Teaching, Living, and Learning

To my loyal readers,  I want you to know that I have exported this blog to a new blog. The new address is: http://hesalsich.blogspot.com ...

AN ADMIRER BY NATURE “Mr Borthrop Trumbull [an auctioneer] had a kindly liquid in his veins; he was an admirer by nature, and would hav...

Lately, I’ve been noticing, and thinking about, people who don’t seem to be winners. I pass them each day – the people with forlorn ...

      On this, the first day of classes at my former school, this freshly retired teacher was a struggling new student at a diffe...

     “ In the beginning was the word” is a Bible phrase that always seemed strangely associated with my duties as a teacher, and...

"Sunset at Little Salmon, Yukon", watercolor, by Jackie Irvine              Yesterday, a friend told me he was recently hiking...

      Several years ago, I tried my best to help a friend who was feeling unloved by someone whom he dearly loved, and I recall th...

A HAND OF WELCOME                          The word “acquiescence” often carries a negative connotation – a sense that a perso...

        Delycia and I have been reading The Education of Henry Adams together, and I was thrilled today to read that Adams enjoye...

WINGS, WINDS, THOUGHTS Tuesday, August 27, 2013 As we sat at breakfast this morning in the sunroom, great groups of birds were stor...

    Today, while I was waiting for my evening college class to begin, I sat in a lobby at the college surrounded by humming snack ...

I saw many kinds of excitement on this summer day. First, there was the excitement of seemingly dozens of goldfinches fluttering aroun...

Thou were not born for death, immortal Bird! No hungry generations tread thee down; The voice I hear this passing night was heard I...

"What Kindle?", oil, by Brenda Ferguson Reading George Herbert’s 17th century poem called “Prayer” the other day, I came acr...

On the road I sometimes find myself behind a slow driver, and within seconds I’m usually simmering a little, much the way my students prob...

     After walking with Delycia this afternoon up and down the small hills in the shoreline village of Noank, it was reassuring to...

      Since one dictionary says that the definition for “sing” is “to make musical sounds with one’s voice”, it would seem that a...

“O mountain friends!         With mine your solemn spirit blends,         And life no more hath separate ends.”      -...

“She said she was just beginning to understand her selfishness.”        -- Sarah Orne Jewett, in “Miss Sydney’s Flowers”    ...

“[Maggie] saw it was Dr. Kenn’s face that was looking at her; that plain, middle-aged face, with a grave, penetrating kindness in...

    Recently, as people were leaving a family celebration, I heard someone say the party was “very good”, and I said to myself, “Y...

      "Drifting Clouds", oil, by Becky Joy Yesterday, as I was lazily gazing at some passing clouds and notic...

He smiled when the sky cleared and the calls of the birds became milder and more contented. He knew that no one ca...

            In Book 6 of The Prelude, the poet William Wordsworth writes of “a flash that … revealed / The invisible world”, and i...

"Garden Fountain and Flowers", oil, by Mary Maxam     Though I’m far from being a wealthy retiree, it’s reassuring...

                         Over the last few years, I’ve occasionally listened to old time radio shows on the Internet, and they alw...