Reflections on the Teche

SOL #10: Experience Life Twice

March 10, 2017 by margaretsmn

Poetry Friday is with Michelle at Today’s Little Ditty

I am blessed to have a group of friends who chat through Voxer. This poem came out of a conversation on our chat. It’s a found poem. But the words were found from spoken words. Their arrangement here is changed to make them flow together as a poem. Creating a poem is a puzzle to be pieced together. Creating a life is a puzzle to be pieced together.

My Presbyterian husband did his best
to make me feel guilty
about this irreverence,
this moving on.
I’m having a hard enough time
finding my voice,
finding a new perspective.

We all know things can change
in the blink of an eye.
I’m ready;
I’m creating a new story for myself
welcoming this grand adventure.

It’s all about revision,
another draft.
I want to learn something new
Maybe that’s asking too much.

We are all inching our way to that something–
who we are, who we are meant to be
So many things get in the way.
No one path will be the path.
Ultimately, we do the best we can.
I am making my way
as you are making yours.

–Margaret Simon, all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry Friday, Slice of Life, Writing | Tagged found poem | 19 Comments »

SOL #9 Breathing In

March 9, 2017 by margaretsmn

I am reading Ralph Fletcher’s book Breathing In, Breathing Out: Keeping a Writer’s Notebook. I’m a little late to this book published in 1996. But it’s special to me because Ralph himself signed it this past November at NCTE. If you’ve never read any of Ralph’s books about writing, I highly recommend them. This one in particular is full of ideas, but it’s also full of Ralph’s voice. I could listen to him all day long.

In the first chapter, “A Place to Write,” Ralph writes about the things on his desk. This prompted me to write about my teacher desk.

There’s been a movement among teachers to get rid of the teacher desk. I suppose the idea is for the teacher to be more active, wandering among her students or sitting at a table designed for group meetings. I get that, but I can’t get rid of my teacher desk, not yet. It holds too many precious things. Gifts from students.

Sweet Pea body lotion
Two message rocks: “If you have the choice of being right or being kind, be kind.” “You Rock!” with a painted smiley face
A glass bear holding a red heart, “The Joy that you give to others is the Joy that comes back to you.”
Coffee container painted by Emily with our class theme “Mrs. Simon’s Sea”
Wooden pencil holder hand-made by Andrew’s father
A paper flower from Erin
Practical stuff: box of tissues, tape, stapler, paper clips, grade book, current read-aloud, cups of pens, pencils, markers, and hand sanitizer

After writing about my teacher desk, I realize that this space holds meaning. It is the center of our classroom. Often a student will prop a laptop right next to me. Once a student called this area the zone of learning. Voluntarily, they find a comfort in being close to me.

My notebook is here on my desk. The one Ralph talks about in his book. The place I breathe into, write alongside my students, make observations, discover poems. Like Ralph says, your notebook is a room of your own, a space that is alive to even the barest suggestion of light.

What is on your writing desk? Do you still have a teacher desk? Spaces take on the meaning we assign to them. My desk, my notebook, my classroom are sacred spaces for sharing, learning, and finding Joy.

Posted in Slice of Life | Tagged Ralph Fletcher, teacher desk | 14 Comments »

SOL #8 Sometimes You Hit a Bump in the Road

March 8, 2017 by margaretsmn

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It’s hump day, or is it bump day? Literally. Driving down the highway on my way from school A to school B, I saw a big metal cylinder in my lane. There was nowhere to swerve, so I tried to straddle it. Ka-Bump! A loud bump! And an explicative from me. I took the next exit off the highway which happened to be near the dealership. I decided to play it safe and stop.

There were no visible signs of damage, so the service director told me to come back after school, and they would lift up my vehicle. I drive a Prius. This car is very close to the ground. When they lifted my car, they found the exhaust pipe was damaged. An hour later, after a long talk with the insurance company, I was driving home in a Yukon, the exact opposite of a Prius.

The rental agent explained some things about this huge vehicle. “When you get close to an object, the seat vibrates.” Sure enough as I was backing out, the seat buzzed my behind. Kinda shocking. And what was I supposed to do? Luckily, it didn’t buzz again until I was pulling into my carport. I guess I’ll learn how to park this gargantuan thing without hitting anything.

I don’t advise driving over things in the road, but if you do hit something, it’s not so bad when you get an upgrade. I feel like I should go around town and pick some people up to carpool. I wonder if anyone needs to move furniture this weekend. Give me a call.

Posted in Slice of Life | Tagged car trouble | 17 Comments »

SOL #7 Slice of a Mural

March 7, 2017 by margaretsmn

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I admit it, I use Facebook for news. I may not be getting the most current, real news, but I’ve come to trust my “friends” to help me see what I need to see.

One of these friends is Phanat Xanamane. Phanat (pronounced Pah-not) created a community organization called Envision da Berry. The Berry (da Berry) is what New Iberia is commonly called. Anyway, this weekend Phanat posted about Mary Lacy.

Mary Lacy showed up last Monday with a lift truck ready to paint a mural on an old downtown building. After I saw Phanat’s post, I had to go check it out for myself.

Mary Lacy is from Vermont. She is an artist on a mission. She plans to travel all over the US to paint murals. I asked her if she is being paid. She said that only her expenses are paid. Benjamin Moore is her paint supplier. They will be promoting her tour through a video that is not out yet. She hopes to gain some fame and recognition from her tour. Well, she has certainly gotten this in New Iberia.

On Saturday when I talked with Mary, she said she hadn’t gotten much work done because people were out and about and stopping to talk with her. I took a few pictures of the paint cans, her truck, and the mural in progress.

“How do you do this on such a large scale?”

A quick one word response, “Math.” She lays out her design on a grid, plots it out by measuring and taping. To her, the image is just a plot on a graph. Amazing math work here!

Mary has one stipulation; she takes complete artist control of the project. For New Iberia, she chose the alligator. She wants her murals to represent the area she is working in. An alligator is certainly appropriate for bayou country.

Phanat shared this video interview on Facebook.

Alligator mural in process

I wish Mary luck in her adventures. According to the Daily Iberian, Mary has four cities remaining on her 10-city tour: El Paso, Texas; Santa Monica, California; Portland, Oregon; and Bethel, Vermont.

Mary Lacy is spreading love with paint strokes.

Posted in Slice of Life | Tagged art, Envision da Berry, Mary Lacy, mural | 9 Comments »

SOL #6 A Slice of a Craft Festival

March 6, 2017 by margaretsmn

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http://www.shadowsontheteche.org

Saturday was a beautiful windy spring day. A great day for a craft show. The Shadows on the Teche hosts a craft festival twice a year. I almost missed it. I let the day get away from me with various Saturday chores. About an hour before it closed, I headed downtown to check out the show.

My first stop was my friend Brenda’s booth of crocheted shawls. I wanted to get a shawl for Sunday’s Berry Queen Hats and Hallelujahs Brunch. Brenda had a just right shawl in bright reds and oranges. Here I am all dressed up for the brunch.

One of the joys of walking through the craft festival is seeing and visiting with people. I ran into old friends and made new ones. I stopped at a pottery booth. I was looking for a little pot to go into a wire rack I had purchased this week at an antique shop. This little pot has a small guaranteed-to-survive-my-neglect South African succulent.

Haworthia

My favorite woodworker is a retired middle school principal. He always asks me, “Still teaching?” Needless to say he is enjoying his retirement and his hobby job. I found a perfect wedding gift from his selection of cutting boards.

The day is not complete without fresh Kettle corn. You can smell it throughout town, and practically everyone you meet is carrying a bag of it. Can’t resist.

The most wonderful gift of a Saturday afternoon is time to stroll through downtown, stop and take a picture of the amaryllis, and be grateful for the small things that bring pleasure.

Posted in Slice of Life, Travel | Tagged craft fair, The Shadows on the Teche | 11 Comments »

SOL #5 DigiLitSunday Slicing

March 5, 2017 by margaretsmn

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Please use this button on your site for DigiLit Sunday posts

I was just informed that March is SOL challenge month. It’s a cruel, cruel world. We have to make SOL every single day. I don’t know if I will survive this deadly month. Okay, that was a little ( lot ) over the top of the ice cream cone. Yeah, that was a metaphor.

That’s kind of like saying over the mountain but in your mind picture a mountain sized ice cream cone with a ton of chocolate going right on the top and turning it into a chocolate avalanche. Did you do that? Good for you. Now I will grant you as many wishes as you want. NOT!! I am not a genie. But if I had one wish it would be not doing any Slice of Life challenge posts ever again. That is how bad I don’t want to do the Slice of Life challenge.

by Andrew, Feb. 21, 2017

“Andrew, the Slice of Life Challenge is voluntary. Are you saying you don’t want to try it this year? Should I make you a sticker chart?”

“I’m not making any promises. Yeah, go ahead, make me a chart.”

I teach my gifted students year to year throughout their elementary schooling. This is a blessing and a curse. I am blessed to know my students really well. I don’t have to pretest to find their reading levels. I don’t have to do writing prompts to see how well they write. I know all this. They also know that when March rolls around it’s torture time. Time to write a Slice of Life every day!

Every year I try something new to motivate my students. Last year it was these buttons designed by Stacey Shubitz of the Two Writing Teachers. My students proudly collected badges until about March 15th when the newness wore off.

I also use incentives. One day of the month I hold a commenting challenge. The reward, one Skittle a comment. I soon ran out of Skittles. I buy a book for each child who completes the challenge. I usually buy 3-5 books.

Another thing we’ve done is connected with other classes doing the challenge. I’d like to do that again this year. If your class is using Kidblogs, please request to follow by signing in to Kidblog and posting my URL, http://kidblog.org/class/mrs-simons-sea/. Click on the Follow button. Once I approve, I can follow you back. It’s fun and motivating to connect kids across the globe.

After seeing Holly Mueller’s students’ long slices, I implemented a word count rule. This has been both a blessing and a curse. The blessing is found when my students elaborate and expand their thoughts like you see in Andrew’s post above. The curse happens when they ramble on and type things like, “I’m up to 198 words, just 2 more to go!”

This is the nature of the beast that is SOLC! Blessings and curses! We are going to jump in despite the deep waters. Tomorrow we return from a break. Our challenge will begin. I wonder where this journey will take us.

I wrote a blog post for Kidblogs about the Slice of Life Classroom Challenge here.
If you wrote a DigiLit post, please link up with this button.

Posted in Blogging, Digital Learning, Gifted Education, Slice of Life, Writing | Tagged Kidblog, Slice of Life Classroom Challenge, Two Writing Teachers | 19 Comments »

SOL #4: Celebrating Time to Look out the Window

March 4, 2017 by margaretsmn

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Find more celebration posts at Ruth’s blog.

From my window, I see a stately oak
and the bayou beyond
flanked by cypress knees
sticking up like toy soldiers.

Sometimes, a heron happens by
stealthily stalking a wayward minnow.

Sometimes, the sun beams down
in a spotlight directing my gaze
to the intricate design of trees.

And some days, I don’t have time
to look, watch, or listen,
But I know my bayou
is always near
keeping me grounded,
showing me faithfulness,
bringing me solace.

–Margaret Simon

This Slice/ Celebration idea came from Elsie. She wrote “Outside my Window” for her Day 2 Slice of Life.

I’ve been on break all week. Such a gift to be able to look outside, take walks with Charlie, and lunch with friends. I celebrate this time to look out the window.

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Poetry, Slice of Life, Writing | Tagged Bayou Teche, Elsie, nature poetry | 11 Comments »

SOLC #3 After Billy Collins

March 3, 2017 by margaretsmn

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Poetry Friday is with Heidi at My Juicy Little Universe

This week I received an email from Heidi Mordhorst promoting a celebration of Billy Collins for this Poetry Friday roundup. Billy Collins’ birthday is March 22. He will be 76.

I’ve actually had the privilege to meet Billy Collins at the Dodge Poetry Festival in the fall of 2008. I took a picture with him that I cannot find. I remember his humor most of all. The tone of his voice, almost monotone, enhances the hilarity of his poems.

I’m not sure how many books I have of Billy Collins’ poetry, at least 5. At Christmas, I had a Barnes and Noble gift card, so I bought the latest The Rain in Portugal. I read about half of it and put it down after I heard an interview with him that made me mad.

I imagine all poets to be gentle, loving souls. If Billy Collins is being himself in interviews, and I would assume he is, he is quite arrogant. He insulted us amateur poets as if we shouldn’t even try to write. I decided to reject his opinion and continue to write poetry. In fact I’ve written a few poems “after Billy Collins.” So to appease my injured pride and to reject his lofty opinion, I am not posting his poetry, but my own.

Our Ship

after Billy Collins, Litany

We are all on this ship together
whether or not it sails.
We are side by side
like the freckles on your mother’s face.
We are closer
than the love bugs on the windshield.

You, and I, and he, and she.
We are not like the blown away balloons
at the 3 year old’s birthday party.
We are not the shavings of wood mulching the flower bed.

No, we are this way, that way,
you know what I mean,
intertwined like the vines of wisteria,
joined and connected, tumbling and reaching.

Give me your hand.
I will give you mine.
Let’s go on this voyage together.

–Margaret Simon, all rights reserved.

Burst into Spring

after Billy Collins, Today

If ever there was a spring day so perfect,
so stirred up by a cool crisp wind

that you wanted to breathe more often
to taste the wisteria blossoms,

and throw open all the doors,
lift them clear off the hinges,

a day so bright the pink azaleas
pop open like a birthday balloon bouquet,

seemed so delightful that you felt like
running naked among them,

released from all inhibitions taking flight
outstretched arms playing airplane,

so you could fly on steady wings
balanced for lift and drinking nectar,

yes, you can imagine it,
today is just that kind of day.

–Margaret Simon, all rights reserved

Posted in Poetry, Poetry Friday, Slice of Life | Tagged Billy Collins | 25 Comments »

SOLC #2 Spiritual Journey Connections

March 2, 2017 by margaretsmn

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Find the round up of Spiritual Journey posts at Dori’s blog. Click here.

When we love a person, we accept him or her exactly as is: the lovely with the unlovely, the strong with the fearful, the true mixed in with the façade, and of course, the only way we can do it is by accepting ourselves that way.
~Fred Rogers

A few years ago, a group of bloggers started writing about our Spiritual Journey on Thursdays. Now we are writing on the first Thursday of the month. Today’s theme is connections, Dori’s one little word for 2017.

I found this Fred Rogers quote on Tabatha Yeats post here. Mr. Rogers left a legacy of kindness. When I watched with my children, we sang along to every song. “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” became a bedtime lullaby. At the time I thought he was so corny, but now I want corny back in my life. Fred Rogers was a wise and gentle soul.

To be able to make meaningful connections in our own lives, we must be content with and loving to ourselves. This truth took me a long time to learn.

The Enneagram is a tool for discovering who you really are. I subscribe to an Enneagram Thought of the Day.

Balancing my own feelings makes me more available for the feelings of others. I can connect in a stronger way.

Writing is one of the ways (along with yoga and walking) I center myself. How I come to know who I am and what I truly feel.

Writing is also a way that I connect to others. I’ve been writing on this blog for six years. My blogging has led me to connections across the globe. I met Tara Smith this way. She is no longer a blogger with the Two Writing Teachers, but our connection has moved us into a friendship we sustain through Voxer. Yesterday she committed to the Slice of Life Challenge because of something I said. I was touched by her post.

The more I reflected upon Margaret’s message (about the resurrection fern), the more I returned to this line: “it needs a host plant or other substrate on which to anchor.” This writing community is just such an anchor; it is our oak tree.

What is your oak tree? How do you connect and maintain connections with others? We all need these precious connections in our lives. They sustain us and nurture us as we sustain and nurture ourselves.

Posted in Writing | 15 Comments »

March Slice of Life Challenge #1

March 1, 2017 by margaretsmn

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Today is the first day of March, and I decided I would take the plunge once again into the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge. This will be my 6th year doing this daily writing challenge. My purpose is completely selfish. I want to continue my connection with the wonderful, kind, and intelligent community of Slice of Life. After 6 years, I’ve made friends. And we stay in touch with each other through our blog posts.

I have been writing long enough to know that writing every day is a discipline that builds my writing muscles. I will be writing for myself. I’m not saying that I am not aware of my audience. I am. But I rarely look at stats. I have to say I do get a charge when WordPress sends me a notification “Your stats are soaring!” Who wouldn’t?

I begin today with a photo essay of a walk in New Orleans City Park on Monday with my daughter and her dogs, Abby and Mabel. In this section of the park, there is an old concession stand. Who knows why it was built! There are no ball fields nearby, only walking trails. A sign in the stand told this tale:

The Coven Bar
Built by hand in 1854 by honorable member of L. Clamput Vitus, Mary Jones Thicklebrush. This bar was erected after she and her Bernese mountain dog, Helmut, rescued a drowning man from an alligator attack in the river behind it. May her bravery and her thick callused hands be remembered for all of time.

The Coven Bar, New Orleans City Park

A Google search turned up nothing about this “bar” or any of the names mentioned. It seems The Coven Bar is a gay bar in Berlin. But that’s all I got.

Graffiti covers the structure. A green Grinch-like hand holds a pink telephone with the quote, “You Go Girl!”

In my opinion, this graffiti is both ugly and beautiful. While set in the midst of nature, grassy fields, draping oaks, bouquets of palms, this structure turns my attention away from nature to the irony of artistic expression.

What is the message here?

Is there any meaning in the artwork or the bogus tale of its origins?

I don’t believe the purpose here is political, but I may be missing something. The painting is quite clever. I wonder if it has any connection to the tale about Mary Jones Thicklebush.

We continued on our walk. Abby and Mabel both enjoyed off leash time sniffing, running, and meeting other dogs. (Abby is in the photo below. Mabel is much larger and still young so she was too fast to capture.)

This Slice of Life challenge makes me pay more attention. I look at the day to day and ask questions, wonder, write randomly. Some days I may come to some wisdom, but today is not one of them. Some days there are no answers, only questions.

Posted in Blogging, Photography, Slice of Life | Tagged graffiti, New Orleans City Park | 13 Comments »

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