Picture Perfect
Big brother
picks up
little sisters
from nursery
and lovingly
guides them
in search
of Mom
and Dad.
This is my twelfth year to write a slice of life each day during the month of March. Thank
you Two Writing Teachers for creating this challenge and providing the
space and support for us year after year. And thanks to this magnificent
community for sharing stories with me and encouraging my writing life.
In the merry month of March, I may sometimes spend more time reading and commenting than I do writing! I'm focusing on new slicers I've read over the past few days for this quick check-in with 13 first time slicers for Day 13. Who am I kidding? There was nothing quick about this post. When I visit a new slicer, I often get lost in past posts too.
1. You thought Flair was the name of your favorite writing instrument. It turns out that Flair, Canada's ultra-low-cost carrier, cancelled this slicer's flight and booked it for 3 days later! You may want to read the continuing saga at One Thing Each Day, Just One.
2. Mazerly Musings is celebrating her lucky 37th birthday!
3. Enticed to stop by because the blog title had "bookmarks" in it, I was not disappointed by skybecker's poem,"Nighttime Sounds."
4. Margaret shares her process for creating found poetry before doing it with students. She teaches in a bilingual school so students can choose to create in French or English.
5. A taunting piano at the Charleston airport! I was definitely pulling for The Bam Cam to tickle those ivories. And there's another story within the story.
6. Purple passion through the decades. Is it acquired or inherited? Check out Slices of March and the beautiful floral header on the blog.
7. Another birthday celebration. Yep! Teach JH's family has four male members with birthdays within ten days of each other. Plenty of cake & lots of laughter.
8. Just Your Average Teacher woke up to snow, but that doesn't keep her from thinking about spring break, hiking at national parks, and being outside in just one more week.
9. Come back, Beth! When I clicked on Beth's blog, I remembered that I had left an earlier comment. I grabbed my little book of quotes and jotted down the words from her Sacred post that I want to remember. And then I read her Neil Armstrong slice and her Quiet Safe Space slice about how she calmed her grumbling, rumbling fifth graders. I'm not sure why you left (life, probably) but I hope you and your words will come back. Come whenever it works for you.
10. Deep Thoughts as a blog title stopped my scroll! The post Baby Kisses was precious. I like Jenna's style of free verse poetry. And isn't a baby kiss the most perfect poem ever?
11. From baby kisses to "Stomach bugs and baby hugs. . . " Elyse's Expressions (love the alliteration in that blog title) made me pause the scroll. She even has a few pics of her sweet Zekie. This grandma never tires of parenting slices.
12. I met Narita at our Slicer's Sunday Special. April (formerly known as Gregory) greets Narita on her morning runs.
13. David, a high school science teacher in Kentucky, takes his students outside for a bit of daily wonder. I loved taking my students outside. I couldn't stop with just one of David's poems. He's new to slicing, but not new to blogging.
So there you have it, 13 stops at the blogs of first year slicers. And a promise kept, even though I delayed it for one day. I love this community and March (even though I spend way more time reading and commenting than I should). Off to face my daily tasks. It's almost noon.
Even though I didn't link to the slicers I mentioned on Day 11, I wanted to include links for these new to slicing folks. You might want to stop by and leave a comment. Can someone solve the mystery of why some of my linked posts show up in blue and some in gray? Sometimes Blogger drives me crazy!
This is my twelfth year to write a slice of life each day during the month of March. Thank you Two Writing Teachers for creating this challenge and providing the space and support for us year after year. And thanks to this magnificent community for sharing stories with me and encouraging my writing life.
A long time ago when I complained about the midnight deadline (9 PM for those of us on Pacific Time) for slices, Stacey encouraged me to write at night and post for the next day. I've only done that a few times, but this week calls for me to get ahead of the game, at least for a few days.
So I pulled a few books off the shelf to bring you this year's book spine poem in honor of all the seasons. I didn't have a winter book, but found one when I raided the grands' book basket.
Open a world of possible
Stopping by woods on a snowy evening
Peach blossom spring
Cooper sun
A fall of marigolds
Wonderland
The only book I've read in the stack is Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost and newly illustrated (2022) by P. J. Lynch (with a young woman as the rider of the horse). You may know P. J. Lynch best as the illustrator for The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey.
This is my twelfth year to write a slice of life each day during the month of March. Thank
you Two Writing Teachers for creating this challenge and providing the
space and support for us year after year. And thanks to this magnificent
community for sharing stories with me and encouraging my writing life.
Unless you're a slicer of a certain age, you won't understand the title of this slice, but I'll enlighten you in a bit.
I awake at 5 AM, too early for Saturday morning, but decide that maybe it's the best way to get ready for the big Daylight Savings switch happening tonight. I promise myself that I'll stop reading and commenting and start my post by 5:45. I break my promise. Reading and commenting is more fun than writing.
Back to Miss Peggy's Magic Mirror and Romper Room. I remember watching two children's TV shows as a child: Captain Kangaroo and Romper Room. (You can read all about Romper Room at Wikipedia.) I always longed to be seen in the Magic Mirror as the host chanted: "Romper, stomper, bomper boo. . . "
So who do I see in my magic mirror as I stroll among your slices?
I see Leigh Anne at Notre Dame meeting Donalyn Miller.
I revisit Heidi so I can share her link with Leigh Anne.
I sit on Terje's couch in Estonia, ice skate with her 11 year old self, and see her new journal.
I read onomatapoetic poems written by Margaret's students.
I spy Elizabeth's cats covering her lap for a snow day and meet Pickles in a photo essay.
I join Stacie for a pedestrian walk, filled with "the quotidian hum of my neighborhood."
I fly with Lee Ann's Eagles in Singapore.
I ponder life changes with JoAnn and Little Man.
I follow Anita's busy day (18,000 steps, whew!).
I learn about Matt's new book Everybody Counts from Carol.
I time travel to manual typewriters and a flat behind Harrods with Celia.
So there you have it, hints of eleven posts and where I spent my early morning hours. Stay tuned for tomorrow, day 12, when I promise to visit 12 posts of new slicers.
This is my twelfth year to write a slice of life each day during the month of March. Thank
you Two Writing Teachers for creating this challenge and providing the
space and support for us year after year. And thanks to this magnificent
community for sharing stories with me and encouraging my writing life.
I miss my kitchen from our home of 25 years. It was remodeled in 2015, the year after I retired. I really wanted ten more years in that kitchen, but I only got seven.
I frequently grouse about my much smaller kitchen at our new place. This morning I looked around my "new" kitchen space and noted ten things that make me feel at home:
1. My favorite mug repurposed as a pencil/pen holder with these words: I need chocolate! Now!
2. The small bluebird of happiness that my sister gave me when she helped me move into my previous home
3. A blue and yellow ceramic plate from Seville
4. A sunflower recipe holder
5. A blue and yellow spoon rest from Capri
6. A utensil crock with this saying: "Kitchens bring families together."
7. A wooden wall hanging of a small girl in an apron rolling out dough with these words: "Live well * Laugh often * Love deeply"
8. My mother's rolling pin - I found it when we moved stashed away in a cupboard. Now it sits on my counter beside my mixer.
9. A refrigerator with a magnetic surface so I can post pics of our grand kids
10. A rental house with a yellow kitchen. How could I be so lucky to have a kitchen in my favorite color?
This is my twelfth year to write a slice of life each day during the month of March. Thank
you Two Writing Teachers for creating this challenge and providing the
space and support for us year after year. And thanks to this magnificent
community for sharing stories with me and encouraging my writing life.
I just returned from the library. Here are "9" finds from today's visit, perfect for day 9 of our challenge. There's nothing better than visiting my holds shelf at the library and bringing home treasures for the grands and myself!
3 Picture Books
3 Poetry Books (thinking ahead to April)
2 Slicer Connections +1 Just for Fun
This is my twelfth year to write a slice of life each day during the month of March. Thank
you Two Writing Teachers for creating this challenge and providing the
space and support for us year after year. And thanks to this magnificent
community for sharing stories with me and encouraging my writing life.
Someone (you know who you are) blogged about words yesterday and mentioned the word gallimaufry. As soon as I commented on the slice I was off to learn more about this completely new-to-me word. I wanted to know how to pronounce it, but I found so much more. Here's what I learned:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gallimaufry
When I originally googled the word, a book with the title Gallimaufry popped up. A search on Amazon revealed ten pages of books with a mishmash of them having the word gallimaufry in the title (not sure how some of them ended up as results from the search).
Some of them sounded interesting, so I googled gallimaufry at our local library site. Only one title popped up:: a Grand Extravaganza, Including a Performance by the Entire Cast of the Gallimaufry-Theatricus. This book by Alexander Lloyd, an author my kids loved, won the National Book Award in 1971. Our library system has only one copy. I requested it, of course.
But I digress. Here's a podcast when gallimaufry was a featured Word of the Day.
Finally, here are some of my favorite synonyms for this rich, robust word: hodgepodge, jumble, assortment, collage, melange, mishmash, salmagundi, jambalaya, pastiche, potpourri, menagerie, olla podrida, mishmash, olio, omnium-gatherum, and ragbag.
Isn't it fun to learn a new word? Thank you, fellow slicer!
This is my twelfth year to write a slice of life each day during the month of March. Thank you Two Writing Teachers for creating this challenge and providing the space and support for us year after year. And thanks to this magnificent community for sharing stories with me and encouraging my writing life.
