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.
Today’s #verselove prompt from Susan was about communications. She focused on notes from the past. But with Earth Day on Monday, I am thinking about communications with our planet, with nature–how we can build a symbiosis between humans and our planet.
Prewriting and walking–they go together for me. As I walked the beach today in the cool spring sunshine, poetry began to form. What I haven’t learned yet is how to capture those fleeting thoughts while I am in motion. By the time i get home with my notebook, specifics have flown…I have to reach back in my mind to reconstruct, rethink, revive, and revise the nascent poetics.
Inspired by Kim Johnson’s prompt for #verselove over at Ethical ELA, I wrote about a sunset over San Luis Obispo (SLO) (which was also inspired by the tree posing in the setting sun).
What are your favorite things to do on a rainy Saturday?
It’s not a top ten list, but here are 5 things I did today.
Wake up slowly to the music of raindrops dancing on the roof. Snuggle back under the covers, letting the rhythm sing me back to sleep for another half hour or so.
Hang out in jammies while catching up on a few shows that have been building up in the DVR (yes, we still have a DVR) while drinking a delicious Geoff-made chai tea latte.
Read (from two novels) during the day without feeling guilty that I should be catching up on work that is still lingering. Okay–make that without too much guilt–there is always lingering work!
Pull on a raincoat and take a walk between the raindrops. Step carefully over the snails that have arrived for the rainy day snail convention and be sure to notice the raindrops hanging like jewels from the bird of paradise.
Curl up in the cozy chair, cover up with a comfy throw blanket, open up the laptop and leisurely catch up on some of that lingering work…on my own terms.
Do you ever get that prickly feeling? You know, when the littlest things get under your skin, rub you the wrong way, creating an irritation that you can’t seem to shake?
Prickly pear cactus-Joshua Tree National Park
Maybe it was the fire alarm with its robotic voice demanding that I leave the building. Of course that was once a colleague knocked persistently on my office door to alert me since the announcement was only audible in the hallways and not in the offices.
I didn’t even hesitate. I packed my things, locked my office, walked down five flights of stairs (“Do not use the elevator,” the voice reminded!), got in my car and headed home. (I know, what a luxury to be able to work from home when chased out of my office–and it’s Spring Break at the university so my colleagues were mostly absent.). Of course, in that fit of annoyance, I forgot about the Zoom call I had scheduled! Luckily, that colleague was flexible and forgiving and we were able to fit it in once I got home.
The pins and needles of the to-do list loomed. Emails needed sending, reports needed reading, an agenda needed planning…and then there’s the article I haven’t gotten back to. And I almost forgot–that “abusive behavior in the workplace” training module that I have pushed to the bottom of the list right up to the deadline (which was today).
But, the house was quiet and my meeting load was lighter than usual (thank you UC Spring Break). As I crossed item after item off the list, those pokes and prods lessened and I began to appreciate the beauty and functionality of those pesky prickly spines.
Of course, there are still items that need doing. And…my own Spring Break begins once school ends tomorrow! Now to switch hats, finish my lesson plans, get that newsletter written, schedule the parent email… Wait…I think that prickly feeling is getting under my skin again!
Math is everywhere. That’s what I’m always telling my students. But at 6 and 7 years old, my students mostly think math is either counting things one by one or solving equations someone else puts on a page for them.
So I’m trying to get in the habit of finding math in my own daily life. And somedays I’m pretty good at it. On a walk in a local downtown I saw these boxes of books at the local used book store. What perfect math for students (or just ordinary people) to think about. What question(s) might you ask to evoke a mathematical response?
When I see these local trashcans I want to challenge my first graders to figure out how many tiles there are without counting each individually. How might you figure it out? Is there more than one strategy to help figure it out?
There’s the holes in this drain. Is there an easy way to count them? How might you keep track?
Today we headed out on our playground in search of math. But I’m not so sure that I managed to convey how to look for math. Some students noticed the squares of the climbing ladder on the play structure and were figuring out how many were outlined by the ropes. The inaccuracy of their sketches were definitely not helping them find the solution.
When I prompted, “Do you see any fractions?” a few students were able to see the eight “slices” outlined on the floor of the spinning merry go round thing–and could even articulate that each was an eighth.
But I see that more practice and maybe a bit more direction are still in order. I think I may practice by showing my students one of these photos and then asking some questions to provoke a mathematical response.
So, let me practice on you. What mathematical situations might come from the close up of these balls on the cart in the playground?
I didn’t grow up going to National Parks–and to be honest, I didn’t take my sons to National Parks either. But somehow, weirdly enough, I became a hiker after my kids left home.
I think it’s photography that turned me on to hiking. When I decided to take a photo every day, I needed to actively seek out interesting things to photograph. That led me to spend lots of time at our local beaches…and to somehow become interested in exploring other natural spaces…including National Parks.
At this point I have been to a number of National Parks–in my state and far beyond. I’ve been to some once and to others multiple times. So when I had the opportunity to visit Joshua Tree on Saturday, I was all in!
It’s a good 3+ hour drive from home, so making the trip from Palm Springs shortened the commute by more than 2 hours–making a day trip reasonable.
I was somewhat optimistically hoping for a super bloom (I did visit during a super bloom a few years back), but it’s a bit early and a bit chilly for the blooms yet. Instead we found some short hikes and headed off to enjoy the local flora and fauna.
Joshua Tree is a place where rock climbers gather, testing their skills on nature’s beautiful rock formations. I was mesmerized as I watched climbers with ropes navigate up the sides of giant boulders. They worked in teams, searching for toe holds and crevices as they pulled their bodies up inch by inch. And of course, I had to take photos along the way.
Thank goodness for the little girl who noticed the snake I almost stepped on! Look at the snake she called, and a I turned around to see a snake just a short distance from me. Luckily it was a desert rosy boa on a slow (it was still chilly out) meander across the trail. We all enjoyed the sight and the photo op before continuing on our way.
But when in Joshua Tree, the highlight is always the Joshua trees. The rain this year and last has been good for them. They are looking green and happy–especially compared to the visit during the extreme drought when they were not looking so good. These trees are interesting, somehow a cross between cactus and tree. The park looked almost like a forest, with Joshua’s spotting the high desert environment.
Do you have a favorite National Park? Maybe some other beautiful natural space I really shouldn’t miss? I appreciate any recommendations.
If you get a chance, take a trip to Joshua Tree. It’s totally worth it!
The drive to and from Palm Springs from San Diego is not a particularly pleasant one. One thing you can always count on is traffic–especially through the Riverside area. It is one of the reasons we decided to extend the trip and not drive home on Friday evening.
So today we spent the day in Joshua Tree National Park (more on that tomorrow) and got lucky enough to escape most of the weather (high winds and rain) forecasted for Palm Springs today midday.
Anticipating a not-so-fun drive home today, we decided that we HAD to stop at the quirky roadside attraction not far from Palm Springs–the Cabazon Dinosaurs. We have visited the attraction before, but who wouldn’t want to stop and take photos of a 150 foot long hot pink apatosaurus (formerly known as brontosaurus) and a 65 foot tall T-Rex dressed in a tux?
We’ve learned through the grapevine (and now through personal experience) that the dinosaurs are palnted differently during different seasons. The last time we saw the dinosaurs T-Rex was wearing a bunny suit (in anticipation of Easter, I think) and our son reported them decked out in Christmas colors when they visited Palm Springs in December.
We had relished the 85 degree days during my conference in Palm Springs and enjoyed the day in the mid-60s and sunny up in the high desert of Joshua Tree. As we drove back down from 5000 feet toward sea level we noticed the clouds gathered in a huge pile over the mountains that surround Palm Springs and water splatters began to hit the car window. Suddenly the winds increased and the rain poured as we turned off onto the 10 freeway.
Should we stop to the see the dinos in the pouring rain?
We decided we’d at least pull off the freeway and take a look. Maybe the rain would stop in a couple of minutes.
Instead of being pelted by rain, we were treated to a rainbow. Definitely made that drive home a little bit better! Moral of the story: make time for silly fun–the rewards will be many!
What quirky roadside attractions have you visited? Any that you would recommend to others?
Thinking Through My Lens 