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SOL16: #30 My Father’s Studio

Posted in Gratitude, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged art, John Gibson, pointillism on March 30, 2016| 14 Comments »

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For Easter weekend I visited my parents in Mississippi. I am so grateful that they are doing so well. My father still draws upstairs in his studio every day. My father’s art is pointillism. The images are created by dots on the page. Last year he was on a medication that kept him from being able to hold his pen steady. He didn’t know if he’d ever be able to draw again.

Now he is preparing a set of drawings for a gallery show in May. Each one takes at least a month to complete. I admire his perseverance and his talent.

Focus, patience, and a steady hand are necessary for this style of drawing.

In 2013 in honor of my father’s 80th birthday, I published a book of his Christmas card drawings alongside my original poems. The book is Illuminate and is still available on Amazon.

My father’s studio looks out at this view of the lake. He is currently drawing the tree that hovers near this window. Trees are his favorite subject. “Beautiful and complicated and challenging.”

This drawing hangs in the hallway near the studio. The chiaroscuro (play of dark and light) is prevalent in this drawing.

My father is not a famous artist. He doesn’t sell many of his drawings and when he does, they are modestly priced. That is not why he draws. His art is as necessary to him as air, an intimate part of his being in this world. Drawing dots is his meditation and his communication. I am blessed to be a witness to its beauty.

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SOL16: #29 Porch Sitting

Posted in Slice of Life, Writing on March 29, 2016| 10 Comments »

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Porch sitting

Porch sitting
alone or with family
refreshes a tired mind.

Listen to the trickle of water
from the fountain,
the calls of fishermen in the distance.

Turtles on the bank
sunbathe, while Pop
tells us they are gathering oxygen.

I gather oxygen here, too,
and find the questions of
life easier to bear.
–Margaret Simon

Spring on the lake.

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SOL16: #26 Celebrating Home

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged home, New Castle Lake on March 26, 2016| 12 Comments »

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I came to the lake
weary, ready for rest.
The sun made its final
bow below the horizon
while Mom served bean soup,
warm bread, red wine.

Home finds me
and wraps me in its welcoming embrace.

In the morning, fresh coffee,
mallard couple in the front yard.
“Are they lost?” Dad asks.
Mom recalls they cleared the wooded space
where they must’ve nested last year.

“Pancakes?” Mom asks
with a grin in her voice.
She knows how I love them.

I am a mother of grown daughters,
well in my 50’s and yet,
I am still a daughter,
nurtured and loved.
I am home.

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

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SOL16 #24 Shine!

Posted in Photography, Slice of Life, Spiritual Growth, Writing on March 24, 2016| 17 Comments »

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Join the Spiritual Thursday round up at Reading, Teaching, Learning.

Today the Spiritual Thursday group is writing about Doraine’s word, Shine. Dori is a poet and blogs at Dori Reads. In the spirit of Dori’s poetry, I wrote two haiku inspired by images of light.

Sunrise field created in Painteresque

The sun
never fails to shine
like my heart that opens to
shine for you.

Lake Martin sunset by Sandra Sarr.

Shine
The echo of light
calling amidst the darkness
See me.

–Margaret Simon

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SOL16 #22 I Could Write about…

Posted in Slice of Life, Writing, tagged writing on March 22, 2016| 10 Comments »

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The day has come that I don’t know what to write about. It happens to all of us who are committed to this SOL challenge. In my classroom, students are writing posts about why they hate the SOL challenge. Among the top reasons is not knowing what to write about. Vannisa wrote, “When I’m thinking about what to write, I’m always thinking about if I should really write about it or if it’s sol-worthy.”

I totally understand this dilemma. Not only am I committed to writing a blog post every day, I have that little bird on my shoulder tweeting about the ~~worthiness~~ unworthiness of my writing. Why can’t he just leave me alone? I assure my students that we all go through this. I actually love watching them struggle through because they can be very creative while doing it.

Did I just write that? If my students become creative when they struggle through the dreaded writer’s blog, then shouldn’t I, too?

I could be writing about my sweet blogging-slice-of-life-best friend Julianne and how she traveled all the way from L.A. to see me and visit my class, and how my kids already knew her name from our class connections. Oh, and how we talked and laughed and the time was sooo short.

Me on the left with Charlie and Julianne enjoying the bayou breeze.

You can meet a little slice of Julianne on her blog here. She’s traveling to help her daughter select a college for next year. This is a difficult time. We all want what is best for our kids, but they themselves ultimately need to make the decision. Julianne wisely knows from having two older children that no decision is forever. Still, I hope I provided a safe haven for them on their travels.

When I first connected with the Two Writing Teachers and their March SOL Challenge, I had no idea that it would lead me to such good and lasting friendships. Julianne is a prize. I don’t care about any of the other prizes from the challenge. I have already won.

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SOL16: #18 Writing is like Praying

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged broken, nature, Sister Helen Prejean on March 18, 2016| 22 Comments »

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Poetry Friday round-up with Robyn Hood Black.

Writing is like praying, because you stop all other activities, descend into silence, and listen patiently to the depths of your soul, waiting for true words to come. When they do, you thank God because you know the words are a gift, and you write them down as honestly and cleanly as you can.

– Helen Prejean C.S.J.

Broken Pottery by Sweet Tea

Broken
shards of unwanted
clay, rock, soil
litter the ground.

There, unharmed, her hidden heart–
once protected by
earth mother, soft and dark,
now bravely

open like the flowers
in an abandoned field,
reaching for light.

–Margaret Simon

When you open yourself to the world, it will reveal itself to you. I opened two different emails. The first from Laura Shovan. She sent me the Sister Helen Prejean quote. A gift of a gift.

The second was Tabatha Yeatts’ blog post here. This image of the broken pottery grabbed me, and I opened the note on my computer and composed this poem. I know it comes from my heart that aches for a child whose home is not as it should be. Yet she is exactly who she should be, open and kind and full of joy. This broken pot. Her full heart. My attention.

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SOL16 #17: Simplify

Posted in Slice of Life, Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged bridal wreath flowers, OLW, simplify on March 17, 2016| 8 Comments »

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I’ve been thinking a lot about Jesus Christ lately. In the past two weeks, I saw “Jesus Christ Superstar” at a local performance theater twice. Even though I continually had to tell myself that the man on stage was really Billy (I’ve known him since he was in elementary school), I couldn’t help but feel the presence of Jesus. Not Jesus a savior, but Jesus as a man. A person who had very complicated feelings. A person who had a calling to do something that was out of the ordinary.

Today, for Spiritual Thursday, we are writing about Linda Kulp’s OLW, Simplify. I look to this image of Jesus as a man. I look at the flowers blooming in my yard. Nothing is simple. God’s call is simply “Love.” Yet there is nothing simple about it.

The bridal wreath is so beautiful, white and simple, yet close-up you can see the complicated pattern of tiny blossoms in a cluster. Even nature isn’t simple.

Bridal wreath flowers

What can I do to Simplify?

I can let go of senseless worry. I can look for ways to show love every day. I can pray “Abba” with my breath.

I can also realize that beauty and love are not always simple. I can accept that answering God’s call isn’t an easy task, and I can look to Jesus to show me how.

Join the Spiritual Thursday round up at Reading, Teaching, Learning.

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SOL16: #10 Wait, Wait

Posted in Poetry, Writing, tagged God's presence, Spiritual poetry, wait on March 10, 2016| 17 Comments »

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Wait!

He said, “Wait here!”

Then he took a walk

just a short walk

into the garden

to talk

with the one who sent him,

the one with him always.

They didn’t wait.

They slept.

They couldn’t even stay awake for a moment.

When has he asked you to wait?

When did you need time to sort things out?

When did you sleep? Forget?

And yet, every time, he comes back to you,

holds out his hand to you,

Forgives,

Loves,

Waits

for you.

–Margaret Simon

Reflection: This Spiritual Thursday post is reflecting on Holly Mueller’s One Little Word, Wait. I didn’t want to write about wait. I’ve recently had to wait through an injury, wait for healing to come. The healing has come but slowly. In the meantime, I had to be patient and understand that I could not be who I wanted to be while I was healing. Some days, many days, I had to stop and rest. I needed to wait. But I was frustrated; I didn’t want to stay here. In the moment I wrote the word wait, I imagined Jesus’s request of his disciples in the garden of Gethsemane to wait while he prayed. I realize that I can wait. And, like Mary Oliver, I will be blessed even if all I do is stand right here.

Join the Spiritual Thursday round up at Reading, Teaching, Learning.

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SOL16: #9 Wind Blown

Posted in Slice of Life, Writing, tagged azaleas, weather, wind on March 9, 2016| 8 Comments »

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The wind picked up. The clouds became a sea of waves moving rapidly across the sky. As I drove down the country highway, my small Prius jerked in the strength of this weather. I made it to school. Then the gusts blew across the parking lot sending my hair into my freshly lipsticked lips, stuck. Bleh!

Once in the classroom, the windows didn’t rattle, but the roof rumbled like a drumroll. When Madison came in after recess, her hair was wispy around her face, escaping from her pony tail. “The wind is so wild,” she exclaimed, “We had to run in the direction of the wind, so we wouldn’t be blown away.”

A storm is coming. The train whistle echoes across the air like a far off warning. I can’t believe it, the ice cream truck is singing down the street, as if it’s a normal sunny day and children are playing in the streets.

Azaleas that just popped out pink blossoms yesterday will litter the ground by morning. The spooky moss (as some child once called it) is spookier as it wanders in the shadows of the oaks.

I want to laugh about the wind. I want to run in its wake like a child. But there’s this adult person sitting here who has seen the damage wind can do. Who knows what the weather predictions are. So I am guarded and irritable and worried.

Dolly Parton said (according to BrainyQuotes) that storms make trees take deeper roots. This tree that is me wants the storm to go away, yet I’ll put down my roots, stay strong, sway a little more, and take what comes.

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SOL 16: #8 Treasure Box

Posted in Blogging, Slice of Life, Teaching, Writing, tagged object writing, treasure box, writing prompts on March 8, 2016| 13 Comments »

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Julianne gave me an idea. She told me about an idea she heard from Cornelius Minor about making a box of items to prompt writing. She posted about her treasure box yesterday. Click here.

I started with a box from Tiny Prints (Our Christmas cards came in this box.)

I gathered Mod Podge, scissors, a sponge brush, and some papers that I had already gel printed. You could use any kind of decorated paper. I’ve been wanting to find some way to use my gel printed paper.

Step one: Cover the box with decorated paper. I like the way Modge Podge paints on so you have fewer wrinkles.

Step one: Cover the box with decorated paper. I like the way Mod Podge paints on so you have fewer wrinkles.

I continued to layer until the design pleased me. I found a postcard from Irene Latham that said “Live your Poem” and put that on the top. I labeled the box “Writing Treasures.”

Completed box. I thread a colorful ribbon through a hole to make a decorative pull.

Here is a collection of items I found around my house.

Inside the box, I placed found items. These items could be anything that fits. A rock, a peacock feather, a poem, a wooden whistle, a ceramic turtle, a message in a bottle, pretty cards, magnifying glass, a shell, etc.

My students were able to dig around and find an item to prompt their writing. I told them it could lead you to a memory, a poem, or a wonder.

I am really working hard this year to keep our writing momentum going. Last week it was the badges. This week a treasure box. Do you have any more ideas to inspire writing?

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