Honoring the journey—then and now
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Who are your people? Google them!
Genealogy has had an oscillating presence in my life. Sometimes its fan blows straight at me and keeps me cool and comfy; sometimes it blows in another direction, and I just catch a slight waft of the gentle breeze. Over the years, it’s depended on the amount of time I’ve been able to invest in…
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Call me sparkle toe!
Even though I’ve never worn glittery tops with letters that flash my undeniable school pride, and Even though I loathe finding tiny flecks of glitter stuck to my otherwise plain shirt after opening my craft closet, and Even though I’ve been stuck in the filthy mire of the news and its portents of doom, haunting …
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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…
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Friday’s phone call
Hi, Grammy! How was your day, sweet girl? Medium. Medium? Tell me about it. Well, I didn’t like being hit in the head with thirty-five balls today. What! All the girls were screaming and crying and huddled against the wall. What was going on? The boys were throwing balls … at our heads. Oh! Ohhhhhh,…
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The worst poem I ever wrote
Thirty-some years ago, finally divorced after months of marital and individual counseling and hours of agony trying to understand it all, I was settling in my hometown with three kids and a regular visitation schedule to their dad. Alone, every other weekend, I had nothing to do, except fret and wonder what was happening while…
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A week of reads
Some Good; Some Not So It was only a week, but it seemed as if I’d been dozing, sneezing, coughing, and bingeing on historical dramas in print and video for forty days and forty nights. Like a baby with its days and nights mixed up, my sleep schedule didn’t help. I drifted in and out…
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The downside of multi-tasking
Another Kind of Canning Pickle Teachers can do anything, can’t they? I used to believe that teachers could tackle nearly any job and do it with aplomb. I mean, who else is adept at managing up to 150 kids in various grades and abilities, creating engaging lessons and activities to keep 90% of the class…
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Time Is up
We were in the mud of testing. State Testing. The down and dirty that ELA teachers lived and dreaded in the first few weeks of school, after showing tips, sharing tricks, drafting, drawing, hoping, and praying our sophomores could engage and remember— and score high enough to graduate. Their desks were spread apart, facing forward.…
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A dog’s life?
Shooting over the deck rail across the lily bed lightning fast straight to the corner where the sage and yarrow bloom, Eliza darts through my space. She’s on the chase! It’s a rabbit! Probably the one that’s been eating my carrots and cutting my flowers. The cunning creature needs no siren. It bounds out of…
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Will I ever talk again?
How did I become so reluctant to talk to others in public? Having seen how the Myers-Briggs Personality Type impacts many students’ writing, I am fairly familiar with the types, and I know my own characteristics well. I happen to be an introvert, someone who regains energy by being alone. Lately, though, I’m reverting to…
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