Another shot of our foxgloves, this one featuring a couple of welcome bees. I don't think I've seen as many bees as usual this spring -- perhaps, in addition to their general decline, the cool temperatures have given them a slow start.
I'm happy to say I am winning the overdue book battles at school. I've gone from a 30-page list of students with overdue materials (!) to 13 pages. Still too long, but we're getting there. Yesterday I sent an e-mail to kids who'd checked something out within the past three weeks but whose books are still technically overdue (because everything came due on June 1) and told them I'd renew their books for the summer if they wanted and to e-mail me back. Many of them did, so that reduced the list significantly. It's the kids with stuff that's been out for months who I'm more worried about.
I also had a teacher return a book that's been due since September of 2020! So that's progress. (Teachers get a lot more lenience than students, but still, that's stretching it.)
I was sorry to read about the death of Jim Seals, of Seals & Crofts. I had a couple of their albums and always enjoyed their music. We used to have a great used-record store in North Tampa called Vinyl Fever, and I remember going there in high school with my mom (yes, my mom, possibly the least cool person to take to a record store as a teenager) and browsing their $1 bins. She pulled out a Seals & Crofts album and asked if I wanted it. I just gave her one of those teenage eye rolls because at the time I didn't listen to them at all -- but later, when I was in college, I became a fan. She knew my musical tastes better than I did! Or maybe it was just a lucky guess -- I'm not sure she knew who Seals & Crofts even were. To say she was not a pop music fan is an understatement. Her record collection was full of classical masters, a couple of 78 RPM Perry Como records and Richard Rodgers' soundtrack for "Victory at Sea."
That foxglove photo is a major wow. I liked Seals & Crofts briefly in the ’70s. I then had a co-worker I didn’t like much and he adored them and played them constantly in his office. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteLove the bees in the foxglove.
ReplyDeleteMy mum's record collection was mostly classical music and I remember a great afternoon we once had listening alternately to each others taste in music.
The teacher with the very overdue book should have been required to kiss your feet in apology.
ReplyDeleteYesterday you made up The Go Go's, now you have made up Seals and Crofts. What will it be tomorrow? Olga and The Squirrels?
Thats a lovely shot.
ReplyDeletePeople not returning borrowed items are a pain. At least in a library you have proof!
Wonderful picture of s foxgloves. Seals and Crofts sounds like a clothing store.
ReplyDeleteDuring my mom's last week of life, I asked her about her musical tastes because I honestly didn't know what they were. She had always just listened to whatever my dad played or if in the car with my brother and I, what we played. I wanted to turn a radio on in her bedroom while she was bed bound. I never really go a satisfactory answer and so it remains a mystery that I will never solve in this lifetime.
ReplyDeleteThat is a beautiful photo of the foxglove. I had forgotten about Seals & Crofts. I always enjoyed their music too.
ReplyDeleteI suppose the battle for returned books to a library is a world wide problem So dear friend, don't feel you haven't done your best. The books will come and go. No deduction from your pay for unreturned books. Could you call those with overdue books to your desk and give them a slapping?
ReplyDeleteSteve I am having some eyesight problems and will catch up as soon as I can. I am having a eye procedure in a couple of hours and hope that it helps me to see better. Hugs my friend. xx
ReplyDeleteGorgeous foxglove! I think maybe my mom was more hip than I was back when I was a tween (which we didn't even use that term then) & teen. But that's not saying very much. Ha!
ReplyDeleteI imagine you charge the families for the missing books. Hope you get more of them back.
ReplyDelete"Summer Breeze" was a lovely Seals and Crofts song that I enjoyed.
You reminded me of the record albums that my parents kept in the hifi! We had a mix of music and comedy albums. There was a guy who imitated JFK and his record was so funny that we would laugh and laugh when we played it! What a lovely memory you brought back to me!
I remember a couple of Seals and Croft songs - will have to listen to them again. And the Go-Go's!
ReplyDeleteThere was a Vinyl Fever in Tallahassee for years. It was definitely the place for the cool kids to buy music.
ReplyDeleteMy mother had several collections of records like, "World's Favorite Waltz's" and so forth. She also loved Eddie Arnold. Does anyone in the world still remember Eddie Arnold?
Perry Como was represented at our house too.
Love that foxglove photo. Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't thought of Seals and Croft for such a long time. I just listened to a bit of Summer Breeze. Sweet harmonies.
My parents were four square against any kind of music that was not country music. The old country music, singing cowboys, the like.
ReplyDeleteWhen I went to my first concert, it was Seals and Crofts and my parents were very vocal about the direction my life was taking (hell...handbasket...) It made me smile in the darkness the other night, listening to that old music once again. It was so innocent and sweet.
Teachers are notorious for breaking library rules. I was one of the worst.
ReplyDeleteMy parents were mainly into Big Band and 50s crooners, with a few exceptions. My preferences are Classic/Progressive Rock and Smooth Jazz, but I will listen to most anything.
ReplyDeleteAnother stunning photo of the foxgloves! Though we keep bees, it's usually bumblebees that I see around the house on our flowers rather than the honeybees.
Good job on the past due book scale. I saw that about Jim Seals too. Sad. I used to listen to their music too. My mom and dad had some Perry Como too along with a couple Frank Sinatra's albums. My dad was also a huge fan of the musician Dick Hyman. He had several of his albums.
ReplyDeleteLove the photo of the bees! Bumbles are my favorite. Teachers can be the worse offenders to rule breaking. Our staff meetings were often full of those on cell phones, not paying attention, side conversations, etc. Used to drive me nuts. We get after the students for being respectful and courteous, yet we aren't always that way as adults.
ReplyDeleteI remember our record collection at home being full of Gilbert & Sullivan music. My first buy was an Elvis Presley album, I think.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous photo.
ReplyDeleteAnd I, too, loved Seals and Crofts. Takes me back.
I liked Seals & Crofts. They were very popular when I was in high school. My fondness for them was tainted when X decided to become a Bahai, which involved all sorts of strange behavior on his part (involving his mental illness). They were well-known Bahais. Beautiful foxgloves!
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Really nice shot of the foxglove. I can't think of a single song by Seals and Croft but I'm familiar with the name.
ReplyDeleteWell done on shortening the list. I"m guessing those 10-monthers might be lost causes. Good luck on the remaining 13 percent!
ReplyDelete