The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Meaning, “No matter how carefully a project is planned, something may still go wrong with it. The saying is adapted from a line in ‘To a Mouse,’ by Robert Burns: ‘The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft a-gley’” **(www.dictionary.com) I know it is cliche, but hey, once in awhile it works. State of Mind I received some news August 20th and 27th that weighed heavy on my heart, but I knew I had to put it aside for awhile. Preparations needed to be made for our upcoming vacation and dealing with…
Fiction Recommendation – August
I am a fan of both fiction and nonfiction. Maybe I was a little ambitious last month, however, in thinking I could completely read and post about two books (one fiction and one nonfiction) each month. Part of my problem is that I tend to read more than one book at a time (why do I do that? I’ll save that for another post) and then not get any one of them finished within a good time frame. As you can see in the sidebar under my “Goodreads” feed, I have two good ones going right now (and finished Beartown just before leaving for vacation…
My Querencia – Where I Feel Most at Home
“Querencia – A place where one feels at home.” When I was looking online for the piece by Georgia Heard, I discovered many sites about “querencia” and this same lesson. The idea for me came from Cindy O’Donnell-Allen’s writer’s notebook unit during training at an AP Summer Institute in 1997. The Lesson As part of my Writer’s Notebook lesson when I was teaching, I would read the following article with my students: “Querencia” by Georgia Heard A few summers ago I experienced my first–and last–bullfight, in a small French town near the Spanish border, where Picasso once lived. When the gate to the ring opened,…
The Nonfiction Book I Finished This Month
I plan to share my monthly reads via this blog, starting this month. My hope is to share my nonfiction choice the last week of the month (and my fiction choice sometime during each month). I love to read, but I have not been as committed of late. I miss sharing about books with my students, so I hope you will share your thoughts on a book I mention or share about what you are reading. Having kept a hand written book log/journal for years, I just started keeping it on Google drive for quicker reference and for making my notes for upcoming months. I…
Change – Don’t Be Afraid to Look
Change – a word that not only strikes fear, anxiety, apprehension but also excitement, anticipation. Transition: passage from one state, stage, subject, or place to another : change b : a movement, development, or evolution from one form, stage, or style to another (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/transition). Spring – a time of rebirth, renewal, change. I love spring. The gorgeous mix of color while new life begins, rain washes winter away, and everything seems fresh and new. This spring, though, brought major change, and, in a sense, renewal for us. The Last Four Months I have not posted or written anything since the end of January. Our lives…