February came and went. As Februarys do. As we approach the anniversary of “the year of living hunkered” in what we call our gilded cage, I’m reflecting on the month. We had snow. Lots of it. Then more snow. This made for some icy walks and some muddy walks and early morning vistas of pink and white. The head beam…
A plea to County government for assistance to residents to keep us as safe as possible during the COVID vaccine roll-out Positive COVID cases are rising in Dutchess County at an alarming rate, and the threat of the UK, and perhaps other, more infectious variants are on the horizon if not already here. While the vaccine roll-out has begun, it…
As is ever the case, I found these images on the IWM site while actually looking for something else. They just seemed to have a little relevance today given the frothing of the anti-vaxxer minority. Apparently, Dr. Fauci has claimed he went to the North Pole personally to vaccinate Santa Claus against COVID-19. I don’t know whether Santa received immunization…
Dear Friends and Neighbors: Based on personal observations and reports from others, many, if not most, grocery stores and other essential retail outlets in our area do not appear to be in compliance with the current New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) “Guidance for Cleaning and Disinfection for COVID-19 For Retail Stores.” How We, as Individual Citizens, Can Help…
So many parallels between our current pandemic and the plague that swept through London in 1665, at least as described by Daniel Defoe in Journal of the Plague Year. It’s a novel, written many years later in – 1722 – by a remarkably talented fabulator. So always good to take it with a shovel of salt. But here’s one big…
They say the war is over. But water still Comes bloody from the taps. from ‘Redeployment,’ Howard Nemerov In April 1961 the BBC Light program broadcast the first episode of a new radio drama: The Avenue Goes to War. It was based on the R. F. Delderfield novel of the same name. It’s the story of one suburban street in…
In an abundance of caution, Density reducing, I stay at home. I keep my social distance Leave bleach and hand sanitizer on the shelves of the supermarket so others can keep virus free and not infect me via the shopping cart, the self-serve checkout line and card reader. I am lucky I do not need to venture out to meet…
As my inbox and timeline fill up with Corona Virus updates and advisories this is little footnote to my post about the much fabled NYC Lincoln School (1917-1940) The School is Dead, Long Live the School. Lincoln was dedicated to experimentation and research in the interests of uncovering the best ways to education children in a modern democratic society. They…
Advanced Pressure – Video Library – The New York Times video.nytimes.com The problem with Advanced Placement classes and how they are destroying the lives of high school students. This video features students and educators from the film Race To Nowhere – a film that takes a look at education, childhood and the unintended consequences of the achievement and test obsessed…
A colleague at a nearby school sent me this link to the NYTimes – just the latest bulletin from a world gone mad with narrow definitions of achievement and success. Test prep for pre-school no less. And a real moneymaker for the lucrative (and unregulated) test prep industry. Tips for the Admissions test – to Kindergarten “Kayla Rosenblum sat upright…