letters to my class

Dear Humans,

My family drove up to Platteville on Saturday to visit Fort Vasquez. Two fur traders opened Fort Vasquez in 1835 to try to sell and trade furs with natives and other trappers in the areas. It had a convenient location on the South Platte River, but soon other forts would come in to provide competition, and in coming decades hunters would over hunt the furs, commercial tastes would change, and the railroad would come to down.

In the five years it lasted, before it was buried by history, Fort Vasquez attracted traders and goods from all over the world. In the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration rebuilt the fort. (A lot of the old forts I’ve visited are re-constructions). Twenty years later, the reconstruction was almost torn down during construction on Highway 85, but local historians saved it.

And now it sits right in the middle of the highway. It is the strangest location for a museum I’ve ever seen. But it reminds us that history exists within our world. You can’t wall it off from the semi-trucks whipping by at 65 miles an hour, carrying goods from all over the world to their final destination.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Truth-Seekers,

The internet is a petri dish of rumors. It’s where they go to spread and propagate. And you can find pretty much any truth you’re looking for here. So what you have to have is a nose for nonsense. And the best way to develop that is to learn how to criticize yourself.

Simply stated, the more you want something to be true, the less likely it is to be true. If a rumor makes you look like a hero and your opponent a fool, it’s probably not totally true. That doesn’t mean that your point of view is false or invalid. It’s just that the truth is more complex than that.

If you have a strong sense of what you believe and an equally strong willingness to revise it, then the internet is the world of information at your fingertips. But if you’re stuck believing one thing is true and you can’t ever change your mind, then it’s just one big trick. And you’re the mark.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

For a while I was always putting a clip on my opened bag of tortilla chips. And it was amazing how fresh and crisp the chips stayed. But then, for some reason, I just stopped clipping the top of the bag. Maybe I lost the clis or I was too lazy to put it back on after I enjoyed my chips and salsa, but I no longer clip my chip bag.

And it turns out that though fresh chips are good, slightly stale chips ain’t too bad either. And the truth is that my bag of tortilla chips is usually gone before they have much time to go stale anyway.

All of our choices have consequences. And while living the good life is mostly about making the better choice most of the time, the good life is also about living with the consequences when we don’t. A lot of life is like eating stale chips and enjoying them anyway.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

As I’ve stood in the shower reading shampoo bottles, I’ve long thought they claimed to do more than they really did. Revitalizing? Purifying? Naturalizing? These are made up words.

And then I read an article about soap operas and soap marketing. Did you know we call them soap operas because they were originally used as soap advertisements? Commercial soap became a hot seller early in the 20th century at the same time that mass-marketing through radio and TV became possible. And a lot of those advertisements tried to convince us that we were dirty and a little bit ugly and only soap could make us clean and beautiful.

My favorite cliche is “If something’s too good to be true, it probably is.” If someone promises you something will revitalize or purify or beautify, if someone tells you that something is a miracle cure that will fix your life, you should give it a second, and then a third, look. And maybe keep your money in your pocket.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

School is going to look a lot different this year. Schools have always been changing to reflect the society they’re a part of. But this year and in the years to come, I think we’re going to see big changes, because we’re going to see big changes in society.

This is how change happens. It’s not gradual. It’s not all going in one direction. And it’s most definitely not predictable. Big disruptive events happen–like pandemics–and they change ways we live in ways that we cannot even notice.

But I find that during this time of massive change, I keep thinking back to the core values of what’s important to me. So I’ve been thinking about the purpose of school and my job as a teacher. Because no matter what changes happen in the world, those core values will stay the same.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

I was re-watching Karate Kid II the other day and it’s sort of famous for including scenes of a traditional Japanese tea ceremony. Hollywood cuts some corners and probably used it more as a plot device than to explore the true history and nature of the Japanese tea ceremony, but it was my first exposure to the idea of a tea ceremony as a kid.

I’m not much for tea, but I do drink coffee everyday (usually multiple times a day). And the other morning when I was preparing coffee I spilled hot water all over the place and burned my foot. I’ve made coffee thousands of times, but one time when I wasn’t paying attention I burned my foot.

There are many reasons for ceremony. But one thing ceremony does it make us pay attention to the mundane things we do everyday. And I can’t help but think if I had been a little more ceremonious—if I had been paying attention to my coffee making—I wouldn’t have burned my foot.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

When I was growing up and learning history I remember thinking of it as a march. The right things would and will eventually happen for everyone if they just waited long enough. Justice would prevail through consensus…eventually.

But as I read more and learn more, I see how wrong that point of view is. This year is the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. 100 years ago was 1920, a full 144 years after the American Revolution. And for all of those 144 years (and in the hundred years up to today), women were fighting to gain the right to vote and their rights to be full citizens.

But there was resistance because the people who had the power did not want to share it. But suffragists (the name for the women from all walks of life who fought for the vote) insisted. And they marched and they protested and they wrote letters. And they kept at it for 144 years and they still keep at it today.

And that’s the only way history ever changes.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

When people say you’re using a “band-aid solution,” they mean that you’re applying a solution that isn’t enough to fix the problem. But I’m here to say that putting band-aids on things works really, really well.

But it’s not because band-aids themselves fix anything. They might slow the bleeding. They might keep your owie from getting bumped. They may keep a little bit of dirt out of your wound. But they don’t do much to heal the wound.

But the truth is that many of the problems that we face are either unfixable or will fix themselves in time. But while we’re waiting for that to happen, it’s nice to have some acknowledgement, some empathy, and maybe a little bit of comfort. Slapping a band-aid on the problem does all of those things. And it works especially well when someone else–someone who cares for you–does it for you.

And then the healing can begin.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

It’s funny all of the gadgets I have in my kitchen. And a lot of them have numbers on them–scales, measuring cups, thermometers, timers. But the tools I use most when I’m cooking are my five senses.

I can’t always trust my senses. Sometimes it’s nice to stick a probe thermometer in a turkey to make sure I’m not going to give anyone Salmonella. And if I boiled eggs for anything besides Easter egg hunts I’d probably want a timer to make sure they’re done to my liking. But usually our senses are enough.

Cooking is all about transformation. And you can see that transformation in the changing color, smell it in the garlicky aroma, feel it in the changing texture under your wooden spoon, hear it in the sizzling, and taste it in the melding of the flavors.

We like to use tools because we sometimes believe that the most important information is hidden from our senses. And sometimes it is. But usually it’s right there in front of us. If we look, sniff, touch, listen, and taste.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck

Dear Humans,

Sometimes during this pandemic I wake up super early and just lay there thinking about all the choices I have to make. We’ve always had them, but now these choices have more bearing on our health and safety.

I used to just go to the dentist when they told me it was time. But now I’m wondering if I should put it off or if there are other measures I should take to make it safer. I used to just go into a restaurant when I was hungry. But now I think about carrying out and which type of food travels best or is best eaten in the car.

These are pretty small-potato troubles, but deciding is exhausting. That’s why it’s helpful to put some personal limits on your decisions. For example, my family has decided that we will never go to the new Panda Express down the street. It’s nothing against Panda Express, and we still greatly enjoy ordering Chinese takeout from other places, but sometimes you just have to pare down your choices.

Plus, you can’t really eat orange chicken while you’re driving.

Sincerely,

Mr. Heimbuck