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.
On a bittersweet day, a heading home day, a too long on the highways and byways day, the poetry prompt at #verselove was to write a Sijo. Please don’t count the syllables too closely!
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!
On day two of National Poetry Month the #verselove prompt was to write a coffee share poem…a way to connect and introduce yourself. But after spending my day exploring Death Valley National Park, the coffee shop metaphor didn’t feel quite right. so instead, just come walk with me!
Come walk with me
I’ll tell you about the power of my friend camera
And how it’s changed the way I see the world
Noticing details of salt flats
Almost hexagonal frames surrounding minerals dried in the hotter than hot desert sun
Salt Flats at Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park
Come walk with me
I’ll tell you how walking helps me explore
Taking me out of my head and into nature, even the nearby nature of my backyard
To hear the wind and birdsong and the steady beat of my own heart and feet
Come walk with me
I’ll tell you about the inhale
of hope and possibility that comes with time immersed looking, thinking, breathing
Don’t forget the exhale, breathe out stress and negativity
It’s the first day of National Poetry Month…and that’s no joke! When I awoke this morning I saw that #verselove over at Ethical ELA had a haibun prompt. Hmmm…. I don’t think I have ever written a haibun, but I had just read about it as I reviewed the picture book Wabi Sabithat I will be using with my students after we come back from break. This form begins with some prose poetry and then ends with a Haiku.
So after quite a full first day of spring break…here is my haibun.
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’ll admit it. I’m done with rain. As I may have mentioned (aka complained) before, we’ve nearly reached our annual rainfall total in the first three months of the year (I think the storm this week–some today and more forecasted for tomorrow and Wednesday–will take us over that total). As a classroom teacher, rain tends to make me grumpy. All the wet stuff, the missed recesses, the eating in the classroom, the pent up energy…ugh.
But, instead of complaining, I’m going to switch it up on myself and find some reasons to love rain–even in the classroom!
Here I go…
Super bloom! Our local plants are loving this water and we are already seeing hints of the bloom to come. It won’t be long until cactus as in full flower, trees are already dressing in their best green leaves, and the ever invasive black mustard is showing off its showy yellow best (and getting taller by the minute).
Music to my ears. The drip drop of rain is wonderfully soothing if you take the time to listen. Just last week, my students and I took a few minutes to soak in the sounds. Those few minutes of the rhythm of the rain were priceless.
No need to wash the car. With the regularly occurring rainstorms, my car is staying pretty much dust-free. A few swipes of the windshield wiper and the windows are clear. This is probably the cleanest my car has been in years!
Makes Elaine Maglioaro’s Things to do if you are Rain incredible relevant–and perfect to study tomorrow. What better activity to do when it is raining than read a poem about rain?
Quiet time with kids as they trickle in before school. Instead of playing on the playground and lining up for me to pick them up, on rainy days the kids trickle in a few at a time. I feel like I get a chance to check in with kids when things are quiet, a softer more mellow start to the day than is typical. I love the informality of it.
Raincoats and rain boots get some use! I bought a pair of colorful, fun rain boots a few years back–and wore them at most a couple of times before this year. This year, my rain boots and my cowboy boots are both getting some love. Same for my raincoats!
Drought relief. After all the misery that accompanies extreme drought, it’s nice to get a bit of relief. While we are certainly not out of the woods when it comes to adequate rainfall and enough water to meet the demands of our region, it is nice to see our state drought map begin to ease and reservoirs begins to fill. Hopefully this will also decrease some of the wild fire danger this year.
It’s cozy. Even though my ideal rainy day would be spent curled up in my own home with the fireplace blazing, a cup of tea at my elbow and a good book in hand, I do like the coziness of rain at school too. It’s fun to experience rain through the eyes of children–their pure joy at the wonders of nature as we all hunker down, enjoying the indoors is nice (on a limited basis–of course).
No recess duty. Tuesday is my day for recess duty–both before school and during our afternoon recess. But if it really rains as predicted, I will have a duty-free day. Of course, I will have my own students during those times but an occasional break from recess duty is always welcome. And it’s always great to not have to go outside and watch kids when it’s cold and windy (as tomorrow is promising, along with the rain).
Opportunities for new and different photos. A change in the weather means new opportunities for photography. What will I notice on the rain slicked streets? Where will rain drops stage themselves? What new beauty will reveal itself?
Reflection in a puddle on the playground
Hopefully I will be loving the rain tomorrow instead of griping about it. All my grumps will be put away for a while as I remind myself of all the reasons to love rain.
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 