success...no, he will be very successful. You have a daughter and she is in love. Oh, is she married? (yes). She is very happy.He is very happy. You have another daughter. She is very happy. Oh, and look here...Here is your mom. She is very happy. She loves you very much. You have a very happy family.
Today made it easy to "find the good."
- Rows of ants crossing the bike path. There are at least 4 narrow lines of ants that are busy marching across the bike path every morning. Three of the rows are simply blank ants marching back and forth from one side of the path to the other. But the fourth row is very productive. Each ant is carrying a large dried grass seed on its shoulder. From a distance it looks like little spikes of wheat moving across a conveyor towards a grain elevator. Each morning I ponder why only 1 of the 4 rows seems to be working efficiently and I've come to the conclusion that the efficient, productive row of ants has a good queen. She has given them their instructions, made their work process efficient, and motivated her worker ants to be productive. Then I think of the children's story (I can't remember the name) where one ant plays and parties all summer but the other ant collects food and saves it up for the winter. Then I ponder the productivity of ants with the productivity of human beings...
- Turkish coffee and fortune telling. Thanks to a 7th grade field trip, I had an extra free period. While heading back to my office after receiving the good news several of the Turkish social studies teachers stopped me an motioned for me to join them for a Turkish coffee. One of the teachers speaks a little English remembering what she learned in middle school/high school about 35 years ago., (We are about the same age) The other teacher speaks only Turkish. We enjoyed a delightful 40 minutes together with a mixture of languages. Here's what I learned: 1) When both of them got their teaching degrees in Turkey, they were expected to teach in village schools. Therefore they had to know music, art, sewing, how to give injections (school nurse stuff) wood working, all the subjects plus and little English, French and German. 2) The teacher who speaks the English who has a haircut, glasses and wedding ring that look just like mine, is also a great teller of fortunes from the remaining coffee grounds in a Turkish coffee cup. Even more amazing is that she told my fortune with her limited English. She looked at the grounds with serious intensity and began like this...
You have a husband and you are very happy. You have a son and he is tall and thin. He is very success...no, he will be very successful. You have a daughter and she is in love. Oh, is she married? (yes). She is very happy.He is very happy. You have another daughter. She is very happy. Oh, and look here...Here is your mom. She is very happy. She loves you very much. You have a very happy family.
Today made it easy to "find the good."
The fortune telling thing is really interesting! I think I need to have that done! And the ant story sounds like a Slice of Life. Go to www.twowritingteachers.wordpress.com and search for slice of life. People write these every Tuesday. You should start doing it!
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