Posts

Birds and self-reflection

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We haven't had many birds at all at our feeders in the back yard this winter; first, there was the bear devastation, then we re-hung them after the coast was clear-- but no takers. G moved the feeders last week to the front yard, hanging them all in the lilac hedge. Still no takers. Then, in the late afternoon, I heard a mild bird-chirping racket!  How nice to see a chickadee, three purple finches, and one other small bird all vying for seed at one of the feeders! Hooray! They are a friendly presence, and I love hearing them and watching the swoop and flutter around.  I got really fond of watching the birds during the Covid lockdown months. There were so many! reduced traffic and other busy-ness, and the birds were in charge. Not so now, which is sad. Though in the summer months when the forsythia shrubs are all leafed out and the rose bush tangle is thick, the small ones love to hide and dart around. It's a lot of fun to float in the pool and have the birds talking to you wit...
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Laissez les bons temps rouler...

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Mardi Gras... I'll be spending it at work, then home, and likely no pancakes. Though that could change.  I'd like to give up social media for Lent, but I'm in the middle of promoting the pre-sales of my little book.  I will give up using credit cards.  I will try harder to not fall into despair.  It's a lot.  Love to all, C
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Winter Blues... but the sap may be rising...

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  And here we are, Monday again.  The news cycle is toxic, and I spent far too much time reading and watching video this weekend. I feel like my brain needs a purge.  This is Winter Carnival Week at school-- dress-up days every day, games on Thursday afternoon and Friday. Today, the dress-up day is "white lie"-- I am not participating this time around, because I didn't want to go buy a plain white tee shirt to write on. The idea is to write a small untruth about yourself on your tee shirt and wear it.  Nah. I live it every day.  Lately, I've been feeling a little less of an imposter in the AP world, but it still hovers around me. And the poetry world-- yeah, I'm never going to be comfortable, or so it seems. Wife? Mother? Memere? I do my best, but I know I'm not ever going to measure up. I am just a short, round, grumpy old English teacher who is disappointed in the way the world is a mess. Unfortunately, I tend to see the world from that point of view more of...
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Thoughts on Kingsolver's The Lacuna and how we judge art and artists...

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I f inished reading Barbara Kingsolver's The Lacuna (2009). It is a truly remarkable tale, one that focuses on the complicated relationship we have here in the US with artists (all creatives, really) who are political, and with political artists. And yes, there is a distinction to be made there. She tells the story of a young man, Harrison Shepherd, born of an American father and a Mexican mother, and his complex relationship with people, artists in particular, and with his own inner struggles. He becomes a writer who is then excoriated by the government during the 1950s "Red Scare," all because he had worked for noted Mexican artists (Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo) and other communist revolutionaries (notably, Trotsky) as a young man living in Mexico. The press is easily led, people begin to shun him (even his closest male friend and his neighbors), and he becomes a ghost of himself. Even his publisher, who had made a lot of money off his work, canceled their relationshi...
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Taking care of the fragile ones...

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Today's plan is upended; Holly has the flu. Poor bean can't catch a break. No basketball today-- and there's only one more next weekend. I was going to take her to practice then out for a special treat. Instead, I'll go get her some meds.  She will probably miss tomorrow's CCD session too. Things are never that easy, are they? So, instead of a fun Valentine's Day treat with my best girl, I'll be doing groceries, laundry, and cleaning bathrooms. Woo. At least they'll be done. And G and I had a great dinner out last night for V-Day, so that's all good.  I might rent a movie online tonight to watch; I've been very curious about Hamnet , and I see it's nominated for 8 Oscars. I should give it a look. A couple of years ago, I watched the movie Ophelia , which is loosely based on the doomed and ultimately suicidal female "love interest" of Hamlet's, and it was nice (she didn't drown herself in this film, and she is portrayed as a ...
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Rant about the lack of childcare/support for working families

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Childcare issues in the United States are at the forefront of every parent/grandparent's mind. Today, Holly's teacher is out sick, so her entire class has no school-- but it's not a snow day, so I am going to work. Her father will be taking an unpaid day off to stay home. There are no babysitters-- people work. The entire situation just throws things into high relief: what are we, one of the wealthiest nations in the world, doing to working families? And I mean that literally. Doing TO , not doing FOR . Years ago, when women didn't work outside of the home, I suppose it was easier. But today, women do work. Most have to. And so do most grandparents. I recall years and years ago that the retirement age was a lot lower-- grands have to work until 67 (my age group), and the government wants to mandate it to be 70, or even later. There is a huge gap that the GOP is not discussing-- or wait, they are-- that statement about grandparents filling that role made by JD Vance stil...
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Women writers of the Civil War era, and why we need to write more actual letters

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I listened to a discussion/ power point presentation by a doctoral candidate whose research is focused on the lives of New England women during the Civil War, as evidenced by their letters. Her presentation was about on par with some of my students' work; yes, she's done research, but her suppositions are not necessarily supported by the letters, and her discussion was a surface analysis of her topic. I wish her well, but I'm really disappointed that it was not more enlightening. All she kept going back to was the fact that women had it financially hard (though the state of Maine had a process by which women with dependents could get assistance), they missed their husbands, and letters were a comfort.  Well, yeah. But ... I was hoping that her discussion would dig a lot deeper into the letters themselves, and not focus so much on her own assumptions about the lives of the women writers. I was looking to hear things like Abigail Adams' letters.  O well. Research being wh...
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