A Master of His Craft (Getting Close to Signing Off)

I hate to post so much on the blog today, but I could not resist. I had the great pleasure tonight of hearing Vin Scully telecast a Dodger game from LA, as he has been doing since his Brooklyn days starting in 1950. 

His sweet dulcet-toned broadcasting voice, his uncanny storytelling-descriptions of every day details of the beauty of the game of baseball, and his respectful appreciation of the talents of the humans who play the game (no matter which team they are on), are a rare treat. He is such a skilled artisan, yet he never forgets his own weaknesses as he describes in a self-deprecating way, his struggles with the modern-day apps, tweets, and hashtags of today's social media in a year, when he expects "to ride off into the sunset." Yes, sadly, it is destined to be his last year broadcasting, but what a wonderful treasure to stop time and catch him still smoothly handling an ordinary game that he made sound like "a thing of beauty, a joy forever." He has not lost a step in his 66 or more years of broadcasting, He only keeps getting better.

Happy New School Year and all that follows...

With summer coming to an end in the east coast, (with storms a brewing and mother nature reminding us of the mix of nature, effort, and science that will help get us through the storm), it is a time to reflect on the new school year that is starting (or has recently started). Even though I am not personally shifting into a new grade or new school (I am just trying, from the Federal level, to help all schools, all teachers, and all students reach their full potential), it is a very exciting time for me (as each beginning of a new school year is and has been).

It is a time of renewal when new and open minds are taught by new and old masters of their craft, when new and old ideas can mix into new solutions, and when new and old issues can be effectively addressed in a new (or old, but fresh) manner. This renewal of thought (and freshness of ideas) that comes with a new school year has already propelled some campuses and some school districts into new ideas to address their issues.

It is an exciting time when there are so many possibilities (it is like an “opening day” when every team and every individual is undefeated and shows infinite promise).