[I took a screen shot fo the picture above from a site called Almost Chose People, which seems like a pretty great name for a website. The relevant part is the seventh name in the last column.] Carita Gardiner isn’t my real name. Well, fine, it is the name I was given at birth, but…
“Why”…Wednesdays
121. Why AWARE
In late May and early June, after George Floyd’s murder became public, I knew I had a lot to learn about systemic racism. I didn’t phrase it as creating a book club, but that was my plan, to read and learn. I offered to help organize an Anti-Racism 101 reading group for everyone at my…
120. Why Vaccinate
When this post goes live, I will be two weeks past my second shot of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine. It’s hard for me to express how amazed by and grateful I am for the scientists and doctors who managed to create vaccines to end this pandemic. I’m thrilled to have modified RNA running through my veins,…
119. Why Way Leads on to Way Leads to a Derek Craven Education
[photo above comes from Fated Mates’ website’s “Derek Craven Day” page. More on that below.] It’s hard for me to know where to start on this post because as I wrote in the title, way leads on to way. Thanks, Bobby Frost for pointing that out. The idea for this entry started with my resolution…
118. Why Give Blood
[Today’s Why Wednesday post is very special to me for several reasons: First, I’m a big fan of the woman who wrote it. She used to work at Hotchkiss and always brought cheerful kindness to every task and interaction. She helped me get Conventions of Composition online, for which I’ll be forever grateful. Second, she…
117. Why We’re on a Bridge…and Which Way We Need to Go
The photo above shows the coolest bridge I’ve ever crossed, though I didn’t take this picture. I screenshot it from a tourism site for the Bahamas. If you ever get a chance to go to Eleuthera, Bahamas, I recommend taking time to stop at the Glass Window Bridge that has the Atlantic on one side…
116. Why I Love This Gift
I wrote a post last month about a letter of gratitude I received from a student I taught more than fifteen years ago. He apologized for not sending the note earlier, but I appreciated the delay. The impact of his gratitude accumulated interest over time; the longer removed the note was from when I taught…
115. Why Y?
One of my current students, a fourteen-year-old from NYC, decided to try his hand at podcasting. When he told me the name of his show, I loved that the coincidence that the titles of his show and my blog are homophones. A great participant in class, he eagerly asks “clarifying questions” and never grubs for…
114. Why Keep Thinking
Before you read more of this post, please take your time trying to figure out what’s going on in the photo above. You can probably tell that you’re looking at the top of a dryer. Can you also see a barn door behind it? Notice the cross bar, above the bar on which the barn…
113. Why Selena Montgomery
Now that I’ve come out about my love of romance, made a new year’s resolution to read more romance novels, and written to convince you loyal readers that you might want to join me in reading more romance (Both of those posts are linked here so that you can read the earlier posts, but I…