by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
March 2026 Slice of Life, No. 19 On Tuesday, St. Patrick’s Day, in the spirit of the Irish, I decided we would write limericks. “We” refers to my daughter’s three youngest children, teenagers who school at home, and me. I teach their writing...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
March 2026 Slice of Life, No. 18 It was a lovely day by the sea. I.We started the day with a cup of coffee perked in our hotel room. It was not just any cup of coffee; it was Oregon Fog, a special blend from Sleepy Monk Coffee Roasters. As they say, “It’s...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
March 2026 Slice of Life, No. 17 In the tradition of the Irish, I had a delicious lunch of corn beef, boiled potatoes and carrots, and a braised cabbage wedge at the MarKum Inn with my husband. Irish Dinner Corn Beef, Potatoes, Carrots, Cabbage MarKum Inn Mt. Angel,...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
March 2026 Slice of Life, No. 16 In celebration of the Irish, I share this limerick slice. Limericks first appeared in England in the early years of the 18th century and were popularized by Edward Lear in the 19th century. They were combined and sung as traditional...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
March 2026 Slice of Life No. 15 Happy Sunday! I trust your day is blessed. I trust it overflows with love. I ask, when a heart brims with love for a son or daughter, what words can express such love? What actions can demonstrate such love? Through the years, on cards...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
March 2026 Slice of Life No. 14 Two dates. Take one slice of rustic bread. Cut it in half so it fits into the toaster. While the bread is toasting, split open two dried dates. Remove the pits. With your fingers, work the dates until they are spread flat and thin like...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
March 2026 Slice of Life, No. 13#PoetryFriday, 26_0313 I’ve always been drawn to found poetry. I love lifting someone’s thoughts, their subject, their words to create something new. I’m familiar with four kinds of found poetry. We can find poems in...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
March 2026 Slice of Life, No. 12 I post my slice today with a nod to Diane Anderson who wrote a slice about a recipe and connections. As I read her slice, I thought about people who are connected to my brownie recipe. I thought about the teacher who shared it with me,...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
March 2026 Slice of Life, No. 11 “It will definitely get your heart to racing!” my dear friend, my sister from another mister, recalled. Black Tiger Rare and Wild It was a hot July afternoon when my friend arrived on a flight from DFW for her annual summer...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
March 2026 Slice of Life, No. 10 During our March SOL26, E. B. Griffin begins her slices with the words “I’m writing about a different object each day and trying to discover what the object says about who I am and how I see the world.” So, with a nod to her writing...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
March 2026 Slice of Life, No. 9 “Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the service of our country can never be repaid.”— President Harry S. Truman I sit down at my departure gate to wait for our boarding call. Across from me sits a man. His head is shaved...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
March 2026 Slice of Life, No. 8 While thumbing the pages of an 1920 reader [one that was read by students a hundred years ago], I found a short verse. It spoke to me of spring, its beauty and life, connecting me to past years, to many a springtime with trees blooming...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
March 2026 Slice of Life, No. 6 From a free writing in my summer journal Tonight I’ve taken pleasure in simple things. Eating an enormous piece of pizza Chatting with my son as he grilled 24 cheeseburgers for his kids, cousins, and friends Hearing the shouts and...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
March 2026 Slice of Life, No. 6 It was a sunny day on the Oregon coast. The skies were blue and cloudless. There was little wind. The waves were churning brown with sand. And the sand — the cool, wet sand — was perfect for digging holes, building castles,...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
March 2026 Slice of Life, No. 4 We were driving along Highway 240. Through farms. Not far from Newberg. That’s where I saw the sign. It was a white sign. Not too big; not too small. It had two wooden posts holding it up at just the right height to read from the car...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
March 2026 Slice of Life, No. 4 We took a back country drive. Bright yellow daffodils were blooming–those beside houses and driveways and those seemingly out of place. Did you know that daffodils don’t grow wild in woods or fields? When your see daffodils in a...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal, In My Classroom |
March 2026 Slice of Life, No. 3 It had been a slow, uneventful day. Just rain. Lots of rain. At times it just poured straight down, like it was coming from a gigantic tub faucet. Visibility was significantly reduced. I could barely make out the neighbor’s...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal, Literacy |
March 2026 Slice of Life, No. 2 EM came over with her daddy to show me her newest creation–a handmade book with a hard cover. Daddy said it was all her idea, even how to make it. He only helped where her little hands were not strong enough to bind with yellow...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
March 2026 Slice of Life, No. 1 Yesterday, I said “Goodbye” to February. Today, I say “Hello” to March. For several weeks I’ve been looking for signs of spring, and what I saw called for a poem. SPRING Cold melts awaySun rises...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
SOL26-0224 I’ve been thumbing the pages of my journals, reading slices about my grandkids–well, maybe more like “bites.” Here’s one that still makes me laugh and still makes me wonder how Mommy taught this lesson so well. BN (3 yrs old)...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
SOL26-0203 Monday.School is over and the four boys are pulling on their coats, hats, and shoes to walk through our backyards to their house. EM already has her hat, coat, and shoes on. She stands quietly beside me and in her sweet, barely-three voice asks,...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
SOL26-0127 “I love you.” Be quick to say itBe sure to write itIt is never too often It will fill your spaceIt will warm your heartIt is comfort to your soul A zephyr of loveNow and in years to come -Alice Nine, 2023 A memory in print, like a zephyr on a...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
SOL26-0120 Here in the Northwest, the sun rose about 7:43 today. By that time, I had eaten breakfast — two thick slices of smoked pepper bacon, scrambled eggs with pepper jack cheese, toast slathered with butter and a thin layer of Kelly’s Habanero Pepper...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
SOL26-0106 Have you ever used one of those sleek fast-drying, high-efficiency commercial hand dryers? The ones they have in airports? Then what follows will resonate with you. CAST OF CHARACTERSCharacter #1: ATN – That’s me and I live in OregonCharacter...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
SOL25-1230 From my journal: Before sunrise . . . Christmas cookies and coffee–Cookies: ice kipfels, date pinwheels, date tartsCoffee: Black Rifle Coffee And while I enjoy my coffee and cookies, As I am pondering the year past and the new one ahead, I am...
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