The Tree #SOL24

The tree is back. Can you see it? This time I got a photo. It’s not a great one, but that’s OK. I’m determined to find the tree!

I see the tree out the bedroom window

This time each year it begins to stand out from the rest

It is the first to bud

But by the time the others begin to display

It blends in and becomes lost

Lost in the shuffle of rebirth from the earth

From late fall until early spring

The tree is just like the others

Waiting for its turn

But it likes to go first

The tree is a green so special

Its yellowy-green hue is full of life

It calls out, “Notice me!”

The tree is an old friend who has been away

But wants me to know it is back in town

The tree makes me smile

The tree gives me hope

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.

Waiting #SOL24

Waiting

For an appointment

For his turn

For news

Hoping

To make it off a waiting list

We’ve come to the right place

For news

Waiting and hoping is so hard

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 now daily during March. Happy Slicing!

Welcome, Little One #SOL24

I wondered all weekend long. Did it happen? Would we miss everything? I couldn’t wait to get to school this morning.

Yeah! Welcome to the world, little one! Looks like you’ll have company soon. I can’t wait for the class to get here.

The wood frog eggs we are headstarting arrived on Tuesday. My Kindergarten conservation biologists and I will give them a safer start at life for the next 3 months. At that point they’ll be returned to the vernal pool on our school campus. In the tank habitat, which the students designed, and went shopping for in the woods, they’ll be safe from predators who might find them to be of interest — several species of turtle, yellow spotted salamanders, bullfrogs, mallard ducks, coyotes, raccoons, and anyone else who pays a visit to the all-you-can-eat buffet that is a vernal pool in spring.

Until their return, we’ll enjoy watching their metamorphic journey and recording it in our science notebooks every step of the way.

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 now daily during March. Happy Slicing!

Rain #SOL24

Rain

So much rain

Rain on the roof, the pavement, in the basement

Rain in the morning, mid-day, and all through the night

Ground so saturated the feeder station collapses, scattering black-oil sunflower seeds, white millet, and nyjer seeds across the garden

A feast for birds, squirrels, and chipmunks in the morning

Small blessings

It’s not snow

The critters are happy

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 now daily during March. Happy Slicing!

5-4-3-2-1 #SOL24

My Teach Write writing buddy Leigh Anne sometimes does a 5-4-3-2-1 reflection at the end of the week. You can read her most recent edition here. That’s the type of Slice I’m in the mood for today. I’ve save it in my back pocket for just such a week.

5 things that made me smile:

• watching my Kindergarteners rush into our classroom to see if our wood frog eggs have hatched yet (they haven’t)
• knowing my mom safely made it from Boston up to Portland, Maine all by herself today. She’s 87, so I worry.
• thinking about connecting with current and former school families tonight at a potluck supper.
• watching a particular student make slow, but steady progress in reading
• spotting a barred owl during our vernal pool walk the other day

4 words to describe my week:

• hectic
• overwhelming
• jam-packed
• winter-like, despite spring arriving this week

3 plans for the weekend:

• seeing the movie, One Life, with my husband. We LOVE Helena Bonham-Carter!
• digging into the readings for the Field Naturalist certification course I just began through Mass Audubon
• making my bi-weekly Target run. Woo hoo!

2 things I learned:

• that male fairy shrimp look very different from females
• when it’s appropriate to set up a fiduciary trust with a lawyer

1 goal for next week:

• get to the gym both Saturday and Sunday, despite the weather forecast

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 now daily during March. Happy Slicing!

Fairy Shrimp! #SOL24

Our Kindergarten Biologist in Residence met me in the drop-off line and handed me a small jug with vernal pool water and two fairy shrimp. I joked that she could start a “Fairy Shrimp To Go” business and that she was my dealer, meeting me in the school parking lot for an exchange. We had a good laugh over that.

I knew my students would be so excited to see Fairy Shrimp up close and personal, even for just a few minutes. A jug of them was held up during our vernal pool meetup with Emilie yesterday, but they didn’t get to really have a good look.

“Whoa! They are so cool!”

“I wonder which one’s the mom and which one is the dad?”

“I wonder why are they swimming on their backs?”

So many wonders and it was only 8:10 am, 10 minutes into the school day.

We could have looked at them all morning. Such magical creatures! But sadly, my “dealer” was returning at 11:00 for a pickup.

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 now daily during March. Happy Slicing!

It’s time! Part 1 #SOL24

The Teams invite has arrived. (I’m new to Microsoft Teams, so I sure hope it works!)

I’ve been waiting over a year for this day to come, and it’s finally here.

Am I crazy to start this now?

Can I afford to give up every Wednesday evening and every other Saturday from now through mid-June? And what about the periodic assessments and fieldwork? I must be crazy!

But if I don’t do it now, when?

Tonight is the beginning of a new path to the future. I’m not sure where it will lead, exactly, but I’m excited!

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 now daily during March. Happy Slicing!

Best Day Ever! #SOL24

It was time to meet up with our Kindergarten Biologist-in-Residence again. She promised to introduce us to some vernal pool inhabitants face to face. Back in the fall, when she came to meet us and show us many of the tools she uses to do her conservation work, she asked us to let her know when a.) the ice on the vernal pool on campus had melted and b.) if we were hearing something that sounds like quacking. Yes and yes!

We were almost to the vernal pool this morning when I thought of something I wanted to say to my class before we arrived. I turned around to face the line that snaked down the trail and something caught my eye off to the left. No way!

A gorgeous Barred Owl, perched on a branch, but fairly low to the ground, was sitting quietly watching us. Now that was unexpected! I’ve been teaching Kindergarten science from these trails for many years and I’ve never heard or seen an owl of any kind here. What a treat! My students and I could have stood there and watched in awe for quite a while, but it was time to move on. If it had been in the afternoon, we might have even heard his familiar call of “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?” Sadly it was only 9:30 am, and too early for his chatter.

Thankfully, after 30 minutes of hanging out with wood frogs, predacious diving beetles, fairy shrimp, a bullfrog tadpole, and yellow spotted salamander eggs, we found the owl to be waiting for us as we headed back to our classroom. “Best day ever!” I heard from one student. Agreed. Best day ever.

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 now daily during March. Happy Slicing!

Getting Forgetful #SOL24

I guess it happens to the best of us. We get forgetful. “You better write it down,” my husband often says to me. He’s the ultimate list maker. Sadly, I am not. I’ve tried, but to no avail.

Driving to school this morning, I began to run through a mental list of all that needs to be done today. Fold yesterday’s laundry, pay the dentist’s bill, refill bird feeders, write my Slice.

WRITE MY SLICE!

Oh no! Guess what I forgot to do yesterday? Write my slice!

Oh man. There goes my streak.

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 now daily during March. Happy Slicing!

Just A Quiet Dinner for Two #SOL24

It was meant to be just a quiet dinner for two. Payday Friday. Dinner downtown at that little Korean restaurant to celebrate the end of the week. Only 10 small tables, it’s really just a whole-in-the-wall kind of place, but it’s authentic. Why don’t we come here more often?

Arriving just before 6:00 PM, we are the first to arrive. We have the place all to ourselves. I’m feeling bad that the other restaurants down the block are jumping. It is St. Patrick’s Day weekend, after all. So glad we came here to give this one-woman operation some business.

In walks a couple we know. We talk. They know the owner/chef. As regulars, they order by number, while we order by name. We all talk. In walks another couple, unknown to all of us. We all talk, sharing ordering suggestions. In walks another couple, unknown to all of us. We all talk, sharing ordering suggestions. In walks a solo gentleman, unknown to all of us. we all talk, sharing ordering suggestions.

Just a quiet dinner for two.

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 now daily during March. Happy Slicing!