Pics from the drive.

Ellensburg is cold this time of year, here are a few pictures from the drive. These pictures aren't of snow as you can tell from the bare roadway, instead the fog freezes onto the trees, fences, and phone wires making for a pretty awesome display.

Birds of Prey

The other day I saw a Bald Eagle as I was driving to school. It was in a tree with a bunch of crows. I thought that was weird, but I couldn't stop to investigate more thoroughly because I was in a rush. It's not everyday that you see a bald eagle hanging out with some crows, perched in a tree by the side of the road. I wish I would have been able to sit there and watch for a while.

Not too many days prior while Lisa and I were out a strolling through the woods, we were surprised to see a Great Horned Owl perched in a tree down the way from us. He noticed us pretty quickly and flew around the bend, where we saw him again before he flew away for good. It was so exciting. He was so big, and I had never seen one alive before.

Birds of prey are so elusive and so beautiful. I'm always awed by their presence whenever I encounter them. If I had time, I think I would seek them out more often, but for now I'll have to count my blessings for having caught a glimpse of these majestic winged predators, and keep my eyes peeled for future sightings.

A healthy dose of laughter

I was reading a blog post the other day and it started me thinking about that verse in the bible that says, "Pleasant words are a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones."

So many times in life we hear negative, sarcastic, or unpleasant words, when all we want to hear are pleasant words. My sister also recently wrote that words are powerful. I agree with that statement, and I sumbit that how one uses words is just as powerful. A bossy tone, a rude tone, a happy tone, a pleasant tone, a selfish tone, or any tone for that matter can be applied to any phrase and change the whole meaning of the phrase depending on the attitude with which it is spoken. In working with children I have learned that how we make someone feel with our words is just as important as what we have to say with our words. The phrase "let's get to work," can either empower a child or deflate them depending on the tone with which it is delivered. We all encounter situations in which we would love to have a good time but we become offended because we were offended by the rude or offensive speech or actions of another. When that happens we have the power to choose "pleasant words" and break what seems to be a compounding negative cycle before it escalates to "good time" ending rut. Those ruts are so hard to get out of, yet so easy to avoid, kind of ironic I guess. It's good to know that we can choose in those situations between being offended or being a source of pleasant words.

School, and again I say.....school...

I am currently enrolled in my final academic quarter of study at Central Washington University. That statement isn't entirely true. To be correct I would have to say that it is my next to last academic quarter of study. I still have one quarter of classroom teaching practicum to be completed this spring, and I graduate in June. I can't wait. No more driving the snowy pass, and no more juggling books and schedules of the various classes I'm taking. I will be able to drive a short way, 15 minutes at the most, to the school where I will finally engage in my teaching practicum. What a welcome relief from the daily hour each way that I currently drive to and from school.

Concurrently this quarter I am enrolled in a firefighter "red card/firefighter I "class as part of my responsibilities as a volunteer for the fire department. I have already taken this extensive course at least twice, and maybe as many as three times, I hope that I can challenge the course, or I will be bored out of my mind. Maybe I will just take the opportunity to do classwork from my college classes if I am not able to avoid sitting through the monotonous required lectures for wildland firefighting. Whatever the case I am confident that I will pass all aspects of the course, and hopefully this summer I will enjoy fighting wildfires again.