Occasionally, it is beneficial to look at one’s blog stats to see how it is performing. I’ve been writing The Apples in My Orchard for almost three years now. My writing continues to grow followers and regular readers from all over the world! I am humbled by the comments I receive as well as the…
Towards the end of my schooling in Environmental Education and Interpretation, we had to take a 3 credit course in interpretive media design. It was not an easy course. The technicalities of the chosen software program, InDesign, part of the Adobe Creative Suite, were intricate and time-consuming to learn and use. However, that said, I…
Last Thursday I was lucky enough to go on a field trip to the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul with my son’s art class. The high school anatomy class students were also in tow. For about 45 kids, mostly in grades 11-12, there were three teachers and two parent chaperones. I had not…
I do not know if I should be ashamed to admit that I have to work at being a good listener or not. Perhaps, it is admirable that I know I have to work at this trait, so I do. In any case, I think we can all use a reminder of what it takes…
My husband and I decided to try a cocktail today to celebrate a man’s life who died this week. He was 98 and known to drink Manhattans. Obviously, this strong alcoholic drink did not cause him an untimely death. Neither of us has ever had a Manhattan, previous to today. I did know an old…
A couple of years ago I took issue with a post by another blogger about the unnecessity of being thanked for good deeds or small tokens, like a candy bar. I did not comment publically but was very dismayed. In essence, this author, who is an adult, said it didn’t matter if people said thank…
A lot of memories flooded my head when I was home last week visiting my parents in Western New York. This is the area in which I grew up – outside of Rochester, New York. My parents no longer live in the town where I went to high school but rather in an adjacent town,…
Today I learned via social media that a person had been hired to replace me in the position from which I resigned in early October. It came on the heels of seeing a press release that included a grant I had written and obtained for this same organization – a piece of independent work and…
Today is Slice of Life Tuesday! It is on this day each week writers can share with others via the TwoWritingTeachers.org blog who host Slice of Life Tuesdays. It is a supportive and welcoming environment filled with dedicated writers, authors, and teachers. Today, I have been “retired” for a month. But, in the last month,…
Wetland Celebration Today I was part of a group of Environmental Educators celebrating our Wetlands. We hosted fourth, fifth, and sixth graders from 9 – 2pm in thirty-minute stations. I had the pleasure of seeing 177 students, plus all their teachers today for lessons on Nature Poetry. Since our stations were only 30 minutes each,…