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I am a retired English teacher and department head, the mother of three grand mother of four, and have been married to the same man for 53 years, two years after we met at college. I taught in both middle and high schools as I really love teens and in-betweens. I was also a certified Lamaze instructor, and for a short time a volunteer chaplain at Howard County General Hospital. I am a two-time cancer survivor, ovarian (2003), and breast (2019) I was born in South Philadelphia and grew up in the 'burbs with great parents, in a bilingual household. I love soft pretzels and cheesesteaks, the Phillies, the Eagles, the Orioles, and sometimes the Ravens. I love being Mom, Aunt Kathy, Nona Kathy (Kath), and Teacher. I spend a lot of time in my gardens in the spring and summer, and in the winter I plan what I'm going to plant. I also am an avid reader, cook, photographer, lover of languages, music, and four-footed furries.

Translator!

Tuesday, July 8, 2025

Herod's Always Out There🎶 Or Thanks, James Taylor

 Like all of us there have been times in my life in which I actually wondered, "Will I get through this, and how?"

In the late 80s I decided to return teaching, and to apply in the county in which we lived and where our three teenaged children were in school.  Being on the same schedule would make things a lot easier.  I had let my certification lapse and so had to take 33 credits to be re-certified.  While taking these classes at Loyola and Johns Hopkins I was also long-term subbing in a Baltimore County middle school for a friend out on maternity leave. Taking all this on was an, shall I say, 'energetic' decision on my part.

But I did it.  There were times I was so tired that I got onto the Baltimore Beltway going in the wrong direction.  Blessedly, I have a husband who is a wonderful co-parent, and our kids helped out a lot.

What I did not expect however, was my reception by Human Resources in the county in which I lived.  My interviews went well; and I got enthusiastic feedback.  The head of the department had said, "If you get an offer from another county, don't sign; let me know immediately".  I did, and I did.  The response was shattering.  "Teachers like you are a dime a dozen", and even more heart-breaking, "I wouldn't hire you if you were the last teacher on Earth."

Winded from the punch and devastated, I did not know how to come back from this or to even understand what had happened; what I had done to provoke this?

One day when I was feeling particularly down, I grabbed a CD and heard this:

… Those magic men, the MagiSome people call them wiseOr oriental, even kingsWell anyway, those guysThey visited with JesusThey sure enjoyed their stayThen warned in a dream of King Herod's schemeThey went home by another way
… Yes, they went home by another wayHome by another wayMaybe me and you can be wise guys tooAnd go home by another wayWe can make it another waySafe home as they used to sayKeep a weather eye to the chart on highAnd go home another way
… Steer clear of royal welcomesAvoid a big to-doA king who would slaughter the innocentsWill not cut a deal for youHe really, really wants those presentsHe'll comb your camel's fur'Til his boys announce they've found trace amountsOf your frankincense, gold, and myrrh
… Time to go home by another wayHome by another wayYou have to figure the Gods saying play the oddsAnd go home by another wayWe can make it another waySafe home as they used to sayKeep a weather eye to the chart on highAnd go home another way
… Home is where they want you nowYou can more or less assume that you'll be welcome in the endMustn't let King Herod haunt you soOr fantasize his features when you're looking at a friend
… Well it pleasures me to be hereAnd to sing this song tonightThey tell me that life is a miracleAnd I figured that they're rightBut Herod's always out thereHe's got our cards on fileIt's a lead pipe cinch, if we give an inchThen he realized it'd take a mile
… It's best to go home by another wayHome by another wayWe got this far through a lucky starBut tomorrow is another dayWe can make it another waySafe home as they used to sayKeep a weather eye to the chart on highAnd go home another way

It look me a good while to recuperate.  I accepted a job in Baltimore County, but decided I would apply for a job in my county every year for the rest of my life. just out of principle.  Three years later I got the job I wanted at my dream school, and became department head.  I retired from teaching in 2007.

I went home by another way.

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