Just before I awake in the morning, I often have what I call a “waking dream,” a clear and powerful image comes to my mind. It is a place so vivid that I think it is real, that I have been there but my rational mind knows that I have never visited such a place.
Category: inspiration
Mindful Gardener
I’m lucky to live near many public gardens and arboretums. I cannot wait to see their spring offerings. This spring seems more precious to me, maybe it’s because of the precariousness of the world. I need a place of serenity and beauty, a place where things thrive and grow instead of being destroyed.
Welcome Spring!
clearer. I can push world events away for just a little while.
Comes in Threes
To make writing interesting and strong, we are told to describe things in groups of threes. I wonder what the origins of this Rule of Three is from.
Invitation to Joy
I think that my major role as an educator is to invite joy. I have always thought this from the beginning of my career over forty years ago. Maybe it’s because I started teaching in a nursery school. You can’t help to be joyful when teaching two, three, and four-year-old children. They actually exude joie de vivre and happily invite adults into their world. It’s a great place to dwell.
Much Loved: Stuffed Animals & Their People
Mark Nixon's Much Loved is in the inspiration for this post, which features my most treasured stuffed animals.
Kitchen Literacy: Luck of the Irish
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! For years, I would bake Irish soda bread and read leprechaun stories with my young students. There is nothing like the smell of fresh-baked bread while listening to fanciful tales.
Consider the Pomegranate
Then my mom introduced me to the pomegranate, which we called a Chinese apple back then. Pomegranates were actually native to Iran and Northern India. They were so exotic to me.
Nature’s Cure
When the world becomes too much, I invariably turn to nature. As I walk the trails, I am on the lookout for something to surprise me, something to capture my imagination. Nature is the best cure for writer’s block.
Mugs and Memory
They are nothing flashy, just some cups that caught my eye or were given to me. Their power is in the memories they hold: who gave them to me, why I gave them, where did they come from?
Word Dancer: Literature, the Arts, & Education 