Tag Archives: palm tree

Earth Day: NPM24 Day 22

It’s Earth Day, a perfect day to celebrate the earth and nature and our connections to them. Donnetta at #verselove suggested crafting a poem that honors Mother Earth in some way. Abigail, part of the #writeout team from the National Writing Project shared a recoding of Ada Limon reading the Mary Oliver poem Can You Imagine?

After a day spent with first graders talking and learning about all the reasons and ways we can and should honor and care for our planet, I found myself thinking about the ever-present tall palm tree that has been a constant on our playground for longer than I can remember. This is the tree that inspired my poem for today.

Tree-by-the-Sea

Can you imagine

standing tall and still

a constant

playground companion

for generations of children

Watching wall ball games evolve

casting a skinny shadow

a line of shade

connecting

play and nature and trees and kids and learning

Can you imagine

the stories

our sentinel palm

can tell

of friendships forged

lives linked

in a school-by-the-sea

Toes tucked in deep

green crown with a priceless view

if you listen to the rustle

you might hear your childhood

in the leaves of a tall

tree-by-the-sea

Poet-Tree: NPM20 Day 21

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My daily walk to the mailbox is generally uneventful. I follow the sidewalk down the hill, past the five or six houses that look similar to my own. I notice the groomed lawns, the xeriscaped designs where lawns once grew, those miniature citrus trees. And today, I noticed the tall thin palm dancing in the breeze.

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Inspired by the National Writing Project post, Writing In with #WriteOut, I wrote a Poet-Tree #smallpoem today.

Tree Dance

Against the azure sky

the lone palm dances

solo

slowly swaying

graceful fronds stretched wide

brushing the clouds

to the shush

of spring’s song

®Douillard

Considering the Clouds: A Feldgang

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It wouldn’t be summer without taking some time to participate in a CLMOOC invitation. And who could resist an opportunity to engage in a feldgang? (Yeah, it’s not an everyday term for me either, as I understand it, it’s about paying attention to something you might not otherwise notice.)

Yesterday was the end of an intensive 14-day period of work for me. When Geoff got home from work, we headed out for a quick dinner and what I hoped would be a view of the sunset at the beach…a mini celebration. But it was evident, from quite a distance, that a huge wall of clouds would prevent the sunset I was hoping for.

But…the wall was extraordinary. It was thick and defined. Not that ordinary gray blanket that obscures the sun that we so often associate with the marine layer in these parts. The cloud wall did impact the sun and the light…and created a game of peek-a-boo with the sun and the sentinel palm tree that stands guard over my favorite beach.

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The surf was more cooperative than the sky. Surfers were enjoying the larger than usual waves, showing off their expertise as they whipped and glided and ducked through the barrels formed by the curve of water. As I snapped photos of the surfers in action, I also noticed the way the clouds and sun above them filtered the light, and depending on the angle changed the color of the water. With the sun over my shoulder, blues and turquoises peeked through.

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With the sun in my face, sepia tones appeared. The creamy white of the churning waves creating texture that my eyes could feel.

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Knowing that as the sun dipped lower, the clouds would block the sun’s light, we decided to stay long enough for the sun to be covered by the clouds…but not until official sunset. I watched and waited and the sun lingered longer than expected. Time enough to take some more shots of that favorite palm tree. Even the pelican was enjoying the sky.

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While I didn’t get my celebratory sunset, I did get a chance to study the wall of clouds and notice all the ways it interacted with the sea, sky, palm tree, and sun.

What will choose to explore for your feldgang?