Last Day of School
Poetry Friday. During the next few weeks, schools will be closing for summer vacation. As a tribute to teachers everywhere, I share Mattie Stepanek's poem-- written when he was eight years old. May it bring you a few chuckles even as it has me. Not Quite What I...
GPS
Slice of Life. It is still twilight when I pick up a banana and cup of coffee from the hotel breakfast buffet. My reserved Carmel Car drives up as I exit the lobby. I drop my bag onto the floorboard and slide into the back seat of the dark sedan, confirming my...
Celebrating Family and Truth
Celebrate this Week : Family. [I've linked up with Ruth Ayres where bloggers share something they are celebrating.] I celebrate family every week, but this week it is extra special. On Sunday we all knew we were into the final countdown. A countdown that has lasted...
The Lure of Lavender
Poetry Friday. Lavender. Oh, -- -- the color. -- the fragrance. -- the sound of the word. All summer long, I enjoy my bed lavender. I can't walk past it without breaking off a stem and rubbing it between my palms. In the cool of early summer mornings, I drink its...
Celebrating Mothers
Five Minute Friday : Mom 00:00.00 Begin a five minute stream of consciousness on paper. Mom. How do I write in five minutes about you? You are the one who gave me life, Who showered me with unconditional love. You kissed away my boo-boos and told me the great stories...
Bug Wisdom from EM
Slice of Life. It was our first warm spring day, temps reaching the 80's. In the northwest, as summer approaches and the earth's axis tilts toward the sun, the sun is actually closer to us than it is to our southern sister states. And its rays are more direct. That...
Celebrate Week #18 with should
Celebrate this Week In the morning. I am enjoying a brilliantly sunny, blue-sky, green-trees, summerishly warm morning. Who knew it would jump from highs in the mid-50s to the highs in the 80s in less than 24 hours? We slept with the windows open and a fan running...
Chatter
Poetry Friday. On this Friday, to salute chatter that I love and silence that I crave, in memory of my childhood, in memory of my brothers, I share "Little Charlie Chipmunk"-- the lines of which I can still recite. Little Charlie Chipmunk Little Charlie Chipmunk was a...
Simple to Compound
Slice of Life. Using giant binder clips, I draped a pocket chart from a low easel at the carpet area. At the bottom of it, I fastened a chart of coordinating conjunctions showing the age-old acronym FANBOYS. I was ready when second graders tumbled into the classroom,...
Celebrate Week #17 with more
I flew six thousand miles from Pacific to Atlantic to Pacific to spend three wonderful days teaching in kindergarten through third grade classrooms in two Brooklyn schools. Travel ... Here are a couple views from my window in the sky: NYC skyline as we approach...
The Digester
Poetry Friday. In February, I joined a Facebook poetry-writing group created by Laura Shovan. The group writes poems to ten found words from news articles. On February 16, Ruth Lehrer culled words for #10FoundWords from "The Compost King of New York." Here are the...
Greenwood, Texas
Only those who follow the back roads and visit their lingering towns appreciate our sense of wonderment as we walk across the porch where old men once gathered to pass hot summer evenings playing dominoes, swapping stories and jokes; as we . . . step into the past.
Sing
Five Minute Friday and Celebrate this Week. I'm linking up with Kate Motaung for Five Minute Friday where bloggers post their 5 minute free writing inspired by a one word prompt. And I'm linking up with Ruth Ayres where bloggers celebrate each week. Today's Word...
Rain
Living in the northwest, I have developed a particular fondness for rain. Perhaps that is why I am drawn to a descriptive “rain passage” in Charlotte’s Web. It is in that passage that I found my poem “Rain.”
This I Believe
Jesus said, “I am he who lives, . . . This I believe.
Empty
00:00:00 (five minutes to write) GO Empty. So often empty precedes want, need, heartache, sorrow, barrenness, vacant, futility. A hungry child holds an empty plate. The milk jug is empty. The flour canister is empty. The cupboards are empty, bare. The gas tank is...
Poetry Notebook: Day Two
Poetry Friday. An Interactive Poetry Notebook. Last year, I shared a post about my interactive poetry notebook: Poetry Notebook: Day One. In this post, I'll share pointers for Day Two. Whereas Day One is about listening--letting the poem flow over you--and...
Lessons with EM
Slice of Life. Solving Problems Too often we give our children answers to remember rather than problems to solve. --Roger Lewin Big brother TM has been working on his math lesson at the table, and now Mom's checking his work with him. EM, the family's 4-year-old pink...
Celebrating Week #14
Celebrate this Week -- Palm Sunday. This week I celebrate with rejoicing as I remember the Triumphal Entry of Jesus in a story-telling moment, in a music moment, and in a reflective moment. Small moments that are part of my life of faith. A story-telling moment:...
Whom are you seeking?
As Easter draws near, I am pondering Jesus’ question, "Whom are you seeking?" Have you ever experienced a time when your mind seems to open and in a fleeting moment, you clearly understand something in a deeper dimension? I had such an experience during a Bible...
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