Three weeks in…

I have just finished planning for the fourth week of my tenure in 7th grade. I had a series of very long, difficult days in the past two weeks. Conferences with parents and students who are at risk of not being able to go on to 8th grade. Learning a little bit more about how […]


Rain, Sun, Rain, Fog, Rain (sunbreaks), Drizzle…

There is a pattern developing in the weather! Although the forecasters are predicting a drier than normal autumn and winter (which I would rather not have!), for the moment the weather seems mostly to have settled in to a comfortable rhythm. What puzzles me at the moment is that, most years, the bigleaf maples are […]


Food and Gardens

After years of stagnation in house and yard, we made progress in the garden, and the flower beds are much neater and prolific. And now, we are making progress in the house, as evidenced by the (recycled/reclaimed) green carpet in the living room that should help us keep a little warmer this winter. The piano […]


Updates: Garden and Life

It was a very wet week. Apparently we have already surpassed, halfway through the month, the previous record rainfall for the entire month. I had an unexpected chance to sub for a friend on Friday, and it went from raining sideways to full sun in half an hour. Yesterday was similarly wet, rainy-snowy-haily alternating with […]


Chicken Soup and the End of Winter?

Chicken soup on the stovetop, simmering away. Love the smell of garlic, chicken, herbs… a wonderful backdrop to a late winter afternoon. Today has been alternately sunny and rainy, warm (for the time of year) and chilly enough that the rain changed briefly to snow. We are on the lookout for snow overnight as well, […]


Garden in Winter, Heralds of Spring

The garden right now is in that stage between dormancy and exuberance. Here and there, small reminders that Winter is not forever, and Renewal lies around the corner. It has been a strangely dry winter, mostly mild despite the weeklong snow in January. Today, March 4, I took a few pics around the garden. Though […]


Broken toes and little things

I rammed my foot up against an immovable object this afternoon. Will be teaching with a broken toe for a while. Which I can do, but it’s not going to be fun. Crutches on standby, ugly but comfortable shoes at the ready! It was a lovely, grey-infused day today. I like the gentle, seasonally productive, […]


Random poems in advance…

This is an edited version, I wrote this originally Tuesday night, for posting Wednesday, and wasn’t awake enough to edit for “time sense” — thanks for being patient! Next month (tomorrow) begins national poetry month. On the drive home from school Tuesday it hailed, snowed, rained, sleeted and was generally stormy. Somehow, poetry felt like […]


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