Mother's Two

Two eagles
the elder,
Fearless,
Confident, ready to fly from the start

The other,
more  h  e  s  i  t  a  n  t
developing slowly,
fretting,
struggling to fly

the younger,
once committed
built bridges for others
helping them cross the path

Two eagles together
courageous,
accomplished.
Mother's Joy
Each in his own way

Can't Rush This

Never having been much of a baker, I have had to go out on a limb to learn something new.  I have starting making my own bread.  At first I learned to bake bread because I was facing some financial issues after paying my son's tuition.  Money was extremely tight for a while.  Now that has been taken care of, but I still find myself baking a loaf or two each Saturday.  I have come to enjoy the whole process.

Each time I get ready to bake, I have to prepare the yeast base first.  Since I make a honey wheat bread, I must add the honey to the yeast and warm water.  This mixture needs to sit for at least ten minutes to let the yeast get foamy and ready to do its thing.  Meanwhile, I measure out the olive oil and salt to be added to the yeast when it's ready.  I also get the flours, whole wheat and bread flour, set up to be added.  The next step is putting the wheat flour in the yeast-oil mixture.  Then I begin to add the bread flour a half cup at a time.  Once I can no longer stir the dough with my wooden spoon, I turn it out on the floured counter and begin to knead it, adding bread flour a sprinkling at a time.  At first, the dough is sticky and hard to work with, but with each additional bit of flour and kneading effort,  the dough becomes softer and more elastic.  It takes time to develop into a dough that will make a wonderful, light loaf of bread.

This honey wheat bread has two rising times.  After the dough is kneaded and ready, it is covered lightly with a clean cloth and sits for an hour to rise.  I always coat the ball of dough with a light spray of olive oil to keep it from drying out as it sits.  I can't rush the rising process.  It must sit.  I must wait.  It is a process that forces me to slow down.  I can do laundry, clean the house, read, work on school work, but I can't make the bread rise any faster no matter how much I wish to sometimes.  It does so in its own time and in its own way.

Once the hour has passed, the dough must be shaped into a log and placed in a loaf pan sprayed with cooking spray. It must be allowed to rise a second time.  I must wait another hour before I can put the bread in the oven.   Again, I cannot hurry the process.  It will be ready when it is ready.  After my loaf has risen for the hour, I am finally ready to put it in the oven.  It will bake for thirty minutes.  I am rewarded with a golden loaf of bread ready to be slathered with butter!

I think about my students and their writing now in terms of making bread.  I must be prepared for this process.  I need to slow down.  I may need to wait and let ideas sit for a while to develop and do their thing in their brains.  There must be a catalyst added to the proper ingredients for my students to grow.  Some of the ingredients come from them and some are added by me.   Depending on the conditions and the individual students, more of one ingredient or more time may be what they need to rise to their full potential.  I cannot rush the process.  It takes time for them to develop.  I must be patient with them.  Sometimes I want to hurry the work so I can get to the final product.  However, I must let time have its way and their need to think and work in their own way must be honored or the final product will not be what it could be.   This process takes awareness, patience, and effort for us to both be rewarded with something we can enjoy sharing, feel proud of, and appreciate after all this important work comes to a close.

I need to look at a few essays now so I think I'll have a slice of bread as I read along!

Writing Again Publicly...Finally

Well, it has been quite a while since I've posted.  I have been writing, but it has been a tough eight months for me on a personal level and the majority of my writing has been geared toward trying to make sense out of what was happening.  I think it's time to begin my "public" writing life again and try to move forward.

It's almost Slice of Life Challenge time again.  I wanted to become a year round slicer after the wonderful experience last year, but I didn't make it.  My reasons are not excuses, merely explanations of why I became a very private writer for a while.  Gearing up to blog for the SOLC has motivated me to start posting on this blog again.

Hope you will stick with me and that my goal of becoming a regular slicer will motivate me to put my writing out there each day of March and each Tuesday thereafter.   I need to feel connected to something positive and the SOL writing community is a great place to start.

Lincoln, a Girl, and Some Summer Fun

Sitting in the parking lot waiting on Lincoln to get finished with color guard practice, I realize I am famished!  It's almost six in the evening and my lunch time at school is 10:43.  My stomach makes that Winnie the Pooh "rumbly in my tumbly" sound that used to make my little boys laugh when they heard it.

Lincoln makes his way out of the high school slowly.  He has a girl with him.  Hmmm, interesting.  "Hey, mom.  You think we could give Morgan a ride home?"

I grinned at him and quickly said, "Of course we can."

Lincoln put his purple color guard flag awkwardly in the truck.  He angled it across the seat so that there was room for Morgan and her flag too.  He hopped in the truck bed so this cute brunette could ride up front in the cab with me.

We drove down the road and dropped Morgan at her house in a small neighborhood about half a mile from the school.  Lincoln joined me and I began to throw out the "mama questions" so quickly he finally said, "Mom, geez, can you give me a break here?"

I had to laugh.  He had just spent almost twelve hours at school.  He was tired and didn't feel like being grilled about a girl at the moment so I set my curiosity aside for the time being.

My stomach growled again which prompted him to ask the question that I constantly hear from him after a long day at school (and sometimes a not-so-long day).   "What's for dinner?"

"How about we run to Waxhaw and grab a bite there?"  I had had a tough day too and didn't feel like cooking, but I was so hungry!

"Sure, that sounds good," Lincoln replied.  "What do you feel like eating?  You want Chinese?"

"How about Luigi and Sons?  I really don't want Chinese,"  I answered.

"Okay, that works," Lincoln smiled.

We made our way into the small nearby town of Waxhaw.  It's a quiet little town with lots of charming antique shops and a few quality restaurants.  Luigi and Sons is one of our favorites when we feel like splurging on some rich Italian food.  It is small place with a quiet atmosphere that begs you to sit and relax a while over a great meal.

Entering the restaurant, we were suddenly hit with the amazing aromas of garlic , tomatoes, pizza, and pasta.  Lincoln and I look over the menu.  We talk about what we want to eat, decide, and the waitress, Heather, comes over to take our order.

As Heather leaves our table and enters the kitchen through it's silver door, we hear her loudly call out the cook's name, "Marco!"

Lincoln yells back lightning fast, "Polo!"

I can't help it; I burst into giggles.  The couple in the booth next to us crack up.  He has the whole place laughing!

He's a witty young man and since he was a July baby, summer is never far from his mind.

We finished our wonderful dinner and started for home.  With my hunger satisfied, I was happy to return to the topic we had shelved while we ate.

 "So, who is Morgan...?"

Planning to Write for Teachers Write!

A little late making it to the first day of camp, but I'm here finally!  It's the last week of school and there is a FULL MOON, people!  Making time to write is difficult at the moment, however, I have a plan.

I have thought about what I can let go for the next couple of days to be able to write.  I am at school generally until around 5.  Our students leave at 3:15.  If I leave at 4:30, I would have an extra half hour to write once I got home.  After the final end of year workdays and an instructional mapping workshop on the Common Core Standards, I will be able to write in the mornings after my wake up cup of coffee and my breakfast.  My fifteen year old son will still be asleep and my twenty year old will be at work so I will only have the cat there to distract me.

I will spend the time writing at my kitchen table--in the afternoons until school is over and then in the mornings.  Looking out the window there, I will be able to see my beautiful, green front yard.  I have two huge water oak trees the birds and squirrels love! ( I suppose I have to include watching them as a distraction for me also. )

My students at school as well as my sons know about my plans to attend writing camp and how and when I will work on becoming a better writer.  Now, of course, I have shared these intentions with other members of the Teachers Write! community--being held accountable to myself and the people that I've shared this plan with will should be enough to keep me motivated until August 10th and beyond.

Thank you, Kate, and all the authors and other teacher/librarian writers involved in helping me grow as a writer!