New York - Day 4

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New York - Day 3.5

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It’s been raining—and cloudy—quite a bit.

Not conducive to photo opportunities when one doesn’t want to get their equipment wet.

I’ve been keeping to Queens mostly, haven’t ventured into the city or subways as of yet.

Been visiting with my sister-in-law, working on projects, and making time for this:

My favorite moment of New York thus far…

Thanks for snagging my camera, Leah.

New York - Day 1

Pin It The plane touched down at John Kennedy Airport somewhere in the wee hours before the sun split the skies to officially begin a new day. Outside the large, plate-glass windows, darkness still reigned supreme.

I walked groggily through the terminal with my laptop bag and camera. My legs beneath me felt like jelly after not being used for so many hours, and I was exhausted from the few brief sojourns into slumber as the plane had flown through the night skies. At one point in the journey I’d even asked for a vomit bag—the bouts of turbulence, coupled with the fact that I was wearing several layers of clothing in order to save space in my small suitcase, seemed to not agree with whatever it was that I’d had for dinner earlier that night.

Yeah, I felt sick.

I retrieved my luggage and made my way to the airtrain. The breath of cool, early-morning air was welcomed as I watched the sky slowly change to a shade of darkest indigo on the skyline. With somewhat blurry eyes I exited the airtrain and bought a ticket on the LIRR (Long Island Railroad) bound for Queens and barely caught it. The skies outside my windows continued to change—softening to tint the clouds overhead with pinks and peaches—as I exited at Woodside Station and began the walk toward my brother’s flat.

Gangs of leaves huddled together in the gutters and along the curbs as I walked...dried and crispy although plenty of the trees around me were still arrayed in their autumn splendor. The skies reflected a melancholy feeling with the ripple of clouds overhead, spread like a layer of peanut butter on an extra-thick slice of bread...just the way I liked it.

Within minutes I arrived at the building and texted my brother.

He buzzed me into the building and within a minute or two I entered their flat, greeted with a barrage of hugs.

We all talked for an hour or two over a breakfast of cereal as the sky continued to brighten. We laughed, reminisced, and made haphazard plans for the next few days as the sun arose and the day officially began…

and then I went to sleep.

This view is from my brother and sister-in-law’s apartment. If you look off on the left top side, you can see the Empire State Building…which is lit up various colors every night.

Where Everybody Knows My Name

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The same thing always seems to happen.

A voyage approaches with the tick tocking of the clock high up on the wall—ever coming nearer; it waits in the wings for its cue to take center stage.

I sit alone in my classroom; I’ve been here getting ready for the substitute for both Monday and Tuesday for quite a few hours.

My lessons plans finally reached page six before I decided that enough was enough—planning for every possible scenario was no longer an option at this point. I slumped back in my plastic swivel chair, listening to the well-known music that outlines my little world, and the familiarity it affords…the commonalty it brings to me and the little niche I’ve managed to carve into this place over the past few decades while on this spinning world is comforting.

I organized all of the assignments and items for my students into piles, and breathed out a heavy sigh. I rubbed my eyes and remembered that I really should look up the directions my brother sent me last year to reach his flat in New York—as well as print my flight itinerary and boarding pass.

As I read over the directions in the email from a year ago, I felt recoil in my guts which seemed to signify the arrival of something new and foreign to my little world. Something strange to the place I have come to know and find comfort.

I thought of the bustling streets of New York, the chaos and rushing of thousands of people to whom I did not know, and those who did not know me. All too soon I’d be lost amidst a sea of faces—nothing more than a face in the crowd.

I looked around my classroom, at my students’ desks—some crammed with their varied jumble of this, that, and the other—small extensions of themselves while they’re not here.

Man, but I’m going to miss them.

I’m going to miss this little place where, like what’s said the theme song of Cheers, “Everybody knows my name.”

The clock still ticks from its place on the wall, reminding me that there is still a lot to do, and sitting here is no longer a luxury I can afford. Time still trudges onward.

My thoughts turn to my brother, my sister-in-law, and my nephew all waiting for me in New York. When I do, I feel the flicker of excitement rising.

The red-eye will taxi from the runway tonight, and when it does, I will be in it bound for a week in the Big Apple.

Should you find yourself in this grand city in the next seven days, I’d love the chance to meet you…but if you’re there and you’d rather not, that’s okay, too…for now we’ll just see each other as faces in the crowd, but I’ll tell you what…

I’ll smile.


P.S. If so, drop an email to teachinfourth@yahoo

And yes, I left the .com off on purpose…I didn’t want spamming.

I Got the Bird Today

Pin It A Gray Flycatcher, to be exact.

You see my friend, Rich, found this little fellow abandoned inside the local Home Depot. Being too young to survive on his own, Rich brought him home and fed him for two days on meals of earthworm and a wild birdseed mash.

Since nobody is able to continually care for this little guy (who needs to be fed about every two hours) until he is old enough to fly, I volunteered for the task of driving him to the Southwest Wildlife Foundation up in Cedar City.

I won’t lie when I say that a part of me wanted to keep him, to raise him like a pet; maybe something like Christian, the lion. One day, we’d be separated and then – years later – be brought back together in a tear-filled reunion.



I imagined walking out the door on school mornings, and Night Terror would fly from my shoulder to the skies on buoyant winds, as I would drive the distance to work. He would race my car the three-mile distance and probably beat me every day.

I could almost envision the thrill of my fifth graders at our class pet – a wild bird that would fly down and land on their teacher’s shoulder during recesses and then launch itself again into the air when it was time for class to begin.

Then I changed my mind…I wouldn’t want to bring that many changes of shirts to work with me each day.

Vacation - Days 1-3 in a Nutshell

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The plane ride over was terribly long, but it was well worth it in the end. Since I only have a few minutes of time with wireless connection here, I thought I'd just give a few highlights of the trip thus far:

Day 1: Lunch at Mitchell's - it was fabulous.

We journeyed to the village outskirts, and I snapped a few photos:

My room for the first few nights:

The view:

More village days 2-3:

Lunch at the edge of the ocean at restaurants amid cobbled streets:

The castle tour:

Now, you're probably wondering...just how and why in the world did I decide to go to England. Well, I didn't. I'm not in England. I just found these images from various sites via the information superhighway. 

England is where I'd love to be.

It's always been my dream to visit.

I probably never will, though.

At the current moment, I'm in my Hyundai Santa Fe driving to Southern Utah, but don't worry, I won't experience anything like this:

I'll be checking in from time to time - I promise, Dad.

BTW, I am posting over at Four Perspectives today.

California - Day 3: The Streets

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Can you take a guess where a few of these streets were used?

Awesome...



And I even listened to the song...

Oh, and I'll be at Disneyland Friday and Saturday if you're going to be in the area; I'd love too meet you!

California - Day 2: Sailing

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The splay of salt air and the waves was amazing as the wind whipped through our hair...until it swept over the deck to where I was sitting...

California - Day 1: Big Burger & Little Towns

Pin It It had been nearly 11 hours of driving. We’d slowly watched as the telltale remnants of winter vanished as we crossed over the Sierra Nevada Mountains, letting spring take full throttle. The signs we’d seen indicating we were passing Donner’s Summit – and the rumbling in my stomach – reminded me that we’d not eaten in quite some time.

After a dozen or so songs from an iPod playlist, I reached over to my trusty TomTom, whom I’d earlier christened as ‘Vicky’, and typed in a desire for victuals along our route. As per usual, Vicky gave us a plethora of options, one of which that stood out was simply because of its name: Big Burger.

Janelle and I discussed the list of choices, but Big Burger was the one we both settled on. After a few miles we pulled off the Corcord exit as Vicky directed us, and were led toward the destination she had locked away in her memory chips. As we circled over the freeway and drove the slope of road down the hill, this particular urban development we ventured into was sketchy at best; a ramshackle remnant that time seemed to have missed when it was dropping elderly towns into the recycle bin.

Teachinfourth & The Kingdom of the Magical Mouse

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What if I told you I was going to California?

What if I told you that I was driving?

What if I told you that I’d love to meet you...

at Disneyland?

Friday or Saturday…it's your choice. The Zmail link is on the bottom left sidebar under the picture of Ethan. Just think of it; a blogger meeting at the happiest place on Earth? Now just how cool would that be?

Yeah, that’s what I thought…

I'll even ride on the Indiana Jones ride with you.

New York - 4

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*image courtesy of Summer.

These photos are all stitched together…you might want to click on each to get the full experience…