Professor Carol
Today is the first Sunday of Advent. We light the first of four candles and think ahead to the first week of a liturgical season much of the world ignores. The word “first” generally has happy connotations: baby’s first step, the first child to graduate … Read more
In working with classes of first and second graders this fall, I’ve noted how enthusiastically they respond to that which is “real.” Genuine objects placed before their eyes seem to astonish and delight them: for example, placing before them actual large, framed oil paintings, watercolors, … Read more
You know how they say the greatest people are always the nicest! Well, here’s a good example. Listen to the master American composer and conductor Frank Ticheli as he reveals the concept behind Bash, his new piece that has its World Premiere tomorrow night at … Read more
Things are heating up for all of us as Thanksgiving approaches. Here’s what’s cooking at our “Professor Carol” house right now. Our newest series Tour the Arts made its debut. Oh my, it was fun to tour the artistic and cultural treasures of Prague with so … Read more
A storyteller lives in most families. My father was the magnificent one from our clan. That mantel fell to me since his passing, which means I avidly convey his stories as well as my own. What surprises me is how eagerly these stories are received … Read more
His portrait gave me chills every time I walked past it—happy chills, the kind of goosebumps that signal the presence of greatness. Particularly his transparent blue eyes captivated me, animated with a luminosity lacking in the other portraits along that corridor. From a distance, those … Read more
“Mrs. . . Mrs. . . , uh, . . . our girl guest!” This was the answer five-year old grandson Charlie spurted out when I asked who had given him the nifty ratchet set. His answer tickled me. It was resourceful, plus I knew … Read more
The content for this week’s Music for Autumn webinar took some surprising turns. How easy it was back in June to craft the first one of the series entitled Music for Summer. I expect the same ease will prevail for the final sessions: Music for … Read more
The grandkids were transfixed watching our friend Allan pile mortar onto new bricks as he transformed a line of collapsed bricks into a rustic footer for a new wall. This wall will be one of two needed to enclose the space below our sunporch, turning … Read more
Today I am going to do it. I will exit my parked car, walk to the west edge of the campus and gaze down into the gorge that separates the school from the residential street beyond. I will grab the sturdy wrought-iron handrail, walk down … Read more