Sept. 11 We Remember

A teacher, who spent 9-1-1 in their bouncy seat, asked students, yet to be a twinkle in their parents' hearts, to interview someone who was able to remember that day. 

I might have shared my prayers

This was not the end of the world

Her boyfriend did not die,

His son was not at work,

She was uptown, he was late,

An adult would meet each child,

I might have prayed for those

Signing up to end terrorism

Breathing the poisoned air

Left to carry on after loss of

Lives, innocence. 

A brilliant sunrise,

Planes bent on destruction,

Lives lost instantly, others 

Destroyed slowly, all

Changed forever 

Today, darkened skies prevail

Shattered lives remain, 

As we remember

SOL26 Why Fireworks?

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

For many teachers and students, even here in the Northeast, school has already begun; yet, some families near me were clearly celebrating the beginning of this new school year with an impressive array of fireworks as the sun set, much too early, on Labor Day. 

I wonder why they did not go "down the shore" to celebrate the long weekend?

I wonder if they are celebrating kids who are busy/working/learning all day?

I wonder if they are just excited about the shorter days and cooer weather?

I wonder if others are optimistic about the fresh start of a school year?

I wonder if they are just looking ahead to curling up under a blanket with a good book?

I wonder if they were just letting off steam from built up frustration with inflation, wars, and politics?

I wonder about all the money they blew letting off steam!

Sept 7 : Carpe Diem

It was a rare day when political concerns, international tensions, and many other worries melted. Time stood still and yet flew as childlike happiness filled souls with peace.  On the way home, all those concerns moved back but the glow lingered.

Moments of joy, hard

Challenges, decisions, work,

Must Carpe Diem

Sept. 5 Good Enough

I went alone, leaving in the rain, needing only one chair, even though I thought it would be a bit sad.
I was there just long enough to wake up and hear the waves and walk on the beach in the rain, between the thunderstorms, 

I ate in restaurants rather than taking out, sharing with the waves and my book.

I sat under towels when it was too windy for umbrellas, back against the wind, grateful for the exfoliating as an unplanned extra.

I walked slowly in the rain, watching for those lightning detected alerts, remembering life doesn't have to go as planned to be good.

I felt less guilty for all those places in my life where I could have been/should have been better, stronger, more generous.

Somewhere along the path, between the rain clouds, beneath the angry flashing skies, it took traveling alone, to a place I thought was for families, to understand that even when life does not go as planned it is good enough. 

Like that less than perfect shell that landed at my chipped toes as they ordered us off the beach, it was good enough. 

Spiritual Thursday:: Sept 3: Waves

Ramona is hosting Spiritual Thursday today and has asked us to consider her OLW, rhythm.  .

I was thinking about my cousin as I walked this morning in a light, for the moment, rain before another thunder event rolled through. They're beginning rehab from a biggie-life-event and asked only for prayers?  

For many in these parts, my son and grandchildren, it was also back to school day in an effort to get them settled before Labor Day Weekend. 

I was thinking of them both as I walked this morning in a light, for the moment, rain before another thunder event rolled through. Ramona's OLW reverberated in my head as the waves, angered by the looming storm, rolled onto the sand. 

Walking on the beach, in the rain, with my midweek-beach-trip over, assured of another storm,  I could not help but count my blessings (retired teacher status and health) as I walked and prayed for them. The rhythm of the waves was relentless like the challenges of living. 

I am pretty sure that the sun peeking through the clouds even in the rain was a promise of hope. 

Relentless, those waves

Like life's many challenges

Sun promises hope

 

August 30: Whose Influence

Sometimes, like today, I write things down to help clarify my thoughts! 

I heard, via the grapevine, that a family nearby are in the social influence field. They have really nice vehicles, go on regular, lavish vacations, renovated a beautiful home, have regular Fed-Ex visits, and do lots of filming as they walk/ride past on bikes/scooters and wagons. I

I did know of Babs, a 70 something who shares her tips on housecleaning, living and Talbot's outfits started appearing in my Facebook world during Covid era as well as the Excuse My Grandma team from NYC. Yet, I  did not realize, until recently, that there are many individuals/couples and families working full time in this field to share their lives, faith, families, and homes. I am not an expert in this area, nor to I plan to be, but a wee bit of exploring led me to meet large, inter abled, culturally and religious diverse as well as gamers, farmers, teachers, and many others!  

I found some of the peering into others lives to be interesting, like people watching at a fair or in the airport on the grand scale. Yet, there was one part that really made me uneasy and that was including children, their school experiences, and lessons in conversations and videos. Let's be honest, there is a part of me that finds the whole AI/YouTube/Social Influence world down right scary.

As a pretty private person, even now, I struggle with this in an enormous way; yet, I really do get that it is an income that lets you be at home and raise your children and/or have really nice things to try/hawk/wear and experience!  Then, today in the NYTimes as I sat on the porch and watched the neighbors float by on matching electric scooters while their mom filmed from her car, I read an article about how all this influencing can and does go wrong.  YIKES  I guess it is a warning!

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/30/magazine/greg-chism-youtube-bad-baby.html

August 28 Remember

I've been drafting a lead for hosting a poetry writing session later this year using (I think) Remember, by Joy Harjo. This draft is light years from my focus on nature and culture! This draft is written for someone who may have forgotten their worth. 

Remember, you are a product of their love,

Their dreams, hopes, wishes.

Remember their joy in their faces,

Your first steps, baseball, radio, car?

Remember the days spent practicing 

Pitching, creating, learning, sharing

Your gifts with others generously?

Remember the storms of life that pass

Leaving the earth scarred but persevering like

That rainbow that appears when hope wanes?

Remember, you gave them strong roots

Based on faith, family and perseverance,

Models of success and failure.

Remember every day we have the chance 

To make the world better,

Our legacy brighter. 

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.

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!