Barbara Swander Miller

Honoring the journey in everyday life

recent posts

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  • Capturing a bracing winter

    The click of her leash.The squeak of the garage door.Brutal wind whips past. Years ago, when I wrote my own curriculum for AP Literature, I included Japanese verse in the poetry unit. I’d been studying Asian literature through the National Consortium for Teaching about Asia and was working to incorporate Japanese, Chinese, and Korean literature…

  • Another Christmas

    Sniffly noses and raspycoughs interruptthe peaceful night. With pillows stuffed into the corner of the couch,a knitted blanket insulatesmy fuzzy bathrobe andcreates a cozy nest. Snuggling into the slippery leather is better thanfighting the noise upstairs. Hurried changes of plans disappoint us all.No gifts to share, no festive paper to tear. No cranberry pumpkin muffinsto…

  • The Name Board

    A family legacy Splintering sections of plywood painted a graying white lean against my living room bookcase. They await my next move. Covering the 2×4-foot raggedly sawn pieces and written in a tapestry of red, black, yellow, blue and green the signatures slightly fade each day. Some block printed, some in neat script, others shakily…

  • What’s in my bouquet of beliefs?

    I hope my students never fully know. My bouquet of beliefs may set on my teacher’s desk, for all to notice, in front of where I plan my lessons and confer with scholars, where it brightens my day and eases my stress with the beauty of its unique blossoms and verdure. But it is not…

  • Am I overthinking again?

    After one month of dedicated effort, I am no longer a member of my local fitness facility. My pickleball fanatic friend took me as a guest to a new place in town a few weeks ago to enjoy the walking track. We chatted and walked, forgetting the number of laps we made around the balcony…

  • Can it get any better?

    A long weekend getaway! Traveling on the spur of the moment! Being invited to hang out at a friend’s Air BnB! It’s all so exciting! But the getting there can be the pits. My expectations were high starting out this afternoon. Traveling in and out of Dayton International Airport is so easy. It’s not much…

  • What if your brain never turned off?

    It might result in a book! What if instead of just chillin’, your brain kept running possible scenarios? What if it never stopped asking questions? What if it constantly generated ideas to improve your day, or work, or life? Or someone else’s? My brain is like that. At night, I often toss and turn until…

  • Ten things I love about being sick

    And staying home from work is not one of them! At the risk of sounding positively toxic, there are some upsides to being sick for two and a half weeks over the holidays. I wouldn’t have seen them the week before last when I was hacking up half a lung from the deep, rumbling cough…

  • Glass and houses as curriculum?

    What do whiskey and cigarettes have in common in my life?   No, they’re not my coping mechanisms at the end of a stressful day.  What about Kellogg’s cereal, Hershey’s chocolate, and the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing? Still stumped?   As a child of the 1960’s, I toured these manufacturing facilities with my family during…

  • Breaking out of a well-taped box

    There may be hope! For the past six months, I’ve been stuck in a box, albeit one with musical notes decorating it. Today, I broke out of it!  During the past year since I retired from teaching high school English, I’ve had some grand plans. In the early days, my head was filled with projects…