March 17

#SOL22 #17

un·​der·​dog | \ ˈən-dər-ˌdȯg
noun
I love the game of basketball, but don’t watch it too often, even during March madness. This evening, I caught the end of the regulation time of #15 seed Saint Peter’s vs #2 seed Kentucky. And sat rapt through the overtime period, rooting for the underdog. And woot, Saint Peter’s was victorious!
I’m not sure of all the reasons why, but I often cheer for the underdog in sports. I hope I am as fervent in supporting those who are victims of injustice and/or persecution.
Category: SOL22 | 4 Comments on #SOL22 #17
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 #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 6

#SOL22 #6

On this spectacularly beautiful early spring day, I started tackling some of the gardening cleanup, including pruning my one grape vine. I know nothing about growing grapes. I read through materials from the extension service, as well as other gardening guides, and also consulted several YouTube videos. I still have a very limited understanding, but the one point that was invariably emphasized is that each year 90% of the previous year’s growth needs to be removed. Multiple guides stated that the most common error home gardeners make is not pruning enough.

I flinched every time I cut through one of the canes, but understand the experts know what they are talking about. In the end, I will have better, more abundant fruit.

I also mused that it would be a good idea to apply this pruning to my life. I definitely am juggling too many responsibilities right now, and know it is not healthy long-term. I need to cut back to the essentials and let the rest go.

 

Category: SOL22 | 4 Comments on #SOL22 #6
March 5

#SOL22 #5

In the EPIClearners community I co-facilitate, we are in the midst of a book discussion of Brené Brown’s Dare to Lead and how it applies to creating Daring Classrooms. My colleague Terry Elliott had the brilliant suggestion to include a playful activity each week to enhance our shared learning and reflection.

This week, we are examining the quotation which serves as the through line of Brown’s work, Theodore Roosevelt’s “Man in the Arena.” We are creating artifacts that express our interpretation of this quote and sharing them. These types of activities always impress upon me how creative work of all kinds is iterative, and also how rewarding it is to get into a flow state, to leave aside for a time the responsibilities and burdens of my “regular” life.

An initial draft of my interpretation:

Category: Community | 2 Comments on #SOL22 #5