MEET MY NEW ROOF

As I drove home from my morning volunteer cleaning shift, I saw the trucks on our lawn, and knew our new roof was being laid. The new copper penny roof looked like a second sunrise in the morning as the sun reflected on its bright surface.

“Good morning,” I called to the roofers. “It’s beautiful, and redder than I thought it would be.”

The foreman said the color would change at different times of the day, and in different seasons.

I imagine our roof shining up at the heavens, imitating the sun.

A new roof will keep the attic cool even when the temperature outside blazes. I wonder what it will look like under street lights at night.

I never thought much about roofs before. I can’t tell you much about the old roof except that it was grey asphalt. I don’t remember roofs of houses from when I was growing up.

But I like this roof. It has a 200 plus watt smile. I smile back at it.

All Lives Matter, The Legacy of Sandra Bland

Sandra Bland was an eloquent spokesperson for Black Lives Matter. She knew that all lives matter. Her tragic death reminded us of that. Her arrest video was painful to watch because it was a classic example of bullying. I have known too many bullies in my life.

Everyone dislikes bullies, but we all bully sometimes. Some people are easy victims. We can yell at the store clerk for mixing up our order; we can yell at the waitress when the kitchen burned our steak. We justify our bullying. He did something stupid. She should have known better. Bullying is often misdirected anger.

We are frustrated when things go wrong. We need to take it out on somebody. Kick the dog; scream at the kids; pull a trembling woman from her automobile and label it resisting arrest.

We all have power over someone, and when we misuse that power, the technical term is bullying.

Let’s find find other ways to deal with our frustrations.

Otherwise we might end up on candid camera like that policeman and the beautiful and eloquent Sandra Bland.

Sandy, we need you back to stand up for what is right. We need you to be our spokesperson again. You stood up for what was wrong. You died showing us what was wrong.

LEARNING HACK- PRACTICE LOOKING FOR ANSWER CLUES IN TEST QUESTIONS

Students, do you want to practice taking tests and understanding tests strategies? Go to freekibble.com. Try to answer the daily dog trivia question there and then click on Freekibble Kat and answer the daily cat trivia question. Most questions have clues to the answers. If you can work out the answer from the clues, this is great practice for looking for clues in school tests.

And those clicks earn free food for animal shelters.

Then click on Free Kat Litter. No question here, but it only takes a second, and that click earns free litter for animal shelters and rescue groups.