Category: Uncategorized
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The Day After Christmas Day
Today is quiet, calm, and raining. I can hear the dog snoring softly at my feet. Little birds outside, cardinals, a pair of towhees, and a few sparrows flit about on the wet leaf-bare branches of the hazelnut and silver maple trees. Fat squirrels are digging around, searching for their stashed pecans. The pond is full…
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Making and Playing
Oh, look at my very young self admiring puppets in Prague! I loved these puppets so much and have always wished I had bought one. But, alas, I did not. I only have this photo. Recently I started to follow an Instagram account called Puppets in Prague. It was a summer puppet making workshop culminating…
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108 Degrees in Texas
I went to visit my dad down in the bottom of Texas near the Mexican border. I was close enough that my phone sent me a message saying “Welcome to Mexico! Enjoy your stay!” We were at a bird sanctuary/wildlife refuge at around noon on a 108 degree day. My dad was ready to walk…
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Forward and Back Again
I was twelve and thirteen and fourteen when I stood on the low wall in my backyard with my arms folded along the top of the taller wooden fence, dreaming. Ours was the last street in the development, and I looked out across the wasteland we called “mesa” at the back of house toward the…
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Hands
Before leaving on spring break, I had a student say to me, “Miss, tell me some things to do during the break. I have already watched all the anime episodes, too many. What else can I do?” I told him to do something with his hands, to make something. I remember he made me a…
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Only One Person Per Stall
Yes. This was the sign in the school bathrooms this week. This is in a high school. Well. I’ll just leave you to think on that without making further comment. It was a little bit of a wretched week with a crap school testing schedule. But we made the most of it, the students and…
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This Growing City
Just after Christmas, I went with a friend to see the lights at the botanical garden. If you haven’t been to the Atlanta Botanical Garden, you should definitely go there. There is always something amazing to see, even in winter. Then last weekend, I braved the cold morning (28 degrees), to meet a few others…
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The Color of Hope is Yellow
“‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers-/That perches in the soul-” says Emily Dickinson. And she is correct, but to me, hope is also yellow. I’ve been thinking about this, watching the first brave blooms of spring–or really, pre-spring emerge. The forsythia, and daffodils, and even jasmine on my fence is waking up in the warmth…
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Walking at Night
Yesterday, darkness fell at about 5:30 p.m. Oh these short days! But I went out with a few new friends for a cold, crisp walk on the BeltLine. Lots of people were out and about, skating, biking, scootering, chatting, and laughing. Apartment balconies were lit up for the holidays, Christmas trees stood glittering in windows,…
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My Favorite Gray
Gray, wet days are my favorite. Of course I like sunny, fair days when the sky is high and bright and blue and everything feels light and possible. But gray days–there’s something about them I love. Here’s a view from my writing “treehouse” room. The tip tap of the rain on the roof in here…