The Apples in My Orchard

Does anyone besides me get out of bed to write something down?  This has been a fairly common occurrence for me over the last five years or so. It seems to happen when I am trying to work through a problem, have a parenting issue, decide how to address something, or occasionally, like last night, when I need to write a lesson or develop a presentation.

I am an Environmental Day presenter at our local elementary school this year. Thrilled to be asked (finally),  I agreed to pretty much anything they threw at me. So, I am presenting on Forests.  Truth be known, I would rather present on Monarchs. Monarchs are my thing. I am somewhat of an expert on monarchs.  Don’t get me wrong. Forests are great! It is a pertinent topic for an Earth Day Celebration. We even have a pine tree forest behind the school that need to be used more, and perhaps it will after my talk. But, forests? It is a huge topic! Huge!  It has been hard to narrow down useful, yet fun and age appropriate information for a presentation. There is just so much out there!

Gathering information for months, I am getting closer to what I want to say to 375 students in our K-5 building. A rough outline has been made. Last night, I spent several hours looking at where I could snag some free posters, bookmarks, or  information sheets. I am sure that is why at 2:13 a.m. I was in our laundry room writing down my introductory statements!

I am glad I did because when I awoke this morning, I couldn’t remember the exact phrase that seemed so right in the middle of the night for introducing the forest. In the laundry room, on the counter, are my notes. I know they  will point me in the direction I need to go. This is why I write in the middle of the night! What is your reason?