Enjoying the Snow

This has been a very fun Sunday for enjoying the outdoors. We started the day with a long walk with Baxter. He loves his walks and especially likes to bound about in the deep drifts looking for buried treasures.

After digging a bit he found a hibernating McDonalds cup:

Baxter also likes to follow all the critter tracks in the snow. There were hundreds of deer tracks today:

After our walk we went to Wilson Pond in North Monmouth to visit with Linda and Mark. We had a great brunch.

And then went for a snowshoe on the lake.

There are lots of camps on this pond, but none so interesting as this one:

It was, or still is, owned by the Tappan family. My dad and I have fished in Tappan's cove many times.

We always have a fun time with Mark and Linda, and today was no different.

I love the way you feel after spending a bunch of time outside in the winter, and I need to get out as much as I can.

~MET

And Then There Was a Contract

After a year of talks the teachers of the Winslow Public Schools finally have a new two year agreement with the school board. It has been a long and, at times, very difficult process - but its over. We did very well in our attempts to update language. Our contract was already pretty good as far as that goes, but now it is even better. The salary agreement is not spectacular, but given the climate I think we did well. We certainly put ourselves in a good position for the next round of talks, which will begin in about a year. Now all I have to do is finish up the contract for our ed-techs, secretaries, and food service. I owe a lot to the the great people from around Maine and the nation from whom I have been stealing strategies and ideas. Thanks!

~MET

Home From Philly

Back from the NEA Northeast Regional Conference in Philadelphia. I really like this one - there are usually some good meetings to choose from. The pic above is from the 33rd floor of the hotel. I was only there for a few days,and was working most of the time, but we did have a fun dinner last night. We went here first:

Its one of Philly's oldest pubs - but it was crowded and loud. I did take a couple of pictures from the walls:

I thought my mom would like this one:

We ended up here:

The food was ok, but the company was great:

Next year the conference will be in Boston...I'm off to DC for meetings in a couple of weeks!
~MET

Monthly Meal ~ A Taste of Philadelphia

At the end of next week I'll be in Philadelphia for meetings, so I thought the first monthly meal of 2011 should have a Philly theme. We started with the signature Hors d'œuvre from the Rittenhouse Hotel - one of Philadelphia's best places to stay. Its an English cucumber slice with cream cheese and chives and smoked salmon:

For the side we had Philly mashed potatoes...very good:

Of course, the main attraction was cheese steak:

The sandwiches were outstanding, and VERY quick to fill you up. It will be difficult for Geno's or Pat's to top my sandwich - but I'll give them a try next week.

~MET

The First 2011 "Monthly Meal" for Ma & Dad is Coming Up This Weekend!

We've done this for many years, and its getting harder to come up with new themes. M-S was going to take control of this month, but decided that her idea would work better as a February Valentine's meal...so I'm back in charge. On the 21st I'm going to a meeting in Philadelphia - so - I've decided that on Saturday its all about Philly! I've just started exploring options, but I know two dishes will be cheese steak sandwiches and Philly mashed potatoes. The potatoes sound AMAZING! I'm already looking forward to the delicious tastes of the city of Brotherly Love.
~MET

A Good Editorial Regarding Recent Events

The lesson of violent rhetoric

by The Anniston Star Editorial Board Anniston Star

Jan 11, 2011 | 121 views | 0 | | 3 | |

The violence at an Arizona shopping center in Tucson Saturday is a reminder to Americans that public figures with easy access to large microphones have a responsibility to cool the rhetoric.

Unfortunately, this lesson comes with a body count. The gunman who opened fire in Tucson killed six and injured 13 others, including U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., who was meeting with constituents outside a supermarket. Among the dead were U.S. District Court Judge John M. Roll and a 9-year-old girl.

For many, even before any notion of who had committed this crime was known, the Tea Party’s violent rhetoric came to mind. Specifically, several incidents involved harassment of Rep. Giffords. Shockingly, Sarah Palin had campaigned against Giffords by placing her district under a gun’s crosshairs. Giffords’ Arizona office was vandalized after she voted in favor of health-care reform.

Authorities in Tucson have charged one suspect, a 22-year-old named Jared Lee Loughner. The digital trail left online by Loughner points to a young man with serious problems.

To what degree — if any — the violent rhetoric oozing from our TVs, radio speakers and computers made an impact on Loughner is unknown.

What’s undeniable is that the nation’s tone has turned ever more angry and bitter over the past two decades, over the presidencies of Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and into today. The election of Barack Obama, a black man and a Democrat, has turned the volume knob past irresponsible to dangerous.

The airwaves are filled with talk-radio hosts like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh willing to say whatever it takes — the truth be damned — to tear down President Obama, his party and his agenda.

While extreme elements of the left and the right engage in this distasteful game, it’s clear that the loudest and most strident voices are on the right. The message: Obama and his allies — and Giffords would fall into that category in the mind of Tea Partiers — are illegitimate, socialists, radicals, dangerous, Un-Americans, less than human and so forth.

The First Amendment rights of these hate-radio hosts are not in question. The broadcaster’s responsibility to fairness and honesty is in serious question.

Read more: Anniston Star - The lesson of violent rhetoric

Amen,
~MET

And So It Begins

I watched the speech. I'm actually happy for the 5000 tea party faithful in attendance who finally had a chance to cheer. I'm pledging to do my job as an advocate for public education with a positive attitude...call it a New Year's resolution. I'm not confident, in fact I'm scared - but I'm ready to get to work.
~MET

The Fishing Was...

...kind of amazing. Just back from Jackman, where I stayed with some friends in this cabin on Big Wood Lake:

The place was awesome - right on the water, and since it was built in 1955 it had very "camp" feel.

Coming in from the lake, looking at the cabin:

And, as you might expect, we ate VERY well:

The boys cooking up suppah:

But this trip was about fishing.

BIG salmon:

Night fishing for cusk:

The last two fish I caught today:

I'm pretty sure this will be an annual New Year's tradition for me. I love the outdoors.

~MET