Spring 2011

I have neglected the blog for almost a year as I pursued so many other things that both interested me and demanded my time.

Bubba-D, our good dog died since I last posted.  Bubba-D was truly a friend to all – a “good old dog”.

I still manage to maintain a 3.96 GPA after completing 25 semester hours of graduate school.  I have only four more courses - required to complete the degree.  I expect to graduate in the fall of 2011.  My degree will be a Master of Education with a concentration in Educational Media and Technology.  I look forward to applying my new found skills in some venue that will allow me to ignite the passion for learning in young and old alike.  Jill and I are traveling to Johnson City, Tennessee this weekend where I will be initiated into two honor societies; Kappa Delta Pi and The Golden Key International Honor Society.  The Kappa Delta Pi event is on Thursday evening and the other event on Saturday evening.  We will be staying at the oldest home in Tennessee (The Hawley House) which has been for the past many years a Bed and Breakfast.

 

I recently resigned my employment as a technology help desk specialist.  After being promoted to instructor, I decided the demand on my time was just too much.  I left in good standing and may return in the fall when there is not so much to do around our home.  I discovered that doing “call-center” work from home can be far more demanding and challenging that it might first appear.  After all, there are tree-houses to be built and grandsons to be taught some of life’s lessons – what could be more important than that?

  We will increase the size of our garden this year.  In addition to our “pod” garden, which has been very productive for us for the past 2 years; we will be growing bush beans in the traditional way.  We will also, for the first time, be growing carrots in 3 inch tubes.  We started some of the carrots this winter in the house and placed them in the window seat which extends for 20 feet across the room.  The windows’ catch the morning sun and the carrots are thriving.  We may have stumbled upon a way to grow carrots 12 months out of the year.  The greenhouse was a big help and all of Jill’s plants survived the winter in fine shape.

My bid for a seat on the local school board was unsuccessful.  I include a link to one of the web sites I created during that campaign, just to preserve the effort. Campaign Web Page 

I will post an update after we return from Johnson City, Tennessee.

Summer 2010 - It Is Humid

June 13, 2010, so much has happened since my last post.  Sherisa and the baby (Evan John) are fine.  Evan will be born July 1st.  We are going to the hospital today for a tour of the delivery area.  We will decide what part we will each play in Sherisa and Evan's big event.  Jill or I one will be in the delivery room for this cesarean birth.  Jill was with her when Ethan was born so I may be there this time, for Evan.

This year we planted only tomatoes and a few squash plants in our garden.  A few pepper plants, but nothing like in past years when we tried to grow the whole variety of vegetables.  I think this fall we will remove the blackberries from the garden and put them in an area adjacent to the greenhouse.  They tend to spread out and make it difficult to navigate to the tomato plants.

We recovered the greenhouse and hopefully came up with a solution to prevent the covering from being blown or torn off again, as it was last winter. We still have to trim the front and back to make it look neat, but I believe we have it secured at the bottom, on both sides in a way that won't come loose.  Jill has planted "monkey grass" on three sides and her usual scattering of wild flowers.  You can see some more pictures of our garden this year, if you click HERE

Ethan began Mandarin Chinese lessons with a tutor at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville and he is doing really well.  He also completed a one week camp at the Hunter Museum of Art in Chattanooga.  He made several musical instruments and had a really good time and more importantly - he began his journey into the world of art and the appreciation of art in all its forms.  Check out his week by clicking here: Hunter Museum of Art  He has his own blog now and we invite you to check it out at www.EthanJamesKutz.Blogspot.com

I successfully completed my 1st semester of graduate school with a grade point average of 3.85 and was very relieved.  I have enrolled in two accelerated courses for this summer, which will keep me very busy.  You can read further about my grad school experiences at www.jamesepowers.blogspot.com  I also entered the race for a seat on the Bledsoe County School Board and you can view my political blog at: www.votejimpowers.blogspot.com

New neighbors next door are very nice and always willing to help and surprise us with gifts of firewood and excess bedding plants.  Good neighbors are a true treasure.  I am going to wonder out in the yard and see if I can be of help to Jill with any of her many projects.  Until that day....Jim

A Walk In The Snow

Jill, Ethan and I just back from our walk in the snow this morning. I really snowed hard last night and covered the tree limbs and everything else it could find to sit on with 4 inches of soft, fluffy, dry snow. When we returned from our walk, we put a few more logs in the stove, Jill made some hot chocolate and we laughed at the photos we made. It was a good walk!

My studies are going well and I am pleased to have learned so much, so fast.  I am now able to do a number of "digital things" I could not do just a month ago.

I activated my Facebook page again and you are all invited to visit me there.  Just send me your email address and I will invite you.

Until the next time

Jim

It Is 2010

2010 Wow! - We all made it.

For me, and the Powers Family, 2010 holds the promise of undiscovered truths just as 2009 presented us with challenges, rewards for the challenges we faced and met, and the increased awareness of our limitations and potentials.

In 2009, Jim graduated from the University of Tennessee at Martin with a bachelors degree in University Studies, John, Sherisa and Ethan moved from California to Tennessee and Jill, bless her pretty heart, keep us all focused and moving forward.

The first day of 2010 was dreary here on the top of the mountain, and this night promises to be very cold, in the low 20’s. The fire is lit in the wood stove, lots of wood brought in to prevent the trip outside to the woodshed at night, and we are all at peace with each other and the world around us. Oh…I forgot to mention that Sherisa is pregnant and Jill and I hope for a granddaughter…but will be thankful and blessed with a boy or a girl.

I have been accepted into the graduate school of Education at East Tennessee State University (ETSU) and I am very excited about the possibilities.

Our dog Tag “came up missing” don’t know where he went or who took him, but we think of him and hope he is well. Bubba D is in poor health, but is still with us - and - more spoiled than ever.

We look forward to the challenges and rewards of 2010 and wish all our friends and family a prosperous new year.

Jim

Got Snow

The first snow of the year fell last night. One and a half inches of the white stuff covered our place on the mountain and just thrilled our 4-year-old grandson Ethan. He made snow angles, ate the snow from the front yard (who knows what was in that snow) and squealed with delight when he hit “gann-momma” with a snowball. Later in the day he and momma and “gann-momma” went to get the Christmas tree and that was a success. We get a “ball” tree each year, and plant it as a windbreak across the front of the property. It will be enjoyable to watch them decorate the tree with all the old ornaments that have been collected over the years. Ours is always an “old fashioned” Christmas filled with things from the past, memories from the past, and our favorite recipes. Friends will drop by and it will be good.

This week was fairly uneventful. John, our son-in-law, drove back to California for 3 weeks to begin his orientation on a new machine his company is developing. He will return for Christmas, and then be gone for another 6 months or so as he oversees the installation of the new machine for various clients all over the globe. I completed my final course and submitted my e-portfolio for grading. I am looking forward to the challenge of graduate school and all the new experiences that will bring.

Our good dog “Tag” ran off two nights ago. The neighbor’s dog also went missing, at the same time. They must have gotten together and went exploring, and lost their way. Our efforts to find them so far have not been rewarding. We all hope that after they have had their romp, they will return.

I am considering making a weekly blog entry to summarize the events of the week – I will give it some more thought.

Until that day,

Jim

Thanksgiving - 2009

Thanksgiving is a national day – it is our nations day – a day we set aside, by both tradition and edict, to give thanks to our God, our Creator, for all the many blessings we enjoy, as a free people, in a safe and secure nation.

It is all together fitting that we give thanks, not only to our Creator, but to all those man and women, throughout the ages, who have served and who now so honorably serve in our armed forces, who put themselves in harms way, so that we might be free. As we have read so many times – freedom is not free. We all know, and must always remember, our freedom was purchased for us by the blood and sacrifice of those who came before us, and our fellow countrymen today. Each generation must make a payment on that freedom and we today must acknowledge that debt and make our own payment, in any way we are called upon to make that payment.

The world’s great religions are at war again, as they have been for so many hundreds of years. It has always struck me as a great tragedy and contradiction that we kill in the name of religion – any religion.

It will be my prayer this thanksgiving that your God, whoever that God may be, will grant you peace of mind, peace of spirit, and a sense of understanding and acceptance - of the God - your neighbor may worship – wherever your neighbor may be!

Jim

A Change In Direction

Yes, I am making a change in direction - no more log cabin building for Jim!

In just a few short days, I will complete my undergraduate studies and will have earned a Bachelor of University Studies from the University of Tennessee at Martin.

The last 30 hours of that degree I earned “online”, and it was by far the most challenging and difficult. Those last 30 hours sparked in me an intense desire to know more and share that knowledge with - all those who seek knowledge. I had a good GPA (Grade Point Average) so I decided to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and if I scored high enough, to meet the requirements of the graduate school, I would apply for admission. Well, I did score high enough and made application and was accepted into the program of study for Master of Science in Education and Related Studies. The related studies will be Criminal Justice where I have a varied 30-year experience at both the street level and the command/administrative level.

Graduate school and the academic challenge it presents will be great, and the challenge to secure a teaching job, because of my age (I will be 70 when I graduate) will perhaps be even greater, but I remain optimistic about the future and my role in that future. There are jobs available in the public and private sector and in the developing online “open university” environment. I am particularly interested in the prospect of integrating technology into the classroom, wherever that classroom might be, and I believe it can and increasingly will be anywhere. I support the idea of a universal degree program- a degree earned by online or in classroom study, at any university in the world. I have joined Teachers Without Borders and support the Millennium Develop Goals, of the United Nations, (and that is about all I support of the United Nations) and the role education can play in the realization of those goals. From Nigeria to Indonesia to the established pedagogies of Europe the quest for knowledge is growing, and is being quenched by the far reach of technology. Technologies that are being used as tools not just delivery devices.

On every continent the untapped resources of the human mind and spirit await the opportunity to actualize their full potential, and I intend to be a part of that process. I invite each of you to join me on my journey of discovery by subscribing to my blog. I will be talking about much more than education, on that blog, and I welcome the opportunity to learn from your comments.