The Principal and the Cat – A Story of Dedication

The weather in my town can be vicious in the winter. Often, it drops below freezing for weeks at a time. This winter has been particularly cruel, however. December brought with it many days with highs in the single digits with most of the day spent below zero degrees Farenheit. The little school where I work has suffered as much as any, our hallways are often cold from students coming from or going to recess. Like any other school, we recently had Christmas break. We were out for two weeks and, upon our return, had the following story related to us.

Our principal is a good man, dedicated to his profession and ever conscious of the education of the students. At some point after the break he discovered a cat on the school property. Now, a cat isn’t really that big of a deal, but when one insists on staying the school grounds – whether by sheer stupidity or determination – it can be a distraction in the classroom as well as on the playground. Our unfortunate cat is a victim of the former. I guess no one is really sure when the cat showed up. And no one is really sure what possessed the cat to attempt wriggling through the chain-link fence that surrounds the playground. One thing is sure; on returning to school, our principal found the said feline with its head stuck in the fence. After some inspection it was certain that the poor cat was not going to work itself free. The cat was frozen. Now, the principal is aware that a cat – especially a dead and frozen one - on the playground is a school distraction, so he decided on a course of feline removal action.

Step 1 – cover the cat’s head with snow. Snow is readily available, and easily manipulated to cover the part of the cat that is actually on the school playground. Maybe the kids won’t notice the cat’s body on the other side…

Step 2 – fetch the hacksaw. Cut the cat free, it’s the only way to free the head from the confinement of the fence.

Step 3 – cut off the cat’s head. Why damage the school’s fence when another solution can be found? The cat is dead and frozen; it won’t make much of a mess.

Step 4 – discard any waste.

Needless to say, our principal’s plan, though well-intentioned it was, did not go off without a hitch. Dead cat folklore has raged through the student population and infected the attentions and captured the imaginations of many a child. I am sure that the version of the story I have heard is not entirely true. I am also sure that if I ask my students many versions will be told.

So six months... a lot can happen in six months. (SIX MONTHS! <- for Ally)

June - when we came back from California I'm not sure what happened after that. I probably just hung out with friends and stuff. Oh wait, I took Orff Level II, which is basically a bunch of musicians getting together and acting like elementary kids and getting graduate credit for it. I'd check my journal for other stuff, but it s only slightly more up to date than my blog. lol!

July - Let's see, Independence Day. Oh, I played with the Salt Lake Symphonic Winds in their concert at Sugar House. It was hot, but the saving factor was being able to travel with Dan and T-Roar to Salt Lake every Tuesday. It's like a new argument every week. And, then eating dinner at Winger's afterwards... that was always entertaining. Poor Winger's waitress, at least she was tipped well.

August - I think this was sucked up by school preparations. Always well-intentioned, but never carried out quite like the plans detailed. We did decide then not to have a Christmas concert and to put our concert in January instead, we hoped this would save stress later. I think it worked. I also started graduate classes full-time at the end of August. I was kinda worried I'd not be able to hack it then. I'm not worried now, I got a 4.0 this semester.

September - went to a few marching band competitions. Cheered for my orange and blue buddies and, dare I say it, even louder for my red and black ones. Their show was just way cool. Oh, I think this was also the month I started a renegade Facebook page for a friend...

October - This was the month from hell in a lot of ways. It is, certainly, the most pivotal of the last six and it proved to be the most educational. On the 10th Kady and I went to a Ryan Shupe concert in Smithfield. Just as the concert was starting Michele called me and told me on the of the band buses had been in a wreck. (you can google this event and read all about it.) Our friend, Heather Christensen died while trying to save the students on her bus when the bus driver lost consciousness. She was successful, though, her students all lived. That night I think I kinda went into shock while my brain processed stuff. The next day, Sunday, I remember rehearsing the ward choir and just feeling the comfort in the song they were singing - "Be Still My Soul". That song would carry me through the next weeks. Throughout the next weeks I discovered three things that gave me comfort - music, teaching, and prayer. I learned more about love, friendship, Gethsemane, Christ's healing, Heather, and the power of the Spirit than I ever thought could be crammed into one month. Mom came to visit me, even. I also spent most of that month in a dehydrated state. I am so blessed, but it still hurt like mad.

November - there was still lots of pain going in to this month, but I was able to do some things that helped a lot. The biggest thing was going to the Red Rocks Band Invitational and the BOA Regionals in St. George. On the way down I was able to stop in Delta and see the spot where Heather is buried. That was a good place to go. It was refreshing to sit and cry there. Then, spending time in St. George has never hurt, either. Seeing the AF band play there was simply astounding, it goes to show that music is just notes on a page until emotion is conveyed. You can find videos of these on YouTube, if you want to check it out. This was also the month that my parents came to Sterling for Thanksgiving. I loved being with my family again.

December - this month is when things started to return to normal after Heather's death. Some things, like teaching, had always kinda been normal, some returned to normal fairly quickly, but all the little things didn't come around until recently. I finally got caught up on my laundry, cleaning my room, and buying groceries. It's odd that things would take so long to return, but I just didn't realize what kind of impact things would have on the little things in life. Now we're on Christmas break, and I'm getting ready to fly home to be with family. Little brother Jeff comes home from his mission on the 1st. It'll be a good break.

This is the last six months, with some of details and plot removed. I think that a full telling would take for-ev-er, though.

California trip

So the last few weeks went by quickly. Things got so busy and hectic I forgot about posting anything! Well, here are the events of the last week...

Last Thursday school was released for the summer, the very next day Ally and I set out for California. We stopped in Highland for the night (I know, real far, huh?). Saturday morning we were up early and on the road, headin' for Templeton, CA. We reached our target place in just thirteen hours. Holy cow, that was a long drive. We did get to meet some friends for lunch in St. George, and we had a few fuel stops, but other than that we drove until we got there.

On Sunday we were able to attend church with our friend, Tammy. Then we drove out to Morro Bay. That was an interesting place, there we learned that the rock in Morro Bay is a monolith, meaning that the whole thing is one huge piece. We also got to see a seal there. At first we thought it was dead, but it moved. Poor thing, it was probably on it's way out.

Tuesday we started the four hour road trip to San Diego. Tammy drove us down the Pacific Coast Highway. We stopped at Malibu State Beach and the Point Vincente Lighthouse, which helped us turn a four hour drive into something closer to six hours. We met some friends at our hotel that night and ate dinner at the hotel restaurant.

Wednesday we ate breakfast with the same group. After a wonderful breakfast we set out to see San Diego. We checked out the downtown historic post office (I had to mail a package), and walked to the Gaslight District. Since that wasn't all that exciting we took a cab out to Harbor Drive and spent the afternoon touring the USS Midway, and aircraft carrier recently retired from the US Navy. It has been turned in a museum, with planes, helicopters, and tours and lectures given by vets, some of whom served on the Midway, and many who served in the Navy. It was fantastic! That night we saw Glenn Beck's stage show at Symphony Hall.

Thursday we slept in, and ate another great breakfast at the hotel. We went to the Cabrillo National Monument, which has the Old Point Loma Lighthouse in it (pic above). Ally was pretty happy. It was a beautiful place, and we were able to see lots of ocean, and a great view of San Diego. From there we went to the San Diego Temple. I got to do a session and Ally and Tammy wandered the temple grounds and talked to the missionaries. I love that temple! It has beautiful staircases, and I loved seeing the atrium in the middle of the building. Amazing. On the way home we stopped at a great Mexican restaurant somewhere in the LA area.

Friday we went to Avila beach, after sleeping in. We milled about there awhile, waded in the water, and checked out some tide pools. We also walked the pier, watched the pelicans, and bought some amazing strawberries at the farmer's market there. That night we ate Santa Maria barbecue, a smoke cooked tri-tip topped with salsa. Mmm!

Saturday we drove to Michele's house. Another really long drive. I am so glad that we chose to rent a car. We got a 2010 Toyota Camry. That made the drive much more comfortable and it was nice knowing that we didn't have to worry as much about car trouble. Some of the other drivers we saw were enough stress for us.

Well, we are home safe now, even though we both kinda wish we were still in California...

Springtime/Nearing the End

Well, it's springtime here in Cache Valley, which is essentially the same as winter and fall. Beautiful sunny days alternating with days of storminess and snow. The days this week have been sunny and up into the 70s, just fabulous weather! Rained last night a little, and this morning it snowed. Yuck. Really, just yuck. And now, because the day has warmed some, it has made everything slushy. I hope my flowers survive.

Speaking of flowers, my friend Sara gave me bulbs to plant. I've only got pots, so I stuck them in there. It wasn't until someone asked me that I realized that I didn't know what they were. Sara says she thinks they are probably tulips, although there might be some daffodils in the mix. She says the colors are mixed, too, so I guess the color will be a surprise when the flower comes. I've only had two (of about 10) that have come up, I wonder if the rest will just wait for a while. I dunno if they'll come up this year or not.

We are in the last term of the school year. We have about three weeks of class left. I have 12 days until the final concert and only 5 days of band after that. Wow, seems funny to think that I've been teaching 5 years. I still feel like a rookie in lots of ways. I'm excited for summer to come, though, I love that time of year. I hope that I have time to relax and play. Last summer seemed over-scheduled in a way. I think this one will be alright, but I do have some things that ought to be done (like planning for next year...).

*Sigh*

Well, the bad news first, I guess. I haven't posted in almost a month. Now for the good news: not much has happened. March is this long, tedious month. There are no school breaks in March, and in Cache Valley the month of March is still winter. Lame. My band kids did a great job at festival on April 1, many thought they could have done better, which is true, but I'm glad they feel alright about their performance. This week marks the beginning of Spring Break, maybe something exciting will happen. By the way, I think Elder Holland's talk was my favorite.

The Wild, Wild North

You know that myth that the north is just a scene of perpetual winter? It's not a myth - totally true. Last Monday Logan got a foot of snow, some of my students who live closer to the mountains reported more than two feet! This week the starting temperatures have been in the single digits, but at least the highs are creeping into the 40, so the snow will melt. It's like living in a freakin' refrigerator! Mom, I thinkin' about moving home.

This weekend was Bridgerland Honor Music Clinic (I think that's the official title). I ended up with just one student playing because the trombone kid was whisked away to Disneyland. Too bad, really. ;) I mean, what kid wants Disneyland over honor band? The kids did a fantastic job, and it was very neat to watch my college band director deal with middle school kids. They had a great time, and all the parents I talked to said their kids loved it and that the really like the director. I'm excited to listen to the recording when it comes. I think last year I may have received mine in May (two months after the event). I'm really hoping for March this year. We'll see.

Every morning when I drive to work I see these two wild turkeys. I have never seen wild turkeys in Logan before. I've seen them in Sanpete, but not here. They're on 600 West, down just south of the golf course. Sometimes they're out in the afternoon, too. I wonder if they've always been there, and what has been bringing them into the open. It's only been since February that I noticed them, where were they before? Are there really more than two?

A Warm Horizon

It's March now, that means two things: 1- that my parent's birthdays have arrived. This week I was on top of things enough to realize that Mom's birthday is tomorrow and gathered the things I needed for her present, but got sick Thursday and Friday and ended up mailing her gift late. I do think Dad's will be on time, though. 2 - that the spring season really is coming. Why I ever chose to live in Logan where the snow never melts is beyond me sometimes. February is one of those times. I feel myself growing increasingly jealous of those that live in warmer climates, even my friends who live along the Wasatch Front have it warmer than I. I would desperately love to be warm and outside right now.

Two of my studnets made honor band - the two low brass players. One got 2nd chair euphonium (he's been playing since mid-December, a switch from trumpet), and the other last trombone. I think that maybe he has no real concept of what it means to be fully prepared, despite my trying to teach him just that. Third student that auditioned said he froze up in part of the audition. Too bad, he really is a good player, but he's young. He has two more years to make it.

This weekend was Stake Conference. Last night when we sang in the chapel the choir stood in front of the pulpit. They are too big to stand in the practically non-existent choir loft. In order for the pianist to see me I had to stand on a chair in the back of the chapel. I felt a little odd about that - especially with two members of the Seventies there - but I could see no other way to deal with the problem. The choir sang wonderfully, and the meeting was really amazing. On Sunday we met in the Tabernacle, and got to rehearse a little with the organ before the meeting started. The choir really sang well today, also, and I think they sang loud enough to balance the organ. I hope they did. We got a new stake presidency today; we'll miss the outgoing presidency, but new ones are always interesting.