I like meandering through gardens much more than doing the actual work of gardening. I love watching the buds blossom, the bees buzz, smelling the distinct aromas of lavender and tomatoes (maybe not together), I even enjoy a tomato worm sighting (they’re great for a photographic moment!). My backyard is less a garden and more a menagerie of plants. An eclectic mix of succulents (there’s an aloe plant that has gone wild and has at least tripled in size over the years–it started as a gift in a small pot), potted lavender, a few cacti and sago palms, and who knows what else. Plants that overgrow the kitchen window often get banished to the backyard where they, more often than not, go feral. We do have a small raised garden bed with tomatoes and strawberries that have somehow survived two seasons with minimal attention (and too many insects who often enjoy the fruit before we get there) and we have a couple of blueberry plants.
The blueberry plants have been a challenge. We started with one expensive one, and it promptly tried to die. We adopted a cheaper brother for it and now both seem to be doing great. They each have a wine bottle waterer in their pots to keep them from dying of thirst and they are both jam-packed with blueberries right now! (Is it blueberry season? Is there a blueberry season in Southern California?)
So after taking some photos, I proceeded to harvest some blueberries. I collected quite a haul and after rinsing, my husband and I enjoyed a handful each. There is something so special about blueberries directly from the bush, lightly warmed in the sun.
Thankfully, my husband is a more dedicated gardener than I am. At least they get watered regularly. What treats is your garden offering in these first few days of spring?
On this first day of spring (or is actually the 4th day of summer?), I shared Raymond Souster’s poem aptly titled, “Spring” with the first graders in my class. I could hear them murmuring…that’s not a poem, it’t too short! This poem, made up of two short sentences, was perfect for this last day of parent conference week.
Our typical process with a weekly poem is that I read it aloud first, then students repeat the lines of the poem after me, and then they contribute what they have noticed. Today with this lovely short poem (maybe as short as our winter), I invited students to volunteer to read the poem aloud. So many volunteer readers at this time of the year, we heard the poem in voice after voice. (It’s about rain and roots meeting in a flower). Students noticed the two stanzas, the two sentences, a few even counted out the words. They recognized the science in the first stanza and the metaphor in the second. They even pointed out some phonics-related vowel patterns in the words. They illustrated the poem and added it to their ever growing poetry anthology.
After recess I asked them to write a description of spring using metaphorical thinking. Actually, we had practiced some of these orally earlier in the day, and they were so confident then that I asked them to write three metaphors for spring (on the hopes that they would be varied and more interesting as they pushed past their first attempt). I handed them each a large index card and asked them to write their metaphors. A calm settled, and of course a few students asked if they could write more than three.
I’m counting this as a success when not a single student expressed doubt or mystery about what I was asking them to do…and that everyone easily wrote more than one spring-inspired metaphor. I collected their metaphors and picked one from each child to produce a collaborative Spring Is… metaphor poem.
And on yesterday’s neighborhood walk I couldn’t resist stopping to take a photo of this flower beginning to unfurl–a metaphor of spring in a photo for me!
What would you contribute to this collaborative metaphorical collection about spring?
Yesterday the time change didn’t seem to have any impact on me. Today, however, it is playing havoc with my internal clock. A meeting went late, I had emails to write before I left school, and I arrived home still needing my walk. Luckily, the time change meant the walk was lovely, still bright and sunny out rather than in the shadowy dusk.
All that pushed dinner late, along with a fun phone call with my son and grandsons. It feels like it’s 6pm, but the clock is telling me something different. Will I get all my “stuff” done and still get to bed at a reasonable hour so that tomorrow will allow me to be well-rested and at my best?
I don’t know if that will work out. But back to that walk…it is wonderful taking a sunlit walk in the evening. I was drawn to the trees (probably related to some tree study I did with students today–more about that later). And they were showing off their new spring finery…and we’re still over a week away from the official start of spring.
So, while my body tries to adjust to clocks, I will enjoy the trees. I hope you do too.
The calendar says that spring is a couple of weeks away, but the weather seems to be putting us all in a state of confusion. Of course I made it worse on myself by heading to Kona, HI during our February break and feeling all the summer feels: warm water, warm weather…no need for a jacket, even in the evening. Flowers were in bloom, the landscape was lush…no wonder people call it paradise.
Orchid and tropical plants in bloom in Hawaii in February
Here at home in Southern California, we’re often accused of having only two seasons: spring and summer. Where I live it never snows, but I’ve been zipped up in my down puffer jacket all week. When the highs are in the low 60s and wind is blowing hard off the ocean, it feels cold. Rain (rare in these parts) is beginning as I write and expected for the next few days. I know, I know…weather is much rougher in other places and I acknowledge that I have it easy here.
I started this post because I had noticed that it seems that spring has sprung around here. Our blueberry plants in the backyard are in blossom with fruit beginning to ripen. Trees are beginning to bud and Trader Joe’s has their daffodil bunches piled up so we can all have a vase of sunshine in our homes. I just heard on the news that the Carlsbad Flower Fields are open and the ranunculas are in bloom while the meteorologist reported a winter weather warning and the snow level down to 4000 ft (which means we’ll have snow in the local mountains)…and just to add to the weather conundrum, Daylight Saving Time is back on Sunday and we spring forward!
So tonight we have hunkered down with chili and cornbread while the rain begins a gentle pitter patter, a backbeat to the sound of my keyboard. I’m going to enjoy this little winter interlude and sip hot chocolate while wrapped in a blanket for a few more days before barreling full-speed into spring and all the craziness that is spring in schools. Is my weather conundrum solved? Probably not!
If you want to know when it’s spring, don’t bother with a calendar, just walk into my first grade classroom. The energy is palpable. Those babies that entered the classroom at the end of last summer are growing into knowledgeable and sassy almost second graders. They are readers and writers and fact collectors extraordinaire (although fact-checking is not yet in their realm of expertise). So what do you do at the end of conference week when it feels like the classroom is fitting like last year’s t-shirt–way too tight? Head out to the garden…with iPads in hand!
We’d been out in the garden with our notebooks earlier in the week–observing carefully in the spirit of Jane Goodall. So on Friday I asked students to go back to the place where they observed earlier in the week and find three photos to take. I reminded them of the photography techniques we had learned and set them loose to explore. There was the insect on the screen that first caught students’ attention. The lizard almost created a need for crowd control as these little paparazzi swarmed the cold-blooded sunbathers against the brick wall. They photographed strawberries, broccoli, fruit tree flowers, aloe, and who knows what else.
Yesterday, we studied the poem, Things to do if you are Rain by Elaine Magliaro. We noticed her action words (polka-dot sidewalks, freckle windowpanes…) and did not miss the metaphor of the rain tap dancing on the rooftop. After choosing one of their photos as the subject, they set off to write their own Things to do… poems. And since it’s mid March, I asked them to include three things in their poems: action, a comparison, and some metaphorical thinking.
We ran out of time…which I should say was intentional planning on my part. It wasn’t, but I am reminded of the value of time away from a draft if you want the young writer to really take another look and make the piece better. Using my poem as an example, we read it carefully, looking for the action, the comparison, and the metaphorical thinking. Then they went back to their drafts to finish them and to make them better. And they did.
O took one of those infamous lizard photos and wrote a short but sweet piece.
Things to do if you are a Lizard
Climb up walls like a snake.
Climb up on a sun on a bright green stem.
Run fast, fast, fast, fast!
Grow back your tail.
G found a flower in one of the garden beds, stretching a bit further with her words.
Things to do if you are a Flower
Reach for the sun
get picked into a bouquet
Blossom in spring
Be in a wedding and shine like the sun
Enjoy your life
Share life and health and happiness
Shine like the bright yellow sun
Tap dance in the breeze like a bird’s chirp is music
Send invitations to animals far and wide
to pollinate and see you bloom into
the prettiest flower
F is one of those quick-to-get-done students and thought he had finished yesterday. Today’s mini lesson was the perfect nudge to get him to push himself a bit further–although there’s still some room for growth.
Things to do if you are a Strawberry
Be red and shiny.
Let yourself grow!
Don’t let bugs eat you!
Have a big family that lives on a big bush.
Your petals help you grow and get washed by the rain.
The strawberries are like red poinsettia flowers.
Red strawberries shine like rubies.
Red roses are like ripe strawberries.
And of course, I had to get in on the fun!
Things to do if you are a Yellow Broccoli Flower
Shoot towards the bright blue sky
Soak up the sun in your bright yellow flowers
Sway in the breeze like you’re dancing the tango
Send invitations to the pollinators: Party at Broccoli’s house–all are welcome
Shed your petals and become part of a child’s healthy dinner
As I finish this post, the spring equinox announces that spring has sprung. Welcome Spring! (Although the first graders have been feeling your presence all month!)
On this day that celebrates all things green, my backyard beckoned. I headed out with my camera, zoomed in close, taking delight in evidence of spring as the days lengthen and temperatures warm.
Nature’s mathematical miracles spiraling toward spring
I love tulips! They seem to scream spring. Thank goodness that our local Trader Joe’s offers these seasonal blooms for a reasonable price.
On Sunday I bought a bouquet of yellow blooms to take into the classroom. Since I had planned a project where my students would draw and paint a tulip still life, a splurge of bright yellow flowers seemed just right. And add to the equation that it is parent conference week, I couldn’t not buy them, right?
So now they are sitting in a mason jar on the table in the classroom. When I walked in this morning, the first thing I noticed is that they had changed since I left yesterday. Tulips seem to dance and sway, even as they sit in a vase with no wind around at all. I love to watch the blossoms open, becoming rounder and more dynamic.
I’m enjoying these little bits of sunshine as I teach and as I talk with parents. And with rain expected tomorrow, I’m thinking I will appreciate them even more. Two days of sunshine and warm weather are teasing thoughts of spring…and with spring break just a few days away, spring is on the brain.
So why do I feel the need to justify the purchase of a bouquet of tulips? I don’t hesitate to splurge on a latte now and then. I think I need to treat myself to a few more flowers–maybe especially for the classroom–to bring that spring feeling inside and to make each day feel more special and more festive.
There are those out there who would say it’s ridiculous to look for signs of spring where I live–they might even say there are only 2 seasons here: spring and summer. But those people would be wrong.
It’s funny, but since the “official” change of seasons on Monday, it seems like signs of spring are everywhere (in spite of A LOT of rain this week). The tree in front of my classroom has pulled on its gorgeous light green dress of leaves…that green that seems only visible in early spring. Just a week ago I was noticing a few leaves popping…and today, it’s showing its full glory.
The succulents in my backyard, those that don’t get very much attention at any time of the year, are suddenly showing off. While always pretty in their own succulent right, right now they are sporting new buds and blossoms-to-be.
The air too is different. Even though storms have still been rushing through, the temperatures are noticeably warmer and I find myself opting for lighter jackets and relishing the warmth of the sun on my shoulders when it pokes its way out from behind the clouds.
Are you experiencing signs of spring in your part of the world? What do your signs looks like, feel like, smell like, sound like, maybe even taste like?
Even with the best of intentions, my first poem for the first of 30 days of National Poetry Month is posted on day 2! Blame the road trip I set off on yesterday and the many other distractions that accompanied that start. But, alas, here is the poem…and expect another later today to “catch up”.
It’s jacaranda season. The time of year when the trees burst into purple flower, spreading cheer and news of springtime.
While the trees are not native to our area, they are iconic in our area. I even just read that they are the official (non-native) tree of San Diego (as of 2000). Apparently it was Kate Sessions (the tree lady) who brought these beauties here and made sure they were planted all over the city.
In full bloom, these trees are beautiful. They are fragrant and their color ranges from bluish purple to these in my neighborhood of the more pinkish purple variety. My eye is always drawn to them as I turn the corner to drive into our neighborhood.
They’re messy…but such a beautiful harbinger of spring in our area. There are places in our city where the ground will be covered in these purple flowers as the blooms begin to drop.
Cue music: imagine Prince and Purple Rain. The city becomes carpeted in purple, like our own version of the yellow brick road. Raining down from above, purple blossoms are everywhere. They fall into your hair, stick to the bottom of your shoes, and cast a magical hue as spring begins to shift to summer.
Thinking Through My Lens 