Over the Falls

 January 1st, 2025, seems so long ago. The end of winter, spring and asummer,  and now we are well into fall. The one constant has been change. Life has been rushing by lately like a barrel over Niagra Falls. We've been a little bruised and battered lately but I have every confidence this barrel will hold and we'll survive the falls. More on that in future blogs, for now let's take a look at two of my passions, gentle reader. 

2025 thus far has been filled with nature and art...two of my favorite flavors. "How is this different than any other post Walt?" you might be asking. Honestly, it isn't, but these are the two things that make me happiest. Don't worry gentle readers, as I get closer to retirement, I'm sure it'll change to early bird specials and pickle ball, but for now let's take a look at some pretty cool photos of art and nature. 

Art: 

January started at the SFMOMA to see Amy Sherald's work. Most will know her as the portraitist that painted First Lady Michelle Obama's offficail portrait. Her signature style is to paint African American skin color in gray scale, drawing into question the impact of skin color on and within the black community.   

This controversial piece is titled "Trans Forming Liberty" and is actually larger than life in person. This picture does not do it justice. Definitely a commentary on the treatment of trans members in our community 

This of course is patterend from the famous cover of Life Magazine of the nurse being kissed by a returning WWII soldier.  The person on the left gives one the sense of the scale, Her paintings are quite large and very impressive in person. The vibrant colors compared with the gray scale skin tone has an incredibe impact. 

No trip to the SFMOMA is complete without a vieiwng of the Yayoi Kusama infinity room. 

Up, down, and all around! Disorienting and whimiscal. 

A couple of educators enjoying the last of winter break. 

Awkward but endearing pose from Anand.

Heroic pose from myself of course. 

Random art in the cafe's and streets of Oakland!

Spray painted at a park on the embarcadero in Oakland. One of my favorite children's book is, "Where the Sidewalk Ends," and this stylized interpretation is definitely Oakland inspired.

A lovely mural on the UC Berkeley campus celebrating two things I love, bicycles and California poppies. 

Frankenstein realness at Mother Tongue Cafe. 

Of course Hellvella is always good for new and innovative art.  

Yosiell's sickling piece for the Muschi Muschi mushroom themed show. The picture does not do it justice. 

Raul's (gallery owner) piece from the show. 

Another piece Raul did that I absolutely love (I bought a print on wood of this piece). 

And of course our July trip to Japan was filled with Art. While there we were able to visit the Yayoi Kusama Museum. A full circle opportunity considering my love of the pieces at the SFMOMA. 

This is a stark white room with white furnishings in which visitors can place sticker dots anywhere we pleased.  Yayoi Kusama likes immersive art for sure.  

These large pieces were at the entrance to the museum. 

We also went to Team Lab, a multimedia experience.  

Another very cool immersive experience with different components that were changed by participants actions.  There were lots of rooms with different displays in each. Some of the art followed us from one room to the next. 

This large scale room was very relaxing. So insipiring and creative.  

Westumbled upon this Takahata exhibition.  Takahata directed Grave of the Fireflies, Pom Poko and many other anime movies.  I was not a big fan of anime until I saw this exhibit.  The sheer beauty of some of the stills from the movie are incredible, each a stand alone art piece.  


There was way too many opportunities for viewing art in Japan, but the previous pieces were some of my favorites. Ani Difranco has a line in one of her songs, "Art is the reason I get up in the morning, but my definition ends there..." My feelings exactly Ani...

I'll end the art portion of this blog, gentle readers with a prtrait of me done in the Orphans of Dudleytown style by Yosiell.  This was a gift for me for my sixtieth Birthday.  Another piece I absolutely love! 

As beautiful and emotionally impacting as art is to me, nature illicits a different reaction, one that centers me and reminds me of my small part in the grand scheme of things.  Nature does wonders for my mental health, truly my favorite form of therapy. 

What better place for nature therapy than Steep Ravine Trail in Marin. This January hike affords the hiker with small waterfalls. The trail down the ravine is incredible as one can hardly believe that we are still in the bay area. 

Several ladders assist to traverse up or down the ravine.  

More waterfalls, small but charming.  I'm definitely in my happy place. 

After walking down the ravine, it is a steep hike back up to the Marin headlands.  The sun was definitely low in the skyas it is January. 

As one summits the steep climb, the views are incredible from the headlands.  

It's hard to see but SF is in the distance. Great views. 

My favorite hiking buddy. Always willing to try a new hike and to challenge ourselves...well...within reason.  

A hike close to Half Moon Bay with my other favorite hiking buddies. 

We got the squad back for more hiking after our long trek up Half Dome the previous summer. (Anand, James, and Ivan) 

Exhausted but happy. 

And...the post hike brew and burger.  Beer after a long bike ride or hike is the ambrosia of the Bro's, so delicious. 

Next up, perhaps one of my fondest nature experiences, Ano Nuevo State Park for the annual Elephant Seal breeding and pup rearing season. We didn't see alot of bulls battling but still an amazing guided experience.  

Intrepid explorers viewing Elephant Seals, up close! 

We were upon a ridge but quit honestly very close...

Momma seals after a time just abruptly leave their pups to fend for themsleves.  Talk about tough love! 

Our Oakland hills are actually quite stunning. 

It's easy to be contemplative when this view is available in practically your back yard. 

In Japan we experienced some incredibly beautiful natural areas. 

The bamboo forest of Kyoto was impressive. We arrived early enough to avoid most of the crowds.  Very serene. I'm much more used to the more wild and unstructured wilderness of California.  

In the cool shade of the bamboo on another hot Japanese day. 

Very quiet and tranquil. 

.  

And the crowds start to arrive...

Close to the bamboo forest is a temple with an amazing water lily pond. 

Beautifully large and colorful water lilies. 

Close to our hotel in Tokyo was a cute little urban park with lovely greenery. 

So, here we are gentle readers, with a smattering of beautiful art and beautiful natural surroundings. No matter the circumstances, my sanity depends on seeking out the beauty that people and nature are able to provide.  I'll always be a fan of both art and nature.  My winter plan is to include more in my life...so let me know if you want to go to a museum, gallery, or hike a trail.  

It's Elementary (School)...My Dear Watson

 So, gentle reader, your humble author hasn't addressed the biggest change I've experienced in many years.  This past fall I changed jobs, and moved from being a middle school principal to going to elementary as a principal.  Many people have asked why, and although I've perfected my elevator speech of why I made the switch, the answer, like life and Ikea directions, is much more complicated. 

The six years I spent at the middle school level were some of the most challenging and most rewarding in my career.  Middle school is a challenging place for students, teachers, parents, and administrators even when all is working well. Throwing in six years of construction and moving from a 7th/8th grade to a 6th/7th/8th grade and subsequently 1/3 more staff to hire and 450 more students, makes for an exhausting work environment. To be sure, I learned so much and feel I could probably at this point be a construction manager if needed.  

I made a promise when taking the job that I would finish out the conversion and construction.  The promise was to our HR person at the time but really the promise was as much to myself as to anybody else. Those that are closest to me know that when I set a challnege I am compelled to meet it, even when the timeline shifted from 4 years to 6 years. Some say this is an admirable trait, I think it is an annoying character flaw fraught with opportunities to ignore my own self interest as well as the interest of those around me. This challenge is something a younger version of myself as an ambitious young administrator would've relished.  

After six years I know that there was much good that happened under my leadership. I know that the culture of the school shifted from a dysfunctional, bitter, and disaffected group of teachers to a positive climate where people wanted to be. Some of this is was due to me, some due to several exceptional staff members  and some was due to a bevy of well timed retirements that opened the door for new people.  I'm very grateful to all of the people that helped create a vision and put in the blood swea tand tears needed to change the culture of the school. There were so many people that sustained me over these six years with encouragement, help, and downright hard work.  We all can be exceptionally proud of all the work that happened at Centerville over the past six years and quite frankly the new building itself is quite stunning. 

The timing for leaving was right. As a third of the staff turned over, the staff was ready for a new leader to come in and reenvision the school from a junior high to a middle school.  New systems were needed to be put in place and a new leader needed to break from "the way things were done"at Centerville. But really, this makes me seem alot more altruistic than I feel.

There was a time when I wanted to be a superintendent come hell or high water. I clearly saw my career path as clearly as if it were on Google Maps. Destination typed in with stops along the way and a timeline as well, Directorship (something I did do), Associate Superintendent (of Curriculum and Instruction), Superintendent of a small district, then medium, and dare I say it a large district. All in the name of doing  what is right for kids. This road map didn;t come to pass. 

The realization quickly came that it is more difficult to do what's right for kids the higher in the heirarchy you ascend. Superintendents, to be effective, must be excellent politicians, and although Im not a bad politician it is not my true calling. I am not implying that superintendents can't do what's good for children, in fact they do, but at times it seems necessary to toss aside one's values to meet a greater goal, to acheive that higher purpose.  

Why bring this into the picture, it is because when I was the principal of Centerville, I didn't always like who I was.  I found myself having to fight with construction workers to ensure student safety, ignoring the concerns of a coworker, tell a white lie to a colleague or to a parent, or put aside the needs of our most vulnerable students for expediency (never fear gentle reader, not enough to  actually harm a sudent but sometimes making decisions where equity was not my core principle). Compromising my values happened with a frequnecy with which I was becoming uncomfortable. 

The one place I felt that I could do work that was an expression of my values was as an elementary principal. So, I took the pay cut and applied for an elementary position less than a mile from the middle school. This past fall I started at a high performing elementary school with 780 students. 

How's it going, you may ask, genlte reader? One might expect that magically all of the stress and trauma from the last six years would magically disappear, but again that's not how life works.  Coupled with the school stressors has been construction at home woes, a whole different story, only mentioned due to the amount of stress that has casued as well.  Having spent alot of my time over the past six years in various modes of crisis, my response to issues and my emotional state were often from a crisis frame of reference.   I'm having to unlearn that response. I don't mean to lessen true forms of PTSD, but after six years I think I'm experiencing a mild form.  I often make professional and personal decisions that range from not in my best self interest to downright destructive. 

The difficult part is that living in this mode one creates a shield around emotions. I spoke with a high school colleague once when his school was experiencing a crisis and I asked how he was doing, he said, "You know you do this job long enough you get really numb to this stuff." The disconnect for me is that I often feel numb in crisis, good decision making must come from a rationale place, but elementary school teachers and staff are steeped in empathy.  It's a framework I'm working my way back towards.  

I know I'm in the short rows of my career. In these last few years I want to do good for our most vulnerable students and quite frankly for all of our students.  I believe I can do so at this particular elementary before my career ends. On the verge of my sixtieth brithday it is becoming much more important to me to keep true to my values and principles, and get back to the better version of myself, the higher version of myself. 

This definitly isn't the elevator speech version of why I moved back to elementary, but hopefully, gentle reader, you have a good understanding of where my head is at...I'm not sure I do...

A Humbling Half Dome Summit

1:30 AM and our team is struggling to get up to be at the trailhead early enough to complete the Half Dome hike…the largest and longest hike I have ever tried to complete.  We began our hike up to Half Dome around 3:45AM on July 9th…no…that’s not accurate we actually started this hike last year even before securing a permit. Hiking Half Dome edged its way into my consciousness as a goal which soon evolved into a pilgrimage, Conquering Half Dome grew in importance the more the idea rooted in my brain. After enlisting three other willing participants (James, Ivan, and Anand) we started to train in earnest by finding hikes in the area with successively higher mileage and elevation. Following are a few of our training hikes.

Mt. Diablo, March, 6.2 miles, 1500 feet elev. gain. 

Beautiful views!

Mission Peak, Fremont, Einer joined Anand and I for his first hike ever. He did an excellent job (although he has not joined us since, lol).

Another Diablo hike. 

Lands end San Francisco...a 6 mile short hike turned into a ten mile adventure...little elevation but the most incredible San Francisco views available.  

The bridge from about five miles away, yes, we did an out and back to the bridge. 

Pinnacles National Park...13 miles and 3100 feet of elevation,  Very hot day...

Other worldly rock formations...

Mt. Tam in Marin...11.7 Miles, and 2000 Feet of elevation. 

Good views with good friends.

James and Ivan looking like an REI advertisement. 

So, back to the morning we started. We were staying about an hour outside the park, thus the exceptionally early wake up call and the early start. A quick photo and we were off. The first third of the hike is the steepest…traversing this in the dark was annoying but the first part, while still dark, was a well developed (mostly paved) path. The theme of most of the day would be “Just keep going up…” 

2AM and I must be crazy...Here we are with our wildly under estimated expectations.  

We all experienced challenges during the hike including dehydration, exhaustion, hunger, and aches and pains, and that was just getting from the parking lot to the trailhead (gnuck, gnuck).

Along the way one of our party experienced dehydration and nausea pretty early on but decided to soldier on…this is not surprising as Yosemite was experiencing exceptionally high temperatures compared to typical temps at this time of year…it’s also not surprising that the choice was to continue when not feeling well. The prep time put into this hike was significant and something as annoying as dehydration and nausea wasn’t going to waylay anyone. (Fear not gentle reader, he did end up feeling better and summiting Half Dome). 

The true purpose of a pilgrimage lies not in the destination but in the journey. There is something comforting knowing your only purpose is to put one foot in front of the other, keep trudging forward, and along the way beautiful and inspiring views provide the motivation to get to the destination.  

Just after the first three very steep miles, we were deposited at the top of Nevada Falls. An absolutely beautiful and humbling force of nature reminding us of our insignificance when confronted by Mother Nature. One feels humbled hearing the rushing water, feeling the spray as we passed over the bridge, and watching the massive amounts of water racing down the cliff face. 

This is the last place to refill water with the river water before a veritable dearth of water sources for the rest of the trip. We did not refill…yes…this is foreshadowing. 

As the miles passed ever so slowly toward the actual destination, the spirit wanes. Closest to Half Dome, the route becomes steep again, not quite as steep as the first three miles, but during the first three miles one has the energy and the stamina for the challenge. One of us slowed us up during this portion…an older devilish gentleman with a sunny disposition…yes, it was me…despite our training and preparations, the heat and the elevation posed challenge as my breathing became labored and it was slow going. My hiking companions were incredibly supportive

We eventually made it to the base of the sub Dome. The sub dome is a short distance but a very steep climb. Lots of switchbacks and granite steps with absolutely no shade. Many people feel the sub dome is worse than the cables. I got half way up the sub dome and decided that this s where m journey ends. I not only ran out of steam but had trouble with my asthma due to the elevations and quite frankly couldn't imagine views any more beautiful than the views on the journey up. I decided to turn back to the base of the sub dome. 

All the others did summit and had exciting adventures to tell. As for me, I sat at the base of the sub dome waiting with several other mid to late fifties guys that also decided not to summit. Al I disappointed? A little but honestly the transformative nature of the journey itself is really enough for me. In a younger day, my pride would not have let me turn back so close to the top. As we hiked back, James said that he thought it took real wisdom to make that decision.

A video view of the sub dome ascent. (I made it about half way up and decided to not ascend.) 

Minimal shade up the sub dome and when at the top of the sub dome takes its toll.

Getting closer. 

View of the cables as the guys start to ascend. 

Summiting Half Dome is daunting but by all accounts an incredible experience. 

The triplets at the top of Half dome, Enjoying the view and the camaraderie. 

Video view from the top. 

I'm not sure if it takes wisdom, but my victory was in the training, my victory was in getting to Half dome in the first place, my victory was in the journey.  We can all point to that elderly person in their mid to late seventies that is summiting every mountain they can. We can also point to way more mid fifties people that would never attempt this in the first place. I think the real wisdom is in the training and preparing. The real wisdom is when push comes to shove to know my limits, and to not let my ego stand in the way of actually enjoying the journey.  

I also know that I can do this again now that I have a better knowledge of the adventure. Lessons learned include ensuring there is enough water in my bag, packing food that isn't easily crushed (my sando was pulverized by the heat), pick a date not during the hottest week of the year, and make it a two day trip with a stay overnight.

The trip back to the parking lot seemed longer even though the distance was exactly the same. Tired, hungry, dehydrated and sore, the only thing caring us forward was the high of the accomplishment.

I am grateful to our hiking group. We all had moments of weakness and challenges on this hike. The group decided that I was still part of the summit club even though I only did the pre-summit. It is overly generous of them but I'm taking the victory. 

Our Half Dome Summit Club T-shirts! 

Rusty had dinner ready when we eventually got back to the air bnb. He cooked a wonderful meal and we ate heartily and drank tons of liquids.  It was midnight before we finished. The day ended up to be 22 1/2 hours long in the end bot what a day it was!

So now for the stats, we hiked 16 plus miles, actually hiking time 16 hours (but were out on the trail for 18 hours), and conquered over 4800 feet of elevation. This is the longest and steepest hike I have ever accomplished. I am very proud of my hiking group and proud of myself as well. Accomplishing these adventures provides me the confidence to face the challenges in my life. I am always humbled by momma nature, she'll kick pappi's ass each and every time. 

The best part was coming home to a Yosiell original commemorating the event. 

I hardly had come off the mountain before someone asked me, "What's next?" I'm not sure gentle reader, but I know what ever it is I will conquer it like a badass! 

A few more photos from this trip taken in the days leading up to our actual hike to remind everyone of the true beauty that is Yosemite. 

First day in the valley with an incredible view. 

Half Dome in the distance taunting us. 

So many falls in Yosemite, they never get old, 

The view from Glacier Point. Amazing. Awesome to share with a good friend. 

Glacier Point again. 

Another view from Glacier Point - the beast in the background. 

Anand looking ready for the hike. 

Postcard worthy. 

Another REI Ad ready for print. 

And with that gentle reader the Yosemite trip was over too soon. I have fully recovered and feel stronger and ready to start the school year.