Grounds Maintenance at Durham Schools? Call BETC!
This article addresses Durham Public Schools’ Bionomic Educational Training Centers or BETC program, which *pays* occupational course of study (OCS) students and teachers to install and maintain raingardens and other sustainable landscaping on school campuses and private properties: https://www.dcomanagingforresults.org/environmental-stewardship/bionomic-educational-training-center].
Covid Camping and Bear Hounding
During our 14-day quarantine after contracting Covid, my 5th-grade son, husband and I went camping in West Virginia and got educated in ways no classroom can provide. Despite our generally positive assessments of the Mountain Mama, our introduction to “bear hounding” was the lesson that stuck most…
Thanks, Durham, I needed that! (EK Powe Elementary School Playground Dedication)
This morning was the dedication of a 3-years-long stormwater-control and playground redesign project at EK Powe Elementary School, on the edge of the Watts Hospital Hillandale Neighborhood in Durham, NC. It is the result of collaboration between the EK Powe PTA and Principal, Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association, Durham Matching Grants Program, Durham Public Schools…
Why Mystery Snails Make Great Pets
If you have children, then your children probably want a pet. If you don’t want the added responsibility of a dog, cat, or other fuzzy animal but your kid(s) won’t let it go, I urge you to get them a mystery snail. All you need is ~$3 and the info in this article.
Protect Durham's Crown from Development
The Eno River needs protection from impervious development *again* 🥺. If you live in Durham or North Carolina, please write your elected representatives in support of saving the land surrounding the Eno River and the few remaining pristine places we have left.
Public School Use of Covid Funds for Outdoor Learning Should Incorporate Curricula and Sustainability
…My 15-years experience with DPS administration is that ‘outdoor learning’ is too often interpreted as benches, gazebos and sidewalks (and maybe a few potted plants), which may provide outdoor seating areas but do not exactly encourage engagement and learning…
Asking for Forgiveness Later
American society has put layers of rules in place over its existence. Privileged people, who are generally white, have been permitted to bend those rules; while non-privileged people, who are generally people of color, have had to follow them to a T …
City Budget for Green Programs/Jobs More than Just Lacking
This is the email I sent to Durham’s mayor and city council members today regarding the city budget: I am deeply concerned by this year's city budget's lack of new investment in green jobs, particularly for the Bionomic Educational Training Center (BETC) program and the Impaired Stream Improvement Program (ISIP). In fact, I think it is negligent of the city not to provide substantial funding for these two programs, given that…
Alison Krauss and Dead Raptor Fledglings
On May 20, my neighbor down the street sent a group text that said, “Our back alley pine tree hawk nest has two fledglings. Very fluffy. So cool!”…
The Kinks, Predatory Marketing, Durham's Elf, and Feline Broccoli
Fat cats eating broccoli and other musings on another capitalistic American day.
N.C. Bill Hinders Local Tree Protection Ordinances, Underscores Need to End Gerrymandering
A couple weeks ago, our tree maintenance company requested that we contact our state legislators to oppose a NC bill requiring localities to receive state approval for future (and many existing) tree protection requirements. For decades, the state-created NC Forest Service has encouraged and assisted local governments in Developing Tree Protection Ordinances. NC State and other NC Universities have also gone to great lengths to educate local governments and the public about the importance and ways to develop tree protection ordinances. And now the Republican-majority NC General Assembly is setting itself up to negate these same local tree protection ordinances.
Gum Stump Squirrel and Asheville
Now for our (final) college update (at least for this year): Five days ago, with 36 hours to college deposit deadline, my 17-year-old son Seamus was still deciding between UNC-Asheville ($11K/year after scholarship and aid) and Berklee in Boston ($46K/year after mostly aid) in pursuit of a Music Technology/Production degree.
The College Drama Continues, Mac
My theme song today is, of course, the last college-apps composition and production from my 17-year-old son, Seamus. From everyone he/we have talked to (including Berklee grads), if Seamus wants to go into Music Production he should just move to LA, New York, Nashville, or another music city (including Asheville but with some disdain toward Boston) and actually get an entry-level job at a music production company rather than going into debt to Berklee. …
Lesson Plan: Plants and Spring Planting
Shortly after the Coronavirus quarantine started last year, my elementary-school 'pod' and I did a 4-days plants rotation … So today we planted the seeds of several spring vegetables … All three types of seeds are large and beautifully round, like tiny marbles. Using a ruler, we compared their sizes and found that …
Regarding Roth IRA's
If you and/or your working kids haven't contributed to your own Roth IRAs yet, you should absolutely start this year. From the start, you should see it as a retirement investment account, not just a retirement savings account. Roth IRA contributions are taxed going in but not coming out, and you can take these out at any time.
#VoiceInMyHead Today (re Teachers)
We need to start paying teachers the salaries of both caretakers and educators if we want to maintain the system as it is. Teachers have shown they can do it, which is why we are demanding they do it now. But the current situation is not sustainable unless …
Rain, Better Conversations, and 3-D Printed Edible Steaks
I had to take a few days hiatus to work on my entries to a Ghost, Fable and Fractured Fairy Tale contest. In the meantime, we've had rain, rain and more cold rain. This morning was no different, which is why my theme song today is Lady Gaga's Rain on Me (below). Here's a great article from TeenVogue regarding the song's 22-year-old co-writer Nija Charles's experience as a young black woman making pop music…
Lauryn Hill and Microplastics
I edited a paper about the ecological impact and human health risks of microplastics in aquaculture ecosystems. My daughter is currently doing microplastics research at Eckerd University, so it was a rare instance where I had a personal interest in the subject matter. During my subsequent trip down the wormhole, I learned that each time you use a microbead-containing facial or body wash (which, for years, has been most of them), up to 94,000 plastic microbes can be flushed down the drain - each time.
AJR, Snow, Certitude and Sludge
“We wrote ‘BANG!’ about the weird middle-ground between being a kid and becoming an adult; a time when we’re doing all the things adults are supposed to do, but we don’t yet feel grown up,” says AJR. "The fact is, adulthood is bound to hit us at some point, so the plan we made in the song is to ‘go out with a bang.’" I'm at least twenty years older than these boys, and the sentiment applies to all of us, just the same.
Robert DeLong, Mark Ruffalo, Barkhad Abdi, and Pope Francis
While learning about shrimp and prawns, I also came across the following quote:
"When no one is to blame, everyone is to blame." ~Pope Francis
... which has given me something to think about for the remainder of my last gray afternoon at Carolina Beach.