Celebrate Summer Collapsing Into Fall

Time has passed since summer officially closed its seasonal celebration of a sunkissed life. I have held onto this season in my heart, recalling sand-swept beaches of Long Island with their heated breath seeping through gentle winds. The salty spray of the Atlantic Ocean taste is still on my lips. With this picture in my mind, I nostalgically longed for lazy, sun-chasing days and nights that were full of light and energy in the late evening UNTIL I recently passed over the Mario Cuomo Bridge. 

As I crossed the newly girded steel structure leading me to upstate New York, I noticed a hint of color here and there; leaves were different from the green ones of a Long Island summer. Moving further north, the preponderance of multi-colored sightings were evident. Mother Nature, the glorious artist, must have spent all weekend painting the land in warm hues. A newly-awakened landscape emerged before my eyes. 

It was in that moment of awareness that I knew summer collapsed into fall, ushering in a new season to savor. I was in awe of nature's breathtaking change in scenery. The colors emerging from each town's tree-lined highway appeared to be woven into a vast patchwork collage.

The sight was awe-inspiring, much more than the first scattered gathering of leaves upon my deck.

Other colleagues understood the magnitude of the changing of seasons
and so the collecting of autumn photos began.

From Maine came Molly Hogan's first sighting.

Brian Rosinzky sent the following from South Dakota.

Mark Weston captured an early fall scene while hiking in the Rocky Mountains.

Have you ever wondered about the why behind the color change?

Check out Wonderopolis' Wonder of the Day #1325 for information and 

enjoy watching the 30-second time lapse of summer turning into fall.

ln case you are still wondering about seasonal color change, please take a quick peek at last year's global gallery of artistic expressions while I continue to explore autumn. 

🍁🍂

Thank you Two Writing Teachers for your Tuesday Slice of Life space.

Also, thank you, Ruth Ayres, for encouraging all writers to Celebrate This Week. 

#10FoundWords-Nature

Let Nature be your teacher!

-William Wordsworth

The #10FoundWords poetry project created by Laura Shovan in February continues. As host for August's event at Facebook, my thoughts turn to the quietness of the woods in Reston, Virginia where I visited my then six-week old granddaughter last week. In the evenings, the family took nature walks acquainting Sierra with the forest animals and sounds. One morning from the house at the edge of the trail, I sat overlooking the greenery and trees that soared into the sky. The serenity of the scene brought thoughts of nature as a teacher.

With this memory in mind, I explored articles to use as the reading for the #10Words poetry project. From the Center for Parenting Education, I offer "Nature and Children-A Natural Fit" with the following 10 words to be used to create an original poem. 

children-creative-curiosity-explore-listening-nature-outdoors-relaxation-stewardship-senses
The words are featured in the above digital inspiration I created.

Let Nature Be Your Teacher

In morning light, 

trails at woods' edge

invite life to awaken.

Nature conducts its chorus.  

Inspiration floats in,

 whispering through soaring trees.

Wisps of soft breeze slip

through heavy vegetation.

Birds stir, sweeping the sky.

With hands outstretched,

nature welcomes exploration

indulging children's curiosity

with sights and sounds from

the great outdoors.
Summertime speaks,

"Let nature be your teacher.

See with new eyes.

Breathe in forest's fragrance.
Let nature fill your senses.

Observe morning dew on the grass.

Meander through curving trails,

creatively stationed for observation.

Relax in the coolness of shaded bliss.

Then, return at dusk to listen

to sweet night sounds 

lullaby you to sleep."
You are the future stewards of earth.

Cherish the land.
Listening, I think that's what the earth says.*

©CV, 2017

*William Stafford's final line of his poem, "In Response to a Question"

Posted by Irene Latham

Photo by Devin Hartnett, 2017,

McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area, Maryland

The above two digitals will be shared at #SunkissedSummer on Twitter
and in the upcoming Sunkissed Summer Gallery.

Today is the Poetry Friday Round-Up. 
Please visit our host, Donna Smith, at Mainely Write.

Unexpected Dilemmas

When faced with a dilemma do you attempt to find a solution or run away from the issues? I must admit when my Twitter account was hacked on top of two leaky faucets (with water running amok), and other minor disruptions, I was tempted to run out shouting, "I had enough." But...then, I paused, reflected, and tried to gain balance. It was not until I found the hashtag #GratitudeMonday (3 days) later that I could honestly say to myself, "Believe in the impossible." 

On Saturday night, when I returned from a full day of standing outside at a street fair in the "cold" autumn weather (for the H.E.L.P. bead sale to raise funds for education in Masese, Uganda), I found a myriad of inconveniences awaiting me. Being cold was the first one to tackle since it was thirty degrees outside and frigid inside. Recalling fourteen days within water, heat, and electricity during Superstorm Sandy set me in motion to get the heat on. Next task to tackle as I opened my computer...

"Yikes! Did Halloween come early? Who's tricking me because there are surely no treats in my Twitter account."

In fact there were only tricks in the account. 5200+ members of a global PLN vanished. I was locked out of Twitter! The only clues were a tweet and DM about strangeness on my account earlier in the day. Since I could not see anything from my end, I put those aside noting to myself to come back and change my password Saturday night. When I tried that step, I realized that it was too late to check off that task so I began the process of contacting Twitter Support. Did you know that there is no one to speak with and only tickets to fill out at @Support? Hours of trying to solve this problem only frustrated me more and then, I found the water leaks. By then, everyone had enough of the cold and minor aggravations so all was put aside until the morning. I went to sleep cranky but hoping for a better day. 

Day two started with more frustrating attempts at getting back on Twitter and shutting off the water, drying wet areas with a large fan, and spraying them with mold deactivator. I continued to stress about what now seems as insignificant=>how I would join the Sunday chats that I frequent and co-moderate #NYEDChat on Monday night. Clearly, neither option was going to happen so I decided to try and relieve the "cranks" by shopping, a popular distractor for me. When I returned with packages in hand, I went back to tackling my problems that were still there in full force. Day two ended with no solution to any of the frustrating issues. Therefore, I had no time to blog or exercise.

Day three started bright and early on Monday morning with how do I get back on Twitter. I must have submitted a dozen tickets and sent them off to Twitter Support. Twitter colleagues were there supporting me along the way. I posted on the Ed Chat Moderators' site on Google+ and host William Jenkins called on a colleague to support me. Tom Whitby, aka Godfather of Twitter, suggested that I open a new account to get me through #NYEDChat. Julie Szaj sent a tweet to Twitter Support asking for help for me. Blanca Duarte, friend and co-moderator of NYEDChat, led me through a process of getting a new phone line so I could open a new account. My home and cell phone would not suffice because Twitter would not recognize them. Did you know that you can get a free phone line at Google Voice or that there is an incognito window on Chrome that you can use when having difficulties? Thanks to Blanca, I used this and voila! a new account opened. Mark Weston called me from Georgia to support me and provide some Connected Ed "Love". My NYEDChat co-moderators, Tony Sinanis, Starr Sackstein, Lisa Meade, and Dennis Schug were there for me as well. Then, I saw the sign for #GratitudeMonday". With faith on my side and support from my amazing connected colleagues, I created a digital inspiration and sent it off with tweets to show everyone that I was back on the positivity track. 

Not until I was half way through the day did I realize how important the spirit of resiliency is in life. A new plumber fixed the water leak in the kitchen. The laundry room sink would be dealt with later. I took giant steps outside my comfort zone with the Twitter restoration project jumpstarted by a hacker. Many of the steps taken were based on collegial support that I would have no clue on how to do independently. Best of all, I survived the experience. Feelings of frustration, stress, and loss were there but so were tenacity and faith. By Sunday night, I had a new Twitter account, a restored kitchen faucet, and a way to open NYEDChat whose topic, ironically enough, was #edvoice. Twitter Support even wrote to me that they would like to help out and with some adjustments to my password, my original @cvarsalona account opened. #GratitudeMonday came to a close with many thanks to all who supported me and renewed strength in the faith that guides me.

Today, Day four starts with the dilemma of how to merge new followers from @cvarsalona2015 to my global account and how to have the right Twitter account on my laptop and phone. I will tackle those issues in due time. 

As for the hacker or hackers on Twitter who produce spam, they are the invaders who dishonor community spirit. As one of my tweeps, Olwen (@notjustup2u) said in a DM to me: "We need to be vigilant together in this community and aware that not everyone has good intentions. We have no control over what they (spammers) choose to do but we can support each other to stop it where we can." 

Support and belief in the impossible are important as we continue to blaze the Twitter trails. Continue to join me in the Connected Educator movement to impact life and learning.


Please turn your attention to the Slice of Life Tuesday segment on Two Writing Teachers to read other educators' views.

Choreographers of Learning

Teachers and leaders with passion, patience, and perseverance lead students on to inspired learning in collaborative environments where inquiry is valued and shared. They are the choreographers of learning, a term that I lifted from a recent Twitter conversation between Mark E. Weston, Ph.D. and Dr. Gregory McGough on #teacheredchat and wove it into a poem.

Choreographers of learning hone their craft, develop their practice, and promote risk-taking as a step to improve their skills and strategies. They are the eduheroes who make a difference because they themselves have learned that in the productive struggle learners meet success. 

The above poem seems to be a fitting addition to my Poetry Parade that held my 2015 National Poetry Month poems. Here is another one. 

Lifting a Line

Snatch a line.

Be polite.

Offer credit.

It's only right.

When you've found

a wondrous quote

be sure to thank

the one who wrote.

Carol Varsalona © 2015

I also have a poem that was created from an online phone conference (GHO) with facilitators of this summer's Edcamp Leadership unconference program. From my scribbled notes I was able to create a free verse poem getting at the essence of the conversation while providing enough information from a literary point of view. You can see that poem here that is now circulating in Connected Educator spaces on Twitter.

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It's Poetry Friday so please turn your attention to Mary Lee Hahn's site, A Year of Reading, to peruse the various writer's posts. 

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Please note: I have been receiving bouquets of virtual flowers for Spring's Symphony Gallery. If you have an offering, please send it along. I am sure that I still will be working on the gallery design for another week.