1. Snug and I had a fine spring walk and then went to Suds 'em Yourself and he enjoyed being sprayed, lathered, scrubbed, rinsed, brushed, dried, and brushed some more.
2. I got the word from Silver Valley Girl that Mom was a little choked up and had some good laughs when the tributes each of us kids wrote to her for Mother's Day were read.
3. I put together a nifty handout for my research students using Adobe Acrobat 8 to help them with Lane Community College's library's online search tools and hope all the little message boxes and arrows and directions I wrote into the files of the library website print. If they don't, I have plan B ready to go.
Showing posts with label Suds Em Yourself. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Suds Em Yourself. Show all posts
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Friday, May 4, 2007
Eugene's Virtues
Good morning, JK!
Back on January 18, one of the 3 beautiful things I wrote about was seeing Jane King on campus and I had the pleasure of seeing her again yesterday at the Dan O'Brien reading in the main theater of the Performing Arts building. She sat next to me and she reminded me that she reads my blog every morning, which thrilled me.
Jane told me that she enjoys reading my posts about Kellogg and the Silver Valley, but wondered why I don't write about Eugene. I told her he truth. I have lived here since 1979 and have never felt at home here.
I thought more about this conversation and decided I would write about what I enjoy here. I mean, I don't have to feel at home in Eugene to enjoy its virtues. So, here I go:
I love working at Lane Community College. When I began teaching at LCC in 1989, I remember that immediately I felt a deep satisfaction that I was exactly where I wanted to be working. The student body at LCC is made up largely of students who are making some kind of comeback. It's not true of every student, but a large proportion of my students have had difficult lives, whether they have lost jobs, suffered abuse at home, abused drugs, been in jail, suffered poverty, been on the outside of the cool kids in high school, been (or are) homeless, are transitioning out of an industry that's depressed or disappeared, or, well, the list would be long.
A majority of these students have intellectual gifts that have been ignored or that they have squandered. Discovering and using their gifts helps them turn their lives around.
Eugene's schools and its social structure has large cracks. Many people fall through these cracks. I teach at a college that catches them. LCC has cracks, too. I see students who go back to falling. My fellow teachers whom I spend the most time with and I do all we can to close the cracks and help our students tap into their intelligence and feelings and find purpose in their lives.
In other words, I am most drawn to places in or around Eugene where things are unpretentious. A large majority of my students are unpretentious; they are grateful; they work hard and try to juggle the demands of school, work, children, probation officers, and a number of other pressures away from LCC.
I appreciate that Eugene is a hospitable city for dogs. Snug and can go to one of three nearby dog parks where Snug runs unleashed and where the city maintains the grounds and where a large majority of the dog owners have control of their animals. Vet care is very good. I deeply appreciate "Suds 'Em Yourself", a clean, well-maintained self-service dog bath business.
I don't get to Mac Court very often, but when I do, it's the best place to watch basketball I've ever been. I love how ancient Mac Court is and even more, I love the big brassy sound of the U of O band and their music selection. They play 25 or 6 to 4, All Right Now, and other tunes perfect for their instrumentation and perfect for getting me excited for basketball.
If, or when, I move back to North Idaho, I'll miss LCC and my superb fellow instructors. I already miss many of my students because they move on and disappear. I'll miss the dog accomodations. I'll miss Mac Court. Even though I don't get there often, it was a romantic place for me before I moved to Eugene and I always think of how I loved Mac Court games on tv when I watched them in North Idaho and eastern Washington--I'm always, even to this day, dumbfounded that I'm actually seeing a game there!
Back on January 18, one of the 3 beautiful things I wrote about was seeing Jane King on campus and I had the pleasure of seeing her again yesterday at the Dan O'Brien reading in the main theater of the Performing Arts building. She sat next to me and she reminded me that she reads my blog every morning, which thrilled me.
Jane told me that she enjoys reading my posts about Kellogg and the Silver Valley, but wondered why I don't write about Eugene. I told her he truth. I have lived here since 1979 and have never felt at home here.
I thought more about this conversation and decided I would write about what I enjoy here. I mean, I don't have to feel at home in Eugene to enjoy its virtues. So, here I go:
I love working at Lane Community College. When I began teaching at LCC in 1989, I remember that immediately I felt a deep satisfaction that I was exactly where I wanted to be working. The student body at LCC is made up largely of students who are making some kind of comeback. It's not true of every student, but a large proportion of my students have had difficult lives, whether they have lost jobs, suffered abuse at home, abused drugs, been in jail, suffered poverty, been on the outside of the cool kids in high school, been (or are) homeless, are transitioning out of an industry that's depressed or disappeared, or, well, the list would be long.
A majority of these students have intellectual gifts that have been ignored or that they have squandered. Discovering and using their gifts helps them turn their lives around.
Eugene's schools and its social structure has large cracks. Many people fall through these cracks. I teach at a college that catches them. LCC has cracks, too. I see students who go back to falling. My fellow teachers whom I spend the most time with and I do all we can to close the cracks and help our students tap into their intelligence and feelings and find purpose in their lives.
In other words, I am most drawn to places in or around Eugene where things are unpretentious. A large majority of my students are unpretentious; they are grateful; they work hard and try to juggle the demands of school, work, children, probation officers, and a number of other pressures away from LCC.
I appreciate that Eugene is a hospitable city for dogs. Snug and can go to one of three nearby dog parks where Snug runs unleashed and where the city maintains the grounds and where a large majority of the dog owners have control of their animals. Vet care is very good. I deeply appreciate "Suds 'Em Yourself", a clean, well-maintained self-service dog bath business.
I don't get to Mac Court very often, but when I do, it's the best place to watch basketball I've ever been. I love how ancient Mac Court is and even more, I love the big brassy sound of the U of O band and their music selection. They play 25 or 6 to 4, All Right Now, and other tunes perfect for their instrumentation and perfect for getting me excited for basketball.
If, or when, I move back to North Idaho, I'll miss LCC and my superb fellow instructors. I already miss many of my students because they move on and disappear. I'll miss the dog accomodations. I'll miss Mac Court. Even though I don't get there often, it was a romantic place for me before I moved to Eugene and I always think of how I loved Mac Court games on tv when I watched them in North Idaho and eastern Washington--I'm always, even to this day, dumbfounded that I'm actually seeing a game there!
Monday, January 15, 2007
Three Beautiful Things 01/15/07: Snug Running, Snug Bathing, Laundry
1. After a few months' absence, Snug and I went to the dog park on Crest Drive and I marvelled at how gorgeous Snug is when he runs and how much I love the way he invites other dogs to chase him. I want to write about and explain how it is I love Snug so much, but, for now, words escape me. I do not have words for why my heart stirs when I simply watch Snug run.
2. Snug and I went to Suds Em Yourself after the dog park so I could cleanse him of the mud that gathered all over his underside while at the dog park. Snug was placid and cooperative in the tub. He acted right at home and the looks on his face said to me that he loved his bath.
3. I had a lot of clothes and bedding to launder and I love going to the laundromat when I have a ton to do. I en
joyed how it was as if a bell went off in the neighborhood at about 12:30 p.m when staggering college students began to fill the place, carrying their laundry in back packs, orchard baskets, big cloth tie bags, and in black plastic bags. It was early afternoon and several of these young people looked like their day was just getting under way.
In the picture, Snug sleeps on my newly cleaned laundry.
2. Snug and I went to Suds Em Yourself after the dog park so I could cleanse him of the mud that gathered all over his underside while at the dog park. Snug was placid and cooperative in the tub. He acted right at home and the looks on his face said to me that he loved his bath.
3. I had a lot of clothes and bedding to launder and I love going to the laundromat when I have a ton to do. I en
joyed how it was as if a bell went off in the neighborhood at about 12:30 p.m when staggering college students began to fill the place, carrying their laundry in back packs, orchard baskets, big cloth tie bags, and in black plastic bags. It was early afternoon and several of these young people looked like their day was just getting under way.In the picture, Snug sleeps on my newly cleaned laundry.
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