March 16

#SOL22 #16

I just finished watching Netflix’s mockumentary series Inventing Anna. I didn’t quite binge watch it, but almost. Somehow I missed the true story from which this series was derived, which is as bizarre (and strikingly similar) as the narrative presented on screen. I have been wondering why I found the series so captivating? Was it Anna’s chutzpah? Or that so many people were hoodwinked? Or that our society is so fixated on (real or imagined) wealth and status?

Probably all of the above. In response, I’m doubling down on my #truthful focus, my determination to live a life filled with honesty, transparency, integrity, authenticity. I never want people to question my motives or my genuine interest in connecting with them as fellow travelers through life.

Category: SOL22 | 6 Comments on #SOL22 #16
March 15

#SOL22 #15

Today I began the annual back breaking ritual… spreading literal tons of compost throughout my lawn and garden areas. Although many people (including me in the past) generally spread some kind of tree bark as mulch, since moving to this house two years ago, I use compost as my only mulch.

My house is in a brand-new development, and in typical style the developer scraped the soil down to nothing during the excavation and building process, then laid sod over the bare ground, which in this area is pure clay. As a result, the grass struggles to survive from day one.

This is the third year I am spreading a couple of inches of compost everywhere. And the grass is thanking me. It is increasingly lush and full and tolerates periods of hot, dry weather with increasing resilience.

As further evidence of the improving soil health, the earthworm supply has been increasingly rapidly. I spotted only a couple here and there when I first began planting things. Now, they are lurking everywhere, such as this congregation I found under a stepping stone I moved today.

So many things to learn and experiment with, to fail at and to cause to flourish.

 

 

Category: SOL22 | 4 Comments on #SOL22 #15
March 14

#SOL22 #14

I wrote about pruning a week-ish ago, and my mind has returned to the topic today. Among my several “hats,” I am the president of a nonprofit organization devoted to… gardening! We promote (and build) community gardens and educate people in the county about gardening. I have experienced a “meteoric rise” (definitely tongue-in-cheek) from lowly volunteer less than a year ago to this esteemed position.

Requested, nominated, and voted in by the other board members. Full of visions of possibility. Enthusiastic, energetic, taking action. Only to encounter “we-want-things-to-stay-the-same”-ness. Not in words, in (re)actions.

What started out as energizing has receded to anxiety, frustration and anger.

I have been reflecting, trying to decipher the reasons I am encountering this resistance, and trying to identify what I am doing that is causing fellow board members to reject my ideas. I have working theories, and have bounced them off another board member whom I trust, who is empathetic and non-judgmental. His analysis is similar to mine, so I feel less crazy.

So, this gig is one I quite possibly must prune. If so, I will have mixed emotions, part relief, part “aaagh!” I am thankful that there will not be any sense of guilt. I have been honest, transparent, solicited feedback, invited dissenting viewpoints, done everything I can think of to build unity.

If we are not in alignment, I cannot change that. And will take my vision elsewhere.

 

Category: SOL22 | 1 Comment on #SOL22 #14
March 12

#SOL22 #12

Taking inspiration from this Book Dragon post, my day in six-word slices.

I slept in until eight o’oclock.

Cups of coffee later I shopped.

Fixings for a grilled hamburger dinner.

Cardboard for the first layer.

First layer of what, you say?

“Lasagna layering” for the vegetable garden.

Assembled one of three cedar beds.

Sliced tomato, onion, avocado, grilled hamburgers.

Now I am contemplating my day.

And preparing (reluctantly) to spring forward.

 

Category: SOL22, Writing | 7 Comments on #SOL22 #12
March 11

#SOL22 #11

These #SOL pieces are part of a writing challenge spearheaded by Two Writing Teachers. Throughout the year, they promote the idea of writing a “Slice of Life” every Tuesday. In March, they challenge us to write a “slice” every day. I have ready many wonderful slices over the past several years, but this year is the first year I am participating.

Today, they announced that this is the second “Multi-Lit Friday of the year,” which encourages “participants who write in other languages to share their slice of life stories in another language.” Once upon a time, in the ten years I lived in Montreal, I became functionally fluent in French. So, this post is an attempt to dredge up and honor that language.

Ça fait déjà 20 ans que j’ai quitté la province du Québec. J’ai habité dans la banlieue de la ville de Montréal pendant 10 ans, une des plus accueillantes villes au monde. Où les habitants parlent en franglais, et pour la plupart coexistent en harmonie.

Mes deux fils sont nés au Québec et sont donc des citoyens du Canada ainsi que des Etats-Unis. Ma fille y habite toujours avec sa jeune famille, un garçon et une fille. J’y retourne souvent, sauf ces derniers temps… depuis l’entrée de Covid, et depuis la fermeture de la frontière Canadienne au non-citoyens.

Ils me manquent terriblement. Ainsi que les restos, la ligne d’horizon, et les nuits d’été longs et plein de sensations vibrants.

Mais, je dois dire, “mon pays, ce n’est pas l’hiver!”

This is very much a “school girl” essay, but I’ll nonetheless leave it there.

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March 10

#SOS22 #10

In the secondary (Modern) World History class I’m teaching this year, we spent time talking about current events today, specifically the conflict in Ukraine. I asked the students what the motivations were for Russia to invade, and received well-informed answers: farmland; access to sea ports; feeling threatened by the possibility of Ukraine becoming a NATO member. As we explored the minute in history that is comprised of the fall of the Eastern Bloc to today, I was reminded how these young learners have no real understanding of the time of the USSR, which countries were under Soviet rule, the brutality of Stalin, the list goes on. None of them have read any of Solzhenitsyn’s works.

Archivi Mondadori, CC-BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

I have been fascinated with Russian history since I was the age of my learners, and think they would be too! So, you heard it here first, next year I’m going to teach a quarter-long or semester-long course on Russian history. Maybe it needs to be a double bock of history combined with literature. The planning and lists are already started.

Category: History, SOL22 | 2 Comments on #SOS22 #10
March 9

#SOL22 #9

Over in EPIClearners, a community I co-lead, we are doing a slow read of Brené Brown’s book Dare to Lead and how we can apply her leadership ideas in the classroom. In this week’s reading, Brown retells a story of Colonel DeDe Halfhill’s (Air Force Global Strike Command) experience in applying Brown’s ideas. (Convoluted much?) Halfhill was startled to discover the Air Force leadership manual from 1948 has a far more human approach to dealing with the emotions military personnel experience than the current one does! As a “play” activity, we are examining that 1948 guide and reflecting on how those long-ago words apply to our present-day environments. Come join us!

 

Category: Community, EPIClearners | 3 Comments on #SOL22 #9
March 9

#SOL22 #8

In a riff off Kim Douillard’s #SOL for today (found here), my mind went to books I’ve enjoyed recently, then collided with the idea of showcasing women authors in honor of International Women’s Day.

Leigh Bardugo: I am pretty sure the first of her books I read was Six of Crows. I was captivated by her world building and character development, and stayed that way in reading the sequel, as well as the Shadow and Bone trilogy. I also loved Ninth House and am waiting for a sequel!

Alice Hoffman: I stumbled across her Practical Magic series quite by accident, or perhaps by magic. I’ve read the two prequels and am looking forward to finishing out the series!

V.E. Schwab: I read The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and fell in love! Her time jumping is done so well. I’ve also enjoyed her Shades of Magic trilogy and will certainly return to her writing again!

 

Category: Reading, SOL22 | 8 Comments on #SOL22 #8
March 7

#SOL22 #7

Day 7, a full week. This is my first year as a “slicer,” so wasn’t sure what to expect. I’ve seen a bunch of Tuesday slices over the years, primarily from #clmooc compatriots, and have been… well, chicken to try it for myself. The experience has been freeing! I tend to become way too pedantic in my posts in this space, citing numerous sources, providing evidence of  my claims. Which is a laudable habit for formal writing.

#SOL has a much more casual air, with writers talking about many topics, from the mundane to the profound. In a few words, or in many.

I spend a lot of time telling my teen writers that we are writing “for fun” with flash fiction assignments, everything from six-word stories to 100-word stories based on an image/picture. Initially, students are reluctant to embrace the “fun” part, and agonize over their stories being “right” or “good.” I hope (and think) they are learning this kind of writing truly is fun, allowing us to let our imaginations go, to be as crazy, dark, goofy, cliff-hangerish as we want. A few examples:

“I saw the lives of all three flash before my eyes as they ate. In the corpulent, red face of the emperor, I was afraid, as I saw greed in his small black eyes, as he shoveled food down his maw. The king was of more refined corporeality, although his haughty gaze glared with the contempt of ignorance of life’s struggle, and the discontent with luxury. But of the peasant mans face, , I saw nothing but simple happiness, for his was dinner hard worked for, and the omniscience of his world in his eyes made his dinner taste the best.”

“With flurries in their eyes, and chills through their bones, they trudged forward. Stinging pains crept through their whole body, when they finally saw billowing smoke in the distance. Like a rose amongst jasmine, a scarlet cottage had been hidden in the icy dunes. The house had a golden glow coming from its lone window, but oddly, not a single door. As they took a step onto the frozen pond to reach the house, they began to flip, along with the whole landscape. The cottage’s grayed reflection in the pond had spun upright taking them to the warm world beneath.”

“How can I describe this family? The Mashes had a buttery way about them, sometimes they were salty about things, but always a pleasant treat.”

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