July | 2016 | Reflections on the Teche

Archive for July, 2016

Celebrate Back to School

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Teaching, tagged back-to-school, Iberia Parish Rocks, Summer Poetry Swap on July 30, 2016| 8 Comments »

Find more celebration posts at Ruth’s blog.

Kristina is a master with a stapler.

This week I prepared my two classrooms at two schools for back-to-school next week. I was blessed to have helpers. In one classroom, one of my students appeared. Her mother was in a teacher workshop, so she was hanging out at the school helping out where she could. At the end of the year, I have to pack up the books so that the floors can be cleaned, so Lani re-shelved the books. I told her she could choose her own sorting method, so she put together books by the same author. I’m sure the order will change once kids start pulling them out to read, but it’s nice to start the year with some kind of order.

At another school, my friend Kristina came to help. She handled the stapler for the bulletin board and shelved my mountain of books. She decided to order books by genre, and she even made signs for the shelves.

Kristina makes signs for the book shelves.

I celebrate my little helpers and that feeling of anticipation that comes with a new school year.

Poetry gift from Carol Varsalona.

I celebrate the summer poetry swap. I got this gift from Carol Varsalona. Carol has a unique talent of pairing photos with poems and creating timeless images. Her poem is a riddle poem about a fan. I can use a fan when temperatures climb to 90+ daily, but this one is too pretty to use. She also sent a necklace of handmade beads from paper. Carol wrote, “The women in Masese, Uganda wove the beads from paper that is hung to dry. With the proceeds we built an elementary school where 550+ children are educated, fed two meals a day, and have clean water. The mothers of Masese are proud jewelry makers who now can make a living to raise their children.” I will proudly wear the beads. Thanks, Carol.

I celebrate Iberia Parish Rocks! My husband found this rock on his doorstep on Friday. He texted it to me. That evening we saw an article in the paper about a Facebook group painting happy rocks to leave around town. What a great project for just spreading a bit of joy!

My summer is quickly coming to an end, but what a summer it has been. I am so grateful for my amazing trips to Tanzania, Africa and Old Bedlam Farm. I am also grateful for lazy days spent with my constant companion, Charlie. I wish I could take him with me to school.

Charlie

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Poetry Friday: Hollyhocks

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged Emily Dickinson, gardens, Nature poems on July 29, 2016| 29 Comments »

Poetry Friday round-up is here today. Leave your link .

Hollyhocks don’t grow here in South Louisiana. On a recent visit to upstate New York, I was attracted to their stately stalks with large blossoms. We encountered a few at the local garden supplier in Hebron, NY.

Later, Tara let me know that she went back and bought some for her garden.

Hollyhocks at Old Bedlam Farm.

And then I encountered an image in Better Homes and Gardens. I didn’t order this magazine, but it seems to keep showing up in the mailbox. I love the images of wild gardens that I could never grow.

While in New york, we visited Owl Pen books. I found a treasure, a collection of Emily Dickinson’s nature poems. I used the form of one of these poems and wrote my own version. This poem and the book are headed to my next poetry swap friend.

The Garden
After Emily Dickinson

I’ll tell you how the Hollyhocks rose–
A Blossom at a time–
The Petals glistened like Rubies–
The Bees and Hummers buzzed–
The Trees unfurled their branches–
The Bulbul–beloved–
Then I said softly to myself–
“That must have been the Dew!”
But how he wept–I saw not–
There seemed a dampness sincere
That little ants did clamor here
And led me to the waiting pew,
Woven easily among Lilies–
Morning Glories in blue–
And then I saw– You.

Poets and Readers: Use the Link Button below.

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My Friend Loved Chickens

Posted in Blessen, Slice of Life, tagged chickens, Entropy Magazine, fiction writing, Lisa Meaux, teacher-writers on July 26, 2016| 18 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers blog for the Slice of Life Challenge.

It’s summer now. The sun sets more reluctantly than at any other time of the year, and as it slowly drops behind the canopy of live oaks and crepe myrtles, my remaining twelve hens drift nearer and nearer to the coop, pecking and scratching along in a lazy, singular unity.

I feel so strongly about these hens. As oblivious as they are to love and anything else that is neither food nor peril, they seem to carry with knowing authority the solutions to all mysteries, as our solutions are somehow in rosary beads, old pots, and June bugs. If they miss Passion, they don’t show it. Somewhere between earthworms and hawks, they carry on, finding the best spots for dust baths and squabbling over the grapes I feed them from my hand, until they inevitably make it home as the sun sets.

And rather than leave an empty space where Passion once perched on the roost, they will scoot closer to each other and fill it in, knowing that the world goes on and knowing — announcing, maybe, as Mary Oliver would say — their place in the family of things.

–Lisa Meaux, 1956-2016, excerpt from “The Birds: Passion” from Entropymag.org

My friend, Lisa Meaux, loved chickens. The above excerpt is from a short story she wrote about a friend and a chicken who both had ovarian cancer. The story is just like Lisa, a mix of the ironic and the tender.

I first met Lisa when I was working on my masters in gifted education. She was the lead teacher in a summer program in which I interned. As the years went by, Lisa found her way to the writing project, and our relationship grew around teaching and writing. Two years ago, she retired and married the love of her life. Little did any of us know that her life would end so soon.

On Saturday, I attended a beautiful gathering to celebrate her life at the Acadiana Center for the Arts. The stage was set with a portrait of Lisa holding one of her chickens. Two teacher-writers from her writing group read from a variety of pieces that told the story of Lisa. Her writing life centered around her love of her home, her animals, and her family. A fitting tribute to her through her own words.

Back in 2009, Lisa, Nettie, and I attended the New Orleans writing marathon. The marathon focus was fiction. I felt like such a novice at fiction writing, but the genre was comfortable to Lisa. I remember she wrote a story about a woman who leaves a piece of her clothing at various places in New Orleans and eventually walks into Lake Pontchartrain completely nude. It was a brilliantly crafted story.

At that retreat, Lisa gave me a gift of a bracelet of blue beads and thus the name for Blessen’s chicken, Blue. If it hadn’t been for Lisa, there would not have been a chicken in my story, or, for that matter, a story at all. She met with me to discuss my book and planted the seed that would become the theme for the book, “Death happens in threes.”

There is an empty space where Lisa lived. Her friends feel it. Her husband feels it. Her students feel it. Unlike her roosting chickens, I am not quite sure how to fill the space that belonged to her. I still struggle to know where I belong in the family of things. But I know this for sure: The world goes on, and I am a better person for having known and loved Lisa Meaux.

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Celebrate Summer Life

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Gratitude, Writing, tagged McCartee's Barn, Old Bedlam Farm, Owl Pen Bookstore, Tara Smith, writing retreat on July 23, 2016| 14 Comments »

View from the porch at Old Bedlam Farm

My summer is quickly coming to an end. School starts in a few short weeks. It’s time for me to focus, get into the classroom, and make plans for the year.

But first, I want to celebrate the summer life, that laid-back time when the day is completely empty. When you can take time to explore a used bookstore in the woods of upstate New York.

Owl Pen Used Bookstore

When you can take time to peruse an antique store down the road in Salem. Don’t forget to open the tiny drawers to find the smallest treasures, like a mustard seed pendant.

Leaning on my friends Julianne Harmatz and Kimberley Moran.

When you can take a lawn chair up the hill, find the shade of a tree, and write in the quiet of the morning.

Tara writes on the hillside. Sophie explores nearby.

When you can “Live like Heaven is on Earth.”

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A Fairy Tale of Friends

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, tagged Bedlam Farm, fairy tale poem, Martha Starke, poetry, writing retreat on July 22, 2016| 20 Comments »

Poetry Friday round-up is at Books 4 Learning

I dedicate this post, a prose fairy tale poem in three parts, to my writing friends Tara Smith, Kimberley Moran, and Julianne Harmatz. We spent the week together in upstate New York laughing, eating, drinking, touring, shopping, and oh yes…writing. These verses were inspired by Petal People notecards by Martha Starke.

I. Julianne

Once there was a girl from Los Angeles
with a head of curly hair.
She walked the hills of New York state
gathering wild flowers–

verbena, hosta, bleeding heart,
Johnny-jump-ups, bridal wreath–

placing them all in a clear glass jar.

The flowers captured sunshine,
the wild air of summer.

She looked at the flowers in the center of the breakfast table,
and smiled a sneaky smile.
She found the key to happiness–
Gather wildflowers in a glass jar.
You will have sunshine every day.

II. Kimberley

There once was a girl from Maine
who walked the hills of New York state,
looking for something, though she knew not what.

She picked up a wreath of wild flowers
arranged in the shape of a heart.

This heart of hydrangea petals
surrounded by Queen Anne’s lace
touched her very own broken heart.

She hung the wreath on her own front door
to show the world and herself
that this was enough.

III. Tara

Once a girl from New Jersey
walked all the way to New York
searching for wisdom,
(perhaps words on a bumper sticker),
a message for the secret of life.

On a bedlam farm,
dirty from long disuse,
she met a man selling seeds.

He told her to plant this tiny seed,
(so small she could hardly see),
water it every day, speak in a soft voice.
The seed will grow into the finest of flowers
more beautiful than hollyhocks.

One day when the sun rose
& the fog lifted,
she saw the flower,
finer than anything imagined,
and she said, “It is good!”

Margaret Simon, all rights reserved,
with incredible respect and love
for the gift of time that is born at a farm in New York

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Slice of Farm Life

Posted in Blogging, Slice of Life, Travel, Writing, tagged farm, NY, Slice of Life, Tara Smith, Washington County on July 19, 2016| 15 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers blog for the Slice of Life Challenge.

I don’t know how I have come to be so blessed. If you’ve been keeping up with my blog or Facebook posts, you know I spent two weeks in Tanzania, Africa, a gift from my amazing mother-in-law. And today, I am in upstate New York at Tara Smith’s farm. Like Tanzania, the nights and mornings are cool, and that alone is reason to leave South Louisiana in the mid-summer. Unlike Tanzania, this place is lush and hilly and green.

On the farm, I can breathe slowly. I feel an energy for just being present. Tara is a perfect hostess. She ran down the hill from her writing spot five minutes ago because I asked for a lap blanket. Our dinner was fresh and delicious beginning with Caprese salad and ending with sliced watermelon. This morning, blueberry pancakes, my favorite.

I was trying to remember how I got here. Not in a geographical sense, but when did I meet and become so attached to these friends? I am here with Tara, Julianne, and Kimberley. (They are each writing a post today about our time together.) The fact is I can trace each friend back to this very space, my blog. We met through a commitment to writing and sharing our lives with each other. Connections happen here that I do not plan or predict or that I even realize are happening until a day like today.

Julianne traveled from L.A. and I traveled from LA. to be together on a hill in Washington County, NY.

This is Tara’s house on the farm. It is as lovely and charming on the inside as you can see from the outside. I am back in time to a place of stillness and grace.

This is Sophie. Every farm needs a dog like Sophie, keeping watch and providing comfort.

The four of us are taking a break from talking to write our separate slices. Sharing our slices of life is what brought us all here to be present with each other, to make space for writing, and to enjoy the abundance of life. I am so grateful for Tara’s generosity, for this community of writers, and for this amazing gift of nature. I can believe the world is good. I can feel hope. I can be me.

Morning walk in the woods.

gentle moon

rising over the hills

abiding grace

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Tanzania Travel Journal #6

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Travel, Writing, tagged #celebratelu, Endoro Primary School, Grand Circle Foundation, Karatu, school, Tanzania on July 16, 2016| 5 Comments »

I have been home for a week from a most amazing trip to Tanzania, Africa and still processing the experience through blog posts. You can read them all:

Tanzania Travel Journal #1, #2, #3, #4, #5

Today I am celebrating our school visit. The Grand Circle Foundation sponsors a number of schools in Tanzania. The one we visited is Endoro Primary School in Karatu.

The head teacher, “Mother Mary”, took us into her small office to tell us about the school and answer any questions. Most of her students come to school from the Iraqw tribe. They do not know the national language, Kiswahili. All subjects in primary school are taught in the national language, and English is one class. Later, in secondary school, all subjects are taught in English. These students not only have to master many subjects, they must do so in many languages.

They begin school at 7 AM with cleaning and eating a breakfast of porridge. The classrooms were very basic with a chalkboard at one end and 10 desks in 3 rows with 2-3 students at each desk. The desks consisted of a wooden bench and a short wooden table top. Their supplies include pencils, assignment books, and textbooks. There are no computers at this school.

While we were there, the regional director passed by, Sandra. It was amazing to hear her speak of the foundation and their mission to improve education. The Tanzanian government has made all public schools free. But that means there is no longer a $10 tuition fee per year. Costs for supplies, books, uniforms, food, etc. are not covered. Grand Circle Foundation recently built more classrooms and installed toilets at Endoro School.

Sandra assured us 100% of the donations go directly to the schools. She told us the cost of textbooks is about $3-$6 each. What a bargain to us in the US!

Endoro Primary School, Karatu, Tanzania

I was charmed by the students that I met. One girl told me her name is Martha, my third daughter’s name, so we made an immediate connection. I hope to establish pen pals for my students.

Visiting with school girls

My birthday is August 11th. For my birthday, I am asking my friends to donate to the Grand Circle Foundation specifically for Endoro school. You can donate by emailing me for a donation form, signing on to the Grand Circle Foundation Website, or sending a payment to me through Pay Pal and I will donate. Just think what $10 can do for these kids!

Here is a video of the students singing a welcome song and my small group singing their National Anthem. (Sorry, it’s quite loud, so turn down your volume.)

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Tanzania Travel Journal #5

Posted in Poetry Friday, Travel, Writing, tagged Anne Simon, Georgia Heard, Mary Oliver, Overseas Adventure Travel, poetry, Tanzania on July 15, 2016| 12 Comments »

Poetry Friday round-up is with Mary Lee at A Year of Reading

I am dedicating this Poetry Friday post to my mother-in-law, Anne Simon, who took me on an amazing adventure to Tanzania, Africa to celebrate her 85th birthday.

I have been blogging about this trip since I’ve returned. You can read previous posts: Safe Water for Eastern Africa, Tarangire National Park, Maasai village, and Lions on the Serengeti.

The only way to thank Anne “Minga” for this fabulous opportunity was to thoroughly enjoy it. I immersed myself in Presence, my one little word, taking in the experience with my whole mind, body, and spirit.

On the day of Minga’s birthday, we set out at sunrise to tour areas on the Serengeti with rocky outcrops called kopjes. Kopjes are places where lions linger and hide their young. We stopped to have breakfast on one of these kopjes. Before any of us got out of the vehicles, though, our guides scouted and clapped away any animal life.

Kopjes (pronounced ko-pee-us) dotted the Serengeti landscape.

Singing “Happy Birthday” to Anne on the kopjes breakfast.

I created a video to capture the birthday celebration complete with a cake and the camp workers singing a favorite celebration song, Hakuna Matata (not the Disney version).

Since today is Poetry Friday, I found an appropriate poem to share. “The Journey” by Mary Oliver describes the individual that my mother-in-law is, strong and independent. I am very grateful that she is willing to share her journey with me.

One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice–
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
at your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little,
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do–
determined to save
the only life you could save.

–Mary Oliver

This poem, along with many other poems from women, can be found in The Woman in this Poem, selected and introduced by Georgia Heard.

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Tanzania Travel Journal #4

Posted in Travel, tagged lions, Overseas Adventure Travel, Serengeti, Tanzania on July 14, 2016| 5 Comments »

Serengeti tent camp

The drive to the Serengeti was a long, hard, bumpy, rocky road. Our vehicle was struck by a flying rock that shattered the lower left windshield. No one was hurt, but we all jumped out of our skin for a moment.

The tent camp on the Serengeti was not as luxurious as the lodges we had been staying in. Alex, our guide, handed out the “digital keys,” a cardboard strip with our names and tent number on it. He warned us to keep the tent zipped at all times. He said to scan the tent for snakes and to blow the whistle for emergencies.

I admit I was too scared to sleep much the first night. When we came into the tent something flew out and hit me in the head. I tried to turn on the lights and ended up de-wiring the place. So we were left with no electricity. I decided this was a whistle blowing opportunity, but hence our whistle would not blow. (A protection against irrational females like me, I’m sure.)

The next day I realized that the thing that hit me in the head was a switch for the lights. When I pulled on it, the wires disconnected.

Our showers were adventurous as well. Behind the tent was a bucket and pulley system. When you were ready for a shower, you would let the boy in back know and he would load the bucket with warm water and hoist it up. To turn on the water, you would pull a string hanging from the shower head. Each day we were given a specific time to shower and about 5 gallons of water. I actually came to appreciate these showers immensely.

Sunrise on the Serengeti

Each morning we were awakened at 5:30 AM and headed out about 6:30 to find wildlife activity. We encountered lions almost daily. Each time was a miracle. I’ve compiled a video of these views as well as our guides evening talk about lion behaviors. Simba is the Kiswahili word for lion.

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Tanzania Travel Journal #3

Posted in Slice of Life, Travel, Writing, tagged Maasai village, Overseas Adventure Travel, Tanzania on July 12, 2016| 10 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers blog for the Slice of Life Challenge.

Me with my new Maasai friend, Namitu.

Visiting the Maasai village was a moving and heartwarming experience. The Maasai tribe has managed to hold on to their traditions and culture in the midst of modernization in Tanzania. Some of the practices are controversial and should not be continued. Some, however, are kept as deep-seeded practices that define them as a people.

In the village, each woman in our group was matched with a tribal woman. They dressed us in traditional drapes and jewels. They taught us how to bead and weave baskets, to carry thatches on our heads, and to do some of the tasks of women.

My friend’s name was Namitu. She could speak limited English and asked my name. When I told her, she pointed to her 2-year old daughter and said, “My baby, Margaret.” This type of thing happened once before to Karen, a woman on our tour. I think this may be a way they honor us.

Learning to bead a bracelet

We walked to the cow pasture where men blooded a calf. Apparently, this does not harm the calf. They shoot a spear to the jugular vein. When the blood gushes, they catch it in a long gourd-like container that holds goat’s milk. I did not bravely partake, but a young traveler said it tasted like salty, creamy soup.

Blooding the calf

Another tradition that we participated in was a dance. This may have been a mating dance of sorts because Namitu asked me to pick a husband. Her little son held my hand and led me to a line of chanting men. One of these men turned and touched me shoulder to shoulder. If I had accepted this marriage proposal, I would have had to pay in cows. Wealth is measured in cows.

After all the festivities, we went into the chief’s hut to have a discussion of controversial issues. They allowed open discussion. Karen asked the Maasai woman (29 yrs old and mother of 3 daughters) if she was circumcised. She is, but now they are educated about this, so she will not pass this mutilation on to her daughters. Karen was so touched she rose and hugged and kissed the young woman. I was moved to tears. This practice should be stopped. Our guide assured us that as more and more of the Maasai are sent to school and educated, they learn of the practices that should be abandoned.

In the end, we were given the opportunity to shop for beaded items. I bought the circular ring Namitu made. She said it took her a month to bead it.
Even though this visit was organized to show us an enjoyable time, I felt the spirit of the Maasai and came to respect their culture. I hope they are able to keep the spirit of their traditions as they come to know and understand the world.

Laughter is universal!

This is my third Tanzania journal entry. To read about clay water filters, journal entry #1, click here. To read and enjoy a video of Tarangire animals, click here.

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