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About Haven Caylor-Brown

http://havensideals.com

Haven Caylor-Brown has an Educational Doctorate in Instructional Leadership. He is a husband and the father of twins, Carter and Ammon. He has taught for over 26 years: From kindergarten to graduate school. His other degrees include Education Specialist in Curriculum and Instruction, a Master of Education in Social Studies Education, and Bachelor of Arts Degree in Social Studies Education. Carter, Ammon, and Haven are featured in Pyle & Karinch’s Find out anything from anyone, anytime (Career, 2014) for his parenting strategies in questioning children for information, and he is also featured in Scenic Scenes: A collection of Chattanooga’s arts and literature (Over the Counter Productions, 2013) with two short stories regarding parenting. Haven is also the author of Christmas Hawk (Xlibris, 2015) a delightful story about a Red-tailed hawk and the special role she plays during the yuletide season.

Posts by Haven Caylor-Brown

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Busy, busy!

. Family . , , , , ,

Vacations can be so enjoyable and relaxing, but preparing
for them can be exasperating. Before
listing what I have to do, I have to say that I am so glad we have our
dear friend Guy to come and house sit while we are gone (the animals appreciate
it too). We are also so grateful that my mother and my sister come several
times a week to check on things as well. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Now,
leaving home for a vacation is better in the winter when we do not have as much
yard work to do, but mercy, mercy: The mowing (13 acres), the weeding, the push
mowing, and spraying Round Up. If we didn’t do the before mentioned things, we
would come home to a jungle with copperheads and rattlesnakes running through our
yard. We also have the cleaning, the washing of clothes, the carrying out of
trash, making sure the four hound dogs have plenty of food, making sure the
cats are taken care of, making sure the dachshunds will have all the exercise
they need, and a whole list of things I am forgetting. If it isn’t bad enough packing
my own things, I have to pack Carter and Ammon’s  things too . You all who are parents know whatI’m talking about! Oh, me, it will be so nice when we are finally on that plane
to London this weekend and all this preparation is over! Wish us luck and pray
that we have a SAFE and enjoyable trip.

luggage 1

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Goldfinches

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Folks, I love the color YELLOW. I have also been known (with
frequency) to have rooms in a house painted yellow. Yes, it is bright and helps
my mood index. The color makes me happy. Now, I cannot wear shirts that are
yellow because with my ruddy complexion the two colors really clash. However,
if my shirt has a yellow stripe, I can “pull it off” LOL (Dolce and Gabbana are
going to read this and BEG me to be a fashion editor for them!)

The summer before Ammon and Carter were born was the last
summer we had the bird feeder going “full force” (before the squirrel debacle
where they broke our bird feeder). We had a multitude of goldfinches coming to
the feeder. I remember the summer vividly because the parent goldfinches taught
their babies to fly in the back of our house where our pool is. I could tread
water on my back, look up to the sky, and watch goldfinches zip above. It was
such a treat!  Well, they have started coming back again since the new feeders are up, and it is amazing how the whole yard around the feeders LIGHTS UP when there is a goldfinch  perched there: It brightens the area, and it brightens my soul.

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Happy Monday/ Exciting News

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Has anyone heard of, have knowledge of, studied about, or
been to Waltham Abbey in London, England? Well, I plan to visit it during my
upcoming visit to England. The family and I are doing a round-trip cruise of
the British Isles. It will be our first with Princess Cruise Lines. It will
Ammon and Carter’s 7th cruise! Okay…back to the Abbey

Folks, this abbey will probably be dum, dum, dum,… the
setting to Haven Caylor’s first novel! I will divulge pieces at time between
now and publication (probably late autumn), but the time is late 12th century (approximately A. D. 1190) and the majority of the setting takes place around an abbey. Now, Waltham Abbey will only be a physical plan because my setting is fictitious. My novel is historical fiction. The story-line itself is about life, love, friendship, and our relationships with the Lord Almighty.  The novel may take place in the Middle Ages,
but it’s themes are timeless and 100% pertinent to the 21st century.

Please, if you do have some information on Waltham Abbey or
have friends/family who are Medieval Times buffs send some comments/help my
way.

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Okay, Hummingbirds…come on!

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I feel kind of bad. I just read where I should have put out my humming bird feeder in March! It’s almost June! I hope they forgive me! Oh, well, assuming that they do forgive me there should be some humming birds any day now. I hung the feeder from the front porch eaves Saturday but none came (I’ll bet those hummingbirds didn’t come that evening because they were waiting for Jesus’ return and the end of the world…LOL).  But seriously, the feeders are up, and I am ready for those little stinkers to enjoy their sugar-water nectar! Sippin’ time! Come and get it!

Update-Monday May 23, 2011: As I was typing on the front porch swing on Sunday night, a hummingbird visited the feeder. I was pleased, and I think he was too.

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I brake for squirrels….

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….but I am shooting their butts off our bird feeders with the BB gun.

I’m so tired of squirrels eating all the birds’ food. Right now we have the pleasure of seeing purple finches, gold finches, indigo buntings, brown thrashers, chick-a-dees,  tufted tit-mice, cardinals, and many more adorable birds, but the dang squirrels keep eating their food, and the birds don’t want to come around to empty feeders.

Gray Squirrel (Sciurus caroliniensis)

It’s best when we have our dachshund, Buddy, or our mother coonhound, Katie, to run them off, but neither of them is out at 6:00 in the A.M. when the squirrels begin their dining terrorist acts. Those squirrels broke our last bird feeder! At one point during the past 7 years, I had a stove pipe around our shepherd’s hook where we have the bird feeders, and the squirrels jumped from the nearby magnolia trees to on top of the feeders. The squirrels have PLENTY of trees and nuts (hickory, black walnut, etc.) as well as scraps I throw away (far from the house), so I know they have other food sources. So, I am back to using the BB gun. I get some good target practice, and the dogs start their fun and excitement as soon as they hear me cock the rifle. Wish us luck.

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Mowing with Barn Swallows

. Pets . , , ,

No matter how hard I try, there is about a month every April and May when I don’t get the fields mowed. It’s usually because we have so much rain in those months, and the tractor would bog down in the mud (well, it’s a good excuse anyway!).  During those two months, the fescue grass grows rapidly and reaches over 3 feet! When the ground gets dry enough, I begin to mow, and it takes about a month to get the grass back down to a decent height. Although it takes the mower about twice as long and the mower pushes half the grass down instead of mowing it, there is a fun and enjoyable event almost a tradition if you will: The barn swallows mow with me.

Barn Swallow

It happened last year as well, and I had forgotten until Thursday. I was mowing, and suddenly I saw a barn swallow zipping past me to the left then dipping in front of the tractor. In a few seconds, I saw two swallows flying around. In about 15 minutes, I counted four swallows circling about. It was like “Barn Swallow Circus”. The best thing I can hypothesize is that my cutting the tall grass stirs up all sorts of insects and as the insects begin to fly, the swallows begin to feast! Several times, a particular swallow came within 10 feet of the tractor in a playful manner as if to be saying “Thank you!” It was so cute, and I enjoyed mowing with my avian buddies.

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Call me “Dr. Daddy”;o)

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In all seriousness, the best title I could ever want is “Daddy”. On Wednesday, I was reminded that I have an Educational Doctorate. Any person that has left the upper echelons of his or her profession/occupation to answer to the summa operis called parenthood knows what I mean. We kind of “lose” who we are professionally. Will I ever be called back to the world of español in the classroom whether it be in a high school or in the hallowed halls of an ivy-covered university? Will I do useful, longitudinal action research studies on the effects of computer-based technology that will appear in both prestigious foreign language journals and technology journals? Will I be sought after and paid to share my research and data? Woo hoo! Oh, the dreams of a Spanish professor!

A Haven-lead personal triumph: My Doctoral Dissertation

 http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1354097

All the above stuff could happen; however, I’m Daddy right now and loving it. It’s where I need to be. When I “Googled” my name (really looking to see if it was associated with my “Haven’s Ideals”), my published, doctoral dissertation popped up on the search, and it brought to mind the things I thought were so necessary to my life in July 2006 when I defended and obtained my doctorate. Five years later, I have two necessary things: Ammon and Carter. My Haven-led Educational Doctorate was a personal triumph, and it was great. However, my God-led blessing of being a father to Carter and Ammon is the BEST!  I am also blessed to be writing and to have you all reading and sharing with me.  

God-led Blessing: Being a father to Carter & Ammon

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Lego Blocks

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During the past two months, somewhere in some room in this house, there lies a Lego block or two! Carter and Ammon are CRAZY about Lego blocks. It all started about two months ago. As I walked into Mamaw’s house to pick up Ammon and Carter from their play day with Mamaw, I was greeted by Carter who happily shouted, “I build house!”. He then ran to Mamaw’s playroom where she keeps all the grandchildren/great-grandchildren’s toys. I followed him, and there in the middle of the floor stood several “houses” made of Lego blocks. Ammon sat comfortably in the middle of the Lego rubble, looked up, and said, “Hey, Daddy!” and continued with her Lego creation. Mamaw (for late-comers, this is my mother) said, “They have occupied themselves with these blocks for several hours today.”

Several days later, we bought Carter and Ammon their first Lego set for here at our house. We then bought another set for them to play with while Nana baby sat them in our New York hotel.  The blocks are very light, so they pack well and are not heavy for luggage. The two sets we now have are a zoo and the alphabet. Carter loves to build “houses” tall. He also enjoys making different cars with the blocks especially if the Lego set has that wheel base Lego piece. Ammon will build “houses” that are wide and symmetrical. She built one on Tuesday that had an awning in the middle of two perfectly symmetrical columns. Truthfully, I had no idea they would love them the way they have. Thank you, Lego, for your research and production of blocks and sets that challenge the imagination and creativity of youngsters! They really help out when I need to get a few chores done!

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Gordon Temple & Suzanne Burch

. Christmas, Church, Jesus Christ Follower, Parenting . , , , , ,

The congregation of St. Martin of Tours Episcopal Church is gaining a full-time rector in June. We are losing our Interim Rector, Gordon Temple, and our deacon, Suzanne Burch. Please follow along and celebrate these precious human beings with me.

What do you all like in sermon from a preacher, rector, or priest? Do you want a sermon on philosophies on religion, or do you want to know how to live a religious filled life? St. Augustine a Christian from the 4th century believed reason to be a uniquely human cognitive capacity that comprehends deductive truths and logical necessity, and I have heard sermons associated to his infusion of Christian doctrine with Neoplatonism (most of us are like..’What the heck, and how can I apply that to my daily life?’) I have also seen and heard sermons from preachers/rectors who use works of Thomas Aquinas and his Summa Theologica (God’s thinking and willing, Aristotelian Ethics, and Jesus protects all in both Heaven and earth) and drone on and on for an hour about such. Folks, I don’t need religious philosophy to live by, I need every day acts that represent how we should serve God and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. For approximately a year, God saw fit that the congregation of St. Martin of Tours in East Brainerd, Tennessee and I had our hearts and minds filled with these types of sermons from Father Gordon Temple.

When Jesus was here on earth, he taught with simple parables (everyday life situations that have heavenly meanings), and that is what I need and appreciate in a sermon. Those are the kinds of sermons Gordon Temple preaches.  I love Gordon’s sense of humor, his smile, his genuine concern for everyone around him, his love of family, and his love of children. The joy this man has in the tone of his voice and the sparkle he has in his eyes as he talks about his wife, his children, and his grandchildren are priceless. He simply loves children. On Father Gordon’s last Eucharist on Sunday, I was holding Carter when he handed me the communion bread. When Father Gordon blessed Carter and touched him on his forehead, Gordon had such a twinkle in his eye, and he tapped Carter on his nose. Carter’s face lit up with a grin. Gordon doesn’t think he is a good teacher in the classroom, but he is great. I don’t know how many times we went past the “hour allotted” in our Sunday school class because we had asked questions and we were intently discussing and enjoying his answers. I also love the fact that he was raised in Chattanooga. He is living history for all of us living in this city. Father Gordon, we love you, and you are an inspiration to all you come in contact with. Thank you for being a reflection of Jesus Christ and for being such a great preacher and shepherd for St. Martin’s.

Gordon Temple: May 15, 2011

We only saw Suzanne act as a deacon for a year, but we saw her love and enthusiasm for taking care of the physical needs of the St. Martin congregation and the community during the 2010 Christmas season. She was glowing during the whole month as we gathered and gave in the name of Jesus Christ in honor of his birthday. She like Gordon uses such finesse in weaving everyday thoughts and feelings into sermons from the Bible especially in the life of Jesus and how we should live like him. Wherever she goes, the congregation will be so lucky to have her. Suzanne, we love you and God bless you.

Suzanne Burch and Gordon Temple: May 15, 2011

A special thanks to our church buddy, Jerry Thurston, for taking these pictures on Sunday and sharing them with me so I can share them with you all.

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Okay, I finally have my “About Me”

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You will find this on my permanent “About” Me from now on…however, I am using it for Monday May 16, 2011 as well…LOL

Carter, Haven, & Ammon: May 2011

 

My name is Haven Caylor, and I am a married man with two wonderful children, Ammon and Carter. I am a stay at home father who teaches on line for the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. I am a Christian, and my main goal at the point in my life is to raise my children in “…the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4). My second goal is to write, and God is blessing me with wonderful opportunities especially with this blog.

When I started writing several months ago, a friend who is an editor for an international magazine commented that she liked the way I write because it is a “slice of life”. One problem I have in writing is when I “get lost” in details. When I am writing my blogs or my short stories, I have to review, and “reel in the details” so people will not get lost while they are reading.  All the way through my doctorate in education, I have had to read and whittle away at the details of a reading to get to the main point of a story, an action research study, or a novel, and when I write my blogs, I try say what I mean with as little “fluff” or details as possible. However, when I do write my novels, I will expand as far as I can without being boring.

Thank you for visiting me/us on my blog. I hope you can glean something for yourself, put it in your heart and mind, and apply it to your own life. God bless you all. Haven