Poetry Friday

I've missed posting for almost two months, but happy to jump in late with a favorite poem by Kristine O'Connell George.  Last week we finally had some cool weather, so my daughter and her husband tried out the fire pit at their housewarming.  I was too stuffed for s'mores, but did manage to roast one marshmallow to perfection.  When I was teaching, late summer was a time of preparation for the new school year. Retirement provides me additional time to savor summer and revel in two more weeks until school starts and summer officially ends.  

Toasting Marshmallows by Kristine O'Connell George

"I am a careful marshmallow toaster,

a patient marshmallow roaster,

turning my stick oh-so-slowly,

taking my time, checking often.

This is art---"

You can read the rest of the poem here.

                                                                  Head over to Reading to the Core

for this week's roundup of poetry love. 

Thanks for hosting, Catherine!

Tuesday SOL: Goodbye Book Links

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 

to the Tuesday Slice of Life (SOL) community.

Thanks to Stacey, Tara, Betsy, Dana, Beth, Anna, Kathleen, and Deb
for hosting this meeting place each Tuesday and nurturing our writing lives.

Goodbye, Book Links, my old friend,

It’s time to part with you for good.

You were my link at a time when I was needy, in the 80s,

A teacher turned mom-at-home.  You kept me up-to-date

on a world I missed.  Every issue had colorful sticky notes

peeking out of the pages with topics of articles I loved.

I made copies of articles for my files.  But most of all,

I requested books from the library.  And then I

reveled in staying connected to the world of books

and sharing books with my own children,

their teachers, my friends, other young people,

anyone who would listen.    

I was a confirmed book nerd, and in your pages 

I discovered members of my own tribe – contributors

and authors I gleefully followed in your pages. 

I returned to the classroom, third grade and then

sixth grade, always with you by my side leading me

to new books and authors, articles addressing timely topics,

and entire issues devoted to specific themes.

I was devastated when you merged with Booklist. 

For awhile, my subscription extended to include

Booklist delivered with my Book Links.   Eventually

that perk ended and so did my subscription. 

I still find myself occasionally picking up a recent edition

of Book Links (published quarterly now) at the library,

but mostly I’ve moved on. 

My blogger friends are now my tribe.

They are my community, my peeps

who connect me to the world of books.

Thanks, Book Links, for the part you played at a critical time.

I celebrate the friends I made through your pages, the books

I met through you, your monthly arrival in my mailbox.

I release you, sending your pages to “recycle heaven” knowing

I can access your wealth of knowledge with a few keystrokes,

with gratitude for the friendships gained through your pages. 

Celebrate This Week!

                                      Join us each weekend for Celebrate This Week with Ruth Ayres.  

 When we pause to celebrate, we find the joy.

  A week filled with moments to celebrate and remember!

1.  FREE THE BLACKBERRIES!

I'm celebrating that I did SOMETHING instead of just complaining.  It may not yield any results, but I tried.  No, it's not earth shattering, and it won't change the world.

But I hate to see such a bounteous harvest go to waste.

 Here's a picture to give you a glimpse of the problem:

A building project has fenced off one of my favorite spots for picking blackberries.  That building project is for a new elementary school in our district.  

I wiggled my greedy hand through the chain link in pursuit of a perfect blackberry, and almost got my hand stuck.  Then I stopped a surveyor in the next block

and requested that they open the fence during the day so folks could pick the blackberries.  Then I went one step further and stopped by the district office.

A receptionist sent an email to the project manager.  Will we get to pick the blackberries from behind the fence?  I hope so, but even if we don't,

I celebrate that I did SOMETHING besides complain.  

2.  RAIN!   

It rained on Tuesday and it rained on Friday.
Normally, we don't take pictures of rain in the Northwest, but we've had
such a dry summer.  This is definite cause for celebration!  

3.  LUNCH WITH FRIENDS!

It's great to live in the community where I taught so I can visit

 teaching friends to share cookie bars and summer happenings over lunch.

4.  BABY LOVE!

Stefi sent me this picture of Blake holding a
friend's baby during church with this caption:

"Blake is a baby whisperer."

And I got to hold Coleen's granddaughter, Taylor, during church.

She's the cutie that I babysat last Saturday during Rico's wedding. 

5. BOOK LOVE!

I relished Friday's rainy afternoon for getting lost in

The War that Saved my Life by Kimberly Bradley, a book that I'm loving!

It reminds me of Good Night, Mister Tom by Michelle Magorian. 
I went looking for the author at KCLS, only to discover that it's 
no longer in their collection.  Sorry, Ms. Gaffney, but I may have to
retrieve my copy from the collection I donated to your classroom.  

 I finished my audio book, Sugar, by Jewell Parker Rhodes.
Wonderful historical fiction!  I picked it up because I loved her book Ninth Ward.

 I started my next audio book, Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan.

Now if I could just schedule more car time and a road trip . . . 

Something tells me that this book will make
the trek from car to computer this week!

Read more about our summer gathering of Books, Brownies, and Beyond  
with this lovely group of readers at Sweet Summer Reads!

Tuesday SOL: I Need a Business Card!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 

to the Tuesday Slice of Life (SOL) community.

Thanks to Stacey, Tara, Betsy, Dana, Beth, Anna, Kathleen, and Deb
for hosting this meeting place each Tuesday and nurturing our writing lives.

I stand in the lobby of the Seattle library, waiting for the elevator to the parking garage. Out of the corner of my eye, I watch two young ladies with large stacks of books waiting for the elevator too.   I stretch (my OLW for this year), trying to decipher book titles from where I'm standing.  I'm sure these are middle schoolers, and I'm curious about their choices.  Unfortunately, some of the books are turned with titles to the inside.  One of the books falls off the top of a stack.  The mom bends to help out, the daughter opens a book bag, and I lament a lost opportunity to peruse her summer titles.

We step onto the elevator together.  After explaining that I'm a retired teacher who hosts a book club for middle school students, I ask the girls what they've been reading this summer.  We continue chatting while their mom pays for parking.  I inquire about the school they attend. As they walk away, I wish I had shared Sweet Summer Reads (my blog geared to middle school readers) with them.  I even think about running after them to mention it, but it's an underground garage.  No need to frighten them with my over exuberance about books.

When I pull around to the leave the garage, they are coming from the other direction and motion me to go first.  I think about hopping out to tell them about my blog, but don't do it. After all, it is an underground parking garage.  I might startle them, and someone else might come up behind one of us while I'm chatting.

And that's when I decide that it's definitely time to get a card printed with the name of my blog and the blog address.  I'm just not sure what to call myself:  Blogger and Book Lover, Bibliophile and Blogger, Retired Teacher Still Blabbing about Books.  How about it?  Can you help me with a job title to go on my business card?   I refuse to miss another opportunity to share my love of books with the next random book lover I bump into.

Celebrate This Week!

            Join us each weekend for Celebrate This Week with Ruth Ayres.  

 When we pause to celebrate, we find the joy.

  A week filled with moments to celebrate and remember!

When I'm stumped about what to celebrate, I peruse my pics. 

Join me for this visual feast of the past week:

Hydrangeas near the library

Summer sky at dusk 

Quote for book lovers at Island Books

Mimosa trees in bloom

A walk with these two to explore two playgrounds-
I'd forgotten how all consuming trucks, planes, and bugs
are to young boys.  

Spied this gorgeous rose while watering a friend's flowers 

This arrangement arrived because I watched a friend's
grandkids (my pleasure) during a wedding  and
these tomatoes were my reward for watering a friend's garden.

Tuesday SOL: If you give a baker a zucchini...

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 

to the Tuesday Slice of Life (SOL) community.

Thanks to Stacey, Tara, Betsy, Dana, Beth, and Anna

for hosting this meeting place each Tuesday 

                                                      and nurturing our writing lives.

If you give me some zucchini from your garden . . . 
chances are it won't end up on the table as a vegetable for dinner.
I'll start wondering about my mom's chocolate zucchini cake recipe,
so I'll call my sister Kay in California to see if she has the recipe.
When I call back the next day, I learn that Kay doesn't have the recipe, 
and we get sidetracked searching online for a jelly roll pan 
with a lid just the right size for yum yum cake.
Kay mentions that she found a recipe on the internet.  
She emails a copy to me, but never sure about internet recipes,
I turn to my tried and true cookbooks.
In a 1983 church cookbook given to me by Barb, 
I find Leslie's recipe for Chocolate Zucchini Cake.
I swing by Leslie's to ask about the chocolate chips,
1/2 cup for the cake? and more for the topping? 
She's not home, so I phone and leave a message.  
She calls me back and says 1/2 cup plus a bit more
in the batter with a generous sprinkling on top.
You have to love a cook who loves chocolate!
I wait for the cool of morning to bake the cake.  
I make a mess grating the zucchini and discover
that my baking powder expired in Jan. 2014
which may account for some recent baking failures.
So I head to the grocery store for new baking powder.  
I finally finish assembling the cake, throw it in the oven,
toss the dishes in the sink, and head to the shower.  
A delicious chocolate aroma fills the house!
I cut two slices and pack them in a disposable container 
for my friend Donna that I'm meeting for lunch near the airport.  
I tuck napkins, paper plates, and a  plastic fork in a 
paper sack, a nice treat for later in the day at her hotel.
Too bad I can't add a tall glass of cold milk.  
I dash out the door, typing in the address for her hotel
as I hop into the car.  When I'm several blocks away,
I can't remember if I shut the garage door.
So I call my neighbor, Nancy, who isn't home, and 
then Angelique who is home.  She steps onto her deck
and reports that all the garage doors are shut.  Whew!
I arrive at the hotel, reach into the back seat to 
retrieve the treat I packed . . . only to realize that I 
left it on the island.   So I ask Donna if she would like to see
Mercer Island.  We grab lunch at Bennett's and 
swing by the house for cake on the deck, 
complete with that glass of cold milk.
We're running out to time, but we make a quick stop
at Island Books where we convince Laurie to take our picture.

  

Donna leaves tonight for a 14 day Yukon tour,
her tenth time leading this tour, but the first time 
I've connected with her as she flies through Seattle.  
One of these days I hope to join one of her tours.
Just remember that if you give me a zucchini, 
it's likely that you'll get chocolate cake and a slice of life in return.

Celebrate This Week!

Join us each weekend for Celebrate This Week with Ruth Ayres.  

 When we pause to celebrate, we find the joy.

  A week filled with moments to celebrate and remember!

1.  It's turn the calendar day!

I love turning over calendar pages to a new month.  It's exciting to see a new photo and to ponder the possibilities of August.  I'm trying to savor the moments and stretch myself to accomplish a few things before school starts.  Yes, I'm retired, but heading back for September to finish up the last month of a colleague's maternity leave. 

2.  Dinner at Sara's and Will's place and an evening walk!

Even though the heron was hiding, we did spot this mother duck and her ducklings.

3.  I met Shelly for lunch and shopping (Target, Trader Joe's, and Costco)!
 She recommended The Crimson Field,  a BBC production available online at PBS.
I can't wait to watch Episode 2 today!

4.  The Blue Angels are in town for Seafair!

I've listened to their screams from the security of my deck (avoiding the crowds)

and even managed to capture a couple of pics.  These are stay-at-home days for me.  I still remember the year I ventured east for a quick run to Costco. Even though I could see the exit sign for East Merer Way, I was in bumper-to-bumper stalled traffic
on I-90 for the duration of the air show.  

5.  I read three MG books in July!

Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer by Kelly Jones
is part of my planned chicken trilogy for the summer.  
Love, Ruby Lavender was June's chicken read.
Next up is Chicken Boy by Frances O'Roark Dowell.
I may need to expand my trilogy since Ms. O'Malley,
the librarian in Jones' book, mentioned three more chicken books.

I've added Lost in the Sun and Circus Mirandus to my list of Newbery possibilities.
I just finished Lost in the Sun last night and can't stop thinking about it. 

 I've surveyed my stacks of WTR (want to read) books
and the winner for next read goes to . . .  drum roll, please . . .
 Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan!

6.  DC trip to visit Stefi and Blake is rescheduled from Labor Day to Veteran's Day!