A Mother's Day to Remember

"Grandma, I love you." A sweet little voice exuberantly greeted me when I popped on a Zoom call. What a touching moment, spontaneously given the day before Mother's Day.  After the call, I reflected on past Mother's Day when my family gathered together and went to church, my mother and I standing at the end of Mass to receive a Mother's Day blessing. 

This year a new normal way of life surrounds Mother's Day. Church bells ring from an empty cathedral and we gather together to view a telecast Mass in our home. The unfamiliar pairs with the familiar-traditional love greetings, flowers, and card, a most welcomed sight from my husband and son.  Yet, we were alone and no sun in sight.

It just so happened that the sun decided to flood the sky with light. It was time for a walk so we sent a text to our friends.  A new idea sprung from the text. We decided to meet later in the afternoon for an outdoor, social distancing gathering.  Masked, we traveled to the other side of town with a tray of homemade cookies, chocolate-covered strawberries, and salad. Five of us sat in the sun at a proper distance away eating, laughing, and enjoying a few hours outdoors. It was a spontaneous act of friendship that turned a day into a memorable event.

I am offering this slice to Two Writing Teachers

for the Tuesday Slice of Life.

March Musings 2020: Friendship_SOLSC 3

The smell of fresh simmering soup wafted out from the kitchen.

Memories seeped out from corners within the house.

We congregated, tinkled glasses, broke bread,

relived the joys and trials of years past.

Binding friendships never tarnish

in the parade of life. They

grow with each candle

added to the

cake.

©CV, 2020

No matter the distance between friends, there is and always will be

 a lasting connection.

Each year since March 2015, I engage in Two Writing Teacher's Annual Slice of Life Story Challenge. 
Slicing allows me to ponder life, literacy, and learning, capturing small moments poetically
through writing, photography, and digital art. 

Day 3 of 31 days of writing March Slice of Life 2020 Story Challenge

at Two Writing Teachers.

Celebrating Communication with a Global Friend

I like to connect via Twitter with my global friends about teaching and learning either through chats or blogging. It is amazing to be virtual friends with so many like-minded people who are student-centered and creative. This weekend, Terje Akke, one of my educator friends from Estonia, created her celebration post about an idea that has been marinating for years. Excitedly, I read her post to see what photos Terje would include. She is a wonderful photographer and writer who has been giving her students the gift of writing in the great outdoors but her real desire for years has been to have her students experience how writers go to unexpected places for ideas. Recently, her dream was realized.

In Terje's blog, she described the unusual place she took the children to write. It was the Estonian Art Doll House.  I found Terje's photos of the doll museum to be quite engaging. I could picture the young writers milling about the house being greeted by an assortment of dolls. I especially liked the photo Terje included of a Victorian Queen of Hearts type doll. I started playing around with rhyme and decided to draft a short poem for the students to remember their experience. Who knows, maybe they will create their own person poems for each of the dolls they saw.

I am grateful for the connection I have made with Terje. You can see her photographic work in my recent gallery of artistic expressions.  Terje has given me a gift. She hasprovided me with insight into the teaching methods and lifestyle of Estonians and continues communication to share ideas. There are many other photographers and educators from across the world that I have met through Twitter. Being able to connect virtually with others across regions makes the world seem more accessible to me.

I celebrate with Terje this week to continue the commitment to celebrating life that Ruth Ayres started. 

Unwind-Relax-Reset!

The beginning of August always seems to have a sense of busyness. School ads are everywhere and educators start thinking ahead to the opening of school. Routines become important but the heat from dog day afternoons reminds me to linger in the ease of summertime just a while longer.

"Taking time out each day to relax and renew is essential to living well."
-Judith Hanson Lasater

Finding this quote on such a hot day inspired me to bring friends together for a small dinner party. Afterall, what is summer without a barbecue? Spontaneous planning is a sure way to enjoy time together so my husband and I fired up the grill at the same time the heat was rising. Grilled vegetables took their turn alongside chicken wings. Thankfully, the air conditioner was working at optimum efficiency so quick runs into the kitchen became a way to beat the heat, even for a few minutes.

As dinnertime approached, the citronella candles were lit to shoo the mosquitoes away but just in case the candles were not enough, a can of Off was placed nearby. All was ready for the guests to arrive and this time even I was ready to greet my friends.  The appetizer table was filled with fresh guacamole, cheese, crackers, and charcuterie meats with beautiful bottles of rose wine.  

As my guests gathered together over a pitcher of sangria freshly prepared by Barbara, we reminisced about the years we spent watching our children grow into adults. The chicken wings that went through several preps and finally remixed with hot sauce came out next. Several statements were made about the heat index of the wings, their wonderful taste, and I commented on how my lips tingled after eating several wings. A surprise was added to the menu, grilled sausage, peppers, and onions over pasta. This was accompanied by a green salad with slivered almonds and mandarin oranges prepared by Judy. The meal culminated in a blueberry crisp from a famous pie bakery on the northeastern shore of Long Island brought by Jo Ann. We all waited eagerly for that dessert topped with French vanilla ice cream. Sparklers were lit as nighttime approached and glasses continued to tinkle until the end of the summer evening.

Taking time to relax and renew the summer barbecue tradition is an essential element of my sweet summer life. I am glad that I was able to share this experience with my family and friends. 

The above digital inspiration will be posted at #TheArtofSummering.  

Entertaining on summer evenings is one way that I celebrate summer.

What is your way to celebrate the art of summering?

**********

I'm sharing my Slice of Life

at Two Writing Teachers.

I'm also sharing my post

with Ruth Ayres and the Celebrate This Week community.

Memory Lane

Sitting quietly reflecting on memories from my earliest years in education is a great way to wind down after a three day, out-of-town conference. I am gratitude for the moments I remember and the friends I have. 

Walking Down Memory Lane

I do not remember days. 

I remember moments,

seasoned with life.

I paste these images

in corners of my mind,

ready to be resurrected.
©CV, 2017

While in Albany this past week, I connected with my friend, Joan. We reminisced about our early days as educators and toured past structures and settings from my graduate days at SUNY at Albany State. Then, off we went to visit Frank Hodge, a literary luminary well-known to members of New York State's Reading Association. Frank was my children's literature professor in graduate school. He nurtured my passion for teaching and my love of reading; chose Joan and I to be on the Albany Reading Council's Executive Board; brought us to reading conferences to broaden our perspective as educators. 

The visit we had with Frank at Teresian House was filled with memories of the past. We reminisced, laughed, listened to Frank talk of all the famous authors he knows, and promised to revisit him during my next trip to Albany. I left thinking that friendships are unique relationships to be cherished. Months or years may pass between visits but memories and friends remain constant. 

I walked down memory lane
where the past shaped the present
in a faithful album called LIFE.

©CV, 2017
************************
We do not remember days; we remember moments.
-Cesare  Pavese, The Burning Brand

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

I walked down the memory lane this afternoon,

The streets have changed now after the storm;

the ruins and the residues are cleared...

But the madness in the air still remains;

Every path I took had the same old smell,

Everything once again seemed like those early youth days under the mellow sun, with you.” 

-Preetilata kumari

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

The Poetry Friday Round-Up is at my friend, Margaret Simon's site, 

Reflections on the Teche.

I am in the final stage of collecting offerings for my spring gallery, Springsations. Please send your pieces to cvarsalona at gmail.com and visit #Springsations on Twitter. 

Poetry Friends

Throughout connected educators' lives, face-to-face or virtual friends will pass through, lining the chambers of our hearts. They spark conversations and weave tapestries of thought that bring us warm greetings, support, and understanding. They provide the mirror for us to look into and see who we are and how we choose to live our lives. They are kindred spirits, our community, our tribe whose lives are intertwined with ours. 

Poetry Friday is such a community of friends with positive, passionate people who embrace the love of poetry on a daily basis. Its circle of friendship is open to all who love the world of words and the craft of writing. 

My offerings today are responses to those who write alongside me:

• I opened my day to a haiku exchange started by Margaret Simon followed by Catherine Flynn. I join my friends to reply with this response. 

as nature opens its day

pen in hand glides across pages

haiku harmony 

©CV, 2016

• This week as I entered Long Island's superhighways to my destination, I saw morning unfold. The moon was full, a most unusual sight at dawn. I thought of Heidi Mordhorst's haiku about the fat full moon that I found at Mary Lee Hahn's hashtag, #haikuforhealing. The following words flowed. (mostly because I was disconcerted by the traffic flow):

weaving in and out

strange early morn urgency

fat full moon watches

©CV, 2016

• I like others in the Poetry Friday community are grateful to Michelle Heidenrich Barnes for compiling a lovely collection of poems that were showcased at her blog, Today's Little Ditty, and published into a book, The Best of Today's Little Ditty 2014-15 that came this week signed and with a special note. 

My entry

Life is a series of interactions and what better way to live it than filled with a circle of friends. 

Today is Poetry Friday's Round-up. Tabatha Yeatts is hosting so please visit her blog, The Opposite of Indifference here to read what is being offered by the community of writers.