My dad was a Taurus. Today would have been his 82nd birthday. He passed away after a brief illness on July 20, 2009. He was 76, too young. His passing took me by surprise, though if I had been paying attention I would have known, or at the least been more prepared, more ready.

My dad and his mom – one year old – May 1934

It seems like just the other day, but it was almost six years ago. It was at the end of the school year and I remember the entire event unfolding in slow motion in my memory, as if it were yesterday.

A year after my dad passed away, my brothers and I escorted his cremains to France and spread his ashes where he wanted to spend eternity in the countryside of northern France. Since that summer, I’ve been on a quest to recapture and gather my history, my story – who I am, where I have been, and where I am headed. In a way, MakingtheDaysCount.org has been my journal and my travelogue.

This past spring we took a trip to Washington, D.C. and on our way home, we stopped in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where my dad’s parents are buried. It was my side trip. I had never been to the cemetery. I was too young to have gone to my grandfather’s funeral and there was no service for my grandmother when she passed away several years ago. My mom and my step-mom were instrumental in helping me find my way to their gravesite; and since that trip, I have questioned both of them about my dad’s family. It’s been over forty years since my parents divorced and my mom’s memory of my dad’s parents is understandably fragmented. My stepmother’s memory is equally patchy because she married my dad after my grandfather passed away and she and her mother-in-law, my grandmother, had limited contact. However, my stepmom had my grandparent’s photos. A couple of weeks ago an envelope arrived in my mailbox and it was full of photos of my dad and his parents. I sifted through the photos and found notes from my grandmother to us three boys. I need to spend some time and make copies and forward them to my brothers – if they read this – which I doubt – they’ll discover I have some photos, I haven’t disclosed. Sorry, bros.

My dad was born in the middle of the Depression, a couple of months after FDR took over the helm for his first term. He was born in West Virginian coal country in Huntington. Life was very difficult for him – his parents divorced and his mom remarried when he was in grade school. His step-dad – the man I know as my grandfather – adopted him when my dad was in his teens. He had a difficult relationship with his mom and it spilled over in to my relationship with him. It turns out I was just as bull-headed as my Taurus father, despite being a Scorpion. His tough upbringing branded him in a way I am only just beginning to uncover and understand. I remember his busting my chops about wearing blue jeans when I was in my twenties. I asked him why he couldn’t understand or cut me slack and he looked me dead in the eye with the coldest iciest stare, and he said:

“Sonny, I worked my ass off, so I’d never have to wear blue jeans.”

He never did wear blue jeans.

He graduated high school sixty-five years ago this June and he went off to college, graduating in 1958 after a three-year stint in the Marine Corps from 1953-56. He met my mom in 1958 or 1959 and they married in 1960. The rest, they say is history, my story. Regardless, today would have been his birthday. I’ve been blogging for almost five years and I wonder what he would think about this space or this post. He never did like the internet, despite being an early adopter of the personal computer. He loved basketball, especially his alma mater Kentucky and enjoyed playing golf. He was a book collector, an avid reader, and amateur historian. We talked history and politics. I remember arguing, being lectured; and learning. He was a complex person, which I am still discovering six years after his passing, and today would have been his birthday. Happy birthday, dad.

Out of the corner of my eye, I am watching the Blackhawks and the Ducks play hockey and it’s late, very late. Usually at this time, I am looking at the inside of my eyelids and sawing logs. I’ve planned tomorrow’s lessons, I am ready for Wednesday and whatever it brings. Today is gonna be a great day, possibly a million and six times better than Tuesday, so I had better finish this post and get to sleep. The Hawks can wait – they’re into the third period of overtime. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, because that’s the way it comes.

How do you handle a loved one’s birthday after they have passed away?

image courtesy of Space.com

I was reminded by the sign below that I have a great deal for which to be thankful. I found it a couple of weeks ago, and I found the time this morning to write about it.

A week ago, I had a flashback to my first year of blogging and I reached out to a parent of a former student from the 2010-11 school year. It was my first year of blogging and she introduced me to another blogger whom she had met the summer before. I was, and still am, thankful. My message was brief and it took several attempts to find the correct email address before the message went through without a mailer-daemon reply.

Good morning,

I am not sure if this going to work… but I’ll give it a try.

Thought of you and your son this morning as I started my day – it is the day the first Coca-Cola is served in Atlanta!

I remember your family came back from a trip to the UK with a copy of a CD by One Night Only as it wasn’t available in the US.

My son – who’s your son’s age and grade, is now a firefighter paramedic, married, and has twin boys (18 months old). How is your son? And how are you doing?

I hope all is well, peace. BTW, I am still blogging at https://makingthedayscount.org

Semper sharkus,

I received a reply and I have yet to reply, but I will before the day is done. It was great to hear of my former student’s successes since he left my class, I knew he was destined for greatness as he showed curiosity, resilience, and great sense of humor as a seventh-grade boy.

Friday afternoon, I attended a retirement celebration for three of my fellow educators who are finishing their careers and retiring this year. One of them has been at our school since it opened in 2001 and many former teachers and administrators showed up for the party. It was wonderful to see so many people I haven’t seen for several years and catch up.

One of them was a band teacher who left about the time I had Edward, or maybe it was before. But it’s been a while. As we talked, he shared how he remembered the MtDC posts I would share via Facebook. I stopped sharing my blog posts on the platform when FB labeled them spam and contrary to the rules of the platform. I never understood how it happened, but it was probably a word or phrase that got flagged, so I stopped. The entire thing had me in knots, before I let it go.

It’s true I have far more blessings than I have problems as the sign says. Sometimes I just need the reminder.

In a few weeks, my sixteenth year of blogging will roll over to seventeenth. It is hard to believe it’s been that long, but it has. I have learned a lot along the path, and I know I am a better person for my years blogging.

Today is going to be a great day, if I can only trust it. It could possibly be a million and six times better than yesterday. So, I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Making the Days Count, one day at a time making time to be present and patient.

What’s on your plate for the day?

This week’s sign is too good to allow to wither away on the vine. I found it by accident. I drove past this week’s sign Saturday morning. I was in the left lane and didn’t see it until I was almost past it.

This morning, I went back to capture the sign I missed yesterday. I’ve have added the sign to my ‘must curate’ list, and I will be driving past it more often!

Mother’s Day in our house means celebrating my wife by weeding, spring yard cleaning, and spreading mulch, and getting the yard and garden, and anything outside looking great for spring.

It’s a labor of love.

At the end of a day’s work, we sit down and have dinner together on the deck, if it’s warm enough.

Every year on this day I think of my mom, and my stepmom.

Those two moms shaped me onto the person I have become. Like the craftsman that shapes a block of wood; my mother sculpted me by knocking off corners first, then craving, and sculpting me before sanding to finish me. My stepmother aided in the process. I would not be the person I am without those two.

And the rough spots that remain, are the dominion of my wife (and daughter) who continue the work of removing any blemish or growth that remains.

It’s a labor of love.

I am work in progress and I am trying to be a better every day.

I am already behind my self-imposed schedule so; I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Today is going the be an amazing day. Making the days Count since 1961, one day at a time with the help of some very special women.

What are you going to do to celebrate the day?

Yellow was my mom’s favorite color, at least I think it was. She’s been gone seven years now and there are so many questions I have that will forever go unanswered. I am going to have to go on believing that yellow was her favorite color.

Sunday morning, I looked out the kitchen window and saw an American Goldfinch, or spinus tristis, at the seed feeder. It was bright yellow and I couldn’t miss it.

I also uploaded it to a new app I discovered while watching CBS Sunday Morning before spring break. It’s called iNaturalist. The app encourages amateur scientists across the globe to share photos of living things – plants, animals, insects, and birds. I am just beginning to explore with it.

I shared the app and video with my students before we left for spring break encouraging them to be curious and full of wonder completely oblivious to the scheduled launch of Artemis II the following week.

My mom encouraged me to be curious as a child, and often in our conversations through adulthood. She’d love that I was reminded of her through seeing a spinus tristis.

It’s Wednesday and I have a full plate today. So, I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Making the Days COUNT, one day at a time, seeing yellow is better than seeing ‘red.’

What’s a color you can’t miss?

It’s officially spring, though we’re almost two weeks in or a month depending on which measure you use –  astronomical or meteorological. Either way you look it is spring with Easter Sunday this weekend.

I am certain It won’t snow where we are. It’s spring break and my wife and I are in the Florida Keys for a week. We are staying where we’ve spent every spring break since 2016, with the lone exception of 2020 when we were locked in at the lake.

Our rental offers a front row seat for sunrises. Every morning, I wake early so I don’t miss one. This morning, I set off to watch the sunrise from the eastern approach to the Bahia Honda Bridge. I miscalculated, the old bridge obscured the view of the sun breaking the horizon, but I waited patiently and was rewarded with the image below.

Last night when we returned from dinner, we gazed at the moon which had risen over the Atlantic. Over dinner we talked about today’s scheduled moon launch when NASA will launch Artemis II for the first manned spaceflight to the moon since December 1972. And, of course we shared our childhood  memories of launches and splash downs.

I wondered if people will be watching the launch like we were some fifty years ago.

It is Wednesday morning and April Fools. I’ve been fooled more than once, and I’ve done my share of  foolin’ but not today. Today is going to be an amazing day, so I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, under the sun, the moon, and the stars.

How is the sun or the moon lighting your path today?

I took the photo above last Friday after finishing my morning bus duty shepherding parents as they dropped their children off for school. It is fun duty and I have struck up a friendship with a former student’s dog who always is along for the morning ride. At first, the dog parked at me, but now she (or he) just looks at me and makes eye contact with me as they drive past into the circle drive.

I figured I would have time last weekend to put together a “Sign of the Week” post, but somehow the time slipped through my fingers and here I am a week later writing that post.

We all go through storms and somehow we end up on the other side of the storm in a better place and maybe a little stronger for the experience.

The past few months I’ve been chasing my tail and trying to keep up. I never seem to catch up, but here I am.

Last Friday afternoon, I stayed late to grade papers and sort through the study guides I had collected and review the data from the summative assessment (teacher word for final exam) I had given in science classes. My students did well and I was impressed, I had been worried that the February slump we’d all fallen into had taken a toll on their learning, but their scores showed they had recovered. My persistence, stubbornness, and belief they had learned the content was rewarded. And so were they.

It had been a stormy Friday. When I walked out, the storms had passed and the setting sun was making an appearance as the storm clouds moved out the area. It was the perfect moment and a rainbow was visible.

It was stunning.

Really it’s been a stormy week from last Friday’s thunderstorms to Tuesday’s violent thunderstorms with a reported F3 tornado a little south of us to the windstorm that plowed through last night, it has been a week of weather.

In some ways that is life, we roll with it make the best of what comes at us. We make the best of what we get, because what we get sometimes is not within our control. We Make the Days Count, one day at a time, sometimes fighting a wind, or sometimes catching the wind.

How are you handling the weather this year?

NOTE: I am leaving the ‘snow’ on until April. The forecast calls for snow Monday morning and we are really never out of woods for the possibility of snow until Mother’s Day in May. Really.

February in the Midwest can be almost anything, especially as we move from meteorological winter 2/28 to meteorological spring on 3/1.

Friday the 27th was amazing with sunshine and temps in the low sixties, not so a day later. Even with gloves on the overcast and low thirties froze my fingers. But it was good to move and watch Fern zip ahead of me, then zoom back. Nova stayed close but would chase Fern, then circle back. The two of them had a great time and both were quiet and curled up in the back seat on the way home.

It was wonderful to get out move, breathe fresh air, and watch the dogs be dogs and maybe burn a little bit of energy, too. I think the three of us were able to do all three.

It’s on the waning side of the day and I’ve been bust making the day count doing things I put off because… well, I just put them off. There is still life in the day and I’ve made the day count so far, so I’ll finish bu making the last quarter of the day count as much as the first three-quarters. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, because sometimes life is no walk in the park.  

What have you been doing with your walks?

For Brian’s Last on the Card.

This morning, it was -4F or -20C. At the moment, it is 3F (-16C), but the sun is shining brightly.

I discovered this week’s sign on the way home from serving others at Loaves and Fishes. It was a cold afternoon and fewer folks than normal were out getting what they need. We stayed warm and I shared my favorite cold weather hack. After several years of working out of doors for a few hours each Saturday, I have learned that the best way to keep hands warm (and dry, too) is to wear vinyl food service gloves underneath my regular gloves. Works every time.

I parked the car and walked back to get the photo above.

It’s been a few months since this church’s sign has been featured here. The past few months it’s been sharing messages promoting church events and I’ve been patient waiting for this week’s message of love, hope, and joy. There are signs all over – Christmas lights on houses, wreaths for sale, and sadly there are too many signs urging me to make a purchase in stores all over.

As the sign suggests, I am going to use love, hope, and joy take me far. There are eleven days until. Christmas and I have five ahead of me in the classroom.

Sunday is always a busy day but there is room for love, hope, and joy. There is always is and I hope it takes me far. Today is started and it going to be a million and six times better than yesterday. I am going to stay warm by Making the Day Count or doing my best at it.

What signs are you seeing? 

It was needed.

Last Saturday the snow began to fall and it didn’t stop until Sunday morning; It was the largest single day snowfall we’ve had in more than a decade.

before break, I noticed the sign had changed and chuckled. It is fun to play along with the students and their language development. My generation had cool, groovy, and a few others that are cringeworthy to say out loud today!

Every Thursday and Friday I have bus duty at the corner for the carline. I’ve been doing carline duty for several years and I enjoy seeing the kids walking to school and the parents dropping tier kiddos off for a day of learning, I have even befriended (well maybe) a dog or two. The past few years I’ve had a partner at the corner, but she’s been out this year and I am looking forward to seeing her back next year – true, bruh.

I take my wireless speaker out with me and I play tunes as the kids cross the street and I wave the cars in for the drop off. I share a few high fives and a bunch smiles. When I finish, I am able to encourage the hallway stragglers to make it to call before the 8 o’clock bell. But this week the carline has been brutal and the carline has persisted past the first period bell.

Office Hedge is our school resource officer and he’ll will join me when he’s at our school. Thursday we took care of the line and had it clear by 8:02, with time enough to take the photo below. It was cold and it took my fingers twenty minutes to warm up when I went inside. Friday I was back at it again, but without Hedge.

We’ve got snow forecast for tonight into tomorrow morning with a couple more inches to add to the snow pack.

We have two more weeks before winter break and I am sure the kiddos have visions of sun plum fairies dancing in their heads. I know the teachers do, too.

It’s Saturday and today is always a busy day for me. I am off to Loaves and Fishes to serve others and get love in return. The rest of the afternoon are afternoon chores and maybe, just maybe I’ll get to enjoy a college football game by the hearth. Today’s going to be an amazing day so I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, having a little fun and sharing joy with others.

How are you sharing joy with others this season?

Last weekend, I took a quick trip to the lake house – up Saturday afternoon and back Monday afternoon. It was a trip to replace the Nest thermostat which Google stopped supporting in late October. I figured (correctly) it would still work, but we wouldn’t have a way to check or change the temperature settings. O offered her Nest thermostat from her college house, and I took off when my Saturday shift at Loaves finished. I packed the car leftovers from the fridge for dinner when I arrived and both dogs.

It was a good thing I drove up. When I arrived, the thermostat was set to OFF and the inside and outside temperatures were the almost identical! 44F (11C) yikes. It was cold. I turned on the heat and within a couple of hours the cottage was a comfortable 65F (18C).

I am thankful I had the flexibility to take off for a quick trip to the lake.

I remember the weekend when I installed it in 2013. It is funny how the mind works. I re-read the post and like almost every post I reread, I found a typo or two. I also discovered I’ve become a better writer, and I realize that WordPress has developed incredible storytelling tools, even when I still must edit after I press publish.

I am thankful I continue to learn and grow, and I am thankful for WordPress. It was a good choice fifteen and half years ago and it is still today.

Sunday morning, I had a list of chores and a hope. I decided to tackle the thermostat switch, but I discovered that O’s thermostat wasn’t a good match and I needed a replacement. I checked Home Depot and discovered I could get one on Wednesday, so I checked where I bought the original Nest – Lowes and they had three in stock.

So, the dogs and I took off for the Lowes in Gaylord and a new thermostat. Hopefully this thermostat will last another dozen (or more) years.

Two hours, total. Up, back, and then a quick install and now we can monitor the climate in our lake house remotely.

On our way back to the lake, I saw the above sign; boy, do I love the wisdom. Gratitude and thankfulness, indeed it is a lifestyle, yet like many of the values and ideals in America it has a day set aside for it – Thanksgiving.

This year my school district switched the timing of parent conferences to October, instead of November and set aside the ENTIRE week of Thanksgiving as a break for teachers and administrators. This year we had nine days instead of six.

I am thankful for the three extra days; it makes a difference in where I am on the ninth morning.

After the installing thermostat I had another errand and few chores before cooking dinner and settling down for the night.

It was a beautiful day to be working outside; and my canine companions enjoyed the time to play, and I enjoyed the sunset and moonset. Monday morning, while practicing gratitude with Five Minute Journal app, I caught the most beautiful morning sunrise. I was at the right place at the right time for all three photos.

I am thankful I was able to see the sky and enjoy the beauty of nature.

It is the ninth and last day of Thanksgiving break, and yesterday we received a good amount of snow, had it fallen during the school week it might have been a snow day, but it fell Saturday. The yard is beautiful and I am thankful I was able to get the yard mowed, as many leaves as I could gather, and finish almost all our Christmas lights up Friday.

There was one thing I couldn’t squeeze into Friday, and it was refilling the bird feeders. Saturday morning as the first snowflakes fell, I filled the feeders. A couple of hours later, I saw a bird I have never seen at the feeder. I snapped a photo and asked Merlin to identify it, and it came back – Dark-eyed Junco.

There were several Dark-eyed Juncos enjoying the opportunity to take part in a Thanksgiving feast of their own. The bird feeders continue to spark my curiosity and learning. There is always something at the feeders to see and wonder.

I am thankful for the family of bloggers who encourage my curiosity and challenge me.

It has been an amazing break, and I have done the things I needed to recharge and finish 2025 strong. When I started writing t was Saturday and I was by a warm hearth, and it was snowing. It is still snowing and the fireplace has gone cold, for the moment. Today is going to be an amazing day, it could be a million and six times better than yesterday. But I will ever know unless I jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Making the Days COUNT, one day at a time, practicing Thanksgiving as a lifestyle, not a day.

What’s on your gratitude list?

The video above was created in October during our visit over the Columbus Day\Indigenous People’s break