Granddaddy and I are walking around “the horn.” I am puzzling over why he calls this path “the horn.” When he says it, I know he means the journey from his house down the gravel road past the formidable, fairy-tale-dark woods with a tiny cemetery in the clearing, past unpainted houses in various stages of … Continue reading First, do no harm
I was sixteen years old the first time I went to New York City—that’s the same age, according to his own writing, that St. Patrick was kidnapped in Britain and carried to slavery in Ireland. I didn’t know this fact at the time. I arrived in the city that long-ago day with my high school … Continue reading In the name of St. Patrick
“Literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, compute, and communicate using visual, audible, and digital materials across disciplines and in any context. The ability to read, write, and communicate connects people to one another and empowers them to achieve things they never thought possible. Communication and connection are the basis of who we … Continue reading What is literacy?
The big question on Day Three of our Teacher Summer Writing Institute: How do I see myself as a teacher of writing—no matter my grade level or content area? The day became a collage of images and symbolism. Teachers were tasked with using postcards and personal artifacts as metaphors for teaching writing. They used these ideas … Continue reading Seeing me
It was not a thing I expected to see while on a Chick-Fil-A lunch run. But there it was, directly opposite the drive-through menu board for ordering: A possum in a tree. First thoughts: What’s wrong with it? Why would a possum be out and about during the day? Next thoughts: Where did it come … Continue reading Possumbilities
One day when I was off campus, the school psychologist sent me a text about a student: He’s looking for you. He has a secret he wants to tell you. —Gracious. I texted back: Tell him I’ll see him first thing tomorrow morning. The student is my tiny friend who came to our school from another … Continue reading A boy and his secret
If setting is everything, then tonight is mystical. To begin with, the November evening is balmy. Few people in the crowd gathering on the sidewalk are wearing jackets. There’s quiet anticipation in the air, in the murmur of voices. It’s supposed to be raining but the sky above the city is dry, shimmering like a … Continue reading Thank you, Brian Wilson
After being away on vacation all last week, my first order of business on returning home was to check on the four baby house finches that hatched in the wreath on my front door. I’d been chronicling their development daily, so I knew many changes would occur in my absence. Here is what I discovered: … Continue reading A fine mess
On the cusp of his twenty-first birthday, my younger son, Cadillac Man, is finally giving me some gift requests. Let me clarify for readers new to my blog: His code name here is Cadillac Man because of his lifelong love of the car. Earlier this year he inherited his grandparents’ 1989 blue (the official color … Continue reading Bear with the writer
Yesterday, while outside with my old dachshund, Nikolaus, I saw this old dandelion. It stood trembling in the soft spring breeze, holding its seeds tight under its parachute sphere, and I thought Any second now they’ll be blowing in the wind. Which reminded me of the song. When I was a child my parents had a … Continue reading Blowin’ in the wind
