A day of butterflies

today sitting out on the back porch

a cool sunny morning

I look up and see a butterfly weaving through the leaves of a nearby shrub

reminding me of a rainy October afternoon two years ago

you and I huddled beneath the canopy of a grand pecan tree

as the rain poured around us

sitting quietly the essence of pecan filled the air mixed with the smell of fresh rain

the edges of pecan leaves silhouetted against a gray sky

sharp and curved

quietly we sat as butterflies fell from the leaves

hundreds dropped

orange and black monarchs filled the area beneath the branches' canopy

soft sounds of amazement left our parted lips

eyes glanced towards each other

that shared moment

a connection in a vast expanse of emptiness

reminding me the embers remained

only soft quiet breaths would reignite the flame

10/9/08

Entry 3

So what did I fall in love with today-today is a good day for this prompt cause the day has been a bit overwhelming; so what rays of light came through my busy world; morning woke to a kitty on my pillow ok the one beside me; that brought a smile to my lips; he'd let me sleep through the night; the dogs woke me when one of them heard something in the middle of the night; oh praise the dog chorus; one cannot sing without the other; so I guess my day began brightly with sweet thoughts rising from the sight of a slumbering cat; nice muggy walk; not bothersome, both pups were easy; ok, I did hit the ground running when I got to school; yea, I can always get my grading done sooner, but I do feel like I'm on top of it this six weeks; so many snags; can't figure if it's me or the girls; me trying to help the girls which only causes me to run around trying to remember what they need to get to me; to I want their work more than they want to give me their work? Rachel's lesson went well in that it allowed me to hear from so many girls as they wrote and conferenced; they really do sound like writers; seem to have the habits of writers; the lesson was fine, not perfect, but fine; seemed to go better than when I taught it a little later; of course I was teaching and checking in for missed work; film, eh, what can I find that went well in film; a few questions I was able to help the girls solve? I don't know not terribly productive; certainly not 100%; do I have to always strive for 100%; sometimes I think the girls would like a lower key teacher; I'm easy in film; friendly in advisory; but I do take my language arts classes seriously; poor girls; did manage to verify grades before our meeting; nothing surprising; our meeting discussing the girls at least reminded me that I am just like all other teachers; I guess I hold the bar a little bit higher for myself; don't see that changing; so back to 3 things; what have I fallen love with today; I loved walking to a cat sleeping on the next pillow; I loved waking knowing that he had not disturbed my sleep; I feel in love with the chance to hear the girls talk about their writing; I loved that they sound like writers themselves that they take themselves seriously; they have developed habits of writers; I guess once again I have had the chance to fall in love with my human side; fall in love with the me who is fallible; know that I try hard; know that I am not always as good as I wish to be, and I know it; know that from time to time reality does slip in for me and recognize that my moments of being truly human are just like those of the people around me; maybe they like me more when I fall off my pedestal of teacher aiming to be the best; I wonder if my students would like me more if they could see my hair hang down instead of always being the woman who is on; who is on her game and on their you know whats; I guess I should say that I love that writing helped me loosen up; the prompt from Georgia Heard's Writing Toward Home says that every time we fall in love something that before was closed inside us opens and creativity begins to flow.

10/6/08

Entry 2

worked out back sweeping the yard; clearing out, through the dead lawn; clearing the dog doo; thanks Jack; funny it's an improvement though it hardly looks good; reminded me of my dad talking about swept yards when he was growing up in Waynesboro; remains of reconstruction; it is an improvement; I'm beginning to see the possibilities for landscaping and gardening in the back; a raised bed in the lower end; probably flowers and other shade tolerant perrenials; also seem to need some sort of terracing; something that looked like an outcrop would be nice; the porch seems to have effected the slope causing it to be more dramatic; sitting here thinking about it I know we'll need to bring soil in

10/5/08

getting started

always wondering what I can do to write; really write; thought I'd try a blog; today as I walked the greenbelt; typical saturday am diversion with Collins and dogs I thought about what I wouldn't want to forget about this day; we saw a snake on the greenbelt; after recalling the red on yellow rhyme I realized it was a coral snake; not close enough to recognize a venomous head; so it's october 4th and to the best of my memory the first coral snake I've seen this year - 2008; beautiful morning amazing light so clear; the greens glittered each edge was so clean; so much light; easy loving walk after a week which has definitely given me cause for the first time to wonder how to make steps in our relationship; realizing it's not gonna be easy; will definitely need to learn how to steer; keep track of me in a relationship; balance with love; also important not to force myself on someone else either

10/4/08