When I saw Chea’s invitation over at #verselove this morning, I knew that I would need to do a photo walk and create a photo essay poem about this place where I continue to spend so much time–UCSD. I combined my lunch break with walking and taking pictures, not quite sure what would speak to me once I sat down to commit words to a page.
Today #verselove prompt played on that question to teachers dread…did I miss anything? And I loved the opportunity to play with the idea of what was missed as I crafted a poem about my walk at the beach today. I hope my poem brings you along and gives you a taste of my energizing walk.
An invitation to write a science poem–yes please! And the serendipity of our caterpillar sighting at school today made the perfect topic for the “whimsical science poems” at #verselove that Brittany prompted.
Today’s #verselove prompt was offered by Bryan–something he calls “poetic drive-bys” but I understand more as an ode–a poem of praise, of understanding and appreciating a person, place, or thing. I spent my day at Zion National Park–and had water on my brain…in all its forms.
Water: A Super Hero
It slips in and out of our consciousness
We crave it in scarcity
waste it in abundance
underestimate its power
Water shows us its superpowers
shape shifting with ease
from liquid to gas to solid
As liquid it carves canyons, topples trees, moves mountains
what looks like a calm river
can roar with ferocity and later gently lap the sandy shores
It’s mysterious as vapor
sometimes appearing to mask the view
other times rising to mound in voluptuous curves, ready to give birth to liquid again
Frozen it is rigid, sharp, unforgiving
breaking stone, cracking under pressure
encasing everything it touches in translucence
Stalactites, growing longer, pointier drip by drip
On day four, I found myself tasked with being grammatically ungrammatical and playing around with words. (Check out Jennifer’s prompt over at #verselove for more information). After another day spent with incredible geology filling my eyes at Valley of Fire, I decided to play around with some geology words. Here’s what I came up with!
Today’s poem is inspired by a day exploring the Red Rock Canyon Conservancy outside of Las Vegas. Stacey over at #verselove suggested a Haiku sonnet composed of 4 3-line Haiku and two more lines. But of course, I couldn’t resist also turning my Haiku sonnet into a photo essay. Enjoy!
Whenever I can, I love to walk on the beach. But some days, even when I have time for a beach walk, the tides simply do not cooperate. On those days I have to decide whether to settle for a walk around the neighborhood (not my favorite) or find some other place to walk.
Today was one of those uncooperative tide days. When the tides are high, there is simply not enough beach to walk any distance. So instead, we decided to head over to the lagoon for our walk and a dose of nature.
It’s sunny today–not warm (for these parts)–but blue skies and light breezes make for a nice walk and opportunities for interesting photos. The first thing we noticed when we arrived at the lagoon was no parking. Apparently, we weren’t the only ones with the brilliant idea of walking at the lagoon. A little patience paid off, and after a short wait we were able to park.
The positives of all the rain we’ve had this past few months are that the lagoon is in bloom! Native sunflowers (they have a fancy name I can’t remember) are like a thousand tiny suns waving in the breeze. Pollinators are also busy, buzzing from flower to flower, picking up pollen and distributing it throughout the region.
And not all pollinators are bees. I love the combination of both stillness and activity in the lagoon. I could see the silhouette of a tiny hummingbird perched on a bare tree in the distance. I crept closer and closer to attempt a photograph with my zoom lens. Luckily I got a few shots off before it sensed the movement and flitted off.
As we moved closer to the deeper waterway in the lagoon, we could see some of the other impacts of all the rain. We thought we might spend a few minutes at the bench until we noticed the muddy area–and how far the mud had risen around the bench! Looks to have very short legs for now!
Like the beach, the lagoon is always changing. Seasons change the way the plants look and grow, tides change the water levels, and birds come and go as many species use the lagoon as a stopping place on their migratory treks. There were many mallards pairs today (not pictured) swimming in the full high-tide lagoon.
It was a nice change of pace to head to the lagoon today. We are lucky to have so many wonderful places to explore and walk that are not too far from home. I hope you, too, were able to find someplace for a Sunday dose of nature and time to breathe and gather energy for the week ahead.
I wrote earlier this week about reading the book, I’m Trying to Love Garbage by Bethany Barton. In response to the book we discussed ways to reduce human trash. I followed that book by reading the gorgeous To Change a Planet by Christina Soontornvat. This beautiful book talks about how collectively we have created problems for our planet….and how collectively, we can also make change. Both words and illustrations are beautiful!
I find that students want to do things to help our planet. They are already aware of the importance of keeping the earth clean, about the value of caring for plants and animals, and are knowledgeable about composting food waste. And we’ve also been exploring the power of words and images to inform others about things that need doing.
So after reading and talking about To Change a Planet, I introduced them to the idea of writing 6 words for the environment. This is a version of the 6-word memoir that many of you may be familiar with. In 6 words for the environment, students come up with 6 words about our planet–to express its beauty, to help others understand how to help, to explain a crisis. We started by brainstorming words related to earth–and they had plenty to contribute.
I showed them how I would compose 6 words for the environment–including showing my first attempt that only had 5 words! I rearranged and revised in front of them so they would know that they should play around with the words. And then they opened their notebooks and started writing their own 6 words for the environment.
We then took those words and used black oil pastel and watercolor to create posters with their messages. Honestly, next time I will use a different medium. The oil pastel did not allow the words to be easily read, but the images themselves are quite striking. Here’s a few examples:
Respect the environment with other people.Nature needs more care from us.We can protect our Earth’s life.Save the environment. Animals are important.
Integrating environmental literacy into the curriculum is essential. My students (and yours) are our hope for the future. They will be the stewards of our precious planet. I think it’s in good hands.
I’m lucky enough to walk the beach regularly, which means I’ve become quite familiar with the variety of characters you might come across on any given day.
There are the surfers. They come in all ages and genders and pretty much all wear the same uniform: a black, long sleeved, long legged wetsuit. For the most part, they do not heed warnings about the water (stay out of the water for 72 hours after a rain event), they come no matter what the surf report says (small waves, crumbly waves, rough surf) and seem to enjoy themselves even when worthy surfing waves are few and far between.
There are players. The ocean is their playroom. They often bring toys: kites, footballs, frisbees, shovels…you get the idea. Players give play their full effort and attention. Teenagers are common in this category–especially teenaged boys. Adults, however, are the ones I notice (and secretly admire) who fall in to this category. They clearly derive intense joy from this play…and make me want to try whatever they are doing.
There are the artists. They see the beach as a blank canvas, a place to express their artistic vision. Some create with rocks, carefully balancing stones to create unfathomable towers using only gravity to hold the creation together. Others come armed only with a rake or stick and create intricate designs in the sand, proportions in alignment yet they bring no measurements that are visible–the vision seems to be firmly in the artist’s head and arms and body.
There are also the characters who don’t fit into any category–instead they are their own unique character, like the guy we call the naked guy. This guy walks miles on the beach wearing his private parts in a small bag slung on a string worn around his hips. Today I heard some young boys behind me describing his attire as “a very tight speedo.” The naked guy seems to know quite a few beach regulars, he sometimes chats as he walks. I’m not sure if this is his version of sunbathing, his exercise regime, or if he just enjoys the feel of the.briny sea breeze on all of his skin, but his practice definitely makes him stand out as noticeable on the beach.
I wonder if other places have a similar cast of characters–or unique categories of characters that inhabit the space. I’d love to know about the characters your come across in the places you frequent.
For more than a decade, I have taken and posted a photo a day. (You can see my collection on Instagram @kd0602). I have to be honest, some days taking those photos feels easy and inspiring. The tough choice is which photo to post. But other days, especially days when I am mired down in work or find myself in the head space where everything feels mundane–the same ol’ same ol’–it’s hard to even find a photo to take.
To push aside that malaise, I try to find something ordinary to look at from a new perspective. Maybe the light is different or I try another angle. Some days I get low, other days I move in close. Sometimes the variety comes in the editing process where I try different colors or remove all the color as I experiment with black and white.
I like that I need to force myself to find something interesting to photograph each day, that I have to push beyond that feeling of sameness and explore the world, even the very familiar not so exciting world of my everyday life to find something worthy of a photograph.
This week I’ve been in that “I can’t find anything interesting to photograph” funk. A busy schedule, dreary weather, and uncooperative tides have kept me close to home. The dandelions on my around the neighborhood walk have been interesting, but how many dandelions photos can one person take and post? I took some dandelion photos on today’s walk, but when my husband mentioned the “six foot high weeds in the backyard,” I headed out with my camera in hand (actually my phone, which has a pretty good camera).
I started with the weeds. More dandelions. I wasn’t finding success capturing the tall perspective. But I leaned in and noticed the seed hanging onto the yellow blossom. Interesting.
But then I noticed the texture of the trees and the play of light and shadow on the bark.
I came around to our “wild garden,” my affection term for the plants that have been relegated outdoors. They are the plants that have outgrown the kitchen window garden or are trying to die from overcare. Somehow, when sent outdoors, they seem to thrive. My eye was drawn right away to this composition of delicate and sturdy, highlighting a variety of greens.
This pool that had formed in the pot holding another succulent drew me in. Will it survive the overflow of water? Looking closely, I also notice the shadow of other plants reflected in the water along with the fallen leaves floating on the surface.
The aloe vera has grown prolifically since moving outdoors. It has spilled out of its pot and now grows along the patio. My husband has pulled off pieces and thrust them into other pots and they thrive too. It’s almost become a forest of aloe vera.
And the colors! Orangy-reds or reddish-oranges tipping yellowish green succulents. I think they may be showing off after getting all that nature-fresh rain. (I don’t think they like tap water nearly as much.)
When you look really closely, you’ll see buds getting ready to open and scabs or spores on the meaty lobes that invite questions and wonderings. I don’t even know the name of this plant. Guess I have some research to do!
I am once again reminded of why I take a photo each day as I experience the joy of discovery. Taking daily photos is my way of taking care of myself, making sure I enjoy the small stuff and avoid being overwhelmed with the negative stuff. I doubt I would have even headed into the backyard without my daily photo practice. Now the question becomes, which photo do I post on Instagram?
So what do you do to infuse beauty and purpose and the appreciation of small things into your life? How do you keep yourself accountable for this self-care practice?
Thinking Through My Lens 