Last night, I finished reading Butterflies in November by Audur Ava Olafsdottir. It is a novel set in Iceland by an Icelandic author. I found it to be a quirky tale without a lot of plot, but entertaining to read. The ending was awful, as it just abruptly stopped, as if the writer said, “okay,…
Month: July 2021
Poetry Friday: Couplets
In Writer’s Circle, over four weeks, we have worked on haiku, nonets, clerihews, free verse, and now couplets. Out of all of these types of poems, I found my students stymied at the couplets. In part, I think this is because I spent less time explaining them. The poor couplets were squeezed in at the…
Inspiration & Students
Today, when we had our writer’s circle meeting, I talked a little bit about inspiration. I asked the students, “what inspires you?” I did not really expect an answer, so I did not get one. It was asked in more of a rhetorical way. I’ve been writing daily for over four years. I know what…
What Does Public Mean to You?
Public schools Public health Public library Public defender Public market Public bathroom What does the word “public” mean to you? In nursing school, eons ago, the senior year clinical was called “Community Health.” This clinical, the culmination of three prior years of classes in liberal arts, hard and soft sciences including biology, chemistry, physiology, sociology,…
Slice of Life: A Few Weird Days
It’s Tuesday. I had to remind myself of that when I woke up. It was dark and I heard rumblings in the distance. My husband was already gone with the dog for their daily walk. Knowing I did not have any morning commitments, I got up and ate. Slowly, I started to wonder what I’d…
Poetry Friday: Writer’s Circle This Summer
My new writer’s circle has been going well. It should really be writer’s triangle because there are only three of us. Myself as the instructor/mentor/coach and a soon to be seventh grader and fourth grader. If I had more students, I would have broken the grade levels up from 3-5 and 6-8. But, it is…
A Return to Volunteering: Monarchs @ Rush Creek State Natural Area
Today, I returned to volunteering. In preparation, I watched videos on YouTube, took an online orientation from Monarch Joint Venture staff and familiarized myself with forms as well as how data was to be recorded. I am now an official volunteer for the IMMP or Integrated Monarch Monitoring Program run by Monarch Joint Venture. But,…
Slice of Life: Squawks and Screams
Yesterday, I caused two young robins to fledge! It wasn’t intentional but set off a round of squawking from the mother bird and the two nestlings as well as a few screams from me! I was innocently watering my front porch plants and needed to turn the water timer to a manual setting. I heard…
Planning a major change
My husband and I are planning to build a new house. We aren’t going far, only about 15 minutes from where we are now, in the next township over. But, it is supposed to start this week, with a driveway going in. The driveway is necessary to reach the property which is on a ridge…
Canoe Ride: You had your chance, muffed it!
Today we went on a canoe paddle around our lake. Our dog, Molly was invited to come. We thought she would. This morning when a neighbor stopped by in her kayak, Molly went right down into the water to visit this new person. She even put her paws up on the boat. So, we thought…