When I Started Teaching...

...things were a little different. In a couple of weeks I'll be starting my 31st year teaching social studies. It feels weird to begin a fourth decade. So to mark the occasion - here is a list of things that were going on when I started teaching:

• Ronald Reagan was beginning his second term.
• Gas was $1.09 a gallon.
• There was no internet, but we DID have computers and the big thrill was that you could correct typing mistakes simply by hitting the backspace.
• A stamp cost 22 cents.
• I used a hand-crank purple master copier machine.
• Mikhail Gorbachev replaced Konstantin Chernenko as Soviet leader.
• I had to keep a "register" as the official state of Maine attendance record for my homeroom. Luckily I only had to do this for 8 ranking periods, and I messed it up 8 straight times. Thank goodness for the school secretaries who fudged my work into something that made sense.
• Coca-Cola changed its formula and released New Coke. Man - that sucked.
• I used chalk (which I haven't touched in more than 20 years)
• I lived in an apartment one block from the school, walked to work everyday, and had a VERY tough teaching schedule. But I made it.
• Parents were more supportive, my class sizes were actually larger, the students are pretty much the same.

I still look forward to work each day, and I love calling myself a teacher. Its not what I do - its who I am.
~MET

Pilgrimage to Cooperstown - Day Three: The Arts

 I love the opera! Having never been to any sort of an opera I was wondering how this would compare to a musical. I think they are both fantastic, but very very different. I'll see many more musicals and many more operas. The opera house was gorgeous:

 The entire show was in Italian, but with words above the stage. (You can just see where in the picture above) I thought it would be distracting, but they don't show every word - they give you the idea of the message being conveyed. It was very easy to follow. The sets and costumes would rival any show I've seen in NYC, and the voices were spectacular. Ruth Bader Ginsburg frequents this festival each year. We also went to the Farmers Museum:

 It reminds me of the Norlands, only much bigger. It has a whole village stuck in 1860.

 And they strive to be self-sufficient. All the tools and pots and pans are made in the blacksmith shop, the handbills printed in the printing shop, etc. There were probably 10-12 building with experts on hand to explain things, and tons of artifacts and furniture.

They also have a very old carousel:

 If you click on the picture you can see that there were lessons about NY. The third place we went was the Fenimore Art Museum:

 Its not a big place, but its very nice. The big exhibit right now is Native American art.

 The explanations that accompanied each piece were VERY interesting.

 It was also the only part of the museum that allowed pictures. They have lots of great American art. I snuck this picture because I liked the bust:

 Its one that Thomas Jefferson sat for when he was 82.

This has been a great getaway, but we are looking forward to heading home in the morning. The truth is that if you took the Hall of Fame out of Cooperstown it would still be a fantastic place to visit. Don't get me wrong - the Hall was my favorite place by far, but the village alone is worth a trip. I'm pretty sure I'll be back. I love going anywhere with my wife, but this will be one that I won't forget for a while. Life is good.
~MET

Pilgrimage to Cooperstown - Day Two: The Hall of Fame

 Not gonna lie...one of the best days of my life. After an amazing gourmet breakfast at the B&B M-S and I took in the Hall of Fame. There is no way to do this museum justice in a blog post, and you can't take enough pictures. Be sure to click on them to make them bigger. There is so much here thats its really overwhelming. It would take you a month to read it all and then exhibits will have changed. Its amazing. Like a lot of museums it starts with a short film:

 The theatre is like a ballpark and it begins with PA announcers welcoming you - and of course Sherm Feller is the first one that you here. The film is great and its ends with everyone singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." I cried.  These three welcome you into the Hall:

 There is a locker for every team:

 And there is a ton of cool stuff in each one. Again - its overwhelming. The next several pictures need little explanation, and it was so cool to see all of this stuff:

 Standing next to Lou Gehrig's locker:

 I took this picture for my dad:

 Ted Williams designed this display. The balls are in the strike zone, and the numbers are his guess at what his average would be if every pitch was located on that ball.

 Click on the pic and read the hate mail:

 Again click on it to see stuff owned by Yaz:

 Millions of artifacts - one of my two greatest baseball heroes:

 To give you an example of just how MUCH stuff click and read this:

 The picture is bad, but Maine is in the Hall.

 Me going through an actual turnstile from the Polo Grounds:

 Loved this exhibit:

 Another favorite:

 The seven caps worn by Nolan Ryan when he pitched his no-hitters. This exhibit turned the Hall into an art museum:

 Lots of cool artwork:

 Andy Warhol Tom Seaver:

 My favorite painting:

 Its Mighty Casey striking out. Again - I could have 10,000 pictures here. The last thing you see is the plaques of the enshrined. The newest four had addition stuff - Pedro:

 The two I really wanted to see:

I went back in tonight and looked at every plaque. This really is the Mecca of baseball. M-S and I had sushi tonight and we're having a great time. Two more great museums tomorrow and seeing a world class opera. This is shaping up to be the best trip of all time. Life is good.
~MET

Pilgrimage to Cooperstown - Day One: Getting There and Walking Around Town

 As you might imagine - I've been looking forward to this trip. M-S and I took off this morning and drove to upstate NY to baseball Mecca. We decided to take Rt 2 across Massachusetts, and the Berkshires were beautiful (click on the pictures to make them bigger):

 But it did slow us down a bit. We got to Cooperstown at around 4:30 and checked into our B&B, the Landmark Inn:

 Its beautiful, and walking distance to everything. This is our room:

 The house has lots of baseball stuff around, and I'll take more pictures tomorrow at breakfast. We walked around the village and I felt like Charlie Bucket stepping into the chocolate factory. There are at least  20 baseball memorabilia stores.

 And statues galore:

 I think I might bring home a couple of these:

   
 We had dinner at Toscana Northern Italian Grille.

 Very good and very filling. We walked around a little more and went down to the lake for a bit.

 There are parks everywhere. The town has a real "Mayberry" feel. I also stopped in to see this:

There was a game finishing and the park is beautiful. Believe it or not, this will NOT be entirely a baseball trip. Over the next few days we'll be going to an art museum, a farming museum, and an opera. Stay tuned. As if the fates wanted to be sure that this trip was extra special as we settle in this evening the Nats are on ESPN playing the Mets. Like is very good.
~MET