Autumn

The wind blows
                                the leaves
               all around                               swirling, whirling floating colors of
red,                           orange,            yellow,          brown
flying here and there...........................and everywhere
autumn's                            confetti!

the wonderful world of imagination and writing

Ah, I miss my blogs and am sorry to be so busy. School during the day and work at night has left me little time, but that will come to an end soon enough. Work has actually helped my imagination and given me some ideas for stories.
As a part-time night custodian at a local high school, occasionally I'm asked to clean a science room. The first time I did, I opened the door only to not find the light switch. As I wandered toward the other door, eerie thoughts came to mind when I heard certain noises coming from dimly lit glass containers. Hum...my mind said "haunted" and "by what"...thus a story in the making.
Having fun...be back soon!

summer's ending

Even though the heat prevails, summer is definitely winding down. Public school starts in less than two weeks, and my college classes start at the end of this month.
Fireflies are fast disappearing and the cicadias are noisey as ever. But, it has been a good summer!
May the months ahead be filled with new adventures, some challenges, making new friends, and remembering the good ones that I have already made.
Life is what we make it to be in many ways! I for one choose to make it as positive as possible to balance out those things that might be negative.
Love, Laugh, and Live!!!

disgusting annoyances

If human being are suppose to be evolving toward higher intellect and better examples, why do they still do stupid things. I do not like getting my mailbox bashed. Thank god it wasn't permenantly afixed in the ground. They merely put a big dent in it before it fell over.  It is just the idea that this is suppose to be someones idea of fun.  When I went out to set it up and knock the dent out of it, I looked around to see if any other boxes had been bashed in and mine was the only one.  Now my concern is what is going on. Usually in a neighborhood, when that happens, several boxes in a row get smashed.
I just don't want to be on anyone's hit list.  grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

The Worker

The IUSB campus is dedicating this next year to the worker. This is very interesting, as I myself have taken on a different job. Not teaching any more but actually becoming a physical laborer has given me interesting things to think about. Not that I have not had this type of a job in the past. It is just that going from what some would say a more intellectual job to a very physical job puts me in a perspective I have never seen till now.


Some of my students who were in summer school, saw me working as a custodian, and they did not know what to think. It was as if I had sunk below their expectations of what I should be. As I was dwelling on this, a thought came to my mind. What is so wrong for people in a “profession” doing manual labor? I looked up the word ‘profession’ and found it can mean, as Merriam Webster Dictionary explains it, “a principle calling, vocation, or employment.” Then it occurred to me that China had what they called the “Cultural Revolution.” Today that is an abhorrent term. Almost anyone who knows what happened believes it was taken to extremes. My thought has been this though; why not alternate ones intellectual or scientific profession with a bit of manual labor? It certainly puts a person on level ground with everyone else in the world. I am not saying give up that profession, but try something out of the comfort zone. People might think differently when they see what the majority of the population has to deal with and how it works. Could it, would it get rid of that attitude that thinks it is better because of job status? Ok, so it has taken me quite a few years and dollars to get my degree, and Joe on the garbage truck barely made it through high school. I know I would not want to be without the ‘Joes’ out there and haul my own garbage somewhere.

So here’s to the worker, the one who is working and making a difference somehow, somewhere.

the climb

When I climb a
                  mountain,
I feel its power.
   It takes my energy into itself,
But when I arrive at the top of that
                  mountain,
I look back from where I came and
   feel the mountain holding me.
And, I feel a part of it, like a sentry standing guard
   overlooking what it protects.
My energy is renewed and
   I am refreshed.

Window on the world

I'm trying out a new layout, trying to show more expression to what I print here. Often what I write I think of as my view from the window looking looking over the world. It may be a tiny view or a grand one. It might be lovely or drab, simple or horrific. We all have our window view. What is yours?

Storms build up and pass over causing all kinds of havoc. The Gulf of Mexico is gradually being devastated by man's quest for oil. What can I do about these things? ....nothing. I care, but I do not worry.  I help when and where I can, but I do not run myself in the ground striving to fix something that I cannot fix. 
Because man exists, these situations happen or affect humanity. Without humanity,  the storms would still come, oil may find a way to seep to the surface and polute the waters.  We live with it and we deal with it, but do not let it be a cause for stress, fear, anger, discouragement.  These.....these emotions will killl, steal and destroy humanity much faster than those others ever will.

Life

Sitting in the backyard, I notice the trees, their shapes and how they grow. I watch the tiny birds flit from branch to branch the soft feathers blowing in the whisper wind. The flowers growing here and there dot the landscape with the brilliant colors to break up the green and brown. Fluffy white clouds float past me above punctuating the azure blue sky. Life is fragile and yet determined.....to continue.  We must protect what we can...even if it is our own life.

Interesting thought

The irony of commitment is that it's deeply liberating----in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your interrnal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life.
Anne Morris on a Starbucks cup

Probably our thoughts are the barriers we set up along the way through life.  Soon the wall is so high we can't even see it as a wall any more, but a part of the landscape.

where....why

arm stretched...fingers reaching, reaching, reaching
        not touching...warmth fading....away
heart beating.............can't you feel......my heart pulsing....beating
yearning.......where.....have.....you.....gone
your shadow lingers....a whisper....a vapor....I cannot hold it
where....have....you....gone

unread words

Alas how sad it is for a dreamer to write
what no one reads
To put words in print that
fall
    like
         rain
              to
                disappear...but even rain causes flowers to grow

Beautiful illustrations

I have posted the illustrations by Edmund Dulac because they represent parts of my inner self, my imagination!

Gods and Mortals in love

Persesus and Andromeda

Arabian Nights by Dulac

Edmund Dulac's Dreamer of Dreams

Mystery

The mist lay heavily on the land as darkness begins to fall.
Sounds are muffled shadows dulled.
She walks as if floating instead of treading the ground.
What awaits her ahead; who draws her to come?
She moves on in mystical anticipation.
She left the manor house in agitation.
As she moves farther into the night,
she senses warmth; peace flows over her
love has overtaken her.

Why Education

Why is education coming under attack? Money is being cut from education that should not be cut and schools are closing. The administration of school corporations are now crowding more children into a classroom, many of which need more attention. Questions arrise about who is at fault. Is is the federal government, the state, or is it the schools themselves? I suggest that all three are a fault. Yes, the economy crisis the United States is experiencing (yes, many are still in crisis) hits all areas, but education should be one of the last areas to suffer such losses. We in education are willing to take salary cuts if everyone in education is willing to do so, such as those in administration from the top down. The education of our future generations is vital to the survival of society, its growth and health. Cutting 300 millions dollars out of education is not the answer.