Stories Short and Strange
17 short stories for general audiences ranging from the unusual to the unbelievable to the just plain strange.
“Walled In’ — The Berlin Wall
Periodically we run across a historical description that sounds unbelievable — “Could this really have happened?” Then we investigate and discover that not only did it happen, it was actually worse than we could ever have imagined. Some of the stories from the civil rights struggle in this country and the Holocaust are two ready
Finding the Speed of Light With Peeps
Tonight I found a link to a fun YouTube video on Facebook. Entitled “Finding the Speed of Light With Peeps”, it’s one of the more imaginative demonstration videos I’ve seen. This demonstration takes advantage of the fact that microwaves move at the speed of light. So take some of the Peeps left over from Easter
It’s a Triple What?
Congratulations to my niece for doing very well at her school’s track meet in the triple jump! Triple what? My best high school event was the hurtles. The triple jump is a lot like the long jump (which used to be the broad jump), except you touch the ground twice in mid-jump. It has been
A Tribute To Mom
RUTH MARY WELBAUM 1921-2015 Mom had been weakened by another bout of pneumonia. Thursday morning her caregivers put her to bed after breakfast; when they checked on her two hours later, she was laying on the floor. We don’t know what happened, but she had a broken leg. She deteriorated rapidly after that and
Where Today’s Students Get Their News
Some thoughts from the front lines of teaching — You may have heard of Channel One News, the daily TV broadcast that is seen in by about 5 million students in upper elementary schools, middle schools and high schools across the country. It appears in many of the schools where I’ve taught on dedicated television
It’s Not Easy Being a Teacher
This week I started a nine-day job as a high school social studies teacher. It’s bringing back all the memories of my student-teaching days, like the administrative problems I had. Normally as a substitute, I teach one, maybe two days and leave a report on everything that happened. Now I have to deal with the
How History is Really Written
For the next two weeks I’m filling in for a high school social studies teacher. I originally wanted to teach social studies, so I’m having a lot of fun during this time, although I have to keep reminding myself they’re typical high school students and not a history nerd like me. Remember Winston Churchill’s quote,
Origins of the Easter Bunny
With Easter being a religious holiday, how did we end up with a rabbit delivering colored eggs as one of our most cherished customs? One explanation has been provided by Time magazine. From Time’s website — The exact origins of the Easter bunny are clouded in mystery. One theory is that the symbol of the
Last Night I Saved a Fairy
Last night I saw the musical Peter Pan at Wright State University. It was based on the play by Sir James M. Barrie with all the traditional details — a colored light representing Tinker Bell, the role of Peter played by a young lady, and the audience clapping to save Tinker Bell after she drinks the
Turning a Negative Into a Positive — A Visit to the Emergency Room
I guess we all do stupid things. Fortunately, it’s been awhile for me. In fact, this episode happened several years ago. I wrote about it then to convince myself I was turning a negative into a positive. At least about as positive as an emergency-room visit can get. And I’ll repeat it here in the hope