One of my favorite rides at the amusement park has always been the carousel. I think it’s because on the surface, it’s predictable in it’s movement but not in where or when it starts and stops. I like routine and predictability so I am drawn to this ride. I also like the artistry of the…
We had a spectacular storm early on Tuesday evening. It took place after dinner, blowing in on winds from the west. I ran outside with my phone and small camera to take photos of the clouds lit with the sun from behind. A gentleman, who is a friend of a friend, told me in a…
Monday night we took a canoe ride after dinner on the small lake upon which our cabin sits on the shore. The water was calm and the lake was quiet with only a few other boats floating about. We paddled to the left and circled counter clockwise around the lake, opposite to the direction we…
There are many ideas running through my head this Friday morning. But, none seem worth writing about. It’s been a busy week. We’ve seen several people we haven’t seen in a year or more. I had lunch out with a friend yesterday. Then, I used the afternoon to pot up some of my annuals and…
We live in Wisconsin in a town that has grown over three fold in the last twenty years. Houses occupy what used to be cornfields and prairie, tightly woven together with a maze of streets and lights where once there was nothing but crickets and darkness. Human development greatly impinges on the environment. In these…
During the month of April, National Poetry Month, I have tried new forms of poetry in an attempt to step out of my “box.” The box includes the forms of poetry I am comfortable with as well as my usual writing habits. While I’ve continued to write everyday, I have also been exploring places to…
Yesterday, I learned from a fellow blogger and Wisconsin educator, Tammy at Tammy’s Reading Life blog that today is Pocket Poem Day! According to Tammy’s blog, the Pocket Poem was started in New York and meant to spread cheer. A poem, written or copied (with acknowledgment, of course), is shared and passed to those one…
I am a life long learner. I know this because I still enjoy looking for, obtaining, and synthesizing new information. Then, I like to put the information to use because I know if I do that I will remember it better. When my husband was in medical school, they had a saying. It went something…
Trees have always fascinated me. From childhood climbs to chestnut gatherings to planting hundreds as an adult, you could say I have affinity for these living, breathing magistrates of yards, forests, and parklands. When I think about trees of my youth, several species pop into my mind’s eye. The scotch pine in the yard I…
I’ve been meaning to clean out my files. However, it’s one of those jobs that keep getting put off. I have 16 years of curriculum, lessons, and grad school materials sitting in my filing cabinets. I have four cabinets in my home office and two more in the basement. Two of the four in my…