Right Wisdom

 In just a few short weeks the kids will be heading back to school. I head back on Monday. I'm a teacher and with school just around the corner I want to reflect on those days of anticipation when we made that pilgrimage back to school. As a teacher heading back to school is excitement (at least for me). A chance to see a new batch of kids, teach a subject you love (math), and interact with colleagues. As parents it was great to get the kids back to a regular routine and done telling you they are bored. I'm sending one off to college so he won't even be around, it will be different being an empty nester.  Kids heading back to school was different. While it is possible we didn't mind connecting with friends, getting some new clothes, or learning something new it was that sense of rigidness that we didn't like. It was having to follow a routine. The summer was a time to be free, do what you want (within reason), play with friends, sleep in, and not eat school lunches....

  There aren't many words that rhyme with purple so I can understand why the University of Wisconsin Whitewater doesn't use any in their slogans. Here are a few of those words that are exact rhymes but there are others that you can twist or make work. Curple : A term referring to the hindquarters of a horse. Hirple : A Scottish term meaning to walk with a limp. Empurple : To make something purple. Interpel : To interrupt or question someone formally. You might wonder why am I mentioning UW Whitewater and the color purple? Last week we took our son to orientation at the campus and their colors are purple and white. It is a beautiful campus and Whitewater Wisconsin is a beautiful little town. Last summer we took a tour but this time was more about registering and learning more about the school and expectations. We did do some walking but we didn't have to hirple around the campus.  The school comes up with little slogans but none of them rhyme with purple. We got water bottle...

 This week I'm on vacation in northern Minnesota. I want to share some sights and sounds of where I went and what I did. Every summer we go to Wilderness Point Resort in Pequot Lakes. During this time, my son always plans another side trip that he and I take. This year our side trip consisted of a trip to Rainy River in Ontario, Canada, along with several stops along the way. My son collects city halls he takes pictures of them and posts them on a discord server. Our first stop was a visit to the Walker, MN city hall. Along the way to Canada we also stopped and got city hall photos for the following cities: Cass Lake, Black Duck, and Kelliher.  A big highlight was getting out in Shooks and taking a picture at the Royal Shooks Motel. Shooks is an unincorporated community, but at the intersection of highways 1 and 72 is the hotel, conveniently located in the middle of nowhere. In Minnesota and the upper Midwest, there is the legend of Paul Bunyan. We like to visit as many of the...

 I used to write a lot on this blog about leadership and you can still read all of those blog postings. I may still write about leadership but this blog and my other two will focus on things I enjoy. Not to say I don't enjoy leadership but I'll be mixing it up more. I have a bible verse for the week blog and a sport blog and those will focus on those things.  This Blog will focus on leadership, politics, trips, math and topics I find interesting. Today I want to mention that I started a YouTube channel on math topics. I posted my first one last week and it dealt with finding 10s when adding a lot of numbers together. Whether you like math or find it to be the worst thing in the world please know that math is everywhere and in everything you do. Math isn't about crunching numbers, it isn't made to torture you. Math is more about problem solving, understanding processes, and making things easier. Everyone can be successful in math; you just have to understand the language...

 In two days, America will be 250 years old. I remember celebrating the 200th birthday of America, they had special quarters to commemorate the occasion and there were parades and other events surrounding the celebration. It really brought everyone in America together with a sense of pride and love for the country, despite what the country had gone through.   Fast forward 50 years, and the climate of America isn't too different from that of 1976, when America was divided about the Vietnam War, Watergate, and the 60s civil rights movement. There are people out there today who hate America and they live in this country. To me America is still the greatest country on earth.  The freedoms we have in America are unmatched, and the ability to write your own destiny and be what you want to be is up to you. The government isn't going to tell you what career you need to go into. They aren't going to stop your creativity or your ingenuity. On the flip side however don't expect...

 This week I'm writing about upcoming festivals for this weekend. I'd love to hear from you about festivals you've attended and ones you would like to go to. There are always a lot more than I highlight here in my blog. Make sure if none of these pique your curiosity then do some research on ones you might like. MINNESOTA FESTIVALS: Afton Strawberry Festival (Afton, MN): June 27th to June 28th: Are you interested in visiting a historic small town on the beautiful St. Croix river? Then head to Afton this weekend. They are holding their annual Strawberry Festival. This free outdoor event features over 80 makers and artists, vintage vendors, and delicious strawberry-themed treats.  Afton Strawberry Festival Dan Patch Days (Savage, MN): June 25th to June 28th: First of all, the big question is: Who is Dan Patch? Dan Patch was a standardbred pacer from the early 1900s when harness racing was a huge sport. He was the fastest pacer at the time. If you want to stay closer to the ...

 One thing I used to do on this blog was to write about festivals in Minnesota. Every Friday during the summer, I am going to give you a list of some things you can do in and around Minnesota to enjoy what cities and towns have to offer.  Maybe you are a music person and you like to go to music festivals. If art is your thing then an art festival might be in the offing. Maybe sports are your thing and you want to know about local sporting events. Or maybe you just want to experience a bit of Americana and see what small towns, suburbs, and big cities are doing to celebrate their town. What is happening June 19th - 21st. In the Cities: Stone Arch Bridge Festival June 20-21 : Come and enjoy the Mississippi waterfront in Minneapolis and listen to music, enjoy art, and people watch. Of course there will be food there for you to eat. Here is a link to more information  https://stonearchbridgefestival.com/ If you  prefer St. Paul and you love Jazz. Twin Cities Jazz Festiva...

 My son likes to plan trips. One he had planned that we just returned from was a 3-day trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  My wife, son, and I had never been to the UP. Being from Minnesota, I have made many trips to the North Shore of Minnesota enjoying views of Lake Superior and other sites in the area. I assumed the UP would be very similar, and for the most part it was, but there were some differences. I'm going to write about some of the highlights of the trip, and I'll point out some differences that I observed. The first day found us traveling through Wisconsin. Our ultimate destination was Houghton Michigan. Let me tell you about Houghton. HOUGHTON: Right outside our hotel is the visitor center for the Isle Royal National Park. We visited the visitor center but didn't go to Isle Royal. That would be a fun trip to take but if we go we will leave from Grand Portage in Minnesota because you can just spend the day on the island and you don't have to camp. We l...

      The heart is a very fragile organ, and yet it is the most important organ in the human body. Today I'm going to write about the heart. There are a lot of phrases and idioms that have the word heart in them. Some examples of these can be found at the following webpage  https://www.thoughtco.com/heart-idioms-and-expressions-1210654 . I'm sure many of you have used some of these in the past, I know I have. These are fun to use and think about but how many of them actually hold truth. The truth of the matter is that we need to take care of the heart. Treat it like the important organ it is. A little over a year ago, I had an ablation done on my heart because my heart was in Afib for quite a while. Both of those sound scary, but they really aren't too serious. According to the Mayo Clinic, this is what an ablation is.  Cardiac ablation is a minimally invasive procedure for atrial fibrillation (AFib) that creates tiny scars in the heart to block faulty electrica...

 I wrote on this blog about a year ago that I was going to be more consistent with writing. Well, how did that go? I wrote a few more blogs after that and then I went silent. I apologize if you were looking for some consistent insight into my world but life/work got in the way.  Here I am a year later writing again. Hopefully this time I will be more consistent. Please send me messages of things you might like me to write about. I will recap some of the trips I have planned this summer.  My son graduated from High School this year and will be heading off to college. I decided not to run for city council but throw my support behind some other well qualified candidates. With all that I should have more time to write.  I'm going to work on some things to write about and I'll be back tomorrow with a list of some topics and dates soo you will know when to read my blog.

 I just got back from being on vacation. I spent a week at a lake in northern Minnesota. One tradition my son and I have when we are up there is that we take a day and travel to different parts of the state. My son posts pictures of city halls throughout Minnesota. His goal is to get every city hall in Minnesota. Here is a link to his Instagram account that shows pictures of the ones he has visited.  City Halls The other thing we like to do is check out roadside attractions. On our last trip we saw a number of them. Here are the ones we saw and where they were located.  Colonel Cobber located in Backus Minnesota. In Backus they celebrate a corn fest every year.  Lucette Kensack located in Hackensack Minnesota. This is Paul Bunyan's girlfriend World's largest Tiger Muskie located in Nevis Minnesota.  World's largest Dilly Bar located outside a Dairy Queen in Moorhead Minnesota. Unfortunately you can't eat this one. But we did get one you could eat, of course it w...

 Today I'm going to give you a book review. My favorite books to read are non-fiction books about baseball seasons, baseball players, presidents, or history. The book I'm currently reading and almost done with is "Team Of Rivals" by Doris Kearns Goodwin published in 2005. This book is 754 pages and I have 23 pages left so I think I can give you a good indication about the book. This book is really a retelling of the political career and presidency of Abraham Lincoln as told through extensive research into diaries and memoirs of those who worked closely with Lincoln. I have really enjoyed this book and the writing of Kearns. She is able to piece together all of her information about Lincoln's presidency and life during that time. She gives us up close narratives of the behind the scenes at the White House and his cabinet especially during the civil war. More often than not Presidents will give cabinet spots to friends. This book shows that Lincoln surrounded himsel...

 The title of this article is apropos since I haven't blogged in almost 12 years. I plan to start this blog up again and try to blog on a consistent basis. I will also be broadening the topics that I write about. Be sure to subscribe so you can get notifications about when I post. So what have I been up to since that October day in 2013 when I made my last blog? Let me recap for you. When that post happened I was in the middle of my Toastmaster journey and I'm happy to say that I crossed the Toastmaster finish line by earning my DTM. I didn't continue in Toastmasters after that since I changed jobs and took my leadership skills to Mathnasium and started running a Mathnasium in Blaine MN in 2016. I got the opportunity to blend my education degree with my MBA and use it as the Director of the Mathnasium in Blaine. I also had the opportunity to be the director at one in St Louis Park and one in  Andover. I ran these until 2023 when I decided to go back into the classroom and t...

On Tuesday October 1st the Frontier Division Speech contest was held. What a fantastic event it was! We had 6 contestants for the Table Topics contest and 6 contestants for the Humorous speech contest. We packed the facilities with guests, contestants and helpers from across District 6. There were even a number of Toastmaster dignitaries there to enjoy the festivities. As Division governor I have the task of putting together this contest. However it could not be possible with out great helpers and quality contestants. Leaders must always find those people who have the vision to take things to the next level. Whether you are leading a project at work, coordinating a special event or leading a department the most difficult thing in leadership is making sure you have quality people surrounding you. The six area governors for the Frontier Division put on fantastic contests and sent quality contestants to the next level (The division contest). A big thank you to my 6 area governors,...