bierkergaard

Well, getting ready to fly out to Portland, Oregon, for a little R and R. I have a considerably less ambitious travel itinerary this year as compared to my two last years during this season. As is becoming typical, I had car troubles and got a cold. That just seems to all coincide. I get antsy when I prepare to travel, which wears me out. I fear chaos. But, I have learned to embrace it because what is gained is worth the cost. I get out of town for Christmas. Because our family convenes more on Thanksgiving, I typically jet-out over Christmas to elsewhere where I give myself permission to eat, drink, and be merry. I almost accidentally typed "messy." It is probably a bit more than true. I enjoy myself but then walk miles in penance back and forth.  I usually park myself physically in some smaller type of city then do all I can to imbibe it deeply for a week to ten days. And then I pack up and head back to be it ever so humble, Columbia, Pa. Once I retire I plan to fol

I had a nice acquisition recently....a picture frame that had a photo of flags in it that had been in storage at work for a lot of years. I cared little for the pic. The frame looked nice. I had intentions.  My grandfather from Germany (Opa to me) was an architectural draftsman with expertise in brewing and breweries. A decade or ago so my dad had uncovered a treasure trove of Opa's drawings from more than 50 years ago which were stashed away at the family cabin . This drawing of the brewing process of his is a perfect fit in the frame. I was reminded that what is inside the frame is more important than the frame itself. Now, don't get me wrong. The frame is sweet. Solid, silver, and hefty. But, the drawing is what justifies and beautifies the frame. In an era where our culture is frame heavy (appearance, money, status, etc) it is good reminder that character matters. What is encased in the frame. Jesus says something along the lines of "What shall it profit a man

Trying to blog on my old iPad. Practically cuneiform. It is a great deal lighter than my even older laptop that is hooked up to peripherals like an elderly patient to oxygen and IV. I do tend to ride out my technology like a sled until I run out of functional snow. All the laptop peripherals are old so I am concerned that if I buy a new laptop, I have to go all in and buy new everything. I am first world cheap. I abandoned the iPad. Wasn't connecting to the wifi consistently creating a delay in my screen text from the keyboard. Back on the battleship laptop versus the iPad raft. Laptop is heavier than a cinder-block. I have shared with our class at school how technology has changed everything. My generation was in comparison information-starved. We went to rock concerts, we couldn't watch videos. We looked up articles in the stacks, not on Google. I got lost a lot directionally and  GPS allowed me to travel without fear of not being able to figure out where to turn. Findin

I am a dog lover but from afar. Maybe I could have a Virtual Dog? Just delete taking him out to take a doot and picking it up. And anything else not pleasant...Zeus does like to lick his privates so I kept his tongue away from my face.  I don't have a dog now but did have a legendarily stupid beagle as a kid. He was one dog enough for a lifetime. He has left me with a deep love for beagles and dogs in general. I will stop my car if I see a beagle being walked along a road. So, yeah I am a beagle wacko. I always feel like I have to explain to the beagle owner that I had a beagle as a kid, yada, yada, yada. It doesn't take a lot of time to call 911, so I have to make my case quick why I pulled over and have a goofy look on my face. I have friends and family who have dogs so I get in my in-person affection and leave the canines wanting more when I depart. So, I was out visiting family over Thanksgiving and got re-acquainted with the dog-in-residence, Zeus. He's a great

Being not a particularly handy person, I do have a fascination with fixing things. Repair takes on an aura of magic. It takes me awhile but I have some rudimentary skills. As far as what used to be called the Domestic Arts, I like to cook. Hate to clean. And then, everything else is ad-hoc. Like sewing. I had a Home Econ class back in Junior High in Grade 8 (now it is called Consumer Sciences). That was my last official instruction in sewing. Every so often, School Departments re-brand. Industrial Arts becomes Technical Education, Foreign Language turns into World Language, and Guidance Counselor transforms to School Counselor. Guidance sounds too heavy-handed for the sensibility of modern times I suppose. I do encourage students to take classes in some elective areas that may come in use sometimes later. I will leave the reader to decide if that is guidance or not. To my point, I had two pieces of clothing that had rips in the armpit area. Probably because of my massiv

I am a bit late for my blog post. Most of my weekend has been consumed by all things scrapple. Maybe I will write about it at some point. Needless to say, it did my Germanic-American Soul good. My cholesterol numbers? Likely no.  But, to today's topic. Several weeks ago my massive microwave no longer waved. I was going to chuck the beast and take it to the dump--far too large for my counter space--and purchase a smaller one. I reminded myself just because it was no longer working didn't necessarily mean that it couldn't be fixed. I think it originally cost plus $200 at Costco about 7 years ago. So, I wrestled it into the back seat of my four door Civic and hauled it up to work. I am on good terms with the maintenance staff, several of them much more handy than moi Ph.D. After disassembling it, one of the guys found that a small part, I think it is called the capacitor, had fried its brains like a 60's Child. It laid its life down, like Christ, so that the microw

Friday night was progressing beautifully, kind of. I went to a middle school dance plus 40 years at Tellus 360 for WXPN's Funky Friday. Let me tell you, getting old ain't pretty. Middle-Agers dancing to disco to protest the dying of the light. Smoldering wicks. A last spasm of youth. A buddy of mine wanted to bop for his birthday so I showed up for a cameo and then got the heck out before breaking out in hives. Walking back to my car, I got drenched in a downpour of unexpected rain. Skirting the sides of buildings to avoid the shower, I arrived as a sojourner to Square One Coffee to buy a $27 bag of Kenyan Coffee. I looked like a sunken rat. I made the rest of the way to my car--I don't park and pay at Garages--I beat myself up for not being prepared for the howling rains. My fleece fortunately kept me warm even though wet. The coffee, by the way, is astoundingly delicious. Makes me even more excited to head to Kenya in June.  I made my way in the Civic up to my bu

Last Saturday I was meeting a good buddy of mine at the local greasy spoon diner. Everybody needs one go-to. To get a breakfast like this beauty: Sure, a gut-buster...I don't eat like this all of the time. Eh, just most of the time. To brace myself for the caloric ingestion, I decided to walk from my Haus to the diner and back. A round-trip of probably close to three miles. I tend to not work out on Saturdays, so my coffee jitters can be a bit much. I really don't consider walking part of my "work-out" regimen. Just an add-on. But, it did take the edge off the coffee. It was a lovely Fall day. Facing the traffic, I set off on my journey. It is funny what I see when I slow down. Stuff like this: Yeah, that sign must have been disregarded as a matter of logic. I loved the irony. Only if the sign could fight back does it really add anything to the empty words. Like a drone strike that defends its perimeter.  And this: Might want to hire a professional

Should Christians do a daily Devotional out of duty? Our little checklist of dos and donts? If you do it out of duty, don't bother. Duty is the last line of defense. Do it because you want to, and if you don't want to, pray to the Lord that He makes you want to. And if you still don't want to, something is wrong. Don't take no Doctor to tell you that. A hungry person wants to eat.    For in the Lord's Prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray for our "daily bread." Anyone with even a scant knowledge of the Bible knows that bread is both a physical reality and a spiritual reality. One for the body, one for the soul. Think of Jesus's teaching, the Lord's Supper, etc. If really daring, go to the Old Testament and put it altogether with Bethlehem being called the House of Bread and the like. To most Christians, the Old Testament is a strange land. So, they don't visit. It is modern day Marcionism.  Evangelicals get a bit queasy in the OT.    Most Co

Yesterday we were down in Phoenixville for its first annual Oktoberfest. The beer and food were wonderful. The day started out chilly and rainy but then it turned into a fine afternoon. Sunny and cool, the rain past, with a gentle breeze. In other words, it feels like the fever has broken here in Eastern Pennsylvania. Fall, though late, is officially in gear. I remember I was about 12 years old and me and my brothers, dad, uncle, and assorted cousins climbed Bear Mountain in New York. I was a fairly athletic kid and I was ahead of everyone on the way down so I decided to plop down in some Fall leaves and peer into the changing season sky until everyone else caught up. It was quite peaceful. I recall that I thought to myself that "I will never forget this sight."  I am not certain why it made such an impression on the plate of my mind. Yet, it is quite true that I am very fond of Fall. It is my favorite reason and I particularly like the blueness of the sky coupled with t

This past Wednesday, I was feeling worn-down. One thing that I love yet fear about my job as a high school counselor is that I have to think through very complicated situations with students and seek to find a path that leads towards resolution. Never quick, or at least rarely so. I weigh a lot of variables and strive to exhibit wisdom and empathy for the student or students involved and for those who they are in relationship with such as parents, teachers, other students, etc. Every situation is different. I do hit the wall sometimes and just banging my skull against it isn't the solution. Thus, on Wednesday, the pressure was mounting and my resources were at low ebb. Tasks were piling up like snow and I wasn't sure how I was going to get shoveled out. I came home discouraged. Rather than double-down and stay late, I knew that I had to be rejuvenated before going back into the storm. Just rushing back into the battle is a good way to take a bullet. I needed to step back a

Fear The River Two Thursdays ago, it was uncharacteristically really nice outside. It was warm and sunny without being nasty humid. So, I felt compelled to get my face out of my iPhone and ride my bike to the river to Columbia Crossing, which is a public space veranda of sorts to gaze upon the river and think deep thoughts. I was chagrined when I arrived to see and more importantly hear a lady in yoga-like apparel yapping away on her cell. She might as well been talking to a rock since she was doing all of the talking. So much for my Zen moment of pondering whether I could see the same river twice. I was close enough to hear some of what she said. Typical gossip baloney. It irritated me that she didn't comprehend that it is not real appropriate to disturb the public peace with personal matters. By public peace I mean of course, my peace. So, I hung out for only a bit then hopped back on the Trek to home. I thought about how nice it would be to have property on the river w

If someone were to ask me what is some of the best advice I ever got, top among such advice is "A short list is better than a long memory."  I read it in a small book called "Life's Little Handbook of Wisdom. " Cost a couple of bucks at the local Christian bookstore. It was for Grads. I bought it for myself.  I can savor a good quote for a long time. The little handbook survived the great purge of post-Divorce discarding 75% or my CDs and Books. The goods, mostly evangelical Christian stuff, may have served a useful purpose at one point (I don't want to be totally dismissive). But, the CDs and Books had become burdens that I never read or listened to again so it was wise for me to chuck. Most of it embarrassed me frankly. Corny in retrospect. A parallel product culture. Shred and incinerate. See ya.  I also jettisoned a lot of my Christian Sub-Culture attitudes and behaviors. I started listening to NPR, stopped giving to Conservative political causes,

Surgically Repaired Pole The Friday of Labor Day Weekend, school was uncharacteristically not in session. Not sure why entirely. Not that I was complaining. Ramping back to school in session requires a decent amount of girding myself for the pressure. I don't recall this ever being the case of being off that Friday. So, I subverted back to summer mode for a day. Drank a lot of coffee. Chilled around the house, then decided to go for a hike at the local 1 mile path around Lake Grubb. Since Pa. has been the equatorial rainforest this summer (I know, I mention it every week), the hike was a bit nasty. It was hot, wet, slippery, and buggy. On top of it, since I am so freaking tall, I was clearing out the spider webs that most hikers pass under. I was using my walking pole to try and clear the way ahead. A flock of  mosquitoes and gnats circled me like satellites as I walked. When I got back to my car, I reflected how the hike had turned from a 99% win to something more like

I was in my Porsche driving up to the family cabin in upstate NY last Labor Day weekend . Oh, did I write Porsche? I meant Honda Civic. Easy to mix my cars up. On the drive up, I skirt along the edge of New York City Metro. It is close enough that I feel the gravitational pull of  NYC. For a country gentleman such as myself, I am not a big fan of big city drivers. Super aggressive, cutting in and out of traffic, blazing at unsafe speeds, etc. Yet, I have driven a lot in Philly, so I have an internal switch that can adjust to the heightened chaos. If I were in Amishland, this manner of driving would stress me out more. But, since it is NY/NJ, I understand that it is just this way and adjust. My main strategy is to get into one of the middle lanes, reach cruising altitude at a good clip, and avoid changing lanes a lot. So, cars that pass on my left and right can do as they wish. I will stake my middle moving ground and chill. I don't putt along. I am in the flow of traffic.

Well, the last three days we have had stellar weather. Sunny, less humid, a refreshing breeze. The eternal Autumn awaits. I can feel it in the air, that cool whisper that portends of change. I was absolutely desperate to enjoy the outdoors after our outside environment rinse-cycle car-wash summer. I kayaked on Thursday after school and mountain-biked Friday. I hope to mountain-bike tomorrow after school. Yesterday, I drank great beer and smoked a cigar while a friend brewed beer. I am a brew consultant. I don't do much besides provide company and point out potentially egregious mishaps during the brew-process.  Yesterday, I rescued the wayward printed directions that had been caught by the wind and were in danger of blowing away. Hero that I am.    On all three days it was lovely to be outside in nature. I suppose one positive about unpleasant weather is that beautiful days and nights count for more. Appreciation goes up as a result of adversity. I would still rather live in

On Monday, I received an email informing me that a good friend of mine Dave, an older man, had passed away. I knew he had been sick. He had cancer and it was a six-year battle. We had last had breakfast together about three years ago, with plans to reconvene. Not sure why we didn't. Occasionally, he would comment about a post I had put up on Facebook. I deferred on breakfast rather than find a way to make a way to make it happen. I regret it. I had first met Dave when he was the Tech Guy at the Ephrata School District. I worked a year in Ephrata Middle School and High School. Really, the worst year of my life. I had never met so many negative people as who were on the staff of the middle school. Most of the teachers seemed like they hated kids, or resented them. Or were annoyed by them at the least. I was flabbergasted. I was discouraged. I found out, after I was hired that the Principal and the Teachers were at war (the kids were collateral damage). He was not a particular

Last Saturday, there was a Craft Beer Fest in Columbia along the main drag of Locust Street. Not much of a main drag.  As promised, I am writing about bacon a bit. Bacon Bits. It was a good time. I typically eschew Beer Festivals these days for the same reason I don't go to expensive all you can eat buffets (or relatively cheap ones for that matter). Because it costs a decent amount of money to gain entrance, there is a desire to get my money's worth. My cheapness drives my consumption. Sure, I will go back for my tenth plate of fried shrimp. I will make a couple of exceptions. Ommegang's yearly Belgian Beer Fest in Cooperstown, New York and Columbia's Beer Fest. Columbia is close to home and with a combo of hitching a ride with my neighbor down part of the way, taking the shuttle bus from a closer location to and from, and walking, there was no need to drive. Ommegang has camping on its grounds. So, if I were to return to the event, I would just set up a tent a

On Wednesday, it was beautiful and sunny in the afternoon. This week we had a lot of rain again, but on this day, we had a reprieve. I was thankful. I needed to be outside, out and about, exercising and breaking a sweat. I snapped this picture above near the apex of the road. I am not expecting to win any awards but I thought is just was simple and beautiful. The blue sky, the white clouds, the red barn, the green trees, the country stone lane, the mowed grass with contrasting color of lighter and darker green. Take it in. Don't rush by. I think Soren K. said something to the effect that man is in such a rush for pleasure, he runs right by it.    I walked up a quiet road North of Wrightsville for a couple of miles then turned around. Couldn't quite figure out how it took me more time to get back downhill when I was running part of the way. Often when I face a puzzle I can't figure out, I just forget about it. I don't do those stupid brainteasers on Facebook li

This week we received a lot of rain here in Central Pennsylvania. Much flooding. Besides me emptying the dehumidifier more than usual, nothing serious here on Mount Molumbia. Traces of water around the French Drain in the dungeon.  Everything has that moist sponge feel. You know, the condition that the kitchen sponge usually exists in...unless you leave for a week and return to find it dry as a bone? Then, you have to re-animate it with some H2O. Keeping me from complaining are photos of California Wildfires. Like Noah, I sensed that I could head out of the Haus on Thursday on my Trek bike after a while inside. As an aside, it rained so much that my brake pads rusted onto the rotors on my car. When I go in my car on Friday to drive to a microbrewery in Southern York County--I had withheld from doing the trip until the waters had receded so as to not get stuck in a flash flood, turn around don't drown type of deal--I put my car in reverse and pressing the gas pedal, the old

I know that I have been delinquent on my blogging recently. My Dad called last week because he is my most faithful reader of  Bierkergaard and got concerned that I had croaked or something. Frankly, I have been in a down-low mode for most of the Summer. Dodging the heat like the Bulls of Pamplona. I get gored every Summer by the twin horns of heat and humidity. One or the other, I can deal with head-on. Both, I have to run and hide. As mentioned in previous blogs here and there, I get a terrible itch every early July that continues until the weather cools. I live for Fall and Spring, and endure Winter and Summer. Although, I like both, they have big downsides. It was cold forever this year. And little snow. Bad combo. This Summer, I have been a bit more intelligent. I don't go for runs in the mid-day sun with no shelter. I don't wear a hat or bandanna on my head that traps the heat like a coil on the cranium (instead I run or hike in the shade with a towel to wipe away e

Every year around this time, I have some time off of work. I typically don't travel a lot or long  because I can be called back to work to do the schedules at any time. I am on-call. So, I keep things open and play it by ear. I am thankful nonetheless to relax and restore. Retirement is starting to sound delightful. I am prepping for laying down my labors in a few years. I want to retire when I am healthy enough to enjoy it. I don't want the highlight of my week to be Wednesday Night Bingo and Friday Tapioca Pudding for lunch.  One year I watched the Gettysburg Battle series on Pennsylvania Cable Network where Park Rangers and Laypeople talk about some aspect of the battle. The battle happened around this time back in the day so it makes sense to revisit it. I am always amazed that there are so many die-hard devotees to the details of the days about 40 miles West of here. For a couple of other years, I watched Bourdain on his travels across the globe. I am fairly conv