Average...

Some scholars consider Bemidji State University the "Harvard" of the MidWest. Now, I'm not one to brag and I've never even been to Harvard but I can say that I am proud of the Bachelors of Arts degree I earned in Elementary Education from the next Ivy League School up by the lake.

Looking back at my time at "Uni", I reminisce fondly on my freshman English class in Creative Writing. Perhaps it was the fact that I was 4 years older than most incoming freshmen and had life experiences and adventures in the Marine Corps to reflect on and share. Maybe that, combined with my willingness to be less worried about impressing people with my intelligence and more likely to baffle them with my bullshit. I honed my skills in prose at Harvard and by that, I mean BSU.

I'm actually a published author, albeit in outdoor periodicals that have since gone the way of the dinosaurs. Undeterred by that kiss of death, I like to annually throw out an often prolonged account of the ups of downs and ins and outs of our hunting seasons in the Lost River. Hunting buddies and family alike read and respond, probably just to placate my feelings.

The readship of this here Kirby Krew Blog are faithful to a fault. While living in the Arctic I wrote to ease my worried mind. The numbers checking in grew and grew. Although I initially kept up contributions after returning to the Lower 48, I eventually slacked off. All that it took was an International Pandemic for me to return pen to paper.

One faithful follower commented that I can "sure spin a yarn." Rumplestiltskin could lock me in a room and I'm confident that I could write my way out of the transaction.
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Oddly enough, one recent interaction with our local English teacher has me scratching my chin.

Earlier in the Fall while coaching the Junior High football squad, I introduced myself as an ally.  7th grade boys have traditionally struggled with due dates and 5 paragraph essays. As their coach I did my best to run interference. The young educator struggled gaining a grip on the middle schoolers in her charge. As I understand, that continued throughout the year. During the distance learning end to our school year, Michele and I have done our best to help Logan navigate her aggressive assignments and unpredictable expectations. (That's the nice way of saying, "I've been doing his English homework with him.")

Teachers have been sending regular progress reports throughout the school year. That has continued as kids work from home.You can imagine my surprise when I saw that Logan is earning a "C" in English... especially because I DID THE DAMN WORK SITTING RIGHT NEXT TO HIM!!

Michele laughs... I'm getting a C in 7th grade English.