August 27: Not Yet Planned

Sometimes, on the train or in the coffee shop, I catch parts of conversations even when I don't mean to do so.  I think it is most likely to happen when a question is posed or a phrase is uttered that I have also pondered or am still pondering!  Like yesterday, when a young lady nearby uttered, "I used to have my life all planned out." 

With the gift of decades of experiences, I could have jumped into the conversation with gusto, but I stared and my book and let my mind wanders through murky memories and jagged turns in my path. I thought of how life looked pretty complete when I landed that teaching job, until I realized it was hard work. How lucky I was to have children until I realized those sleepless nights would precede teenage stuff.  I thought about the challenge of changing districts and learning all school districts had problems. I thought about losing those who guided my path to devastating illnesses. As life settled into what I thought was a more predictable pattern, an "earthquake" would shake up the family I had built.

I thought about how lucky I have been to have had a family and a career I adored. I am grateful that somewhere along the line I learned to accept those things I cannot change and to change what I can. I wanted to tell those younger ones that I still don't have my life planned out, but I am grateful for today!

August 26: Can You Imagine?

Can you imagine

Always wearing enormous wigs in public?

Invariably using gaudy make up?

Constantly donning bigger-than-life clothes?

Frequently sweating in rhinestone-studded pieces?

Unfailingly working harder than anyone around?

Repeatedly giving to make others' lives easier?

Invariably thinking about the gifts you have been given?

Generously gifting millions of books to children?

Securing a spot in history without plastering you name on things?

Becoming unilaterally respected for honesty and hard work?

Eternally being remembered for your kindness and generosity?

Last night, I added a few songs to the playlist for my class in respect to the icon who will be remembered for her kindness and generosity rather than her accumulation of wealth. She shared her message through  lyrics based on her roots and values.  She preached a message, I believe, in how she lived her life and how she used her gifts to make the world brighter and better. 

SOL26: August 25: Bring a Smile

I'm sharing with my Slice of Life Community today.

"That was a tough one" someone uttered as we quickly dressed after a really good, but very hard, early morning aqua-core class. 

"She always brings her A-Game," someone else muttered as she slid into her sneakers.

"She always has a smile, even at this hour which is meant for sleeping"  someone else grumbled, but then standing up and correcting her tone added. "and she could be grumpy as she cares for a disabled spouse and still puts on a smile." 

I had gotten up earlier than usual to get ideas from this master teacher before teaching my own aqua-exercise class later in the day. I was smiling remembering that familiar lesson even though I needed a sweatshirt as protection against the the back-to-school air.  Teachers can make any lesson more palatable with a smile. 

 

August 24: Shows

I went into the big city to see a show on that grand stretch of land referred to as Broadway. It's the site of many  incredible shows where actors with enormous passion and singers with gigantic voices merge their talents with brilliant technology gurus who move lights, sets and stages with unmatched prowess. I was still floating on a magical high, thinking about how the lives of women have changed in vast ways since the days of Henry the VIII when I stopped for the best, grilled, Mahi Mahi tacos ever.  Let's just say it was a long but great day!  As I pulled into my driveway, the sun put on its own show reminding me to stop and appreciate those free shows as well!  I did!

Layers of colors

Mountains of clouds behind trees

The best show of all.

 

SOL26: August 18: Wondering

It's Tuesday and I am sharing with my SOL Community. about a bit of my life.

I am lucky to swim a lot during the summer. Early in the summer, I don't know exactly when, I noticed a pair of sneakers on the edge of the parking lot. They were worn, but certainly not worn out by any means! I wondered if a young child had one of those, "I can't walk any more," moments and was scooped up by a parent who did not notice the dropped shoes in the ruckus! 

Those shoes were still there the next time and the next time after that, pretty much in the same position. I wondered why the lawn people did not move them to the lost and found?  I wondered if they were expecting the owners to be searching for the shoes?  I wondered if the child was stuck wearing Crocs all summer? How could they run and climb?

It's been at least a month, maybe more, and the shoes are still there. I wonder if the child is wandering barefoot this summer or if the parents just headed to DSW (a shoe warehouse) for replacements because kids feet grow like weeks? I wonder if the parents are still searching their car, carry bags and closets?  I wonder if they have anything left to give after the summer heat and rain?  I wonder if they will soon be in the landfill. 

August 17: Ethical ELA: Darkness

Today's Ethical ELA Host, Joanne Emery, asks us to think of a memory of being in "nature," in the woods, at the ocean, on a mountain trail and reflect on the images and that moment. I focused on beach memories at first and then I thought about Joanne and her Forest Bathing! I reflected on those hikes with my dad to fire towers and with my children, long ago, on Sunday afternoons. This moment of family lore should have became a lesson to us all on hiking responsibly!   

Laundry, dishes on hold,

I followed eager hikers

Trudging through protected

Ice and snow remains, family

Banter entertaining us until

Our path disappeared into 

Darkness.

It may have been hours, or

Minutes as time was lost to

Internal panic, crushing cold,

Only the sound of our breathing,

Our steps cautious, labored until

A glimmer in the darkness. 

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. 

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.

I wonder if I was thinking about the article I just read about Ice enforcement at airports? 

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.