Wondering and Wandering

Old Me, Meet New Me #SOL22

August 9, 2022 Wondering and Wandering11 Comments

There it was. All clean, waxed, polished (well, that might be pushing things a bit), and ready. Not ready for students but essentially ready for me.

But was I ready for it?

Usually, when I have a summer workshop to attend towards the end of the summer break, I’ll go in a little early and do some arranging for 30ish minutes or so. I might straighten the rug, set up my chair and easel, and move a few rolling storage units back into place. Just a few things to make me feel like I’ve started.

But apparently, that was the old me.

The new me arrived yesterday with 30 minutes to spare. I sauntered in, looked around, checked to make sure everything was there that should be, and sat on the rug. My dearly-missed rug, where my community of writers, readers, mathematicians, scientists, and sweet little humans will gather. Oh, how I’ve missed this rug since March 11, 2020, but now she’s back out of storage aired out, cleaned, and ready to host new friends.

The old me would have jumped up and gotten to work, but the new me hopped up, grabbed my bag, turned off the lights, and left. It can wait.

Note: Morgan Davis’ Slice from last week — This Used to Be…And Now — inspired me to think about a change in my own life. This seemed to fit. Thanks for the inspiration, Morgan! And keep the writing prompts and videos coming. Love them!

Thanks for wondering and wandering a bit with me today. And many thanks to the crew at Two Writing Teachers, and the extended SOL community, for giving us the time, space, and encouragement to live the writerly life here every Tuesday throughout the year and daily during the month of March.

What were we thinking?! #SOL22

July 19, 2022 Wondering and Wandering13 Comments

“We’d be happy to put your new kitchen island together. Don’t hire a carpenter!” My 87-year-old parents moved recently and desperately need more kitchen storage and counter space in their new place. The island kit had been on back order from Wayfair for quite a while and it had finally arrived!

What were we thinking?! The pieces were everywhere!

The hardware was everywhere!

And the tools were everywhere! Four hours, six minutes, and five broken screws later, we were almost there.

But it was 7:30 PM, our gas tank light had come on as we were parking, and home and dinner were 45 minutes away. Time to wrap things up for the day.

In my dreams, it’s all assembled and ready to put to use. Soon enough.

And Meet We Did #SOL22

July 12, 2022 Wondering and Wandering12 Comments

It was as if we’d known each other for years, and just picked up where we left off. That’s how our small gathering of five Teach Write writing buddies went one week ago today. While it was our first time meeting “in person” (you can read about that in last week’s Slice here), it felt, and we laughed about this, as if we were just five good friends getting together for a few hours of fun. And honestly, that’s who we are, so no wonder. We ate, enjoyed ice cream, did a few touristy things (IYKYK), laughed, and got a little teary. The only thing we didn’t do was write. But that’s OK. We’ll do that together on ZOOM.

Time to Meet! #SOL22

July 5, 2022July 12, 2022 Wondering and Wandering18 Comments

Four years ago, I took a risk. A writing risk. I’d been blogging and sharing for just a year or two with the Two Writing Teachers “Slice of Life” and Poetry Friday communities for fun, but I felt ready to up my writing game with a class or coaching of some sort. I’m not even sure how I found it, but I signed up for the “Time to Write Workshop” in the then-new Teach Write community of writers.

Each week we gather together on ZOOM (we were pros before the pandemic hit!) to set goals and intentions for our time together, write alongside each other for close to an hour, and then celebrate and set our writing goals for the upcoming week. Many of us have been writing together for several years now. While members come and go, we’ve become a close-knit community. A family.

And now, It’s time to meet! This afternoon, in nearby Concord, MA, six members of our TTW family will be getting together for the afternoon to spend time together. In-person! No computer screens! While I am local, several will have found their way here from further afield — Cambodia, Canada, and New Jersey! We have rough plans, but who knows what will happen. Maybe we’ll even write together in-person.

Stay tuned!

We’ve been so careful #SOL22

June 28, 2022 Wondering and Wandering10 Comments

We’ve been so careful

We’ve been so careful
Over two, long years
Masking every day, everywhere
Sanitizing raw skin day after day

Two years of teaching
Masked, distanced, careful
They dropped like flies
But we didn’t

Now, the lone shoppers with masks
Exercisers with masks
Outdoor diners with masks
Visitors with masks

Five days in
Still adjusting
Still so careful
COVID descends

The Iris Garden #Pathways #NPM #NaPoWriMo #NationalPoetryMonth #PoetryFriday

April 29, 2022 Wondering and Wandering11 Comments

Yeah! It’s Poetry Friday! Jone Rush Macculloch is our hostess for this the fifth and final Friday of National Poetry Month.

During the month of April, I will write or revisit poem-ish pieces inspired by my frequent walks in the natural world. Trails, paths, signs, and views always intrigue and inspire me. I have left my challenge open so that the poems may take any form — haiku, free verse, borrowed line, blackout — and who knows which direction they will go in or how often they will appear.

The Iris Garden

There is a rustic bridge, low arched
That spans a tiny shallow pool,
Whose waters when the ground is parched
Still keeps the neighboring meadow cool.
Here Nature gently seems to say,
“Now come, we welcome you to stay.”

So all throughout the heat of day,
Made joyous by the Summer’s Sun,
There plays a merry company;
From morning till the day is done
They nod and dance beneath the trees
As if they know their joy would please;

Gay butterflies and bees for hours
Will hover o’er a fairy sea
Whose very waves are made of flowers;
Who ever dreamed such shades could be?
Now watch their varied colors dance.
How many see you at a glance?

Rich purple, veined with orange light;
Pale blue, that vies with twilight’s hue;
Some, painted like the shades of night;
And others clear as morning’s dew!
While every where your eye may seek,
This living beauty seems to speak.

When summer sends her wondrous day
Of sweetness filled with leisure hours,
Come hasten to this spot and play
Amid the beckoning Iris Flowers,
N’er evening sends her dark’ning shade,
Or time shall bid the petals fade!

— Mildred Kennedy (1877-1960)

A peek at my process —

Today I veer off course a bit with my NPM project. Four years ago, I wrote about a long-ago Japanese iris garden that haunts my dreams. (You can read about that here.) There have been a few very exciting developments since that post.

My parents, who are cleaning out before a major move, are finding all sorts of treasures, one of which is this sestain — The Iris Garden. It was written by my great-great aunt Mildred, who lived in the house with the Japanese iris garden as a child. I had shivers up my spine as I opened up the faded typing paper and realized the treasure I held in my hands. We don’t know if the poem was ever published anywhere, so this could very well be its debut. I can’t think of a better place.

They also found some amazing images of the garden captured on glass autochromes that we did not know existed. I had four of them digitized and am thrilled that now the garden of my dreams is beginning to come back to life again.

*Iris garden with tea house in the background*.

My great uncle Gordon and great aunt Frances, who grew up in the home, dressed for visitors to the garden.

My great grandmother Frances ready to receive guests in her beloved garden.

Now that I am in possession of such treasures, I’m torn about what to do with them to protect them. For now, I am basking in the excitement of paths lost to time having a rebirth of sorts.

And lastly…

Today it’s Karen Eastlund’s turn to add the penultimate line to the 2022 Kid Lit Progressive Poem on her blog, Karen’s Got a Blog. Participants borrowed lines from literature and songs. I was thrilled to provide line 19, which I borrowed from The Keeper of Wild Words. I hope you’ll join us to see how the poem finishes up tomorrow. Here’s the full itinerary for the poem.

2022 Progressive Poem Itinerary:

April 1 Irene at Live Your Poem
2 Donna Smith at Mainly Write
3 Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core
4 Mary Lee at A(nother) Year of Reading
5 Buffy at Buffy Silverman
6 Linda at A Word Edgewise
7 Kim Johnson at Common Threads
8 Rose Cappelli at Imagine the Possibilities
9 Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link
10 Linda Baie at Teacher Dance
11 Janet Fagel at Reflections on the Teche
12 Jone at Jone Rush MacCulloch
13 Karin Fisher-Golton at Still in Awe
14 Denise Krebs at Dare to Care
15 Carol Labuzzetta @ The Apples in my Orchard
16 Heidi Mordhorst at My Juicy Little Universe
17 Ruth at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken Town
18 Patricia at Reverie
19 Christie at Wondering and Wandering
20 Robyn Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge
21 Kevin at Dog Trax
22 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche
23 Leigh Anne at A Day in the Life
24 Marcie Atkins
25 Marilyn Garcia
26 JoAnn Early Macken
27 Janice at Salt City Verse
28 Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference
29 Karen Eastlund at Karen’s Got a Blog
30 Michelle Kogan Painting, Illustration, & Writing

Earth Day #Pathways #NPM #NaPoWriMo #NationalPoetryMonth #PoetryFriday

April 22, 2022April 24, 2022 Wondering and Wandering9 Comments

It’s Poetry Friday! Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche is our hostess for this the fourth Friday of National Poetry Month. She’s also got the latest line in our KidLit Progressive Poem, which is heading into the final week.

But first…it’s Earth Day! My all-time favorite Earth Day poem for students is from our friend, Mary Lee Hahn. I’ll be sharing it with my Kindergarten poets next week when we return from April Vacation.

And…

Open Window

A peek at my process —

Today’s poem isn’t so much about a walk, but letting nature indoors. At long last we are finally able to leave our windows open in the evening. The rushing Assabet River lulls us to sleep and joins with the dawn chorus to awaken us.

And lastly…

This month, members of the Poetry Friday family are participating in the 10th annual Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem originally organized by author/poet, Irene Latham. Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche took over two years ago as the organizer. Many members of the #PoetryFriday family have signed up to provide a line for the 2022 poem. Today, in addition to hosting, PF, Margaret takes the wheel with the Progressive Poem. Participants are borrowing lines from literature and songs. I was thrilled to provide line 19, which I borrowed from The Keeper of Wild Words. I hope you’ll join us to see how the poem winds its way home. Here’s the full itinerary for the poem.

2022 Progressive Poem Itinerary:

wishes and feet #Pathways #NPM #NaPoWriMo #NationalPoetryMonth

April 21, 2022 Wondering and WanderingLeave a comment

During the month of April, I will write poem-ish pieces inspired by my frequent walks in the natural world. Trails, paths, signs, and views always intrigue and inspire me. I have left my challenge open so that the poems may take any form — haiku, free verse, borrowed line, blackout — and who knows which direction they will go in or how often they will appear.

Wishes and Feet

A peek at my process —

I am always drawn to “desire paths,” those unmarked paths that magically appear in just about any setting where feet wish to walk — across grass, through leaves, just about anywhere. But desire paths. (technically desire lines) are unmarked and “made over time by the wishes & feet of walkers,” according to British writer and naturalist Robert Macfarlane. My eyes might have been playing tricks on me, but I’m pretty sure I saw one here in Marquand Park on Tuesday. What do you think?

And introducing…

This month, members of the Poetry Friday family are participating in the 10th annual Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem originally organized by author/poet, Irene Latham. Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche took over two years ago as the organizer. Many members of the #PoetryFriday family have signed up to provide a line for the 2022 poem. Today, I hand the addition of the next line over to Robyn Hood Black at her blog, Life on the Deckle Edge. Participants are borrowing lines from literature and songs. I provided the 19th line yesterday. I hope you’ll join us to see what happens. An adventure has begun! Here’s the itinerary for the poem.

2022 Progressive Poem Itinerary:

#ProgressivePoem #Pathways #NPM #NaPoWriMo #NationalPoetryMonth

April 19, 2022April 18, 2022 Wondering and Wandering9 Comments

Today is my turn to add a line to the 2022 KidLit Progressive Poem. I am writing on location in lovely Princeton, NJ. It is April Vacation week in Massachusetts, so I am tagging along on my husband’s research trip. The University archives have been closed to the public for two very long years, so this is a big week for him!

I brought along a few of my favorite books in the hope that one of them would hold just the right line for my turn, and indeed The Keeper of Wild Words by Brooke Smith does. The moon is beginning to appear in the sky, so I felt like it was time for a shift in the action. With just eleven days/lines to go, perhaps our adventurers should begin their journey home. Just a thought. With that in mind, today I add “The night sky would soon be painted, stars gleaming overhead, a beautiful wild curtain closing on the day.“

2022 Progressive Poem

Where they were going, there were no maps.

Sorry! I don’t want any adventures, thank you. Not today.

Take the adventure, heed the call, now ere the irrevocable moment passes!

We have to go back. I forgot something.

But it’s spring, and the world is puddle-wonderful, so we’ll whistle and dance and set off on our way.

Come with me, and you’ll be in a land of pure imagination.

Wherever you go, take your hopes, pack your dreams, and never forget – it is on our journeys that discoveries are made.

And then it was time for singing.

Can you sing with all the voices of the mountain, paint with all the colors of the wind, freewheeling through an endless diamond sky?

Suddenly, they stopped and realized they weren’t the only ones singing.

Listen, a chattering of monkeys! Let’s smell the dawn and taste the moonlight, we’ll watch it all spread out before us.

The moon is slicing through the sky. We whisper to the tree, tap on the trunk, imagine it feeling our sound.

Clouds of blue-winged swallows, rain from up the mountains,

Green growing all around, and the cool splash of the fountain.

If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden,

a bright, secret, quiet place, and rather sad;

and they stepped out into the middle of it.

Their minds’ libraries and lightning bugs led them on.

The darkwood sings, the elderhist blooms, the sky lightens; listen and you will find your way home.

The night sky would soon be painted, stars gleaming overhead, a beautiful wild curtain closing on the day.

During the month of April, I am writing poem-ish pieces inspired by my frequent walks in the natural world. Trails, paths, signs, and views always intrigue and inspire me. The Progressive Poem and my line, I believe, fit in well with this theme.

Here is a summary of the poem’s lines 1 -19 — the participating poets and where their lines are from. Over to you, Robyn Hood Black!

Irene (The Imaginaries)
Donna (The Hobbit)
Catherine F. (The Wind in The Willows)
Mary Lee (Walk Two Moons)
Buffy Silverman (a bit from e.e. cummings)
Linda Mitchell (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory)
Kim Johnson (from Maybe by Kobi Yamada)
Rose Cappelli (Sarah, Plain and Tall)
Carol Varsalona (Disney Songs)
Linda Baie (The Other Way to Listen.)
Janet Clare Fagal (line adaptation from Cinnamon by Neil Gaiman)
Jone Rush MacCulloch (line adaptation from The Magical Imperfect by Chris Baron)
Karin Fisher-Golton (M. Singer On the Same Day In March: A Tour of the World’s Weather)
Katherine Paterson (Bridge to Terabithia)
Heidi Mordhorst (Couplet includes 15: The Secret Garden and…
… CS Lewis’ Prince Caspian)
Ruth (The Last Cuentista)
Patricia (The Beatryce Prophecy)
Christie (The Keeper of Wild Words by Brooke Smith)

If you are new to the Progressive Poem, here’s the background! This month, members of the Poetry Friday family are participating in the 10th annual Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem originally organized by author/poet, Irene Latham. Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche took over two years ago as the organizer. Many members of the #PoetryFriday family have signed up to provide a line for the 2022 poem. Participants are borrowing lines from literature and songs. I hope you’ll join us to see what happens. Here’s the itinerary for the poem.

2022 Progressive Poem Itinerary:

awake and arise #Pathways #NPM #NaPoWriMo #NationalPoetryMonth

April 18, 2022 Wondering and WanderingLeave a comment

A peek at my process —

I’m visiting Princeton, NJ this week during my April Vacation. Despite slightly chilly temperatures here at the moment, spring has sprung into action a few weeks ahead of us in New England. Everywhere we go, early bulbs and flowering tree buds greet us. Winter seems a distant memory here. I’ve borrowed (or lifted) a line for my haiku — “nature gently seems to say” — from an unpublished poem, The Iris Garden, by my two-greats aunt Mildred.

And introducing…

This month, members of the Poetry Friday family are participating in the 10th annual Kidlitosphere Progressive Poem originally organized by author/poet, Irene Latham. Margaret Simon at Reflections on the Teche took over two years ago as the organizer. Many members of the #PoetryFriday family have signed up to provide a line for the 2022 poem. Today, Patricia Franz takes over at her blog, Reverie. Participants are borrowing lines from literature and songs. I’m excited to provide the 19th line tomorrow. I hope you’ll join us to see what happens. An adventure has begun! Here’s the itinerary for the poem.

2022 Progressive Poem Itinerary: