Autumn Artifacts

The warmth of the autumn sun floods the path to the creek. My little grandgirls walk beside me. We bask in the beauty of the woods as I point out what I see. I am the guide on this brief journey leading them to enjoy nature as much as I do. You can read more about our adventure at my blog post, Along the Nature Trail.

©CV, 2021

I am your guide to

autumn wonders that fall

onto earthen paths.

I play a game, naming what I see.

A group of purple wildflowers

faces sunward. You stoop,

pick a spotted red leaf,

your first artifact of autumn.

Curled-up bark leads you

to other tiny pieces of fall.

You carry these precious

items tightly in your tiny hands.

Share them with your little sister

who brushes featherlike

leaves into the wind.

With gratitude for earth's

treasures, we walk home

ready to create a

lasting memory of a

glorious autumn day.

©CV, 2021

The above poem is modeled after the beginning and last lines of Maggie Smith's poem, First Fall.

Art Project Time

Upon entering the house, four-year-old Sierra announces, "I am going to work on my project". I gather the craft supplies. Intent on her work, Sierra lays out the artifacts from her fall walk. Bark, leaves, acorns, and acorn caps line the kitchen table. 

"What did you see on your walk, Sierra?" "Fall," she responds. 

Carefully, she glues her artifacts onto orange paper. I am amazed at her preciseness in placement. Much to my surprise, she leaves an imprint of a leaf on the paper with just a crayon. As the project draws to a conclusion, we talk about poetry. 

"Fall and call rhyme, Grandma." 

"Is that the start of your poem?" 

Words pop out. We talk about what a poem is. 

"It is more than rhyming. It is your feeling, too." 

I leave it at that. After all, she is four and interested. I write what she says on paper. We read it again. She thinks. We change a few words and I write her poem where she thinks it should go on her fall project. 

"Will people like my poem, Grandma?" 

"I am sure they will."

Fall

calls

acorns

leaves

fall

from

trees

©Sierra, Age 4, 2021

🍂

You Are Invited

to Join my Newest Online,

Global Gallery of Artistic Expressions

-Bedecked in Autumn!-

Share your image poems, inspirational quotes,

artwork, digital designs, and music.

Deadline for Submissions: December 1, 2021

via my Twitter feed, Facebook page,

email: cvarsalona at gmail.com

A Sneak Preview will be shared

on November 19, 2021

when I host Poetry Friday 

at my blog, Beyond LiteracyLink

🍂

Join the Poetry Friday Roundup at Jama Rattigan's delicious poetry site, Jama's Alphabet Soup. She's offering a poem by Jeffrey Bean, cookies, and hot chocolate mixed with much poetic goodness!

🍂

Admire

In life, there are many people that we come to admire for their own special talents, unique gifts, and connections to our lives. Among these are the passionate teachers who give of their hearts and the poets who give of their souls. This week I received a gift from a poet friend that made me smile and lightened my stress from all of the tech issues that have engulfed me. 

A brief look backward:
After days of constant computer glitches and undue tension, a package was delivered on Tuesday. My husband called my attention to it and wondering what was inside waited until I opened the envelope. I was delighted to find two beautiful books of poetry, Fresh Delicious and When the Suns Shines on Antarctica by Irene Latham, plus bookmarks and a handwritten note. 

I admired the shiny covers of both books before I looked inside at pages of vivid images and lively words that danced off the page. A clever one about punctuation from Fresh Delicious caught my eye. Perhaps you will admire it as much as I. The books were a very pleasant diversion.

If you visit Jama's Alphabet Soup here you can find a highly visual review of Fresh Delicious, that includes poems and recipes from Irene's book. Then, visit Today's Little Ditty where Michelle H. Barnes also dishes the scoop on the book with additional peeks inside.

While reading Irene's books, I found a beautifully designed video, For the Beauty (Images of Peaceful Nature), that allowed me to continue my admiration for life and those around me. I hope you enjoy the awe-inspiring photos of the earth and the soothing music as much as I. There is a quiet silence to nature when viewing it through the lens of a Master Artist. 

Continuing my examination of the one little word, admire, chosen by a fellow slicer, Julieanne Harmatz, led me to a beautiful scripture reading from Song of Solomon 5. I broke the text into a poetic format to pause and reflect on each set of words. 

My beloved is dazzling and ruddy,
Outstanding among ten thousand.
His head is like gold, pure gold;
His locks are like clusters of dates
And black as a raven.
His eyes are like doves
Beside streams of water, 
Bathed in milk,
And reposed in their setting.

This song, filled with admiration of a bride for her prospective husband, led me to another thought. In my daily walk, I need to appreciate the small moments more often and truly appreciate what I see before me.

Today is Spiritual Journey Thursday, beside Day 4 of the March Slice of Life Story Challenge, hosted by Two Writing Teachers. The SJT community of writers under the leadership of Holly Mueller, another slicer, are honoring the one little words that guide our journeys. The goal is to incorporate thoughts about Julieanne Harmatz's OLW, admire into our post. Please visit SJT here.

This post marks the third one of the Clearing a Path series for the March SOLSC. You can follow the slicers this month at Two Writing Teachers here. 

In closing, today's task is to reflect on the word admire as it will me help me clear a path to positivity. In doing so, I will look closely at the possibilities life holds and appreciate them more rather than dwelling on the to do lists that pile up.

Halloween Fun!

Beastie Ready for Lunch-

Invited to feast at Today's Little Ditty.

Hunger unleashed!

Toothless grin.

Chomp!

CVarsalona © 2015

*****

Autumn's Bounty

Digital Collage for Nic Hahn's Artist Trading Cards' Challenge

#k12artchallenge

I continue to find fall wherever I go.

Please join me! 

Invitation to the creative challenge here.

Please visit Jama Rattigan's delightful site, Jama's Alphabet Soup, for the Poetry Friday Round-up. She is featuring a poem by Penny Parker Klostermann and a delicious looking batch of cookies. 

A Single Leaf Finding Fall

It was one of those quiet evenings just before the last fleck of light folded the night into darkness when I walked out to the deck. Much to my amazement, I found one single leaf waiting for someone to caress its patterned shape. The leaf was a signal for me to to find joy in nature's simple autumnal beauty. 

Because the season of autumn has always been one of my highlights of the year, I ask all those who are interested in capturing its images through the lens of a photographer and poet to join me in  finding fall. 

In tribute to the journey of a single leaf finding fall, I created a 30 second video that was supposed to air on DigiLit Sunday, hosted by Margaret Simon, last Sunday. Since the tasks of the week got the best of me, I am showcasing the Animoto video here.

Narrative for Video:

We relaxed, reflected, and recharged searching for summer serenity. Now summer turns to fall and I ask that you come reflect with me about the majesty of autumn. Find fall among the leaves, the changing temperatures, the shortened days. Dream big. Search!

To spark children's interest in writing poetry about autumn leaves, I suggest starting with a favorite fall activity from my childhood. Ask students to take a nature walk, find a special leaf, preserve it with wax paper and an iron, and bring it to school the next day. When class begins, ask the learners to complete an admit ticket for a reflective writing first task.  The prompt would be: What 4 words describe your autumn leaf? A read aloud of the poem, Fall, leaves, fall by Emily Bronte would follow with students engaging in a collaborative conversation about the author's purpose in writing this poem.

Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;

Lengthen night and shorten day;

Every leaf speaks bliss to me

Fluttering from the autumn tree.

I shall smile when wreaths of snow

Blossom where the rose should grow;

I shall sing when night's decay

Ushers in a drearier day. 

To continue the creative writing activity, the short poem and video I created can be introduced as an example of the artistic practice of transmediation, the combination of various "expressive media types" for a multi-sensory experience. Through the models presented, learners will see how technology can be integrated into a literacy lesson to stimulate the senses and allow for the experiences of reading, analyzing, interpreting, evaluating, and communicating. Students will delve into the theme of finding fall through different mediums. Ultimately, they will create their own poem based on the leaf they found or an image of one from an active internet search. 

Poetry Friday is being hosted this week by Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup. You will be delighted by Jama's pain au chocolat that graces her site. Not only are there yummy treats but wonderful offerings from a range of writers.