Gratitude | Reflections on the Teche

Archive for the ‘Gratitude’ Category

Slice of Seattle

Posted in Gratitude, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged Seattle, Travel on July 29, 2014| 8 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge.

Today is my last day in Seattle. I have been here for a week with my mother-in-law visiting her son and his family. My sister-in-law Julie is the saint who has been our tireless tour guide. You can see her in the picture collage above delighted by her friend’s dalia garden. This friend offered us a bouquet of dalias, big, beautiful, and colorful to go with her gift of crabs. Each meal we have had here has included fresh vegetables and seafood.

On Sunday after an intimate service at St. Mark’s cathedral, Julie and Greg took me paddle boarding. I mentioned that I had never done this before. “You must try it!” So there I am standing on a windy lake paddling. I really didn’t do half bad. Julie, who rows for sport, paddled far out in the lake. I stayed closer in, but I decided that was OK. I’ll just enjoy being here in this breeze on this clear lake listening to the joyful sounds of fun. I’m not sure if I will get a board for the bayou (as friends on Facebook suggested), but I was happy I did it.

You can see my 5 image story of our trip to Bainbridge Island here. Today we are going to another island. This vacation has been a perfect combination of walks in parks with mountain views, shopping at Pike Place Market, food from the garden and from the sea, and adventure. My only regret is that my husband and children are not with me. I miss them.

The weather has been only perfect with clear skies and daily mountain views. Mt. Rainier is visible, but I cannot get it to show up in pictures. The white snow blends with the sky and clouds.

I didn’t mention my own private attic room. Greg and Julie renovated a century old home and finished the attic. I have to climb narrow Italian stairs, but once I am up here, I can see the sky and rooftops, the mountains and lake beyond. I have enjoyed this inspiring writing space.

Read Full Post »

Celebrating Free Gifts from Houston

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Gratitude, Writing, tagged celebration, Houston, Miller Outdoor Theatre, Museum of Fine Art, poodle rescue, Texas on July 19, 2014| 7 Comments »

Ruth Ayres invites us the celebrate each week. Click over to her site Discover. Play. Build. to read more celebrations.

Miller Outdoor Theatre in Houston’s Herman Park

Did you miss me? I spent the week at Rice University in Houston attending a Pre-AP training. While I gained a great deal of information on teaching pre-AP, this post is about the wonderful free stuff we experienced in Houston.

On Wednesday night, my colleagues and I joined my friends at the Miller Outdoor Theatre for a free musical performance of “The Best Little W*#rehouse in Texas.” What a great performance! And Reese entertained us with stories about this true history of Texas and how his great uncle frequented the place. Picnic blankets, big dogs, wine, and musical entertainment, it doesn’t get much better than that!

Matise from the Museum of Fine Art, Houston

On Thursday evening, we visited the Museum of FIne Art for free. Every Thursday the museum is free all day and open until 9 PM. While we were eating in the cafe, my friend Sarah joined us. Sarah is an artist and gave us a wonderful tour of the museum. While we were visiting, I brought up the puppy that Sarah rescued. She and Reese found a stray puppy along the highway from Galveston. The dog was in rough shape. They cared for her for 2 weeks and decided it was all too much to handle with their older (and perfectly mannered) dog Tilly. Sarah brought her to the poodle rescue. But her heart would not let go. So on Thursday, Marigold (so named because she was beautiful yet stinky) came back home to Sarah. We all turned and looked at Candice who had just been telling us about the loss of her dog in December. Right there in the art museum, a match was made. Before returning to our hotel, Sarah took us to meet Marigold. If I’ve ever seen love at first sight, this was it. Candice has two young daughters. What a surprise for them! We traveled home yesterday with 5 women and all our stuff plus one dog. Marigold was the perfect passenger. Now she has found the perfect home. As my husband likes to say about our rescue animals, “She has found a soft place to land.”

Marigold curls up with her new mom on the long ride home.

Happy Family: Marigold is now being called Coco for her fur that looks like coconut.

Read Full Post »

A Slice of Nothing Much

Posted in Blogging, Gratitude, Slice of Life, tagged A More Beautiful Question, Holly Mueller, Julie Johnson on July 1, 2014| 9 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge.

I almost didn’t write a slice this morning. See, there’s just not much happening here. As I sit in front of my computer with Charlie on my lap and listen to the cicadas buzzing their summer heat tune, I have very little on my brain. But this is good, right?

Mom’s mandevilla reworked in painteresque.

Julie Johnson at Raising Readers and Writers wrote her post today about weeding her garden, but it’s not really about weeding her garden. It’s really about finding your joy inspired by a book A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger. I don’t have the book yet, but I was struck by this section on Julie’s blog.

In A More Beautiful Question, Berger pushes his reader when he asks, “Why are you climbing the mountain?” He describes those “who are trying to do everything – attend every conference, take every call, answer every message, read every tweet, seize every opportunity – not so much because we want to, but because we feel we must, just to keep up.” (Had he been peeking into my life too?)

He prods his reader further by asking:

What is waiting for me at the top?

What am I going to do once I get there?

Am I enjoying the climb itself? Should I slow down, speed up?

What am I leaving behind, down below?

Yes, Julie, he is peeking into my life, too. Are we all like this? Overscheduling and overdoing? Keeping busy every minute of every day?

Last week I traveled home to my parents’. I traveled alone, no children or husband, just me. I did this last summer, too, and loved my week with Mom and Dad. I now believe that this time is a beautiful thing. I didn’t do much. I read, walked, blogged, painted, took pictures, and I talked with my parents. Nothing memorable happened. I relaxed and did exactly what brings me joy. I didn’t climb a mountain or make any grand decision.

We all need to remind ourselves that it is OK not to climb the mountain every day. And to choose our mountains carefully.

Follow this link to read more spiritual journey posts.

I’d like to invite those of you who ponder these big questions and write about your spiritual journey to join Holly Mueller’s new roundup on Thursdays. We are writing and connecting in many ways.

Read Full Post »

Blueberry Picking

Posted in Gratitude, Poetry Friday, tagged blueberry picking, farm, St. Martinville on June 6, 2014| 16 Comments »

Join the Poetry Friday round-up at Carol’s Corner.

Blueberry Picking
with a line from Mark Doty, Verge

Some things wear their becoming,
like this blueberry, for example,
plump and perfectly indigo
surrounded by pinky-red brothers and sisters,
it boasts to be chosen
falls easily into my palm
joyfully plinks the plastic bucket.

On this dewy June morning,
I wander from bush to bush
silent in my reverie
picking, picking, picking.

The berries do not wear a costume.
They linger here in this field
waiting for the juicing of the sun’s rays,
becoming all I need
to take summer in
to hold on to the gift of life.

–Margaret Simon, all rights reserved

Read Full Post »

Chalkabration Celebration

Posted in Books, Celebration Saturday, Chalk-a-bration, Gratitude, Writing, tagged chalk poetry, Donalyn Miller, summer on May 31, 2014| 5 Comments »

I’m not sure if this is fair or not, today I am combining posts for Chalk-a-bration and Celebration. (I can’t help but love the alliteration!) I let my students (the three who attended) chalk the sidewalks on the last day of school a week ago and saved the pictures to post today. Betsy Hubbard leads this fun blogtivity at the end of each month. We wrote lunes, a short poetry form that uses a 5, 3, 5 syllable count. And the theme, of course, was summer.

Matthew writes about his passion for magic:
Magic is my life
life is magic
do impossible

Go play on the beach
Come with us
We want you with us.
by Tyler

Vannisa’s poem did not turn out well in the photograph.

In the sun we play
until night
takes the place of day.
–Vannisa

slow lazy days
summer sun
too hot to think
–Margaret Simon

This week has been a week of slow days. I’ve committed myself to three things this summer, exercise daily (I have the sore muscles to prove it!), writing (Thursday I spent hours writing this sestina for Maya Angelou), and reading (I’ve read or listened to 6 books for Donalyn Miller’s #bookaday challenge). I’m glad there wasn’t much else going on this week, so I could establish this routine. Happy Summer!

Read Full Post »

Flow

Posted in Gratitude, Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing, tagged altered books, Creativity, flow on May 27, 2014| 10 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge.

“May what I do flow from me like a river, no forcing and no holding back.” (Rainer Maria Rilke)

For the last two years, I have made an altered book using poems I have written beside my students. An altered book is a hardback book that has outlived its time, been discarded from the library, or left behind at Goodwill. I usually try to find ones with fairly large pages that are sewn, not glued, to the binding. I take out some of the pages and glue a few together to thicken each page and create space. Then I use Gesso and paint to cover the pages. My students have the option to make an altered book for their poetry project.

Here are a few of my favorite pages from my book this year. Vannisa found the sign, “Keep Calm and Write Poetry” that became my front cover. The marbleized paper was made using a technique with chalk and water. I covered some of my pages with gelli-printed papers. When I work on my altered book, I enter Flow, a term Csikszentmihalyi used to describe that zone of creativity one enters when something is at the right level of challenge. Flow is energizing and motivating.

Altered book cover

Page one begins with A for anaphora

Making a collage of printed paper makes an interesting background.

Images fuel my writing.

Read Full Post »

Celebrate Seeing Good

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Creativity, Gifted Education, Gratitude, Writing, tagged Easter Lily, Lagniappe Yoga, New Iberia City Council, The Shadows, yoga on May 24, 2014| 9 Comments »

Ruth Ayres invites us to celebrate each week. I have the opportunity to not only share my joys with you, but to reflect on them for myself, a good exercise in itself.

1. Easter Lilies are blooming in abundance this year. Perhaps they liked the extra cold winter and are letting us know all is new.

2. Summer Reading #Bookaday: Donalyn Miller challenges us to read a book a day in the summer. I am a slow reader, so I am hoping to read a book a week. Here is only part of the stack I brought home from my classroom to read.

3. My husband had cataract surgery this week. He gave me his ring to hold because he couldn’t wear any jewelry. I only had to wear it for an hour. The surgery was a success. His eye bruised, so in his best Cajun accent, he likes to say, “It looks baad, but it sees good.”

4. Our students presented a big check for $3,711.00 to the West End Park Revitalization Project at the City Council meeting this week. We are so proud of their dedication.

5. My friend and yoga instructor, Rachel, led a yoga class at our local plantation home, The Shadows. It was invigorating to stretch outside on the sculptured lawn, looking up into the oaks. If only there were no ants.

6. I forgot to take pictures of this, but three of my gifted students spent their last day with me. I pulled out a box of science kids, and they made hover crafts with balloons and CDs, and a catapult out of a staple remover and plastic spoon. They were focused, cooperative, and had fun.

It was a wonderful week and now on to the BIG WEEKEND! Happy Summer, y’all!

Read Full Post »

Celebrating Happy Endings

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Gifted Education, Gratitude, Teaching, tagged altered books, Amy Ludwig Vanderwater, magnolia, Margarita Engle, watercolor on May 17, 2014| 9 Comments »

This was my last week with my students for this school year. I always get reflective at this time of year, wondering if I’ve done enough for my students. So yesterday, our last day together, I asked them to write me a letter. I asked 1. What do you remember about our school year? 2. What was your favorite activity? and 3. What was your greatest lesson? For the most part, I was touched by their letters. I just want to share a few quotes and celebrate them.

This year we got to meet Caroline Starr Rose and Greg Pincus! We went to Mississippi! We saw a haunted house! But most of all, we bonded like a family. That was my favorite activity. My greatest lesson is that you don’t have to be famous, or super smart, or handsome, or even popular to be loved. Matthew

My greatest lesson I’ve learned from being here is to not be afraid to make mistakes as a writer and in life. Mistakes will help you to become a better person. No one is perfect and sometimes all of us forget that. Brooklyn

My students finished their poetry projects. They made altered books out of discarded books. They illustrated and glued in their own poems and some favorite poems by other authors. Vannisa put in a collection of some her favorites from the school year, a bookmark from Margarita Engle, A bookmark from Amy Ludwig Vanderwater, an Eleanor Roosevelt quote, and “Keep Calm and Write Poetry.”

Brooklyn’s poetry book cover. Gotta Love Poetry!

Today, I am also celebrating magnolias. They are in full bloom, our state flower, and I went to a watercolor workshop this morning and painted one. I am posting a picture of a real one from my neighbor’s yard and the one I painted. Wish I could also post the scent.

Watercolor magnolia by Margaret Simon.

Magnolia, the Louisiana state flower.

Read Full Post »

A Gift and a Pantoum

Posted in Gratitude, Poetry, Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged One Thousand Gifts, pantoum, poetry, spirituality on April 25, 2014| 11 Comments »

Poetry Friday Round-up is with Tabatha Yeatts at The Opposite of Indifference

Poetry can take you to unexpected places. This was my experience with writing a Pantoum. The form seems simple, yet it complicates things. The form is made up of 4-line stanzas. The second and fourth lines of the first quatrain become the first and third lines of the second, and this pattern continues. Often the last line repeats the first; although, mine did not. Poetry forms can both confine the writer and free her. In my experience, the rhymes confined me, yet the message I thought I was making changed with the writing.

A writing group friend gave me a book this week, One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. It drew me in immediately. Her writing style is fresh. She writes with intelligence and honesty. I took a line from her second chapter, “How I wrestle with last night’s dream,” and then looked at notes from my meditation journal. I thought I would write about God as a loving center. The poem, however, seems more about my love, my husband, and his ever present trust in my life. You never know where a poem may lead. Sometimes we just have to follow.

How I wrestle with last night’s dream.
The words have all been said before,
nothing new, what can they mean,
written on the stone of this cold floor?

The words have all been said before.
I reach for your open hand so near
writing my love on the stone cold floor
words to erase my fear.

I reach for your open hand so near
like a child reaches for her mother.
Words will erase my fear
with trust in honesty and one another.

Like a child reaching for her mother,
I recognize that look on your face
with trust in honesty and one another,
open to your willing embrace.

–Margaret Simon, all rights reserved.

Read Full Post »

Ten Things Right Now

Posted in Books, Gratitude, Poetry, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged flowers, spring, ten things on March 11, 2014| 15 Comments »

Slice of Life Day 11. Join the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge.

Faced with another Slice, I turned to the Two Writing Teachers blog for inspiration. Never fails. On March 8th, they featured an idea used by blogger Mandy Robek “10 Things Right Now.”

1. My friend, James Edmunds (Poor Clio) posted on Facebook “loved today’s March watercolor sunshine.”

2. Reading poetry by Barbara Crooker.

each day, we climb
a few more inches
up the ladder of light,
and grackles and redwings
return, bringing postcards
of tropical sun.

3. Started A Snicker of Magic: Felicity Juniper Pickle collects words:

Popsicle
Paper star
Poppy-seed muffin

4. Tulips on the kitchen table.

5. Remembering my Uncle Stu. His funeral was yesterday in Georgia. I wasn’t there. My mother wasn’t there. I thought of my cousins all day long. My uncle always hated to say goodbye.

6. My husband has been cancer free for 8 years! Here’s a picture of his new running shoes. Aren’t they cool? St. Patrick’s Day green!

Jeff’s new running shoes

7. Meditating for two weeks. Here is a sample from my journal:

Meditation on the words from Emily Dickinson, “Love is the furniture.”
The chair holds me, all my thoughts I brush away with a word.
I sit again and again
in silence, waiting for angel’s wings,
symbols of love.
No words, no thought.
Just light
twisted, jeweled light
wrapping me up in love.

–Margaret Simon

8. The return of my former student to Slice with us. I have missed her voice. This is a small sample of a poem she wrote about Mother Nature. Our class blog is here.

Her feelings come and go
As quickly as leaves fall
In the brisk autumn months.
Her heart will always be with the earth.
If you are quiet, you can hear her heart thumping, thumping,
Dancing to the beat of the cicada song,

9. Cooking with my daughter: The menu is shrimp tacos with mango salsa.

10. Supportive principals: School #1, I got permission to take my 5 gifted students to a local fast food restaurant to solicit donations for an upcoming community service project. School #2, One of my third graders wants to raise funds and food for the local Humane Society. She wrote out notes of her plan and presented it to the principal at recess. She got the go ahead.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »