A friend posted on Facebook that if she could have any question answered, she would ask God why humans were so made to be so different, varying in height and weight and color and language—we are so variable, unlike zebras or elephants or monkeys, which are about the same, she wrote. A mutual friend suggested … Continue reading NATURAL VARIATION
Month: May 2018
BIRTHDAY CAKE
I like to bake. I like baking cakes even more than eating them. I like eating pie better, but baking a pie is never as satisfying as cake. I don't know why that is. Let month, I was asked to make a cake for my youngest grandchild, an honor. Today we are celebrating our only … Continue reading BIRTHDAY CAKE
‘I Told Him, I Said’
It's been a while since men at my school considered it appropriate to make a retirement speech suggesting that a male teacher was putting moves on a teenage girl. Ten years? Maybe longer. Maybe not so long ago. Not long enough. I heard them make such remarks and others. The promise of a better grade … Continue reading ‘I Told Him, I Said’
METAPHOR FOR GIRLS
Pododesmus macrochisma: METAPHOR FOR GIRLS Each morning I walk the sand, searching for what my grandmother misnamed the "ugly clams" caught in foam left behind by a retreating wave or stranded high on shore from last night's tide. Smaller than my thumb or filling my palm, they might come to rest among seaweeds torn … Continue reading METAPHOR FOR GIRLS
BIRD STORIES
In the last week: band-tailed pigeons and Eurasian doves, Steller's jays and a single scrub jay, robins and goldfinches, red-wing blackbirds, song sparrows, hummingbirds, crows and ravens, bald eagles, red-tailed hawk, black oystercatchers, gulls, whimbrels, Canada geese and brown pelicans, and a mixed flock of semi-palmated plovers and dunlins (this latter with distinct dark bellies—I … Continue reading BIRD STORIES
YELLOW
So yes, I know: buttercups and warm lights, the shadows on a polar bear and pollen. Lemon curd sauce and angel pie, the afternoon light glowing in the living room. Gold on my fingers, the tint of big leaf maples in September. Bananas, egg yolks, buttered corn. Caution signs, dandelions, honey bees. Even so. The … Continue reading YELLOW
BRAIN POWER
The brain is a greedy organ*. I heard once that Einstein used the same energy when he was thinking hard that a marathon runner would be using about mile 25. I am thinking a lot these days. I am revising curriculum on the fly because my tiny writing class needs to become a more muscular … Continue reading BRAIN POWER
GOOD WORK
Teaching is not like working at Taco Bell. Teaching is different. Teaching is the profession I love. But before I entered teaching, I had other jobs. When I was a college student, back when it was much easier to do so, I worked to support myself and pay my public university tuition and expenses. My … Continue reading GOOD WORK
TAKING ART OUT OF THE BOX
When I became licensed as a K-12 Art teacher in 1976, I knew it was unlikely that I would find a job teaching students younger than high school age. Those little kids I worked with in my field experiences would never be mine for more than a few hours during my one-week assignment. Most districts considered … Continue reading TAKING ART OUT OF THE BOX
‘Can We Talk About Race?’
I remember when I first understood that “Negro” had gone the way of “colored.” In the late 60s, I walked home from school and explained this to my mother: “Don’t say that word, ‘Negro’. Say ‘black’,” and because we were that kind of family, Mom and I discussed respect for a long time. Years later … Continue reading ‘Can We Talk About Race?’
IMPERFECT PATIENCE 