Unveiling Summerscapes Gallery

Summertime is nature's invitation to 
Relax, Reflect, Recharge!

Welcome to Summerscapes

2016 Summer Gallery of Artistic Expressions

Summertime's sweet summer life has not closed its pages 
with the appearance of the Fall Equinox.  
It is living here in the halls of this gallery,
greeting those who hear its call.

Enjoy the visual display and lyrical words that lift from the page.

Hampton Bays, Long Island

Before wandering through the gallery, pause-reflect-recall your own joyful minications this summer, whether they were with family, friends, or solo. Then, step into this showcase to be swayed by the virtual summer breeze and music offered to place you in a summertime frame of mind. 

With the thought that summertime living is easy, stroll through the gallery listening to Ella Fitzgerald sing the blues. 

I open the doors to Summerscapes 

for your viewing pleasure.

Please take a leisurely gallery walk.

Are you ready to dip your toes into summer,

 to breathe the fresh sea air,

climb the endless mountains,

and watch a summer sunset?

Be swept away by the sights and sounds of summer that are offered as a global tribute to writer's voice and the free spirit of summertime. Each piece in the gallery is a unique expression of the writer's or photographer's noticings of the world. Join me to relax, reflect, renew, and recharge life.

Please accept this invitation 

to celebrate summer 

with its vibrant florals. 

 Celebrate summer's sea breeze that cools the heat!

Linda Baie, Captiva Island

Celebrate summer's sparkling firework displays!

Celebrate summer evening light shows!

DeAnn Pettinelli, Central New York

Linda Baie, Captiva Island

Oh, the summer night
Has a smile of light
And she sits on a sapphire throne.
~Barry Cornwall

Celebrate morning sunrise to fill your heart with joy!



Celebrate the memories of traveling from from East Coast to West Coast and back via video. 

Traveling is filled with special moments!

Andrea Sanchez, Kauai, Hawaii

Sean Mitchell, Toronto

Linda Baie, Captiva Island, Florida

Are you a beach person who enjoys the salt air?

The Summer of 42 reminds us of beach days.

 Perhaps you love the cool water of a lake.



Or maybe you enjoy listening to the calming sound
 of a bubbling brook captured here by Faige.

A flowing waterfall produces a peaceful sound, as well.

There are mountains to climb in the summer.

There are places to relax

and summer gardens to fill with a rainbow of colors.

Linda Baie, Colorado

Terje Akke, Estonia

Violet Nesdoly, British Columbia

Fred Harwood, British Columbia

Summer is family time.

“Breathless, we flung us on a windy hill, laughed in the sun, 

and kissed the lovely grass."~ Rupert Brooke

Playground fun in Victorian era submitted by Diane Mayr

Summer is vacation time.

Heather Stillufusen

Vicky Giouroukakis, Prague, Czech Republic 

Vicky Giouroukakis, Crete, Greece

 Summer is also a great time to seek inspiration 
and imagine the possibilities.
Meeno Rami

“summer, after all, is a time when wonderful things can happen to quiet people. for those few months, you’re not required to be who everyone thinks you are, and that cut-grass smell in the air and the chance to dive into the deep end of a pool give you a courage you don’t have the rest of the year. you can be grateful and easy, with no eyes on you, and no past. summer just opens the door and lets you out.” ― Deb Caletti, Honey, Baby, Sweetheart

Terje Akke, Estonia

Summer vacation provides extra time to communicate with friends near and far. Consider bringing back the art of letter writing with summertime postcard poetry.

While J. Patrick Lewis and I do not correspond via poetry postcards, we communicate through email regarding poetry love. Pat graciously sent me the poem below for Summerscapes from his collection. Below is my digitized version of Pat's poem, Summer Fun, first published in 1995.

Flashback to a bit of nostalgia

with a clip from the Harold Lloyd 1928 silent film "Speedy" 

Do you recognize Babe Ruth as one of the stars? 

Students often reflect on their joyful summer days.

Kelsey, Indiana - submitted by Leigh Anne Eck

Naomi M., Indiana - submitted by Leigh Anne Eck

Jacob, Louisiana - submitted by Margaret Simon

Olivia #LivBit, New York City

Do you long for the return of endless summer days?

A child smiles often in summertime.

Libraries and bookstores are filled with those 

who enjoy leisure reading in the summer. 

Inspired by nature, writers capture life and write.

This gallery is a celebration of digital media.

It integrates the arts, technology, and literacy to allow voice to be amplified across the globe and bring awareness of the beauty of the earth during the season of summer. 

Listen to a musical composition, Open Strings, created by Kevin Hodgson for the gallery here.

You can also read  the poem, Happy Toes 
by Sally Murphy, here. 

 

Pause a bit in a summerscape moment to relax.

Click this link: vine.co/v/5e6VDweweJ0

Daydreaming often occurs in summer or is it reflection time?

Spiri Howard, Colorado

While the Fall Equinox officially closes summer,

 I continue to celebrate what summer offered.

Do you do the same?

Here in September's arms, we can still feel summer's breath.

Memories are recalled. 

“I love how summer just wraps it’s arms around you like a warm blanket.” 
― Kellie Elmore




Now, like a soft dew-drop kiss, the gallery bids summer 
good by as its passes the baton to autumn.

and a new school year.

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Gallery visitors, thank you for joining me on this gallery walk. Please share a response in the blog's comment section or at the following social media sites: Twitter, using #Summerscapes and @cvarsalona when you comment, Facebook, or Pinterest. This gesture of collegiality and community spirit recognizing the efforts of the gallery contributors listed below is appreciated. 

This community of reflective writers continues to grow since the first unveiling of a gallery of artistic expressions in March 2014 with Reflect With Me: Bringing a Community of Writers Together to Celebrate Life & Teaching. 

You can visit the following galleries that spread #poetrylove by clicking on each title below.

2014
Reflect With Me: Bring a Community of Writers Together to Celebrate Life & Teaching
April Awakenings
Summer Serenity
Finding Fall
2015
Winter Whisperings
Spring's Symphony
Summer Splashings
Autumn's Palette
2016
Winter Wanderings
Spring's Seeds

Thank you for visiting the gallery. 

Carol

Agency

As connected educators who wish to make a difference in the lives of our students, we must become guides on the side and facilitators of learning and lean in to model and promote effective classroom learning by:

• Establishing a tone of positivity from the start of the school year
• Designing student-friendly norms and protocols to create a culture of trust in our learning spaces
• Gradually releasing responsibility for learning to our students
• Embracing change that will effectively impact teaching and learning

But we cannot stand alone. 

It takes momentum and support from a community of educators and parents working together to assist students in becoming meaning makers of their own learning. 

It is our calling as educators to empower our learners to take risks, see failure as a steppingstone to success, collaborate openly, explore inquiry paths, and understand that choice leads to amplified voice. 

So what is it that we need to do immediately to transform the landscape of learning? How do we bring about positive change in a world of flux?

What road will you take to be a difference maker this year?

How will you comfortably create a culture of trust to influence students to become agents of their own learning?

As Eric Sheninger says, "Student agency is about empowering kids to own their learning (and school) through greater autonomy. It is driven by choice, voice, and advocacy." 

I have been playing with the septercet form of poetry (a poem consisting of any number of three-line stanzas, each with seven syllables) that Michelle H. Barnes encouraged writers to post at Today's Little Ditty Challenge last month. I decided to compose my thoughts on agency using the septercet form. Margaret Simon asked the #DigiLitSunday blogging community to write on this topic two weeks ago. You can access others thoughts here.

Slice of Life (#sol16) is featured at Two Writing Teachers each Tuesday. Since I am finishing the design of my Summerscapes Gallery, I will offer this piece as my thought for the week.

*************************************************

Teachers skillfully hone craft

empowering students on,

closer toward independence.

Children journey with teachers

on inquiry paths of choice

as agents of their learning.

So stamina is needed 

by learners who seek knowledge

to become meaning makers.

Charge for difference makers:

Create a culture of trust.

Positivity spreads fast.

Charge for owners of learning:

Step beyond your comfort zone

take risks and own your learning.

©CV, 2016

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Celebrating 2016 Summerscape Moments

As summer passes into the autumn season,

I vividly recall my summerscape moments.

They were unique times of discovery,

minications that connected mind and body

to the spirit, inner self, and the world. 

They were the small moments of life that 

brought peace, pleasure, and joy.

They were the relaxing, reflective ones that

recharged spirit and soul to recapture life.

Today, I salute summer and celebrate 

the summerscape moments of 2016.

I am reminded of summer's sea breeze, 

cooling the steamy heat that scorched soles.

I celebrate the sand-between-the-toes' feeling

of playful waves splashing shore to bury feet.

I celebrate summer's spectacular light shows

that lit inked skies and blanketed earth 

in cascading arrays of vibrant color.

I celebrate family and friends who gathered

to find the essence of leisure time and 

bountiful tables of summer tastes.

I celebrate the time to indulge my passions,

writing late at night or early in the morning. 

I salute sun, travel, and new adventures

that took me from Long Island to Las Vegas,

the Grand Canyon, and Central New York. 

The list is endless and the experiences many.

Summer took a bow but it has not walked out.

Summer lingers in the air, the sea-salt taste, and 

in a small jar of beach sand that reads Imagine.

Good by, precious summertime. I trust that you have handed autumn an itinerary of adventures to link up with its lust for life. I celebrate all that your season and the next offer. 

I celebrate a writing-kind-of-weekend with Ruth Ayres and the Celebrate This Week blogging community. I thank Ruth for the space to let thoughts meet paper each week so voice rises.  

Note:

I am nearing the end of the design phase of my new gallery, Summerscapes. When it is unveiled, I hope that my colleagues will applaud the writers from around the world who contributed.

You can access last summer's gallery, Summer Splashings, here.