August 16: Peaceful Coexistence

Today's Ethical ELA Host, Patricia Franz, offered a poem about finding a bear in her kitchen from the bear's perspective! She asks us to write using literary devices to create a contrast between what we believe and reality.  I'm using perspective, looking at something through a different lens. I was thinking about this fly that was annoying me for days until I went after it when I started this poem. Yet, I wonder if I was also thinking about the article I just read about Ice enforcement at airports? 

I'm unsure how  

Food is readily available, how

Temps are sustainable, how

Others don't join me, how

Traveling here was easy, how

We coexist for days, how

People become unhinged, how

They want us gone, even dead, how

Peaceful coexistence can end.

August 15: Sunflowers

I am digging myself out of a writing slump to participate in today's Open Write hosted by Denise Krebs, an amazing poet who hails from the Mojave Desert. She asks us to write an ekphrastic poem inspired by a piece of art or a photograph. I tried to do a 2-4-6-8, syllable-counting form about the strength and hope I find in sunflowers that stand tall after storms tear through their fields.

Facing 
Sunshine, hoping
Living, standing tall, proud,
Bright reminders to look up.

August 14: Called Up

As I danced around the pool doing the Congo (sort of) one of my students (classmates) commented about my energy! I thought about her comment as well as keeping busy as I crawled into bed long before the 10:00 news that night! I have been busy, and one of the things that has been on my plate is our system of justice, conceived in England during the Middle Ages and referred to over the pond as Common Law!

Like many others, I sigh deeply when that ominous green postcard arrives in the mail. Why me? Why now? But, it came for me, again, and I went, again, doing my part, reluctantly, even though in the end, I never really did anything besides drive there, pay for exorbitant parking, and try to keep my emotions in check in uncomfortable chairs. (I must be vague!) I am left with a multitude of thoughts about the time absorbing, cumbersome system as well as the people available/chosen to serve in the role of deciding the fate of peers. I wonder if my own experience represents a cross section of potential jurors and how often decisions are made outside of the courthouse?

Juries of our peers is required

By our Constitution based on

Life in the Middle Ages

Random selection from

Voter lists they say

Some never called

Others called

Like me

Why? 

August 8: Lucky

In these parts, houses are separated by just a driveway; thus, neighbors notice visitors, comings and goings. After an early morning trip to bring recyclables to the curb and a brief discussion with my neighbor walking her dog, I'm thinking about how lucky I am. 

We began with pleasantries about the hot-humid weather and how she was feeling after a recent health scare. Then, she said wistfully, "I saw the kids writing with chalk on your driveway the other day when it was so hot you could cook an egg on it.  I realized they are getting bigger, and probably didn't have too many summers left to enjoy those sorts of things. They seemed so happy to have found a spot of shade and celebrate summer. You are so lucky and I am a bit jealous, as I missed all those years when my grands were growing up so far away."

I acknowledged that I am lucky and we parted ways; yet, her words lingered as I thought about luck and the tangled path that brought me to those chalk drawings.  I also thought about all those things I am lucky for that happen beyond my driveway like the long strolls for greasy hamburgers and ice cream. I thought about the coffee filter dresses and endless pictures as well as birthdays with little people who are indeed getting bigger. I smiled thinking she was right. I am lucky.

August 2: August

It arrived softly, yesterday, this grand month worthy of respect where the summer season reaches its pinnacle of wonder with fruit and vegetables reaching their prime in the hot and humid ice tea filled days. It's the one where many try to squeeze out memories and moments amid miles of traipsing from pillar to post while the promise of a new school year looms. Parents pack into Target and Walmart with lists, filling carts with hopes for learning. For many years, it heralded in a busy month of birthdays and anniversaries where cake loomed at every corner.  It's quieter now, but memories fill gaps between veggies and goodies. 

Memories, my Dad, Aunt Lora, 

Who started the month with corn, 

Along with my son, born as they partied,

Who will celebrate with his own brood,

Along with Karen, in California, 

Vince, in Florida, who shares with 

His grand, Catherine, remembering

My Sister-in Love, Barbara, 

Father-in-Love, Tony, while memories

Good times at Friendly's, with Karen, Laura,

Carolyn, who hails from over the pond,

Of course shares the month with 

One of my beloved grands, 

Whose chocolate infused vacation

Celebration is likely to be sweet,

While I'll celebrate with an adventure,

Grateful for warm tomatoes and peaches,

Fresh picked corn, garlic scape hummus,

Perfect pistachio ice cream,

July 30: Mama Forte

"I just got back from hiking the Rain Forest in Costa Rico," she said softly in the same tone one might use to say they had soft serve ice cream last night,  We were standing under the hair dryers in the locker room acknowledging the very hard but wonderful class we had just endured was contributing to stronger bodies than we might have had when we were busy balancing kids, careers, life. I listened in awe to her tale of hiking down a cliff with a rope and a guide. To be honest, I am not sure I could do it, but I sure would want to try! 

"He called me Mama Forte when we got back to the top!" she smile proudly as I clapped for my friend who has worked hard to assure that the fluff-muffins many of us sport as we get older do not mean we have to stop trying to be as strong as we can possibly be. 

I was smiling as I emerged back into another day of gray drizzle at 9 AM even if I was headed home to some more mopping. I may not have hiked in Costa Rico, but I did the same class as my friend, Mama Forte!

SOL26 July 28: Mop, Mopped, and Still Mopping

 I'm writing with the SOL Community today. 

It was yesterday, but they were predicting it for today even though the skies had been overcast and the air smelled like after football practice. I even checked Accuweather and the storms seemed to be rolling to the north. Then, it started to rain and to thunder and there was more rain mixed with hail and even more rain. Cars, roads, small bridges, power, and the internet were all lost; yet, miraculously, no lives were lost in this third "Storm of the Century" in 10 days! My issues can all be fixed with a mop. 

I headed into the basement, cautiously,

After not finding water the last two times

I was really feeling optimistic, so I went,

Barefooted, with a tiny flashlight scanning

Finding just what I expected, the need for my mop.

I returned with boots and mopped. 

I flopped into bed, dreaming of mops. 

The power is back and it's raining again,

I am on a break, but I have been mopping. 

Grateful that's all I need!

July 26: Remarkably Bright Creatures

Most of the time, films do not capture the magic of a well written novel; however. as I sobbed and grabbed another tissue, I remembered powerful science and skillful actors make a wonderful story incredible.

 

Cephalopod science was not woven into the biology classes of my youth, but the idea of octopuses unscrewing jars, recognizing people, and planning escapes hit me hard. My emotional reaction may have indeed been aggravated but the fact that I had grilled octopus for lunch!  In my defense, it had been years since I had that delicacy and it will be a long while before beans are not my protein of choice.  

Remarkably Bright Creatures earned four Oscar Nominations and is currently on Netlix if you, like me, didn't catch it in theaters. 

July 26: Musical Bliss

I've been experimenting with water colors this summer and listening to a wide range of music; yet, it's clear that creating fabulous art and making wonderful music sit outside of my skill set. 

I sat in this perfectly acoustical room at Lincoln Center last night listening to a wonderful concert where music written by Debussy and others filled my senses and soul.  It was one of those nights when we were so immersed in something so wonderful that time and space stood still and yet disappeared. I was left thinking about the power of a conductor to bring an orchestra together.

Eun Sun Kim Conducts Poulenc

She waved, pointed and flared knowing each

Violini, cello, French horn's note n

Neded to be merged into a chorus 

Supporting that magnificent flutist whose sound

Still reverberates in my head along with images of a

Mesmerized crowd whose intense focus was on 

Capturing the moments of musical bliss.

July 25: Celebrate Today

I wish I could live every day in gratitude

Without worries for the next problem, issue,

Grateful for the small moments where a 

Fairy Princess leans in for a feathery hug, a

Precocious Tween realizes he's taller, a

Conversation might be frozen in time, a

Summer breeze is set on repeat, a

Wrinkle is just a marker of time, a

Checkmate call results in a full-body smile, a

Celebration of living is unending, 

Today, I am going to try.