In Search of Small Treasures

Yesterday, I stopped at a thrift store on the way home from the gym. I wasn't really looking for anything in particular. Sometimes, I just like to stop by and look for second-hand treasures.

I was walking through the aisles and stopping occasionally to take a closer look at some items. I saw a flowered china dish - small and delicate, but I placed it back on the shelf (I didn't really need it). I stopped to look at a tote bag (teachers never have enough bags), but I put it back. I glanced at some books hoping to find a book to add to my next read stack, but lost the patience for standing there since nothing jumped out at me. 

I decided to head home and started walking toward the exit. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw someone familiar. I could see the top of her head moving down the aisle. She was short enough to only see the top of her head over the racks of clothing.

I moved toward her and peeked around the corner as if to make sure she was who I thought she was. As I turned the corner to see more of her, I caught my breath. There she was pushing a cart and checking out some clothing on hangers. She was a tiny, elderly woman with grey wavy hair cut short rounding the corner at the end of an aisle. I froze in my tracks. 

A quick moment later, I snapped back to reality. It was NOT my mom, but for one heart warming moment I was shopping with my mom again. She passed away several years ago. She loved to go to second-hand stores looking for treasures.

I moved toward the exit and walked to my car. It was a moment that warmed my heart but brought me sadness as well. I miss my mom. I miss our adventures in search of small treasures.

Our Bottle Tree

She knew that there could be a spell put in trees, and she was familiar from the time she was born with the way bottle trees kept evil spirits from coming into the house — by luring them inside the colored bottles, where they cannot get out again.
—Livvie, by Eudora Welty

This is our bottle tree. The picture was taken after a snowfall this last January. While we are aware of the legend that the bottle tree traps evil spirits, we just like the added color to our garden. Some people hang bottles of all colors, but we liked the blue bottles, especially when we see them in the snow and reflecting under a winter moon.

The bottles are hung upside down on the tree branches with the neck of the bottles facing the trunk. The legend says that at night the evil spirits enter the bottles and become trapped. When the morning comes, the spirits are destroyed by the heat of the sun.

I have read that the practice of setting up bottle trees to ward off evil spirits was brought to America during the slave trade. Bottle trees have been very prevalent in the southern states for hundreds of years.

For my husband and I, the bottle tree brings us beautiful color to our garden. We enjoy the way it sparkles in the moonlight and shines in the sun.






 
 

What I Learned from the Redwoods

What I Learned 
from the Redwoods.

On a 10-day trip along the West Coast, we visited the Redwoods in California. The trees were amazing. They taught me lessons I remember when I see these pictures we took on our trip.

                                                          Stand tall.

                                                            Reach high.

                                                Connect with others.

                                                                       Put down roots.

                                                    Be patient. Endure.

Objectives not Obstacles

I was reading a book recently and came across a line that made me think.
When describing a character who was bravely facing serious struggles in her life, the author said: 

"She sees everything as an objective not an obstacle."

I started wondering how I approached struggles in my own life.
When do I see an obstacle?
When do I work toward an objective with confidence and persistence.
Do I choose to tackle more objectives or give in to the obstacles?

Then, I thought about the learners in our classrooms. 

I have known students who rarely felt like they could overcome something difficult - who felt like what they needed to do seemed to be a huge obstacle - one so huge that it wasn't even worth trying.

I have also known students who felt they could make progress if they just worked toward difficult learning one step at a time with the confidence they needed.

As teachers, it's one more behavior we need to observe as we work with students. Who sees learning as an objective? Who sees learning as an obstacle? And what can we do to encourage all our students to see learning challenges as objectives not obstacles?

A Poem in Progress (Draft Two) - Knitting

This is a second draft of a poem I couldn't quite finish. A new attempt. 

Knitting

The rhythm of knitting
brings comfort 
in the repeated pattern
and the tug of the yarn.

I knit to find peace
a quietness, a steady routine,
busy but often mindless
busy and sometimes contemplative.

The two knitting needles
work their way through yarn
casting on, pulling loops through
stitch after stitch 
first stitch to the last.

I knit to give a gift filled with love
it's the making and the giving
a piece of me in every stitch
hopes and dreams between the rows.

A gift made and a gift given with love.

Cardinals Appear When Angels are Near

There are people who say that seeing a cardinal is a visit from a loved one who has passed away. The saying goes, 

"Cardinals appear when angels are near."

When my mom was alive, she loved the cardinals that nested in her yard. She would point them out to me, and we would listen for their loud chirping. 

Cardinals mate for life. (I like that kind of commitment.) The male cardinal is bright red (my favorite color), and the female is a pale brown with red markings. Cardinals don't migrate but remain in the immediate area all year long.


I get excited when I see a pair of the beautiful birds that visit the trees behind my home. In the fall and winter, I can spot them easily when I hear their chirping. They're beautiful to see in a freshly fallen snow. In the summer, they are a little harder to spot as they fly among the leaves, but their chirping lets me know they are there. 

So I'm not sure I believe that the cardinals are visits from angels, I do feel closer to my mom and the memories I have of her when I see them. I love cardinals.

Crossing to Safety Revisited

It was many years ago when I joined my first book club. A group of teachers decided to read a book together and meet to talk about it.

While book clubs are very popular these days among adults and children, it was a new concept for some of us back then. There were probably a dozen of us who committed to read and meet to talk about our reading. 

We chose the book, Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner. 

Little did I know that my ideas about reading would change so drastically. 
Little did I know that this book would leave an indelible mark on my heart.
Little did I know that I would feel so connected to the other readers in our book club.

I recently read a string of books that were not very satisfying. I even abandoned one book because I just could not read another page! I also have been listening to recorded books on my phone. I have tried in the past but have not been very successful. My mind would wander away from the story, and I would have to go back a few pages, or even a chapter, to maintain the thread of the narrative. I am getting better at listening.

So I made a commitment to find a book that I knew I would love and try to listen to it on my digital device. I chose to revisit Crossing to Safety. It's interesting what I have discovered:

     I still love the story although now I am 30  

     years older and I am constructing a new 

     meaning to the narrative and responding 

     differently to the theme. 

     The story is a bit more melancholy now that I 
     am older and closer to the age of the characters.
     I am building a deeper connection to the 
     characters and their struggles.

     I can listen to a book digitally delivered and 
     can maintain my attention. I usually listen to 
     the story while I exercise at the gym. This has
     presented a new challenge because I want to   
     mark the text and write down my response - 
     which is difficult to do when you are on the 
     tread mill! I also want to remember my favorite
     lines and capture the well chosen words of 
     Wallace Stegner.

By choosing this book that had meant so much to me in the past and revisiting it at a later age, I have found a new connection and new meaning. I need to talk with those people who were in that initial book club.

What disappoints me the most is that I have listened to the story alone. Something is missing. The shared understanding. The conversations. The responses to the story as it unfolds. Friends talking about the book. I just may have to send out an invitation to get together over a cup of tea and talk about this book one more time.