Nature is always good medicine, and I seek to be among trees and flowers as much as I can. Nature makes me more mindful of the short time we have to enjoy this miraculous earth. It makes me grateful to be among the flowers.
Category: Play
Friday at the Farm
I am not a gardener, but I love going to The Farm. It is my Zen place, my place to unwind and breathe; my place to meet a friend and laugh.
Alone by the Sea
It’s June. I live in New Jersey. It’s time to “go down the shore,” as we Garden State residents say. It’s beach time!
Embracing the Process
The process is the learning, and they are totally engaged and in the flow of creating. The key is to embrace the process.
May Posies
Early spring showers have turned the landscape green with dots of pinks, yellows, and lavenders. My corner of the world is alive with flowers, and I am immersing myself in their glory and hopefulness. This year more than any other I need flowers and the promise of spring. I need something to celebrate. I am in search for beauty.
Happy Haiku to You!
It’s spring. The first graders are trying their hand at poetry. They scribble and draw and make images - some silly, some that will take your breath away. That is the beauty of first graders – the child-mind at work not afraid of making mistakes.
April Poem #29: This Poem is Not…
I took an old poem that was sitting there in a pile minding its own business, doing nothing. I grabbed it, shook it up, and turned it into something new. My advice is never throw out anything you’ve written. You never know what it could turn into. It could be in its chrysalis stage waiting to fly free. This past month of writing a poem every day has taught me to take risks, to play with possibility, and to be unafraid with the outcome. Playing with poetry was just what I needed. It was necessary.
April Poem #28: When I’m by Myself
I enjoy the childlike qualities of poetry. Playing with rhythm and rhyme often spark the imagination. With this poem, I did have to ponder deep questions, I could just play with the language and imagery. It was fun to do, and poetry most definitely should be fun. Once I wrote the first stanza, I felt it wasn’t quite complete, so I decided to reverse it and make a second stanza. When I’m by myself, I write poetry and make myself happy.
April Poem #27: Forgiveness
It was hard to choose just one thing to re-encounter. However, this memory of my Grandpa Antonio is so vivid to me. It was about forty years ago, but it feels like yesterday. I wish I could go back and change every little thing.
April Poem #26: Woven Words
Many years ago, I came upon teaching annotation through the Annotated Charlotte's Web. Today, I took an old, worn copy of Charlotte's Web and found this poem lying within. Thank you, E.B. White, Wilbur, and Charlotte!