A Mistake We Make
Our acorn stockpile wasn’t such a great idea after all. A few days ago, I learned that acorns contain bitter tannins that interfere with a squirrel’s ability to metabolize protein. That’s why they bury them! Burying acorns and letting them sit underground allows moisture to percolate through them to “leach out” the tannins. Our stockpile […]
Would You Wear These Shoes?!
My shoes look a lot like this: brown, basic, sensible, sturdy. No heel. Are you surprised? I’m the same woman who wore flip-flops to a fancy Manhattan party. No matter how hard I try, I could never wear shoes like this: Pink, Satin, 10 inch heel. Strappy. Put me in shoes like […]
When You Feel Unstable
I’ve been walking a lot lately. This morning I woke up thinking about a quote from Oliver Wendall Holmes: Walking, then, is a perpetual falling with a perpetual self–recovery. It is a most complex, violent, and perilous operation. . . When I walk, I deliberately destabilize myself, catch myself with the next foot, and […]
True Snapshot
School pictures never go well for us. Over the years, they always return with faces that more resemble mug shots than happy school pictures. One year, it actually looked my daughter was growling at the photographer. Another year, the oldest daughter’s eyes were half shut, and she had a haunting smirk on her face. That […]
How to Get This Thing to Work
My friend just emailed a picture of my daughter swinging on a glider swing with her daughter. On a glider swing, two friends sit back to back. The rhythm required to get the swing moving involves taking turns pulling up against the bar in front of you. If you both try to pump at the […]
Totally Out of Context
Today I tell my students we will work together to revise their essays. To revise means “to see again.” When we see our writing “again,” we gain a fresh look, from a new perspective, and recalibrate what’s not working. One method of revision involves taking writing out of context and re-reading it in a […]
Darning a Hole in Your Community
Last night, our neighborhood launched the second year of Monday Night Neighborhood Fitness Group in the parking lot. We had children and adults jumping rope while others biked, skated, threw football and Frisbee, walked a circuit around the perimeter, flew the big turtle kite, or raced up the steep hill beside the parking lot. From […]
Draw Out Your Inner Teacher
The Latin root of the verb educate means “to draw out” or “bring forth.” Teachers illuminate the subject matter, but they also bring something forth from the student. They draw knowledge out, not dump it in. It’s a different way of understanding the verb and a teacher’s role in the classroom. It changes everything: how […]
A Message From God in my Vacuum
Yesterday, I vacuumed my entire house. We recently had the carpets cleaned, and the kind cleaner suggested we needed a new vacuum. He said to get a “multi-cyclonic” system with a canister I empty out–not the bag kind. I like my old vacuum. It’s been with me all these years. To me, the carpets look […]
What Were You Thinking?
Yesterday, a particularly thoughtful student said she wanted to start a blog. She’s been thinking about this for a long time. As we walked together, she said, “I wouldn’t have anything to say, though. What would I write about?” I wonder if what she really means is: “What would I write about that anybody would […]