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SOLSC #31 – Savoring

Published on March 31, 2023

It is Tuesday and time to write a 'Slice of Life." 
Thank you  Two Writing Teachers for creating this supportive community
of teacher-writers!

It’s our last day of SOLSC – thirty-one days of writing in community. I feel as if I have been on one big adventure with new friends. A huge shout out to Stacey Shubitz and the amazing TWT Team for this wonderful month of sharing together!

As this challenge ends, I find myself seeking a metaphor for daily writing and connecting with you. I wonder if this poem of mine, written a couple years ago, might work? In this poem, I tell about a walk with my two-year-old granddaughter, and her insistence on getting out of the stroller and running after a feather –

The Feather

feather, small and grey
lying in our walking path
once seen cannot be unseen
get out! you demand
so, the stroller’s belt I undo
together
we bend over
looking closely
only to have the wind
lift it 
into the air
sending it forward
beckoning
you and I in pursuit
laughing
following a feather

Thank you, SOLSC community for all the precious feathers – your precious stories – that drifted into my path this month. It has been so invigorating to write alongside you, to look closely, together. I am so glad I stopped to look and to savor your writing, and that you did the same for mine. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

See you on Tuesdays, at Two Writing Teachers, everyone!

Thank you for visiting my blog.  Clicking the title of any post will open a comment box at the bottom of the page. I love hearing from you.

SOLSC #30 – Angel House

Published on March 30, 2023

It is Tuesday and time to write a 'Slice of Life." 
Thank you  Two Writing Teachers for creating this supportive community
of teacher-writers!

I moved the dollhouse upstairs to the corner of the landing, next to a bright sunny window, and set it on an old coffee table. Now it is at a good height for the children to play, and they can feel somewhat autonomous up here in this nook, while remaining within earshot of us as we work in the kitchen. I unearthed some furniture pieces from the attic crawlspace and set these up for Frog and Bird before a recent visit.

I couldn’t find any dolls, I’m sure these migrated to my preschool classroom over the years. I grabbed a couple Duplo figures, a forgotten Star Wars figure, and an angel from our Christmas ornaments that had lost its ‘hook,’ and set these up as ‘family.’ That little angel made an impression on the girls – they now refer to this play area as “angel house,” as in “I’m going to go upstairs and play at angel house,” which I find adorable.

At the craft store, I found some little wood figures and spent a sweet morning painting ‘people’ for the girls’ play. Now, everyone’s in the mix, one big doll community – the Star Wars guy, the Duplo, the angel, and the wood figures.

I am absolutely enchanted by the little stories they act out here at the dollhouse. They are thoroughly engaged by the varied pieces, setting up these sweet scenes and mini-dramas. I have not yet been successful at catching all their words, but have overheard words about working and dinner and Mama, Dada. I need to be a better spy, and capture their stories.

The dollhouse feels new and special to Frog and Bird, though it has been around forever. Between the pandemic and our home remodeling, it basically collected dust in a corner of the basement. Now, there is new life!

Thank you for visiting my blog.  Clicking the title of any post will open a comment box at the bottom of the page. I love hearing from you.

SOLSC #29 – Art Walk

Published on March 29, 2023

It is Tuesday and time to write a 'Slice of Life." 
Thank you  Two Writing Teachers for creating this supportive community
of teacher-writers!

In yesterday’s slice, Glenda Funk offered a tour of the artwork that hangs on the walls of her home, offering a brief story about each piece, and including many beautiful pieces that she acquired through travel. Upon reading, I instantly felt a happy, warm feeling in my heart, akin to what I feel when I visit a new friend for the first time. This is one of the greatest pleasures of the SOLSC community, I think – when you spend a month writing alongside others, you feel as if you have made friends.

Let me not neglect to share who Glenda got her inspiration from, another SOLSC writer; Glenda wrote –

Sunday Aggie Kessler who blogs at “my heart is happiest when i travel. read. write. connect” took us on a tour of her home in Jeju, Korea and blogged about how she likes glimpsing into others’ homes. I do, too.

Today, I’ll share a few art pieces from my home, in hopes that you get to know me a little better.

I started dating Tony in fall 1986, and I was pretty much head-over-heels from the get-go. A couple months into our relationship, I was visiting family in New Hampshire, and my sister-in-law and I slipped into a local art show. I saw this painting:

I had to have it.

Know this: I had never bought a painting before in my life. I’m not really sure what got into me. I simply knew that I wanted this for Tony. It reminded me of our many hikes together, trekking through the woods. I remember so very well how my sister-in-law pleaded with me, saying – I think this is a very serious gift, you’ve only been dating a couple months, I don’t think it’s a good idea. I dismissed her advice and bought this painting as a gift for him. I remember the long drive back to Washington, D.C., with this treasure in the back seat of my small car, wondering about my impulsivity. This painting adorns our fireplace mantle, in our living room. It is probably our “fanciest” piece of art, painted by an artist I do not know (C. Conti). Oh, and we’ve been married 35 years – so the gift worked out, lol.

Most of our art is painted by someone near and dear to us. Here’s our basement wall, where I have a gallery of art created my own kids, over the years:

Let me spotlight this one by my four year old granddaughter, Frog:

I love this drawing! She has recently ‘discovered’ that she can draw this being – and she draws it over and over again, with different color markers. We’ll ask, oh, who is this? and she’ll say “It’s you” or “It’s Poppa” or “It’s Mama” or, or, or, on and on. I see no distinction in the drawings other than the marker color, but she imagines different people for each one. I love this!

Here’s a poster that has hung in our kitchen for nearly 30 years, entitled “Elephant Bird” by Mike Smith –

A friend worked in a frame shop and noticed that this poster was being trashed, to make room for other merchandise. She knew that our (then) three-year-old son loved elephants, so she saved it from the trash and passed it on to us; I had it framed. We love elephants!

Another favorite of mine is this artwork of the Quilts of Gee’s Bend. I saw this exhibit in Memphis in 2005, and was mesmerized by the patterns of the quilts. These are simply postcards that I placed in a frame:

Next up: My nephew created this batik when he was in middle school. He based it on a painting of our eldest son (his cousin) sitting on Tony’s lap at the piano. I was so thrilled when my sister-in-law gave us this painting. It hangs above our piano, and the small photo sits on our piano.

We had a two-year stay in Little Rock, Arkansas, due to Tony’s work, from 2004-06. I worked as a substitute teacher during this time, and I also had the joy of taking pastel art classes at the art center there. Here’s a picture I created during these art classes – it is of our Maryland home (which shows how much I was missing it):

During those classes, the following painting was created by an artist working at the easel right next to me. I am embarrassed that I don’t recall his name (nor can I decipher the signature).

I have not forgotten the awe I felt in watching the artist create this piece. He had a photograph of an old home taped to his easel, and he zeroed in on this one corner of the house. He worked with only 2-3 colors and he created a treasure of a painting. At the end of the art course, there was an informal art sale at the center; I was absolutely thrilled to purchase my classmate’s gorgeous work – having watched its very birth.

I adored my art teacher in Little Rock. Her name is Endia Gomez – and this piece of hers hangs above my writing chair, inspiring me, always.

As you can see, most of our art is personal treasures. Let me close with the marionette that hangs in my kitchen –

Is this not a twin to Glenda’s? Mine was a gift from a dear neighbor, after I tended to their plants and their cats after a long trip to Cambodia.

I hope you enjoyed this visit with me, today.

Thank you for visiting my blog.  Clicking the title of any post will open a comment box at the bottom of the page. I love hearing from you.

SOLSC #28 – On Writing

Published on March 28, 2023

It is Tuesday and time to write a 'Slice of Life." 
Thank you  Two Writing Teachers for creating this supportive community
of teacher-writers!

My favorite place to write is here in my nook in our family room, looking out into our backyard. This is my writing chair:

For years, this writing chair was in my bedroom – which was a lovely place to write, too – a quiet corner of the house. When we remodeled this past year, this ‘bay’ in our family room sat vacant for a moment or two; I didn’t know what to do with the space. Then I heard it cry out to me: grab your journal and pen, and settle in, feel the sun at your shoulder! It is a wonderful location – I sit with my feet up on the ottoman, my quilt across my lap, and with bounteous light coming in through the windows. I could never have written here when the boys were young, right here in the center of the whole house. It would have been so noisy, one interruption after another. Now, however, it is just Tony and I here at home, and the family room is much more quiet. He’s often squirreled away in his den and I am here. This is where I sit and write each morning, readying for the day.

I think ‘quiet’ is perhaps the number one ingredient for most of my writing – this need to be apart, to think.

If I find myself stuck with my writing, I get up and do something else for a while. Here’s where I head if I am trying to ‘unlock’ some thoughts – my play area in my basement:

This is a fun space that I share with my granddaughters when they come by to visit. I have lots of craft materials – varied markers, scissors, paint, glue, stamps, and collage papers. I draw and I paint and I tinker here. I have a couple different projects in the works. It is great to have a space that I can just leave things be, and return to when the time is right.

One writing project I am in the midst of right now is to finish a children’s story. This is a self-propelled idea; I have been toying with this story for a couple of years now. When I say ‘finish,’ I mean: write the story from beginning to end. This story is really a poem, one that I have stopped and started several times now. I change my rhyming pattern, come up with a different way to start the story, lose the rhymes entirely, over and over, I am spinning in place. Each of these false starts keeps me from writing the story completely, from beginning to end.

My basement play area is helping me get through this impasse. Working here, I laid out the story on index cards from beginning to end, sketching – doodling, really – the action. Now I am working on larger art paper for each card, creating collage images and writing words alongside. I am channeling my inner Oge Mora or Eric Carle.

When the words are flowing, I take out my computer and write. When I ‘jam up’ again, I work more intensely on the visual art that is needed next. Back and forth, illustrations to writing to more illustrations to still more writing. I still haven’t written a complete draft – but I am so much closer, thanks to this art ‘tinkering’ on the side.

Writing is fun!

Where do you write and what are you working on?

SOLSC #26 – Matchmaking

Published on March 26, 2023

It is Tuesday and time to write a 'Slice of Life." 
Thank you  Two Writing Teachers for creating this supportive community
of teacher-writers!

We both exclaimed at once – “Wait, is that you?!”

We hadn’t seen each other in years. The parent of a former student is now working part-time at my favorite local bookstore. What a small world.

This parent and I, it was mutual adoration, back when her child was in my class. I worked at a ‘cooperative preschool’ then, where family members took turns assisting in the classroom. We got to know one another very well. I loved working alongside new parents, and this particular mom was one of the best – happy, patient, and energetic (pretty useful traits with young children).

I explained that Tony was in the car, waiting outside; I was only in the store a hot minute to grab a book on order, but please, tell me everything! We had a super quick share about our families, how everyone was doing. My goodness, her oldest child – that little preschooler of mine from years ago – is now in college. She was excited to hear about my grandkids, that my oldest son is a father. Then she asked about my other two sons – How old are they now? Are they married?

What is it about this “Are they married?” question that always sends a little shutter down my neck? Honestly, I would love these two children of mine to have loving partners, but … well, it’s not really something I can control, yes? These two are single. Unattached. Not dating anyone ‘seriously.’ (At least, not to my knowledge.) And, I try to be totally okay with this – Tony and I were older when we got married, there is time. Plus, I have many relatives who are life-long singles, living full lives. Maybe ‘marriage’ isn’t in the cards. Isn’t it more important that they simply feel good about their lives, with or without someone dear?

Okay, regarding that above paragraph – I totally spared my “re-found” friend this diatribe; I answered her breezily, saying “They’re both single and loving life.”

Re-found gives me a big smile and says, “Well, bring them here next time – let me introduce you to [the woman] at the cash register, she’s single and just the best. I know your sons are sweet!!” and, in a split second, she pulls this adorable but embarrassed woman into our conversation.

I had quite a laugh about this exchange when I got back into the car with my husband, and more laughter with my sons themselves. Maybe they need a real ‘forward push’ like this? Maybe life is more like a romantic comedy, if we are open to it?

Well, somebody has to arrange the matches,
Young people can't decide these things themselves.
She might bring someone wonderful----
Someone interesting----
And well off----
And important---
Matchmaker, Matchmaker,
Make me a match,
Find me a find,
Catch me a catch
Matchmaker, Matchmaker
Look through your book,
And make me a perfect match

-  lyrics from "Matchmaker, Matchmaker," 
by Jerrold Lewis Bock & Sheldon M. Harnick

SOLSC #24 – Blooming

Published on March 24, 2023

It is Tuesday and time to write a 'Slice of Life." 
Thank you  Two Writing Teachers for creating this supportive community
of teacher-writers!

It wasn’t simply Tony and I that were oh-so-pleased to have our home remodeling completed this past fall – my houseplants are overjoyed, too. They have been basking in the open floor plan and the extra light this great room now offers. They have grown and flourished over the winter. Let me tell you about this happiness.

Most of the remodeling was completed while the weather here in Maryland was still quite warm, so I moved the larger plants outside, to avoid the drywall dust, chemicals smells, and other hard aspects of the construction process.

Unfortunately, their time ‘in the wilderness’ coincided with some powerful rainstorms. One week when I was away from home, they received a torrent of watering, unlike anything they had ever experienced before. Every houseplant was swamped with water. I had to lay their pots on the side and drain them as best I could. Plant “TLC” began in earnest, and their return to the house in mid-October was a time of love and rejoicing.

Hardy plants like the philodendron and the dracaena recovered quickly. The fern was bent and nearly broken in two; I have been encouraging its strength with a velcro tie. This fern is probably my oldest plant, given to me in the late 1990s by my mother, on a rare trip by her and my father to our house for Thanksgiving. The fern sits happily by the light of the french doors, and is simply bursting with these fun yellow ‘seed’ flowers.

I was quite worried about my peace lilies; their leaves were torn and ragged, they were badly beaten by these late summer storms. You wouldn’t know it now! They are healthy and strong, vibrantly reaching upwards, as if exclaiming “YES!! WE ARE HOME!!” Here is one’s photo; you can see new growth happening:

Let me tell you about dear Anthurium; this personality owns the room and wants her story shared. Anthurium (and, yes, I call her by her full name) was a thank you gift from a parent at the end of a school year, some six or seven years ago. She is a smallish plant, about one foot in circumference, and I didn’t put her outside during the remodeling, I simply kept her upstairs – with plastic curtains at the stairwell keeping her apart from all the construction mess.

Fresh from the florist’s shop, she was regal: shiny green leaves and two of the most perfect bright red, waxy, heart-shaped flower spikes. These cheery flowers bloomed for many months, and then began to fade, finally disappearing entirely. We were working on our communication. Unlike most of my houseplants, I had trouble understanding Anthurium’s needs. I found her to be a rather exhausting combination of aloof and demanding. She finds it very hard to relax. I want to call her “prissy” but she is a friend, and that feels quite rude.

Finally, I found the perfect room for her: the upstairs guest room. Anthurium lives at the edge of bright and sunny, not wanting to be out ‘mixing’ with others – afraid she will fry her leaves – but definitely not receding into the shadows. She is a wee bit needy, expecting me to check in every day, offering her water; she likes her soil ‘just so’ – not dry, not overwet, just right.

Her guest room home is also known as Bird’s room, and Anthurium dearly missed hearing Bird’s chatter from the nearby crib while the kitchen and family room were remodeled. Bird was gone for many months, and, of course, construction dust and noise kept straying up the stairs, messing with her perfect little world. I feared Anthurium wasn’t going to make it through.

Well, Anthurium has proven to be as strong and resourceful as her housemates. Anthurium is so excited that the remodeling is complete that she is celebrating with a new flower – look closely, this sweet red growth is just beginning, a mere inch in length at present. I’m excited to watch her bloom!

Thank you for visiting my blog.  Clicking the title of any post will open a comment box at the bottom of the page. I love hearing from you.

SOLSC #22 – Sparkling

Published on March 22, 2023

It is Tuesday and time to write a 'Slice of Life." 
Thank you  Two Writing Teachers for creating this supportive community
of teacher-writers!

it may not turn to gold,
but what she touches 
invariably 
sparkles

two-year-old Bird 
arrives at our house 
knowing exactly what 
she wants to do

she runs to “her cabinet” 
opens the door 
empties the gold mine

shiny pebbles 
bright sequins 
polished gems 
bright beads 
smooth marbles 
flash gleam glisten play

it’s all about the bling these days 

one lustrous activity after another

gather them 
mix them 
stir them into a cake

find Poppa’s cars and trucks
how many gems fit inside
the hood the trunk the doors

find some bins 
fill containers 
stuff a purse 
snap, zip, pop, close, open
pour them out, of course

Nana helps make a line
mold them into a shape

hide hold haul handle with care

how fun it is to fill a sink with water
add some bubbles 
wash them up and towel dry

repeat as needed
over and over
and over again

a gem of a day
together

let it shine

Thank you for visiting my blog.  Clicking the title of any post will open a comment box at the bottom of the page. I love hearing from you.

SOLSC #17: Collaboration

Published on March 17, 2023

It is Tuesday and time to write a 'Slice of Life." 
Thank you  Two Writing Teachers for creating this supportive community
of teacher-writers!

You’ve been poemed ♥️

Her text flashed across my phone screen while I was reading books to my granddaughter. Immediately, a new smile crossed my face, and Bird asked –

What is it, Nana? Let me see.

Even at two years of age, she understands that my attention was (ever so briefly) diverted, and that the phone is very captivating.

Nothing, hon – I’ll check later.

We went back to our good book, while I held this tiny morsel of excitement about the new poem that awaited me from my friend Dee.

We’ve been good friends for years and years – Dee is my high school bestie. We live many states apart, but have always kept close. Early last April, we did a weekend girls’ trip together, exploring Richmond, Virginia. Simultaneously, I was participating in the April poetry challenge #VerseLove through Ethical ELA (you should check this out!).

A prompt that weekend was offered by two writers, Gae Polisner and Lori Landau, to create a collaborative poem, where you take a line from one person’s writing and use these words in a new poem of your own. I read this poetry prompt aloud to my friend Dee, and right there on the spot, we decided to begin our own collaborative poetry journey.

Dee and I both love to write; we have been avid letter and email writers with one another through the years. We both keep journals, where we write to release. She had never really written poetry, and I am fairly inexperienced with poetry, as well – but we both enjoy poetry immensely. What if we used poetry as a vehicle to share with one another, to connect?

Just as Gae Polisner and Lori Landau shared about themselves, Dee and I created a single google doc for these treasures – Dee & Ree Write Poetry. It is our running log of collaborative poetry…a volley of words. I think I wrote the first poem; she read and reacted and found one line, one small morsel to use in her own poem. And away we went!

The google doc allows us to write when we – individually – have the time, and to respond whenever. There is no expectation of response time between poems; life can get complicated, stuff happens. There are times when I immediately answer her poem with a poem, and other times when several weeks pass before I find words. There are also no rules about what or how to write. Sometimes I create a poem using a particular poetry form, often it is just free verse. I enjoy sharing about what is happening in my life, and I also enjoy writing other poems that are my venting about the world. The google doc is a poetic conversation between good friends.

Here we are almost one full year out from the start of this experiment, and we both love love love the writing. We’re not even sure that our poems are any ‘good’ at all, but we love the window this writing has provided into each other’s lives. I know I am writing better, deeper, more wholeheartedly. Perhaps it is because I have a clearer idea who my audience is? I just counted how many poems are in this one document – there are 54 thus far this year, wowsa! We’ve each written 27…averaging two a month; how delightful is that?

This poetry collaboration has been one of the highlights of my past year, nourishing and joyful. Let me close with a recent poem of mine to Dee, using the line “we’re making new earth” from her preceding poem –

edge of spring

this chilly grey day at the edge of spring
the guys hung drywall and 
I worked in my son's yard
piling high the broken dried branches 
sweeping browned leaves from the deck
turning the hard soil to transplant 
extras from our place
yes, early this morning, 
Tony dug up mahonia, siberian irises, 
and wispy raspberry plants to share
we’re making new earth
I whispered to the worms
as I dug
I was surprised to see these
little soft-bodied beings
I’d imagined them much deeper 
in the ground this time of year
I guess winter is waning 
after what’s really been a wash 
of a winter, nothing but grey 
brown cold windy this year
still
everything is so clear with bare trees 
I cherish the way light peeks through 
I will miss this
I enjoyed the stillness
working by myself, dreaming
hearing the clunk-tap-gsh of my shovel
yes, I was making new earth

SOLSC #16 – Write As Is

Published on March 16, 2023

It is Tuesday and time to write a 'Slice of Life." 
Thank you  Two Writing Teachers for creating this supportive community
of teacher-writers!

I had the best-laid plans for writing my SOL earlier today; there are several topics I am ‘flirting with.’ Ah, well.

We were babysitting our two year old granddaughter “Bird,” and I had no doubt she would take a good nap. The time change had messed with her body a bit, plus she had a small cold; I knew I could write while she slept this afternoon.

(About that cold – in the midst of playing, she called out to me in horror – “oh no, there’s a droopy thing on my face!;” this may be my new nomenclature for a cold, “a droopy thing,” lol.)

I should know by now that plans will be thrown asunder when there are young children at the heart.

We got a call from school when we were putting Bird down for her nap. Big sister “Frog” (who is four years old and attends all-day pre-K) didn’t eat anything at lunch and proceeded to fall asleep in her teacher’s chair. She was probably sick. We should come pick her up early from school.

I can’t say we were terribly surprised; these two girls have been tossing germs back and forth this whole past school year. It’s been one virus after another, for all of us. Maybe they both have colds? Maybe they have spring allergies? Unclear, at present. Doesn’t really matter, because I was in the car, regardless, driving across town, picking up Frog from school. Poppa stayed home with the baby.

It’s funny what a creature of habit I am; I love my granddaughter but I didn’t like this change in our routine. Early in the school year, I missed babysitting Frog so very much; now, so many months later, I am totally used to her absence for most of the day. When Bird is sleeping, Poppa usually naps as well. This means, I have this quiet house all to myself.

Not today. My plans for quiet writing time were usurped. I was feeling a wee bit grumpy.

I gave myself a pep talk on the drive over: well, if Frog’s falling asleep at school, she’ll probably fall asleep here, too, yes?

Not.

When we get back to the house, Poppa was just getting up from his nap. He fixed their favorite sandwich for both himself and Frog: peanut butter and banana, with a serving of fresh blueberries on the side. I sat back in my writing chair and smiled. Even if I don’t get to write today, this is heaven – to live near our grandkids and have this close relationship with them.

A moment or two later, a blueberry rolls onto the floor, knocked accidentally by the sandwich in Frog’s hand.

Poppa picks it up and hands it to her – “We believe in the five second rule,” he says with a smile.

“What’s the five second rule?” Frog asks.

For some unknown and regrettable reason, I decided to explain the five second rule to her:

"If something falls to the floor and 
you are able to grab it 
before five seconds pass, 
it is good enough to eat."

“What’s five seconds?”

"1….2 … 3 …. 4 …. 5"

She looks at me stricken - 
"Do I have to go nap now?"
The ominous countdown has sent fear through her four year old body; 
she is worrying that my counting 
has led to a nap.



(Wait, who is doing a countdown to send her to nap? Is this the teacher? Is this her parents? Hmm, this is an interesting insight.)

“No, hon, I was talking about 
the five seconds; 
it’s a slow count, like that...
1…2…3…4…5.”

“Okay, okay, count while I eat now.”

“What?”

“I’m eating my blueberries, and you count.”

“No, kiddo, the counting is when 
food falls onto the floor.”

“I CAN’T EAT MY DINNER OFF THE FLOOR!”

“I’m not asking you to do this,” 
I laughed; 
“it’s just a way of saying 
if something falls down briefly, 
it’s probably still okay to eat.”

She looks at me impatiently, and confused.

“Hon, your dinner wasn't on the floor. 
It’s just one blueberry that fell.”

She continues to give me a piercing look of incomprehension.

“Um, let’s just keep eating.”

Here’s the truth, it takes longer than five seconds to explain the five second rule. Something got lost in translation. Slipped through the cracks. Missed a beat.

But, hey, there’s my SOL for today!

SOLSC #13 – Whirlwind

Published on March 13, 2023

It is Tuesday and time to write a 'Slice of Life." 
Thank you  Two Writing Teachers for creating this supportive community
of teacher-writers!

Winter Storm Warning
…in effect from 5pm Monday to 8am Wednesday
…accumulations of 12 to 18 inches
…heavy wet snow expected
…travel will be difficult to impossible
…likely result in power outages
…a long duration and high-impact snow event

These words blasted across my friend’s phone, as she checked the weather for the next few days of my visit in Connecticut. 

Oh no!, she exclaimed, Maureen - I hate to say it, but you have to get out of here. Now. This is going to be a doozy of a storm.
 
What?! 

If not for AccuWeather, we would have been absolutely blindsided by this storm. The weather yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous winter day in New England - it was sunny and in the low 40s. Impossible to believe a big storm was hurdling this way! This was a perfect day for a brisk walk, and we took a wonderful one around the lake. The world looked especially beautiful. Here’s a photo of Harwinton Lake –

We enjoyed a three mile walk, with our usual nonstop conversation. The only pauses in our talking were the hills, lol. I always forget how much hillier it is in her neighborhood. I walk a lot at home, but I am not used to getting winded as I walk; my neighborhood is mostly flat. Note to self: I will set the goal of walking more briskly at home, picking up my pace.

Check out these fun rock sculptures someone built in their yard. They reminded me of people, bundled up for the cold and trudging through snow to gather together. It’s been a fun visit here.

But the weather forecast was clear: this gorgeous weather was not going to continue; the storm would begin Monday evening and continue through Wednesday.. So much for a loooong weekend with my college bestie; I needed to get home to Maryland ahead of this snowstorm. With that, I was looking up flights and changing my itinerary, and I was able to book a flight for this morning.

Fast forward – first thing this morning, I woke to a rap at my door – my friend had to wake me up, because I was oversleeping. The daylight-savings time change had wrenched my “I’m always awake by 7 a.m.” into an unexpected “Hey, it’s 8 a.m., you have to get up!” I raced about in foggy-headed confusion, and we were out the door for the airport.

A fitting end to a very full two weeks, I suppose. I crammed in every possible thing – including my sleep, lol.

My friend will have the thrill of shoveling and possible outages; I will rest and recover from all the fun I have had for nearly two weeks now. And, I’ll be home and ready to babysit my grandchildren later this week. Yes, it is time to be home.

Goodbye, Connecticut!

Welcome back, Maryland!