This summer I came home on leave from Abu Dhabi where I was teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) to the Arabs of the United Arab Emirates. I was surprised while I was home by being recalled to my old teaching job by Holland Public Schools. I had been laid off almost three years ago. I was also surprised to find that my certification was still good.
Some might think it was a simple decision to make. I should be home with my family. But I loved working with the Emirati (Arabs of the UAE) and I loved interacting and finding out about people from different places and cultures. EFL was interesting work. It was not an easy decision to make and I didn’t have much time to think about it. I decided to put in a year here at Holland and keep my options open. This had the wonderful advantage of being able to spend my son’s senior year with him and also allow me to get at least one more year in so I could become invested in the retirement system in the state of Michigan.
But I want to go back someday. What I want in life is to do interesting things. If you have read my past blogs you should know how much Emerson and Thoreau have influenced my thinking. I do not want to get to the end of my life and find out that I had not truly lived.
But this discussion is far from where I am going with the video I have made just for this blog. As I have said, this blog is kind of my scrapbook. I wanted to record some of my impressions of my summer’s leave, not realizing that it wouldn’t just be a leave but a move home.
I did have a wonderful leave. One of the things that struck me this summer as my son and I went on walks is the presence of nature even in cities and developed areas. In my life I have seen the cities encroach more and more on farm lands and forests to the point that wild life has been forced to survive in what are now urban settings. All of the wildlife shown in this video are within cities. The wild canaries (American Gold Finches) are all in a little park in Holland called, Window on the waterfront; the heron was in “The Hundred Acre Woods” behind the Indianapolis Museum of Art on the north side of Indianapolis, and the rest of the wild life, the foxes and etc. were all behind my Parents house on the south side of Indianapolis, Indiana. For all that I was able to catch with my camera, there were many more I was not able to: red-tailed hawks, killdeer, tit mice, chickadees, deer and much more.
I’m kind of tuned in to nature. My eyes seem to naturally scan for trees, flowers, animals and, most particularly, birds. Birds are a moderate obsession with me. When I was in the UAE I would take note of the birds I saw quickly making metal sketches of them, their size, shape, tail length, colors, bands and so forth, so I could look them up later. One site I found very helpful was called, “Birds of Al Ain” which had quite a variety of birds that were collected by many people who had visited the UAE or had made outings and snapped their pictures and posted them with information about it.
So I took my little JVC video camera everywhere and when I had the chance, I took pictures of the birds and beasts, forest and fauna of the North American mid-west to post here for your enjoyment (inshallah) or for my “scrapbook”.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Sally and Barnaby
Written September 7, 1999
Barnaby Jay Lancaster McGee
Longing for his life
Sailed his boat out to sea
And left behind his wife.
It seems that he had had enough
He headed for the door
Married life was dull and rough
It seems he wanted more-
A sigh of love, a tender kiss,
A happy lover’s bed
Where lovers sleep in happiness
And dream of years ahead.
Sally Simpson Jones McGee
Was stuck behind in Main.
She saw red as red could be
And then she went insane.
“I’ll kill that man!” she raised her fist
And shook it in the air.
And she went on to make a list
Of what she thought was fair.
“I’ll put a spider in his shoe,
With deadly venom black.
I’ll put a tiger in his room
And watch the beast attack!
“No, no, too quick. It seems to me
This man deserves much more
I’ll drug his wine and while he sleeps
I’ll creep in through his door
“I’ll tie his arms and legs up tight
And wait for him to wake
Then I”ll begin to skin all night
And from his skin I’ll make
“A lamp shade or a pocket purse
And on his bloody meat
I’ll poor—just to make it worse—
A bit of salt—how sweet!”
It seems that she had had enough
She waited at the door
He wanted rough? She’d give him rough!
And yet she wanted more—
A sigh of love, a tender kiss,
A happy lover’s bed
Where lovers sleep in happiness
And dream of years ahead.
But Barnaby did not return
And so her anger grew
As she began to fume and burn
Her vow she would renew.
And since the sailor’s wouldn’t take
A wench like her from land
The sailing ship that she would take
Was built by her own hand.
Across the sea this salt sea hag
Would wind and doldrum see
In her beaten bark with a sail of rag
To search for old McGee.
The sea was hard, but the sea was good
The sea was full of light.
It toned her flesh, and lack of food
Made Sally’s figure slight.
There’s something about the awesome sea
That moved upon her soul
And made her happy just to be--
Somehow it made her whole.
The sea alone was just enough--
The threshold of a door
To a gentle world that wasn’t rough
A world that gave her more--
A sigh of love, a tender kiss
A happy lover’s bed
Where lovers sleep in happiness
And dream of years a head.
Then one day a storm did shake
The timber of her mast
And belly up the bark would break
And in the sea did cast
Poor Sally, who would try to swim
The ocean tempest tossed.
And Sally wept for wanting of him—
The man that she had lost.
She wondered then, as all went black
Why had she really come?
Did she want to slap him back
For all that he had done?
Or did she want him back again
Ah, was it hate or love
That made her fight the wind and rain
To find his hidden cove?
She closed her eyes. She’d had enough
And passing through a door
Found the sea no longer rough
But found there something More—
A sigh of love, a tender kiss,
A happy lover’s bed
Where lovers sleep in happiness
And dream of years ahead.
Barnaby Jay Lancaster McGee
Went walking on the shore
And thought, how lonely it could be--
This paradise was poor.
For all its beauty, his island life
Made him think of her
Whom he had taken up as wife
And how he didn’t bother
To talk with her or find a way
To help her heal her heart
Or was it him? He couldn’t say
Just how those wars would start.
Then something on the beach ahead
Where sea and wind had laid
With lovely limbs and hair of red
He saw a comely maid.
He did not know the girl that lay
Asleep upon the sand,
Had shared with him his wedding day
And wore his wedding band.
He picked her up and took her home
And placed her on his bed
And while she slept he took a comb
To comb that hair of red.
Sally woke but showed it not,
Pretending that she slept
To hear her husband’s private thought
And what his heart had kept.
“I think that I would love this maid
But for my wedding vow.”
He spoke as he undid her braid.
“And I only wonder how
“A maid as beautiful as this
Should come out of the sea
It makes me think that I do miss
The kiss of my Sally.
“I regret the day I’d had enough
And walked out of that door
This lonesome life is very rough
And Sally offered more—
“A sigh of love, a tender kiss
A happy lover’s bed
Where lovers sleep in happiness
And dream of years ahead."
If any hate at all remained
In Sally’s heart that day
Then love came in, as if it rained,
And washed all hate away.
“It’s me! It’s me!” she said, “It’s Me!”
She turned and grabbed his head.
“I’m Sally Simpson Jones McGee!”
She pulled him to the bed.”
And pulled him down on top of her
That she might kiss the face,
And kiss again her old lover
That made her heart once race.
But now the racing of her heart
Came from a deeper place--
Deep, deep down in the deepest part
From endless time and space
The well of love, true and strong
Came flooding through her soul
With a well of tears that came along
Which helped to make her whole.
And Barnaby could not believe
It was his own dear wife.
Then saw that she did not deceive
But gave him back his life.
To live with her upon this land
This island in the sea
To walk with her and hold her hand
Was bliss for him. And He
Loved her then as ne’er before.
He loved her with the fire
That melts the gold out from the ore
The flame of pure desire.
So Patrick and his Sally fair
Forgave the years gone by
Those wasted years all cold and bare--
Released them with a sigh--
A sigh of love, a tender kiss,
A happy lover’s bed
Where lovers sleep in happiness
And dream of years ahead.
Barnaby Jay Lancaster McGee
Longing for his life
Sailed his boat out to sea
And left behind his wife.
It seems that he had had enough
He headed for the door
Married life was dull and rough
It seems he wanted more-
A sigh of love, a tender kiss,
A happy lover’s bed
Where lovers sleep in happiness
And dream of years ahead.
Sally Simpson Jones McGee
Was stuck behind in Main.
She saw red as red could be
And then she went insane.
“I’ll kill that man!” she raised her fist
And shook it in the air.
And she went on to make a list
Of what she thought was fair.
“I’ll put a spider in his shoe,
With deadly venom black.
I’ll put a tiger in his room
And watch the beast attack!
“No, no, too quick. It seems to me
This man deserves much more
I’ll drug his wine and while he sleeps
I’ll creep in through his door
“I’ll tie his arms and legs up tight
And wait for him to wake
Then I”ll begin to skin all night
And from his skin I’ll make
“A lamp shade or a pocket purse
And on his bloody meat
I’ll poor—just to make it worse—
A bit of salt—how sweet!”
It seems that she had had enough
She waited at the door
He wanted rough? She’d give him rough!
And yet she wanted more—
A sigh of love, a tender kiss,
A happy lover’s bed
Where lovers sleep in happiness
And dream of years ahead.
But Barnaby did not return
And so her anger grew
As she began to fume and burn
Her vow she would renew.
And since the sailor’s wouldn’t take
A wench like her from land
The sailing ship that she would take
Was built by her own hand.
Across the sea this salt sea hag
Would wind and doldrum see
In her beaten bark with a sail of rag
To search for old McGee.
The sea was hard, but the sea was good
The sea was full of light.
It toned her flesh, and lack of food
Made Sally’s figure slight.
There’s something about the awesome sea
That moved upon her soul
And made her happy just to be--
Somehow it made her whole.
The sea alone was just enough--
The threshold of a door
To a gentle world that wasn’t rough
A world that gave her more--
A sigh of love, a tender kiss
A happy lover’s bed
Where lovers sleep in happiness
And dream of years a head.
Then one day a storm did shake
The timber of her mast
And belly up the bark would break
And in the sea did cast
Poor Sally, who would try to swim
The ocean tempest tossed.
And Sally wept for wanting of him—
The man that she had lost.
She wondered then, as all went black
Why had she really come?
Did she want to slap him back
For all that he had done?
Or did she want him back again
Ah, was it hate or love
That made her fight the wind and rain
To find his hidden cove?
She closed her eyes. She’d had enough
And passing through a door
Found the sea no longer rough
But found there something More—
A sigh of love, a tender kiss,
A happy lover’s bed
Where lovers sleep in happiness
And dream of years ahead.
Barnaby Jay Lancaster McGee
Went walking on the shore
And thought, how lonely it could be--
This paradise was poor.
For all its beauty, his island life
Made him think of her
Whom he had taken up as wife
And how he didn’t bother
To talk with her or find a way
To help her heal her heart
Or was it him? He couldn’t say
Just how those wars would start.
Then something on the beach ahead
Where sea and wind had laid
With lovely limbs and hair of red
He saw a comely maid.
He did not know the girl that lay
Asleep upon the sand,
Had shared with him his wedding day
And wore his wedding band.
He picked her up and took her home
And placed her on his bed
And while she slept he took a comb
To comb that hair of red.
Sally woke but showed it not,
Pretending that she slept
To hear her husband’s private thought
And what his heart had kept.
“I think that I would love this maid
But for my wedding vow.”
He spoke as he undid her braid.
“And I only wonder how
“A maid as beautiful as this
Should come out of the sea
It makes me think that I do miss
The kiss of my Sally.
“I regret the day I’d had enough
And walked out of that door
This lonesome life is very rough
And Sally offered more—
“A sigh of love, a tender kiss
A happy lover’s bed
Where lovers sleep in happiness
And dream of years ahead."
If any hate at all remained
In Sally’s heart that day
Then love came in, as if it rained,
And washed all hate away.
“It’s me! It’s me!” she said, “It’s Me!”
She turned and grabbed his head.
“I’m Sally Simpson Jones McGee!”
She pulled him to the bed.”
And pulled him down on top of her
That she might kiss the face,
And kiss again her old lover
That made her heart once race.
But now the racing of her heart
Came from a deeper place--
Deep, deep down in the deepest part
From endless time and space
The well of love, true and strong
Came flooding through her soul
With a well of tears that came along
Which helped to make her whole.
And Barnaby could not believe
It was his own dear wife.
Then saw that she did not deceive
But gave him back his life.
To live with her upon this land
This island in the sea
To walk with her and hold her hand
Was bliss for him. And He
Loved her then as ne’er before.
He loved her with the fire
That melts the gold out from the ore
The flame of pure desire.
So Patrick and his Sally fair
Forgave the years gone by
Those wasted years all cold and bare--
Released them with a sigh--
A sigh of love, a tender kiss,
A happy lover’s bed
Where lovers sleep in happiness
And dream of years ahead.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
I like the heat, even when it is up to 115 - 120, as long as it is dry, but lately the humidity has crept in here in Abu Dhabi and has become intolerable. So I stay inside and try to be creative. It only rains for a few days in the winter in this part of the UAE and People tend to be in awe of such a simple thing as rain. As I write this, I am only a couple of weeks away from taking my annual leave when I will be traveling back to my home town of Michigan and I'm hoping for a bit of rain and a chance even to get out and get soaked running around in it. These were my thoughts as I improvised here on the keyboard. The opening being the sound of rain and, perhaps, the music building to an all out storm.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
A Reflection on Eyes.
“Eyes don’t look, people do”
So I learned in my poetry class from a
Sniggering professor who imagined eyes floating
In space.
Shaming students in to proper
conformity on how to write good poetry.
Yet we all understand, don’t we, that line from Eliot:
“Eyes I dare not meet in dreams.”
People may have the eyes, but do they look?
I have learned that I can be invisible
In fact, I have discovered that it is easier than being seen.
I have gone to parties where
No one noticed that I arrived
No one noticed that I left
I talked with people who didn’t listen
I was interrupted in ways that told me I didn’t exist.
When it stops hurting
There is a certain freedom in it—
Just open the hand and
let
...go
......of
.........being.
Human history is full of eyes that no longer see;
That may have never seen
That may have never been seen.
Who is behind the eyes?
Who is the seer?
Who is the who?
Why is the who not a what—what makes it a who?
A who may have eyes but whom do they see?
Eyes may be open and yet they are closed
Seeing what they choose to see
Do you see me?
Do you see yourself?
And the animals have eyes
What do they see?
I recall the look in the eye of a bull
As he was slaughtered
By the people who fed him and cared for him
Was it merely anthropomorphism—
Or was it truly a look of shock, confusion and betrayal?
Not something most eyes want to see.
So they don’t.
They see Big Macs instead.
Big Macs and profits.
Some eyes look down from penthouses
And see objects that walk and carry wallets and purses
Bulls and cows ready for slaughter
Consumers to be consumed.
Eyes that see products
Eyes that see money
Eyes that do not see each other
All eyes are closed
All eyes will be closed
But in this life
I would open my eyes
I would see with my eyes
Because it is true: eyes don’t see at all
It takes a person to see.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Sunday, May 2, 2010
June 21
Those floppy jeans, the paperboy hat,
red tank top with a yellow star on the chest and
where-did-you-get-those Converse on your feet
basketball in hand
ready for the heat in the summer city
little Scottie at your heals
his tail wagging, tongue hanging
following you to the park
the hot air rippling off the court doesn’t stop you
and those long wet curls that shake the sweat
like little diamonds scattering in the sun
unaware of what you are
the fantastic energy that is you
what every young girl wants
what every young man would be
you drink life—a fine chardonnay—
as if it were a cold glass of water after
the hours of basketball on a hot day
you just guzzle it without care
it runs over your fine-boned chin and
down your neck where the veins throb with life
your drunkenness comes out like sunlight
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Student Projects
For this term's level 2-3 students I made an assignment I had not tried before. I decided to take my knowledge of the Window Movie Maker program and teach my students how to make videos. This project involved writing and speaking on a topic and then turning their writing into a video. First they had to write a draft, have a peer edit it, and then submit it to the teacher for
further error correction. After that they had to type it up in the computer lab, correcting it further until they got it right. When this was done, they had to rehearse reading it, and then record and edit it in an audio program called "Adaucity" which allows them to add background music (mostly mine which you may have heard before if you follow my videos). Finally, they had to bring in their videos or find videos and illustrations from the internet that fit the topic and then edit all of these into a Windows Movie Maker project.
The topic for their project had to involve some aspect of UAE culture. This is a bit over-done as topics go, but it is one that they can talk about in plenty and have first hand expert knowledge of! There are a few errors in some of the credits which I have left in (there is a certain amount of humor in them, and it is, after all, authentic ESL writing). I was very pleased with their efforts, especially at self-correction as they listened and edited their speaking portion.
further error correction. After that they had to type it up in the computer lab, correcting it further until they got it right. When this was done, they had to rehearse reading it, and then record and edit it in an audio program called "Adaucity" which allows them to add background music (mostly mine which you may have heard before if you follow my videos). Finally, they had to bring in their videos or find videos and illustrations from the internet that fit the topic and then edit all of these into a Windows Movie Maker project.
The topic for their project had to involve some aspect of UAE culture. This is a bit over-done as topics go, but it is one that they can talk about in plenty and have first hand expert knowledge of! There are a few errors in some of the credits which I have left in (there is a certain amount of humor in them, and it is, after all, authentic ESL writing). I was very pleased with their efforts, especially at self-correction as they listened and edited their speaking portion.
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