Poetry Friday - "Nothing-to-Do"

Katie hosts today at her blog, The Logonauts! Thanks, Katie! 

         I've been at the ocean's edge for nearly two weeks now. The last part of my family has left to go home, and I have one more day to savor. Today I've walked it, driven past it, watched others dive in, and swum myself, looking for signs of the dolphins, manatees and manta rays that we've seen before. I did see the wonderfully different bunnies again, and crabs were out in the evening. 

         I've watched my grandchildren and children play and laugh and be, here in the magic of nothing-to-do but follow John Masefield's Sea Fever: "I must down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky." 

The grandchildren say goodbye to their own final sunsets.

   Nothing To Do

My dreams tangle

with the reality.

The ocean flashes, splashes,

dashes in to smooth the sand,  

backing out to allow a shell shock

of quick gathering.

The body arrives,

knots untied

from the joy of immersion.

Linda Baie ©All Rights Reserved

A Slicing Vacation

          Slicing with the Two Writing Teachers community is a pleasure every week.  Thanks to ALL the writing teachers!

          I've been messing about with words in my head all morning, wondering if I could possibly write about my "slicing" vacation without it seeming like one of those "come over to view the slides of our awesome trip" invitations. Then I read Cathy Mere's post today at Merely Day by Day, and her advice was great. I started!  
         This is the third year my family has traveled to Captiva Island, same house, by the beach, with a pool, heavenly. I am in love with this place, and also love what the tradition of it encompasses: exciting ocean creatures seen and discovered, wonderful new experiences in and out of the water, and eating at favorite restaurants. I gave Carter a para-sailing time for his birthday. He turns fourteen on Friday. Ingrid's swimming abilities after spending hours each day in the ocean or the pool increased tenfold (obviously practice does mean perfecting). And Imogene's swimming became stronger too, and she was able to swim in the ocean without feeling overwhelmed. 

Reading On Vacation

           On Mondays, it's time to link up to share books I've read that are for children and teens with Jen at TeachMentorTexts and Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders.  Others link to share adult books with Sheila at Book Journeys who started the meme a long time ago. 

        Come visit, and tweet at #IMWAYR. Thanks to Jen, Kellee, and Ricki for hosting!

          I'm lucky enough to still be on vacation, but all the family is gone. Now it's time to catch up on reading and writing before I return home. I hope all of you are enjoying your school starts, with only staff so far, or with students!

         Here are some books I read before I left, and a few I read just today, hanging out at the local library! 

       This first book is another one that I've read from my #MustReadIn2015 list! The list is on the 'pages' at the top.

The Red Pencil - a verse novel written by Andrea Davis Pinkney and illustrated by Shane W. Evans

            I'm sorry I put this off so long. It is never easy to read about a war, and the victims of it, still in it. Reading the story in the strong voice of a young girl was harder to me, but it will reach other children in its honesty, but without too much detail of the horrors that people are living through still today. Young Amira Bright loses nearly everything, her father, her home, her beloved sheep. And then she must live in the squalid conditions of a refugee camp. Poorly fed and housed, somehow there is sparkle in the tiniest of things: an orange Fanta, such a taste; the letter A, learning in secret; a tiny hedgehog moving through the camp. One of the sweetest lines is early in the book, when Amira's sister is born, and is crippled. Her father says: "This baby will keep us all strong. That is the way of a child who comes with so much specialness. We will stretch to meet her." One thread, also from the father, is a game that he teaches Amira. They play "What else is possible?" The only rule is that the answer to this can only be good. I hope you can see that this "mindset" is a beautiful example of a growth mindset. It helps Amira keep going. It's a rich story, sad to imagine, good for older children to read about the harsh realities happening today in war, not just in the past. Shane W. Evans illustrates throughout as if he is Amira. The drawings are poignant.

Lingering At The Beach

    Renee LaTulippe at NoWaterRiver is hosting us today for Poetry Friday.  Come see what wonderful things she has for us, plus visit all the other Poetry LInks!  Thanks Renee!

            The senses seem to be so much more important when visiting the beach.  I have recently returned from a week on Captiva Island and am still there in a way, can’t stop thinking about what a wonderful time I had with my family on the ocean shore.  It is a special place to be.  I envy those of you who are near water, or who can make it to the ocean rather quickly.   I’ve been to many oceans, with family and with students.  I have had the pleasure of introducing them to students who had never traveled so far from Colorado and now to my two young granddaughters. 

     

Now, they know…

Slicing From The Beach

Tuesday Slice of Life-hosted by Ruth and Stacey at Two Writing Teachers-Come visit!

       Back from my vacation to Captiva Island.  Here are a few slices of sweet stuff for you to enjoy.  I took my favorite ocean book along, Henry Beston's The Outermost House.  His words: The seas are the heart's blood of the earth.

Poetry Friday-Anticipation

               Thank you, Matt Forrest, at Radio, Rhythm & Rhyme for taking on the Poetry Friday Roundup today.  Come visit to fill up with poetry!  
              And Sherry, at Semicolon, is co-hosting with a gorgeous 'found' poem!
The Vacation

Once there was a man who filmed his vacation.

He went flying down the river in his boat

with his video camera to his eye, 

                You can find the rest of Wendell Berry's wise words about vacations here.  I'm off to the beach Saturday for a week with my family, and looking forward to being right 'in it'!  Getting ready is half the fun!

Rambling Thoughts

May 30, 2011


Rambling Thoughts During This Mini Vacation

     Yesterday was the third day I’ve had without  going to work, although I'm not quite finished at school, as we have two and one half days more with students this week, then final staff meeting and staff party.  The hourglass is nearly empty.  We had a lot to do the past days, running errands, going to a movie, and visiting my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter for a few hours, helping them with some lawn work (mostly though, playing with Ingrid).   In between errands, I’ve been doing those last minute school tasks, like wrapping goodbye gifts and writing thank you notes. 

Yesterday, we hung out mostly, so I put ingredients for a stew in a slow cooker, and I’ve kept busy on the mission of cleaning out things-first drawers, then some closets, etc.  I found no surprises, (or money), but did fill another box for give-aways & a bag of things for various people at school.  My mantra is use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.  It’s an old World War II saying, when many had to live that way in order to help the war effort.  It’s interesting how today there is much talk that supports that saying; we’ve come to believe that doing what we can to waste less is a good thing for the planet.

 School ending gives me such energy for home things.  It’s almost the same feeling when spring fever hits, and I yearn to be outside, in the garden, without a coat!  It is bittersweet to say goodbye to continuing students who are leaving for good, but we all feel the pull of summer, the almost visceral need to do something different, whether it’s to stay at home, go on vacation, or just take a few hours every day in the garden, tending the new growth. 

So today, I puttered, I cleaned, and I sat on the patio a while, and while there, a gift came by.  A hawk flew in, and landed on one of our fence posts.  Guess he was hanging out too, although probably for dinner.  He didn’t stay long, but it was a great thing to see.  I didn’t have a camera, and if I’d moved, he too would have taken off.  So, he’s just in my mind’s eye, a beautiful thing, making his way in this almost-summer world, just like I am.