Footwear in my daily life usually involves flip flops, tennis shoes, and whatever “fashionable” shoes I decide to wear to work.  Footwear on this trip to the Pacific Northwest has taught me the importance and value of my hiking boots.  I brought them thinking I would need them on days when we decided to do some “real” hiking–but I have worn them everyday…walking on the beach, on the mountain, in the forest, and around town.  Here’s a little ode to my hiking boots:

In My Hiking Boots

 

In my hiking boots

I explore wild and windy coastlines

briny breezes upending my hair

spectacular vistas soothing my eyes

 

In my hiking boots

I climb snowy mountains

strapped to red snowshoes

breathing in unspoiled air with my head in the clouds

 

In my hiking boots

I tromp through forests

of a million shades of green

gazing up at waterfalls

that drop torrents of water

feeding ferns, moss, and a wonderland of wildflowers

 

In my hiking boots

my feet are dry and warm

my heart is full

and life is good.

 

Douillard 2018

This is a gallery of some of the wildflowers I found along my watery hikes today as we went out in search of waterfalls and witches’ houses!

I got another student poem via email today.  Here’s her vision of the night sky…another ode of sorts!

Stars

When the sun melts down into the bleeding horizon,

my twinkling friends appear.

First one, then another, then they all come,

like raindrops falling from the clouds.

They dance as if they are swimming,

making ripples in a watercolored sky.

Their silver images are like a million rockets,

dazzling nocturnal eyes.

Sadie

And here’s another student poem, inspired by Williams’ The Red Wheelbarrow:

The Voice

So much depends upon

People’s voices

Sharp or dull in the day or night

Inside a friend’s heart.

By Kai

What are you appreciating today?  Maybe it will find its way into a poem!