KATHY, my wife-by-marriage, had the maiden name Sokolowski when I tumbled for her in college. Prettiest name I ever heard. As you might guess, she is of Polish ancestry. And for decades, every Christmas at her family’s farm home we were treated to a variety of traditional Polish delicacies, much to her dad’s delight. It has been a while now
KATHY AND I ARE ALWAYS proud of our two sons. And they do and are many things to make us proud. Today we are feeling extra proud of younger son, Bryan. As Executive Director of Osprey Wilds Environmental Learning Center, he has guided the non-profit Center for most of the past decade. None of the years have been more challenging
I MADE MY BROTHER laugh yesterday, and in the process came up with a universal organizing principle for human behavior. Not a bad day’s work, I think.
AS POSTED YESTERDAY, MINNESOTA’S GREAT MANDOLIN MASTER and composer Peter Ostroushko has passed away. In June of 2019 a group of wonderful musicians donated their time and talents to a fund-raiser for Peter and Marge. At the end of the concert a number of folks took the stage to close out the evening with Peter’s exquisite “Heart Of The Heartland.”
MY MOTHER, JOYCE WOOD, TAUGHT PIANO LESSONS FOR SEVENTY-TWO YEARS STRAIGHT. In a row. With no years off. You get the idea. A great teacher. She passed away three years ago, and I’ve shared some of her wit and wisdom here before. Following is a document that will sound familiar to every teacher of any subject, although the details are
TODAY MARKS THE END of Christmas vacation for my Kathy Ann—two weeks off from piano teaching and the daily schedule. After 35 plus years of public school teaching, Kathy ‘retired’ several years ago, only to open her own home piano studio, where she teaches about 20 students. She teaches them well—very well—with a combination of skill, heart, patience, care, and
HERE IS A LITTLE STORY for folks who: love the Boundary Waters or Minnesota’s outdoors; love the iconic artwork of F. Lee Jaques; love the writing of his wife Florence Page Jaques (Canoe Country, Snowshoe Country) remember the wonderful photography of J. Arnold Bolz; or, just like a good story, from a warmer time of year. Years ago, I was
ABOUT TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY YEARS AGO A TEACHER WAS BORN INTO THIS WORLD. We celebrate his birth yet today, and particularly on this night. At its essence, his teaching called upon us to abandon selfishness. To love our neighbor as ourselves. And to greatly expand our idea of who our ‘neighbor’ might be–beyond the comforting restrictions of family and
MORE WIT AND WISDOM FROM THE PIANO STUDIO OF MY MOTHER, Joyce Wood. Mother passed away 2 years ago and I miss her daily, but it is fun to share the notes she saved of her interactions with students.
