Mandala Monday

Arlington Morning

One Single Impression: Folly

The prompt this week is "folly". I usually write haiku of OSI but this week, it is a pantoum and more reflection of the Oregon Coast.


Low Tide, Agate Beach, OR

Sea garden, low tide
Ruffled kelp, the ulva taeniata* and others
Intermingle with bull kelp
Cormorants fly in, out, feeding their young

Ruffled kelp, the ulva taeniata* and others,
Slick, slippery carpet challenges trespassers
Cormorants fly in, out, feeding their young
Microscopic alien signs of existence

Slick, slippery carpet challenges trespassers
Walking at low tide, looking
Microscopic alien signs of existence
Sea stars, anemones, glistening tide pool jewels

Walking at low tide, looking
Quiet treasures reveled: Upside down chitons*
Sea stars, anemones, glistening tide pool jewels
Aware of human environmental follies?

Walking at low tide, looking
Intermingle with bull kelp
Aware of environmental follies?
Sea garden, low tide

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++





Ulva taeniata: bright green sea algae with a ruffled edge


Chiton: a sea molluck, very primitive. Became aware of them through a college class and still have the empty shell of one, collected over 30 years ago.






Visit One Single Impression and read what follies others have written about.

It is August; I Wake Up Early/ Blogging Conference News

I abandoned the alarm clock in June at the end of school for the summer. Thing is that most days I awoke at 5 AM but did not get out until the 6-7 AM hour. My respite from the school year.
Now the calendar shows August, the alarm clock is back in my life. To build that muscle memory for the upcoming school year. To guarantee at least an hour of quiet writing time and wake up time. To resume those 6 AM workouts.

Me at last year's conference, Chicago

Last week I was panicky over the number of registrations coming in for the Second Annual Kidlit Blogging Conference. “Ye of such little faith!” I should have known that like me, July should be known as “National Everyone Go and Play Month”. I was not home for a full week, why would anyone else be home?
This week airlines are offering “fall fare travel sales” (not to the rock bottom fares I love though)

Bloggers want to see the following topics:
CYBILS
Beginning Blogging
Community blogging
Pod casting
Social networking to promote your blog
And
VLOGGING? Who will lead the session on Vlogging?

I feel a bit like the “little red hen” when I ask, “Who will help out?” Will you help?

Rumor has it that there will soon be some shirts and mugs for sale on Café Press in honor of the conference stay tuned.

My Last Hurrah of Summer: My Acts of Bravery for the Week

For the past couple of weeks I have participated in the "Be Brave" project started by Jessie. This weekend I found myself being brave on two accounts. First (and silly as it may sound) I left my laptop home when we went to the coast the past weekend. It has gone everywhere with me this summer, even the Odell Hall weekend, which to my surprise everyone was grateful it was there and we used it a lot! Ha! But this past weekend, it stayed home. And I lived although, I thought about many things I wanted to look up and I had to wait to post my weekly 7-kicks at 7 Imp until returning home.


Next, on Sunday morning, I awoke and headed down to the beach. The tide was almost all the way out and was a minus tide at that. I watched the birds on the cliff, realizing they were cormorants which reminded me of a favorite childhood book, Island of the Blue Dolphins. The camera only showed them as specks. So the only thing I could do was to move in closer. This meant climbing on the massive amounts of slimy slick bull kelp, rocky uneven surfaces.

Squishy, slick bull kelp

Anyone who knows me, know that my middle name is "grace" (NOT) and so I had to be particularly brave and cautious as I moved in closer to the cliff. And although, I still wished that I had my film camera with its telephoto lens, I did get a better photo of these marvelous birds and their young.

Okay, still not the best but there they are.

Finally, after photographing the numerous starfish and anemones, I headed back to the motel.

A staircase is hiding to walk up the cliff.

What have you done to be brave?

"Do I Have To?": My Last Hurrah of Summer, Part I

Okay, I know that summer is NOT over. However, when August rolls around, I get that itch about getting back into school combined with a "Do I Have To..." attitude. So this past weekend was like the "last hurrah" for me. My husband and I made plans to go to the coast. Hunting agate and sea glass was part of the agenda. The weather was iffy.

Annie and me

But first, I visited with my blogging friend, Annie, up from California. We were to meet in her town as we were traveling home earlier in July. I, unfortunately, was in need of a "chuck-a-bucket" ( my granddaughter's word for her car sick container). Needless to say, we cancelled. Thankfully she was due to visit her son and daughter-in-law, so we were able to connect. I am not sure where the 2 hours went but they flew. Rumor is that Annie and her husband will retire here. Oh, yay!

Saturday morning my husband and I loaded up the car and within 90 minutes we were at the coast. Surprise! The weather was nothing like Portland! Sunny! Beautiful! Warm! Breezy!

At Road's End, Lincoln City, OR Walking the pooches

We walked for almost 90 minutes as the tide was out and very low. Rusty and Sophie were tuckered needless to say.

Agate Beach, Oregon

Okay so I learned something about agate and beach glass hunting. See that lovely sand? A mini sand dune (and btw, Annie thinks that sand here is softer, finer). Well, that sand acts like a blanket in the summer! Which means that all the lovely agates and/or beach glass are hiding underneath. I found a few specimens but I will need to wait until the winter storms which will scour out the sand, telling the agates, "It is your time to shine!" Humph!

We thought dinner would be at the Nye Beach Hotel Newport, unfortunately all that was there when we drove by was a vacant lot. Fire? Falling Down? Well, we had to find out as it was a place we frequented in the early days of our courtship. Apparently, the person who bought it, had to tear it down as it was structurally unfit. And it had such a great restaurant overlooking the beach. We found and had a fabulous meal over looking the ocean at Georgie's instead. Fresh halibut with pineapple salsa and fresh marion berry crisp. Yum!

We hit the beach after dinner but unfortunately the wind had picked up and our two little four legged pals suffered a bit from the blowing wind. So we returned to the Agate Beach Motel, a small place with great units and a private beach area.

We all fell into bed, asleep in minutes, except me wondering, "Do I really have to return to school?"

For more on the prompt, "Do I have to?" visit Sunday Scribblings. I will post "My Last Hurrah, Part II, in which I am brave soon.

Upon Reading a Book

Odell Hall Gathering 2008

I have been on kind of a reading drought until recently. I mentioned that I found a J.A. Jance mystery to read at the recent coast vacation. I brought along Middlesex, a book long on my “must read” list.

Then my daughter said, “Put this on the top of your priority list” and handed me Lisa See’s Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. My daughter knows me. I love historical novels and this one did not disappoint. I want to time travel and I did. The drought ended. Each night I forced myself to put the book down or I would have met the dawn sky.

This story of ultimate friendship, a way to survive a society in which women were not highly regarded is incredible. We should all be blessed in our lives with a “laotong”, an old same or kindred spirit, or to have a group of women considered as our “sworn sisters”.


“She loved you as a laotong should for everything that you were and everything you were not.”

-Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Lisa See

This line toward the end of the story resonated. I just had returned home from the annual college friends reunion. One of my friends remarked that we have know each other so well and can be amused by our shortcomings. And that is correct. To have a feeling that we are each loved for who we are and who we are not. That is how I would describe this group of friends.

These nine women have known me for 38 years. They have been partied to my escapades in choosing a mate (actually two husbands), my unorganized organization techniques, the deaths of my parents, the death of a marriage, and how I became a stepmother.

I, in return, have witnessed their marriages, love challenges, births, medical challenges, the deaths of parents, the untimely death of a friend’s son. We have laughed and cried and talked about everything under the sun.

Our group began meeting regularly seven years ago as we all reached the halfway point to becoming a centarian. The places vary and not all attend each year. (This year we were only five due to a wedding, remembering the loss of a child, moving, and work). It is a yearly reunion that fills me with great joy.

It is like going back to that moment in time when we first met. Indeed our hearts feel like we are those teenagers once again although sometimes our bodies say otherwise.

These are my sworn sisters, and to them I am thankful for loving me for who I am.

sworn sisters gather
divergent lives cross yearly
happy faces here
laughs, hugs, adventures
carry us through time

One Single Impression is featuring haiku and other poetic forms on faces this week.

One Single Impression: Faces

Granddaughters, Beach 2008

mischievous cousins
captured moment, tender love
nonverbal plans made
back to antics soon

So many wonderful faces in the world. Visit One Single Impression.

In the Pink

Team "In the Pink"

This is my good friend Randy (center) and her husband Ron with teammate, Ellie. She was diagnosed with breast cancer five years ago.

How did she deal with it besides all the medical treatments? A big dose of faith and walking. The first year I joined Randy in Vancouver, B.C. for a two day walk in which we walked almost 60 miles in mostly rain. It was one of the driest summers, that 2004 summer until THAT weekend in B.C.

Since then Ron has been her walking companion in Seattle and they have raised over $40,000 for breast cancer research. Talk about a wonderful husband! They celebrate 30 years on August 12.

I know that we have lots of opportunities for donating to this research but I am asking you to consider donating to Randy's team, In the Pink, this year as a celebration of her reaching 5 years in recovery.

Reflections of a Blogging Conference

Kidlit Blogging Conference, Chicago, IL

More registrations in the mail, discovered upon returning home from my annual college women's weekend in central Oregon! I have logged them in and have added names onto the list.

It made me think back to this time last summer when I finally decided, yup! we are headed to Chicago! I believe that weekend was an "aha" moment for me because of the fun I had and the knowledge gained. (Besides the fact that I bravely raised my hand and said YES to organizing this year's event. Thank you, Laini for signing on with me.)

Friday night was a blast as we piled into the hotel van and they took us to a great pizza joint.




Friday Night Fun Chicago Pizza Style

And what great topics! From the "how to's" of kidlit blogging, podcasting, a forum about the Cybils to meeting authors in a fun hour before the dinner hour. I loved the session presented by Mother Reader on how to get your blog noticed. Anne Levy addressed issues about reviewing which was very helpful.




Mark Blevis talking about podcasting. I wrote a grant and got podcasting equipment after this inspiring session.

Anne and Kelly, co-founders of the CYBILS Award

Esme Raji Codell hosted the author and illustrator hour.

So are you in? What topics do you want to see at this year's conference. Let me know!

You can email me the registration form and send the check via email if that helps you. I am looking forward to this year's event. I hope to see you.

One Single Impression: Rest

Butterfly. Pine Marten Lodge

butterfly at rest

high altitude nectar hunt
brief mountain visit

For more restful haiku, visit OSI

Chair Lifts

Chair Lifts

What scares you in your life? Is it the dark? Roller coaster rides? Being alone? Spiders?
I realized this summer that ski lifts are really not my cup of tea. I realized it when I politely turned down an offer to ride the ski lift to the top of Humphrey’s Peak in Arizona earlier this summer. I was reminded of three summers ago when my college friends’ group rode the ski lift at Winter Park, Colorado during our annual women’s weekend.
A double chair, bare terrain and rocks below you without a blanket of snow to break a fall, should that happen. What if I dropped my cell phone? What if my camera fell? And then the getting on, getting off dance of the chair lift? It is like a moving object that even my Rubenesque body has a hard time hitting the target. That only brought to the surface memories of my skiing days; the time I fell face first getting into the lift and the time I was afraid to get off the lift. Not my cup of tea.
So when I was in Flagstaff, I said no thank you and that was that. We found other things to do in town.
Ski lifts. Who would have thought that I would eventually end up on one this summer anyway? I am writing this during the seventh annual college friends’ weekend and we are in central Oregon. Adventures had been planned for us and one was to lunch at Pine Marten Lodge, 7800 feet above sea level. We certainly were not going to hike to the lodge or helicopter in. Yep. Ski Lift.
I took a big breath and bought the ticket. I managed to scan the ticket too many times and the turnstile would not let me go but luckily the staff showed me the secret way to get ready to sit on a moving object.
But surprise! This chair lift was moving very slowly! It was almost as at a stop as I sat. Oregon has rules and regulations about the speed of the chair lift on the off season. The ride to the top was breezy and thankfully my friend and I chatted the whole way, a welcomed distraction for me.
This was my reward for being brave:

Looking toward Three Sisters

We ate a deliciously wonderful lunch and then headed back down. The ride was scary (I prefer the up to the down) but we moved along, did not stop for any length of time, and the exit was smooth. I gladly placed the lift ticket in the recycle box. It will be a while before I head up the chair lift.
Today I write this as my friends are bicycling around the resort. Ahh, another opportunity to be brave but I did decline that adventure. One adventure per trip is quite enough for me.

Sunday Scribblings: Solace

From the SS prompt: "In what do you find solace? What place is solace for you? Where do you go in yourself or outside of yourself when you need comfort or consolation? Why do you seek solace? What does it mean for you?"

Solace comes from many places: from within, from being out in nature, and sometimes from dark, dark chocolate. I love to play with haiku and after many weeks of not writing, I found solace in writing to this week’s prompt.

hummingbird perches
feathers a glisten, he feeds
sweet solace nectar

moonlight tendrils reach,
caress two spooners entwined
solace a blanket

midnight walk on sand
universe glitter found, picked up
tossed into the sea
solace discovered
returns, spirit sleeps

Find some solace reading these.

Wednesday Fun

Recycled Beach Glass

Stone Rings with Decorative Additions

Well, I spent most of the day creating. I have to locate more beach glass.

Be Brave Project. Will You Join In?

I have been spending some early morning surfing the blogs I usually read. This is a return to a practice I have not done in a while. This morning I followed bread crumbs from the 7-Imp post to this blog, Diary of a Self-Portrait. In October, Jessie began the "BE Brave" project by challenging herself to be brave in her life. She invited others to join in. In October, I was into that world of national boards for teaching so I missed it, or perhaps, I was on my own "be brave" project. So now I am going to commit to doing at least one brave thing a week.

Here are the "rules" as Jessie wrote in her post:
(most important:) MAKE YOUR OWN RULES.
Do this for yourself.
Make a commitment for the length of time that best suites YOUR needs--one day, one month, one year, one moment...it's all up to you, and you alone. ;)
The "brave" or "scary" things that you choose to do can be as big or little as you want them to be. Sometimes it's the little things that can be the most scary (and beneficial)!
(not to quote Nike, but...) Just do it.
Be on your own schedule. You don't need to make a commitment until YOU are ready.
This is your unique journey--make it whatever you want it to be.

Glad I didn't know about this last week or I would have had to rethink the decision about NOT going on the "tilt-a-whirl" ride with my granddaughter.

As I write that, it does seem so inconsequential to what some people or animals (as Monday's post at Jessie's blog shows) in the world must face on a daily basis. It makes me feel very blessed to live where I live and have the job that I have.

Will you join me?

Kidlit Conference Jeopardy

The answer is:
Sara Zarr, Story of a Girl
Kirby Larson, Hattie Big Sky
Alma Alexander, Worldweavers series
Laini Taylor, Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer
Matt Holm, Babymouse
Anastasia Suen, Main Street School series
Adrienne Furness, Helping Homeschoolers in the Library
Carmen T. Bernier-Grand: Frida: Viva La Vida! Long Live Life!
Jen Robinson, “Growing Bookworms Newsletter”, guest blogger at PBS
Betsy Bird, School Library Journal book blog

“Who has registered for the Second Annual Kidlitosphere Conference, September 27, 2008?” is the question.


Will you be attending? Have you registered yet? Visit Kidlit08 for more details. If you register before August 1, 2008, you will receive a complimentary raffle ticket for the dinner raffle.

Top Ten Reasons to Visit Portland, Oregon

Top 10 Reasons to Visit Portland, Oregon

10. Voodoo Doughnuts where your can get married and eat your doughnut too.

9. We do not have sales tax.

8. Looking for leprechauns? They been seen at the “World’s Smallest Park”: Mill Ends Park (24 inches in size) on Naito Parkway.

7. Portland also has the largest forested city wilderness in the nation: Forest Park, 5, 000 acres in size.

6. Mt Tabor, an extinct volcano. Portland is one of two cities in the US with and extinct volcano within the city. The other one is in Bend, Oregon.

5. Portland is also known as “Beervana” for being the epicenter of micro brewing.

4. Cupcake Jones Nirvana! I will have some available at the conference.

3. Stumptown Coffee

2. Powell’s City of Books Plan to meet here on Friday night and then head to a local microbrewery for dinner

However, the Number One reason to visit Portland is:

THE SECOND ANNUAL KIDLITOSPHERE BLOGGING CONFERENCE:

“Bridging the Worlds of Books and Blogs”.

Great discussions about books and blogs! Great networking! Great fun!

For more information visit Kidlit 2008 or contact me at “macrush53 at yahoo dot com”.

Summertime Living

I am around. I just have not been posting on my blogs much. I think it is fallout from participating in the national boards for teaching. Which, by the way, I now get to wait until around November to hear the results.

I had plans, oh big plans to blog from the road trip I just returned from last week. Nevertheless, I did not. I did not read anything of merit on the road trip. I have started reading about the behavior of dogs for a project I am working on.

I just returned from the public library. This has become a renewed love affair because I can be more “green” through purchasing less. I went to the library as a child and through my teen years. It was a time when big corporate books stores did not exist and very few independent ones as well.

I participated in the summer reading programs and worked to get my chart filled up faster than “Jack Snap”, whoever he might be. I returned to a library habit this spring because I needed to listen to books on tape or cd in preparation for the national board’s exam.

Today, I cruised by the “Twice Sold Tales”, a perpetual used book sale that the library has. A five-dollar bill provided me with The Friday Night Knitting Club, The Art of French Kissing, and a J.A. Jance: Web of Evil. Nothing like Jance to interrupt a reading vacation.

We leave for the coast tomorrow the week. I am hoping (again) to blog from our location. It will be because of J.A. Jance if I do not.

Happy Reading.

Year 34 Completed

"The Blue Box": my four completed portfolios.

I completed my 34th year of teaching last week and what a year it has been for me. On June 14, I took my three hour exam, the last segment of the national boards and now the long wait until I find out in November. It was a wild year as I was hesitant to leave, a little teary and holding back.
But I am done and now headed out to see friends. Over the next few weeks, I will be in and out of town. I am looking forward to:
*meeting my new critique group which is forming
*meeting up with Annie in California
* planning the fall Kidlitosphere conference
*reading
*writing
*hanging out with family
*napping

One Single Impression: Reflecting

which direction, toes?

the safe, predictable way

or new adventure

dip toe in water

mysterious path

I awoke yesterday morning from a dream which gave me the gift of direction. It was all about the upcoming Kidlit Blogging Conference in Portland.
Based on the dream I created a registration for for the conference. But more important, I took a step, a baby step, down a path I have been thinking about for awhile: I joined the Oregon chapter of the Society for Children's Book Writers ad Illustrators.

Do you know how many times I have looked them up on the Internet (and got information in the mail from them before the days of home computers) and did nothing but look? Like that person peering into the window wishing to join the event occurring inside.

But I did it.
For more information about SCBWI Oregon, click here.
For more information about the Kidlit Blogging Conference, click here.

One Single Impression is here.