The Legend of an August Sunday

Mentor text: "It's the Fifties" by Anita Pulier


The Legend of an August Sunday

At about 10 a.m.
I leave the house
and drive to Publix,
the radio playing Ronnie
Milsap singing
"A Legend in My Time."

Inside the store I find the
orange juice on sale,
some grapes, stir-fry veggies,
and the sad news they are out of
my favorite lettuce.

Living in a time of easy
to make food choices, so
necessary this time of year,
I pick up a variety for dinners,
along with my favorite yogurt,
some frozen food items.

The checkout is open,
the cashier in her Publix green smock
waiting just for me to spend
my $90 and be on the way,
packed into three canvas bags.

Pushing my cart out of the store
I wait while a father drops off his
cashier daughter in her Publix green smock,
then call Jim that I am coming home.

Upon arrival, he helps me by
carrying two bags. I carry one.

This is why it's great to be a team.
We can help feed each other.

Standup Comics

Inspired by poem of same name by Gary Snyder.

A bright green grasshopper on the ceiling
A frog nestled on the mantle near the door
A severely misunderstood pencil sharpener
Signs that say "Breathe" above the clocks

Poem to Honor the First Day of School

Inspired by Joy Harjo's poem "Song for the Deer and Myself to Return On."


Here is a poem about what we call to us, and once we have it
we have to figure out what to do with it.

I understand the need for deeper learning. Now I am charged with
making that happen with over 180 young people.

Do not tell me to put them in rows,
or to overwhelm with tons of rules,
or to "hit the ground running,"
or to pre-test and post-test on computers.

Instead,
ask me to find the poetry in each child,
to help them build and cherish their identity,
to assist as they seek mastery and creativity,
to connect the unconnected.

Broken Promises

"Utmost good faith"

that never was

with the election

of this man who

continues to find

new lows, as impossible

as this seems, and I

in good faith can only

weave a tapestry of love

and acceptance, my little

force against the evil

dwelling in a white house



(Inspired by a short line in the Northwest Ordinance enacted by Congress in 1787: "The utmost faith shall always be observed toward the Indians."  Our country is nothing but broken promises.)

The #64Challenge

#64Challenge

(Yes, I'm calling it by a hashtag because for some reason every time I think of it, this is the way I see it written.  Sign of the times, I guess.)

Some things have been floating through my mind for a number of months and now, the day before my 64th birthday, I'm finally ready to commit to an idea.

My Process:

1. I have wanted to do some kind of consistent blogging again.  I've been a bit disappointed at my lack of output, especially over this last summer.  I think a focus will help me a lot.

2. I have thought for a while that I'd like to blog about this coming school year because I'm making a lot of changes and, given my class mix, I may have some cool things to write about.

3. Amy gave me a new notebook. The one I've been using for the last couple of years was a gift from Annmarie, but it's filled up.

4. I knew I didn't want to start a whole new blog, so needed a way to make it fit into this one.

With all this in mind, I've created the #64Challenge.

Here is the general design at this time, subject to change as I see the need:

A. Commitment to 64 posts throughout the school year, labeled as the #64Challenge and numbered.  I may do some other blog posts as well. This will distinguish the project here on the blog.

B. I will write reflections in my journal while at school, and use those as fodder for the blog.

C. I have generated some questions I may use for reflection, based on the important categories here and in my classroom.

 BLUE SPACE: What was the overarching theme, feeling, or focus today? What fed us? How was the sky? Clear? Cloudy? Stormy?

GREEN SPACE: Where was growth? How did we root ourselves? What is expanding? Did anything die?

RIVER FLOW: I read that "books are lakes and stories are rivers." What river ran through class today? What is the small story? What is the larger story?




LIGHTNING STRIKES: I want to keep a good documentation of the "aha moments," both mine and my students'.  I think they go a long way to helping learners grow, and the more we recognize them, the better.



So, that's it!  Will let you know when I get started.

Abundance

Inspired by a line in "To the Bone," a short story by Desiree Cooper.

 

Abundance

There are ways to keep from dwindling down to nothing.

I have filled my soul and spirit

this summer with hope and vision

the direction I have gone has been

a lovely surprise -- I embrace it

I see enhanced value in what I do

and the way I do it. Forethought

Practice. Reflection. The decision

of purposeful action, slow and steady

I have not been to the beach

yet the ocean is inside me, waves

of knowing, the swell of virtue found

in union, not division. Grace and goodness

combating a culture that can lead us astray

causing a hunger and thirst for something real

Billy Preston said "Nothing

from nothing leaves nothing."

Yet in this abundant movement

I am not starving.

I am filled with everything.

Without a Net

I spent yesterday trying to figure out stuff like photo storage and iCloud on my iPhone and iPad, since neither has been backed up in a long time.  I get nervous, thinking, yikes! What if my iPad dies and I'm not backed up?  I've moved the photos to my Mac for safe keeping, and that will suffice. I will clear the way on my devices to add more, but I don't think that it will help the backup problem.

With this in mind, here is today's poem.

What if I go ahead

and live life without a backup?

What am I clinging to anyway?

Technology can strike such fear in us.

But who really cares?

What happens when I'm gone?

This is the real wisdom behind

living in the moment.

What if I can cull things down

to a few important pieces?

And not everything.

What if I cleaned up my own backup

Let the new in?

What does this moment have to

give me that I can store

without a safety net?