Staying busy

So the question is..how do you keep a three-year old busy while working on the pool?

Let him chase the pool cleaner. Was good for almost 15 minutes.

Something to brighten a gloomy day

So the day is pretty much a washout.

Rainy and overcast.

I saw this iris in my garden changing its whole area from gray to color and I realized that while the skies may be rainy and overcast, we still carry sunshine in our hearts.

O's Fantastic Finish

I just have to say--I had the joy of watching a 12-inning baseball game that lasted less that three hours Thursday evening which saw my beloved Orioles come from behind in the bottom of the 12th inning to win.

I saw, for the first time in my life live--two pitchers throw shut-outs for nine innings and neither got the victory or loss.  They were magnificent--although, and I'm biased, the Oriole pitcher Zach Britton was better facing only two batters over the minimum of 27 for 9 innings.

The game was scoreless through 11 innings.

And short--efficient and crisp.  I have suffered through nine-inning games that took longer to play.

Random Photos from Mother's Day

I Know It is Here Somewhere

Sharing!  Remember?

Got It Together

I Am Smiling

Don't Make Me Laugh--I'm Near the Water

Mothers

Mother and Children

Thinking of Sailing Away?

And Poppop gets Stuck Carrying the Driftwood

I was reviewing the many photos taken during our Mother's Day excursion to the State Capitol and decided to share some of them. They are all pretty good--but these were special. Chris took all of the ones that she is not in.  I took those.

Zero Tolerance is an Abuse of Justice

There, I wrote it.

I have written it before, although  maybe not so direct in Zero Tolerance is for Computers.

In the name of zero tolerance, mindless people in positions of authority blindly apply directives without regard for what makes us different from any other animal or plant on the planet: the ability to reason.

Today, I submit an article from yesterday's Baltimore Sun titled: Two Easton lacrosse players suspended under zero-tolerance policies.

Let me summarize the article for you--but I encourage you to read it for yourself.

Two high school lacrosse players were found to have contraband--a pen knife and a lighter in their lacrosse gear bags during a search of the players for alcohol before a game.  The items, as confirmed by the coaches, were used to repair their sticks during matches.  The boy with the pen knife, Graham, was handcuffed and charged as a juvenile with possession of a deadly weapon and suspended for 10 days.  The other boy, Casey, was suspended for one day for having a lighter which was classified by the school as an explosive device.

Another Baltimore Sun article summarizes the situation as follows:
"Talbot County residents are no doubt sleeping easier after the school system used a policy of zero tolerance for deadly weapons to crack down on two high school lacrosse players who were caught with a small penknife and a lighter used to repair their sticks. However, we feel it important to warn them that they still may not be safe. After all, we hear that the baseball and softball players bring dozens of long, aluminum clubs with them to games and practices. For that matter, children as young as kindergarten routinely carry sharp, wooden sticks, and there are even special machines in virtually every classroom to hone these "pencils" to murderous points."

Here is the problem--on the sidelines of lacrosse matches coaches and officials considered these to be tools of the sport. In the equipment bags on the bus headed to the game they were considered contraband by a school official.

The ramifications of the actoons of the principal on these boys' future college careers could be significant, by having to report a suspension on their applications.  Further aggravated by the school superintendent's letter to Graham's parents which read: ""Given the severity of this violation expulsion is warranted," she wrote to the family in a letter in April. But because of extenuating circumstances, she said, she would allow the student to return to school after 10 days."

Really?

This is mindless application of rules without engaging the brain.

And people wonder why educators (think about this for a moment), are held in low esteem by many people.  The very people who should be advocating for the application of reason and common sense are the very ones mindlessly applying rules without thinking--is a pen knife in a lacrosse bag really a dangerous weapon for which a high school senior should be suspended? Especially when it is used as a tool and has been approved for use as a tool by other educators (the coaches)?  And then the superintendent writes a letter like what was written.

And don't forget--Graham served the entire suspension (missing valuable teaching time) while his parents attempted to appeal after being given erroneous information about not being able to appeal. So whether he is cleared or not and ultimately gets his record expunged--the punishment was served.

Casey is also working to get his record expunged, too. The school handbook, reportedly, does not define a lighter as an explosive device.

What is the message here?

Maybe going to college makes people dumber?

No the real message is that we need to be able to apply rational thinking to situations and not hide under a zero tolerance policy.

Reflections on Annapolis

Annapolis Statehouse

Annapolis

Standing on the very end of the piers Sunday where Annapolis drops off into the river and out into the bay, I was reminded of the quaint beauty of the capitol city of Maryland. Looking back on the Capitol Building as the dark clouds were gathering behind it, yet it was still in bright sunshine we a scene to remember--and we snapped enough images of it to hopefully remember it anyway.

The streets were crowded with shoppers and walkers and the occasional Navy-whites clad academy students making their way through the crowd.

It was pleasant.

The traffic was snarled, as it usually is but no one seemed to mind to much--that is just the way it is. Annapolis is like that. Don't go there is you worry about getting snarled in traffic--you will.

Sunday, Mother's Day, a day to remember.