Today I am celebrating with so many others the retirement of a gifted educator and friend, Mary Lee. Her footprints on a life of giving, teaching, writing, reading and noticing are too numerous to mention but will be her legacy. She has touched so many lives with her dedication, kindness, and curiosity. I met Mary Lee so many years ago as we both taught in the same school district, served on many committees and participated in a very special book club. At a better time in education we were part of a teacher book club that met to discuss books and share our own writing. It is difficult t ..read more

 This post is for Day 17 of the 2019 Slice of Life Challenge. Thanks to the Two Writing Teachers for bringing this community of writers together to share our writing in the month of March. I have been nursing a respiratory infection for a week. I've been miserable but will not be complaining here. I know at some point I will be feeling better. But where did my energy go? I haven't felt like doing anything but sitting in my favorite chair in the living room! However, I needed a few groceries today. So I set out this morning with my list of what I needed. We were out of milk and how coul ..read more

This post is for Day 16 of the 2019 Slice of Life Challenge. Thanks to the Two Writing Teachers for bringing this community of writers together to share our writing in the month of March. I have been thinking about revision lately. When I was in the classroom, it was sometimes difficult to get elementary writers to revise. When first graders wrote, it was as though their words were written in concrete. Permanently etched. Difficult to change or remove. Even more difficult to stretch by adding words and thoughts.  When third graders wrote, they were open to thinking another way or addin ..read more

This post is for Day 15 of the 2019 Slice of Life Challenge. Thanks to the Two Writing Teachers for bringing this community of writers together to share our writing in the month of March. My mom had a small deck outside the back door of our home with just enough room for a couple of chairs and some potted plants. She would watch the birds and rock to the warm summer breezes or sit out there to read and think. It was her quiet place. There was a wooden railing that surrounded the deck, and my mom had placed narrow flower boxes all along the top of the railing. They were filled with red, yello ..read more

This post is for Day 14 of the 2019 Slice of Life Challenge. Thanks to the Two Writing Teachers for bringing this community of writers together to share our writing in the month of March. My mom had a small deck just outside the back door of our home with enough room for a couple of chairs. She would often sit out there to read. It was her quiet place. There was a railing that surrounded the deck and she had placed narrow flower boxes all along the top of the railing. She would fill them every spring with begonias and other flower treasures that she found at the nursery. She also had many ha ..read more

This post is for Day 13 of the 2019 Slice of Life Challenge. Thanks to the Two Writing Teachers for bringing this community of writers together to share our writing in the month of March. The flu crud has reached our house. I was the last to take it on. I know I will feel better soon but I just want to sleep through the day and night. Tight breathing Heavy weight sitting on my chest Headache that pounds A voice that is rough and low and scratchy Coughing that keeps me from sleep Life on hold Until meds kick in And restful sleep comes.   ..read more

This post is for Day 12 of the 2019 Slice of Life Challenge. Thanks to the Two Writing Teachers for bringing this community of writers together to share our writing in the month of March. I grabbed my spring jacket and stepped out the door eager to look for the signs of spring. Here's a collection of my thoughts as I took in this beautiful day. Look closely and you will see the early signs of spring.      a sudden greening of the grass      spring bulbs reaching for the sun      trees bursting with buds      bir ..read more

This post is for Day 11 of the 2019 Slice of Life Challenge. Thanks to the Two Writing Teachers for bringing this community of writers together to share our writing in the month of March. I have a pillow in my living room. It's stitched with the words Live, Laugh, Love. I'm using that today as a framework for my post. Not feeling so creative today. Maybe this structure will help. What structures have you found helpful? Live Live for the rainbow after the storm. Live with joy and gratefulness. Live with devotion and curiosity. Live for warm breezes after a chilly winter. Laugh Laugh with chi ..read more

This post is for Day 10 of the 2019 Slice of Life Challenge. Thanks to the Two Writing Teachers for bringing this community of writers together to share our writing in the month of March. I went to the gym this morning. I had a great workout. Now that I am home with a cup of coffee (and my water bottle) sitting next to me, I am thinking about the word "push" and how it comes into play during my workouts. I am not an athlete and never have been. My goal is to get and stay healthy. (I will turn 70 this summer.) My workouts don't match the athletes at the gym but I am making progress. I start m ..read more

This post is for Day 9 of the 2019 Slice of Life Challenge. Thanks to the Two Writing Teachers for bringing this community of writers together to share our writing in the month of March. We change the time tonight and spring forward. These days our clocks will automatically jump to the next hour in the middle of the night. While I hate losing an hour of sleep, I can hear the whisper of spring and it makes me smile. Today, the sun is shining and it will be nearly 50 degrees. I sense new beginnings in the air. Spring comes in whispers. In my garden, I see green tips of daffodils and crocuses p ..read more